Why do you photograph?

Do you know your Why?  It seems we get asked this in everything.  Why do you exercise?  Why did you choose to be a teacher? Do you know why you take photos?  I take them for many reasons. I love to document moments in time.  I love to take photos of the beauty around me. I like to photograph things that look cool or quirky. I think photos are amazing how they can capture just a piece of history!

When my kids were little, I was usually behind the camera.  It was a vain reason most of the time and I just wasn't comfortable with how I looked at the time.  As a result, I don't have a lot of photos with me in them.  I have tried to get better at that. I have only a few photos of my mom, especially from my childhood. We lost her about 15 years ago, so I can't add to those.  This makes the old photos become even more precious.  We also have many others that we have loved and lost that I hold their photos dear.

I have tried to get better about capturing the fun things but also capturing photos of the special people in my life.  Friends and family are important to be able to have photos of.  Don't get me wrong....you want to LIVE in the moment, but maybe occasionally stop for a fun shot or sneak to the side to grab some candid ones!  

I am fortunate to have photos with my Dad and step-mom in them.  I am blessed to still have them in my life as well as lots of other family and friends, and continue to add those photos with them. I forget to stop and take a picture at times.  That's totally fine.  Live in the moment!  Just remember occasionally. :)

It is wonderful to be able to look back of photos of people in your life, whether they you share with the people around you, they have grown up, look different now, moved away, or they are no longer with us.  

Photos can be a link to a time, a place, a point in your life that you want to be able to look back to.