Just Something to Remember

Yesterday my family and I spent the day at Kings Island.

Truthfully, during wedding season, days like that don't happen nearly as often as we'd like. Between photographing weddings, editing, meeting with couples, answering emails, and just running a business, weekends disappear pretty quickly.

So when we get a chance to just be a family, we take it.

Now... I say I put the cameras down, but if you know me, you know that's not entirely true.

I still take pictures.

Always have.

Not because I'm working, but because I genuinely don't want to forget these moments.

Life Doesn't Have to Be Perfect to Be Worth Remembering

One thing I've told people for years is this...

Take the "bad" picture.

Seriously.

Take the blurry one.

Take the one where everyone's sweaty from walking around all day.

Take the one where your kid is making the weird face.

Take the selfie.

Take the photo that isn't Instagram-worthy.

Who cares?

Twenty years from now, nobody is going to say, "Man... I wish this picture had better lighting."

They're going to say...

"I remember that day."

One Day, Someone Is Going to Ask

I think about this a lot now that I'm a dad.

One day my daughter is going to be grown.

Maybe she'll have kids of her own.

Maybe one day they'll sit down on the couch, pull an old photo album off the shelf, and ask,

"So... what was this day?"

I want her to have an answer.

I want her to remember the smell of the all of the fair and amusement park snacks

The heat.

The excitement of getting on another ride.

The way we laughed over absolutely nothing.

Those little details don't seem important today...

Until they're all you have left.

That's Why I Love Telling Stories

Pictures are incredible.

But context makes them priceless.

I've always been the type of person that writes little notes beside photos.

Who was there.

Why we were there.

What happened.

What everybody was laughing about.

Because years later, those details become just as valuable as the photograph itself.

Sometimes even more.

It's Also Why I Photograph Weddings the Way I Do

People hire photographers because they want beautiful images.

I get that.

I want beautiful images too.

But honestly...

That's never been the part that excites me the most.

I want your kids—or maybe even your grandkids someday—to flip through your wedding album and feel like they know you.

Not just what you looked like.

Who you were.

How your dad looked at you before he walked you down the aisle.

How your mom couldn't stop smiling.

The ridiculous joke your best man told that had everyone crying from laughter.

The little moments that nobody plans for.

Those are the moments that become family history.

Those are the moments I chase.

So Here’s My Challenge

Don’t wait for the perfect vacation.

Don’t wait until everyone loses ten pounds.

Don’t wait until the house is clean.

Take the picture.

Print the picture.

Write down the story while you still remember it.

Because fifty years from now…

The world is going to look completely different.

Kings Island will probably be different.

Your neighborhood will be different.

You’ll be different.

But those moments?

Those moments will still be sitting inside an old photo album, waiting for someone to open it.

And I promise you…

Those are going to become some of your family’s favorite possessions.