A Single Image…Is only worth so many words.

I have photographed the Nichols family more than any other family, maybe even my own. They are those faithful kind of clients that are better in real life than any client I could have imagined. 

They understand my logistical process of a photoshoot, but more than that, they understand why I shoot the way I do.

Rory, their daughter, has been a wild cannonball of energy since I met her. She races from room to room, toy to toy, game to game. Her mind never stops and keeping up with her is as challenging as it is fun. But all this personality could never be contained, or explained, in one image. You could get an idea of the girl she is, but you wouldn’t know the tenderness she also possesses if you only saw one image.

Because I’ve had the great privilege of photographing her multiple times, her family has a set of images that tell a much greater story.

Images are powerful, sure. One image can set off a plethora of different emotions. But one image has never told a story the way that an entire set can. 

I use the Nichols as an example because I have so many photos of their family. But this works in any single session I do. A family is made up of unique people, personalities, and dynamics. A set of photographs explains those intricate details so much better than one photograph.

I don’t want to belittle the profound meaning of individual images. But when it comes to photographing families, I can’t help but think that the glory is in the details. These little personalities are growing and changing every day. And they are shaping their parents into  people with new roles as mothers and fathers. Having children changes marriages and priorities. These dramatic shifts deserve more attention than a single photo.

I’m not setting you up to sell you something. I’m not even going to link something that says, “Book here!” But I want to encourage you to look at your lives as an ongoing story, made up of small and beautiful individual moments that shape each family member on a daily basis.

These are the moments a you will all remember, so why not have photographic evidence of them?