A few weeks ago, my mom got remarried. As a gift, one of their friends offered to take photos of them and our families on the day of. We all gathered around in our different groupings and smiled for the camera. As my grandmother walked in, my mom called to her to come get in a picture. Nana is not a fan of pictures and responded with “oh why do you need a picture of me?” My mom and I both responded, “because pictures are important.”
Pictures have not always been important to me. There was a time in my life where I thought that people who are constantly taking selfies and have to capture every second of every day on film (lol who uses film anymore?) were crazy. People used to say, “enjoy the moment and stop worrying about the pictures,” and for a long time, I agreed. Pictures became important to me about the time I hit high school.
All of a sudden for the first time in my 14 years of life, I realized that time is moving so much faster than I’d like it to. It hit me like a ton of bricks that in four years I’d be done with high school and I couldn’t take it with me. All of the laughter, hugs, and friends would likely just be memories. Thus, began my desire to capture all the things that I held dear on camera.
Just as I expected, high school came and went and in the blink of an eye, I was in college at Troy. I loved taking pictures in college, and not just when we were all dolled up for football games. I’d take pictures in the car when my friend and I took long drives all over Alabama way too late at night. I’d take pictures of all of us just sitting on the sofa playing video games or with a drink in hand just enjoying the night. While not all of those photos were flattering, they were all little pieces of the people I loved that I could take with me years from now.
One picture in particular is my favorite from my time in college. I tell this story all the time, so if you’ve heard it and are tired of hearing it just skip this paragraph. In my junior year of college, there was a week where we had two football games in one week, one on Saturday and one on Thursday. My Papa and Uncle Derick came to the Thursday night game and I made sure to meet them before the game for just a little while. We met on the quad, listened to the band, and spent time talking and laughing. Before we went our separate ways I asked my Uncle to take a picture of me and Papa. It’s the last picture I took of just the two of us before he passed away.
A little more than a year after that picture was taken the love of my life proposed to me and I started looking at wedding photographers. I knew whoever it was, I wanted them to capture every moment and I wanted them to capture the emotions behind it. That search led me to Sam Moody who was the perfect photographer for our day. He captured the love between me and Chase, the bittersweetness of my first look with my mom and dad, the tender sadness of blowing out the memorial candles for my loved ones who had passed, and the sheer joy of finally being married to my best friend!
The truth of the matter is this, no matter if we have 10 more years on this earth or 60 more years on this earth, we will never have enough time with the ones we love. Friendships will fade. People will move. Loved ones will go home to be with the Lord all too soon, but pictures remain. I can look at pictures of my great grandparents, most of whom I never met, and know them a little better. I can look back on pictures from high school and remember how blessed I was to have the education and experiences that I did. I can look at pictures from over the years and see how God has been faithful to carry me this far.
Pictures are important. Don’t neglect to capture every beautiful moment.