What do you place “value” on?

I have to take a moment to share a little story and some portraits with you. No, this is not my usual blog post but heck, sometimes you gotta shake things up a bit… right!?

Okay, so a couple of weeks ago I am at a newborn baby portrait session patiently waiting while Mom feeds baby in the nursery. While sitting on the couch just relaxing a bit, I look up and see something that catches my eye, this old film polaroid camera… “WOW, I think to myself and perhaps said out loud”. So, I get up and look closely at it. Then of course, take some shots of it because well it is timeless! Everything (almost everything) is digital now and that is exciting but timeless is also priceless! Which I ponder all of this while staring at this camera up close. I know the reason that I LOVE being a photographer is the fact that I LOVE portraits. If my house were burning down, I would grab my kids and husband and get them safely out of the house and then proceed to go back in and retrieve the wall portraits I have hung throughout my home as well as baskets of loose images from over the years. Because, really that is what I value. I know personally that I would and do spend money on good quality portraits of my children and family because before I become a professional photographer, I did pay other great artists to take beautiful images of my oldest daughter. For me, other than them in the flesh, there is nothing more valuable to me! I can get back almost everything else. But that moment in time when I got married on the beach in Maui, Hawaii to my husband or maternity images of myself or when both my babies were brand new, crawling, walking, starting kindergarten, etc… those moments are priceless. Yes, of course they are stored in the “Melinda vault” forever BUT every time I look at a picture it literally takes me back to that precise moment and smiles, laughter, tears fill my heart! I guess it is hard for me to understand how anyone else can not value fine quality portraits in the same way as I do. I understand we are all different but are we that different? I just can’t imagine that we are! God made us who we are and we are all alike despite differences as deep in our souls- we are the same. Anyway, I knew this post would turn into a short novel because I feel so passionately about this. I have a beautiful life! I have two beautiful girls, a loving husband and I get to stay home and raise my children while also being a professional portrait artist…I am blessed! I am not trying to sway anyone into what they should or should not value but for me, I just want my clients, friends, everyone that reads this to think about what you value and be willing to spend or save to spend in order to get to have those priceless, timeless portraits as I think they are a true gift!

Now, check this little beauty out…

And a close-up…

If anything, my only hope in this post is to remind you that cars, toys, dolls and clothing are truly replaceable but the people you love and beautiful portraits of those people can not be replaced… ever, so think about what you value and be willing to spend your hard earned money on what you really value.

Blessings,

Melinda