The Importance of a Family Portrait
As a photographer, you’d think that my three absolutely adorable kids would be GAP models with over one million Instagram followers (and they totally could if they’d let me), but make no mistake—when I pull out the camera, they either scatter like confetti or give me stink-eye. As a result, getting family portraits isn’t as easy as I might have imagined. Having had so many families in front of my lens over the years, the one common element in the capturing of these moments in time is stress. From hair and makeup to color and clothing coordination to juggling varying schedules, I’ve seen it all. In the end, is it all worth the effort? I think you know how I would answer this question.
Long, long ago in a town far away from Orlando, during my college years in Pennsylvania, I somehow convinced my divorced parents and two older brothers to meet me at The Picture People in the mall for a family portrait, something which we had never done before. Like moody teenagers, my thirty-something-year-old brothers were complaining the whole time, resisting anything out of the ordinary, like these boring portrait poses that have come to stigmatize Olan Mills, Sears, and JCPenney.
About ten years later, only in their 60s, both my parents died within a year of each other. During that fateful snowy nor’easter day in February, as the three of us brothers stood alone in a room saying our goodbyes to our newly and suddenly deceased father, my middle brother said to me, “I’m sure glad you made us take those family pictures.” My oldest brother concurred. True story. For as much grief as I had been given for that day at The Picture People, this affirmation from my brothers made it all worth it to me.
So when your kids look back at family photos years from now, they won’t see what you see today. They won’t notice the extra five pounds, the wrinkle by your eyes, or that your hair wasn’t quite right. They won’t care if everyone was wearing matching outfits (although your photographer might). What they’ll notice is how it felt. They’ll see the way you leaned in close. The way your hand rested on their back. The way you laughed mid-moment instead of forcing a smile. Photos become emotional memory triggers—something AI will never replace. Long after details fade and the stress is forgotten, the feelings remain.
I always recommend avoiding putting off family portraits and getting the memories captured now. And even if the session ends up being a disaster, you’ll have a great story to tell and a memory that won’t soon be forgotten.
