Recently I’ve been watching the Netflix series “Chef’s Table” and I can’t get enough. I like food, sure. But I love the stories told of each chef and their struggle to be successful, their passion to create the most beautiful and delicious food, constantly pushing themselves to be better. Their passion and joy for cooking gets them up every morning and keeps them going through the long days and late nights.

What strikes me with each and every chef is their dedication. They are precise; each dessert must be perfect. Each ingredient must be fresh and of the highest quality. They’re emotional and passionate to a fault but it’s because they care so much.

It made me think about my own craft. Like a patron chooses a restaurant because of the chef, I never take for granted that an engaged couple or family would choose me because of my photography. Like these great chefs who study for years and work under the best of the best, always seeking to improve their craft, I’ve done the same. I strive to be a better photographer with every single shoot and wedding I do.

Telling stories with my camera is what gets me up every morning. Working with couples and families, getting to know people and their stories, is my greatest passion on this earth. I believe it’s what I was put here to do. I think I would explode if that ability was taken away from me.

It starts with weddings. Weddings are a sacred time in people’s lives and they’re a really big deal. Your wedding day is a great big party but more importantly, it’s the start of your marriage. And marriage is truly a gift.

Your wedding day is the day you talk about for the rest of your life. It’s what your children will ask about when they’re older. It’s what you’ll look back on when times get tough. It’s what you’ll revisit when you want to remember how young and in love you were.

Your wedding photos are part of your legacy. They’re part of your family tree.

And after the wedding? Well, usually at some point, that involves growing the family. Maternity sessions, newborn sessions, and annual family photos all become an important part of documenting your story and your family.

Now that my own baby is on the way, I treasure my wedding photos more than ever. They’ve always been important to me but now there is a person in this world who one day is going to want to hear the story of his dad and I. There’s someone who’s going to want to see photos of us before he was born. He’s going to want to see photos of when HE was born. Becoming pregnant has helped me identify with my family clients so much more than I ever imagined it would. I get it now. I get the importance of documenting each stage of my pregnancy, of documenting our son’s first few hours on this earth, of documenting his first days and months and years. And documenting our family as it continues to grow.

I’ve heard countless stories from couples and families who’s last photo with a loved one came at their wedding or their last family session. Although photography is changing every single year, the value of it remains. Photographs will always be the way we remember our families and the people we love.