(An observation: I have some photos of me at the age of 3 with a silly outfit, grasping at a plastic apple and grinning as if to show every single tooth in my mouth. I look at these photos and I wonder why in the world were these the photo that they paid a “professional” for when the photos that mean so much to me are the photos that were taken in my house and with my parents. I really wish those photos weren’t taken with a point and shoot and printed on crappy fading yellowing consumer paper. What I find even more interesting is the idea that the cheapest price would be the final determining factor in creating a photo we would look at for the next 50 plus years.
50 years. That’s a long time. And it’s something I think about on every portrait session that I photograph. “Will you be happy with these photos now and in 50 years?”)
I was photographing Erin in the tulips earlier this spring when her mom Jill started to tell me about her grandmother’s farm. Every spring, an area in the woods is just filled with bluebells. I could tell by the way she spoke about it that it was something very meaningful to her and that there were fond memories about the area.
So, like the adventurous “artist” that I am, I told her we had to plan a session with Erin in the bluebells and that it would also be an opportunity to get photos with her great grandmother. (I still have a worn and yellowing photograph of me and my great grandmother in a green porcelain frame in my hallway that I think about every time I photograph generations together.)
It took a bit for everyone to arrange their schedules, but I believe we can definitely say it was worth the effort.
Thank you, Jill & Pat, for letting me have a part in photographing your family.
by zettlphoto
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