So you are thinking about having professional photos taken and are currently unsure if you REALLY want to do this. Here are my top 6 reasons to convince you why you definitely should! And now!
Number One: Professional Photography is an investment for a LIFETIME.
Yes, it is not super-cheap to have professional photographs of your family taken (and when I say professional, I don't mean your neighbour who loves photography and says they will do it for $200). However, what else in life can you seriously say is an investment for a lifetime? Let's think about the other things we purchase at the time we discover a baby is on the way...
Baby Car Seat: At a cost of anywhere from $200-$800 car seats are definitely necessary. But once they have been used (and abused!) they are most likely ready for the trash.
Pram - with a cost of $400-$1000+ for top-of-the-market, this will be useful for a few years at most. Most likely it will be trashed by your children and ready for the bin by the time they no longer need it.
Car - You can go as cheap or as expensive as you like with a car, and the same goes for quality photography. However, a car keeps costing you money its whole life and is ready for scrap metal after 15-20 years.
Your photographs, however, will hang on your wall and be cherished forever. They will make you smile! They will re-ignite your memories! They will also be cherished by your children for their lifetime, and make your house not just a house but a home.
Number Two: They aren't just photographs, they are your family's heirloom.
I absolutely love looking at old photographs! Not just any old photographs, but photographs of my grandparents and parents when they were younger. My grandparents on my Dad's side grew up in Europe and I am lucky enough that my great grandfather was a keen photographer (in the genes!) so we have amazing photographs of my grandmother as a child with her brothers and sisters. What I love most about this is that I can see the striking resemblance in her and myself at the same age. I lost my Grandma when I was 12 years old, so these photographs make me feel closer to her and I truly cherish them.
I am however lucky enough to still have my Nana (my mother's Mum) at over 90 years old. Her wall is full of photographs of herself plus the whole family growing up through the years. My mother's baby photo is up there along with photos of myself and my sisters as babies and older. But can you believe she recently got super-excited when an old photograph was found of her as a young girl which was in amongst her sister's belongings (who had unfortunately recently passed). This is also the first photo I have seen of my Nana at such a young age and is priceless.
I also love looking at photographs of when I was younger - of times that I don't necessarily remember because I was too young as well as times that I do remember but seem like a lifetime ago. I also see many customers come through my doors comparing photographs of themselves as a baby to their new baby, as they love trying to work out if their baby takes after Mum or Dad!
My point is... photographs are your family's heirloom. They give you and your children a sense of identity. Your children want to see what they looked like when they were younger and what you looked like when you were younger. And your children and grand children will cherish these photographs for their lifetime.
Number Three: Time just keeps going by faster and faster
Unfortunately, no one has the ability to stop time. If you have recently become a parent, the whirlwind of having your baby will make you realise just how quickly time passes. I absolutely love photographing newborns and babies for this exact reason. Capturing their tiny little features, their little toes and fingers, all the things that make you just watch them in awe. Seriously, I could just watch babies forever and not get tired of it! But they don't stay small for long and especially in that first year of their life they change so much. This combined with the mayhem of being a parent means that it's easy enough to forget how they used to look and the feelings that were associated with it. Photographs capture these moments and re-ignite your memories. I like to compare them to a song.... when you are in the car listening to the radio and a song comes on that you loved years ago and it reminds you of where you were in life, what you were doing, and how you felt at that time. It may even be your wedding song and re-ignite the memories of that day. Photographs do exactly the same! Except we can also see these memories, how precious is that!
I recently had a grandmother come along to a photo shoot of a 7 month old boy. I had also photographed him as a newborn and she loved the photos so much that she just wanted to come along and watch. Which I obviously had no problem with! She told me afterwards how much the photographs of him as a newborn meant to her. Not only because she treasured her grandson, but because these photographs reminded her of how it felt holding her own children for the first time and raising them as babies. This is the magic of photographs!
Number Four: Your phone is not a camera
We are definitely in the digital age and it's now so easy to take and share photographs! Cameras in our phones are fantastic to capture day-to-day life and also capture those spontaneous moments that you just can't set up for a professional photographer.
But have you ever tried to print photos from your phone? No doubt the first time you did you were bitterly disappointed with how terrible they looked! The quality just isn't there and when you try to enlarge it any bigger than a standard 6x4" you start to see pixelation and imperfections. You've probably also noticed that a lot of your photos are blurry. That's right, kids move very fast! And the camera in your phone is not made for this.
A professional photographer with a professional camera knows how to use their camera manually to create stunning photographs. We also have the knowledge about lighting and how to pose people to make people look their best. In addition, we have editing skills which can turn a standard photograph into a work-of-art that you are proud to display on your wall!
Lastly, how many stories have you heard from friends who have lost their phones or had them break and they have lost all their photos? Or maybe this has unfortunately happened to you? The digital age makes it easy to take photographs, but just as easy to loose them.
Number Five: You cannot take photographs of yourself!
As much fun as selfies and snap-chat are, are you really going to print these photos and put them on your wall?! (and referencing above again!). I love capturing the interaction of parents with their children. Having fun together as a family is a beautiful thing to watch and capture through my lens. And these special, tender moments are not something you can photograph yourself. Even the best of photographers hire other photographers to take family portraits for them!
Number Six: Don't wait until it's too late
Sorry to end this blog on a depressing note... but nothing we can do can make time stop and we never know what is around the corner. The news reminds us of this every day. So book a photo shoot while you are happy and healthy!
I often hear a lot of excuses from parents... "We have just been so busy" - "I don't like how I look at the moment" - "I'm just not sure if I will like the photos" - "I'm worried my children won't behave". These excuses will only ever turn into regrets. So many women are worried about how they look, and as a woman myself I completely get it! I much prefer my side of the camera! A good photographer can work with you if you are self-conscious about particular things. Feel free to be open and discuss these fears. I always try to pose people in the most flattering way, and if I need to do a little tweak in Photoshop then so be it!
I also understand the fear of not liking your photographs or being worried that your children won't behave on the day. By looking at my website I am sure that you will know if you like my style or not. But in addition, I only ask for a minimal reservation fee to book your photo session. The only time you decide what purchases you would like to make is when you see your photographs, as I believe this is the only time you can make a clear decision. There is no minimum spend and no obligation.
The thing I hear most from parents after they see their photos (and mostly from Mums who have voiced their concern over how they look before the photo shoot!) is how happy they are that they chose to go ahead and book a photo shoot. I so often hear the words "I am so glad we did this" with parents leaving so thankful and often surprised at how well the photos have turned out.
So if you have been considering booking a photo shoot for a while now, how about you pick up the phone and enquire further because I know you won't regret it!
For further enquiries, contact Michelle at Kiddy Kats Photography:
Phone - 0401 514 969
