You need to photograph those you love no matter how adamant they are against it. And have Them photograph You . I just came from a funeral. A sad event a father and husband cut down in his prime. He was a very involved Father of twins, a husband, a Son, a Brother, an Uncle, a Friend and a prominent member of the community. In his later years I’m sure he was self conscious, because of a medical condition he looked obese, but was not, he had kidney failure and other issues that just made him look that way. At the funeral his family took the time to make up 2 very nice display collages about 20×24 each with snapshots, professional portraits, newspaper pictures showing how involved he was. You saw him with his children from birth through college. They are both in the 4th year of college and in the middle of mid-terms when their father became ill and hospitalized for 54 days. These display boards showed to all of us what we already knew, how loving and involved he was, and it was all documented there to help us remember, now that he is gone. I was proud to see an image there I did of Him, his Mom, and his Brother with my 1953 Rollieflex and an off camera Metz. My Wife and I have been together for 19 years now. I have very few pictures of her. She does not like to be photographed, is never happy with where she is at in her eyes, though I love her much and think she is very beautiful. In the old film days she would look through pictures I took and literally tear them up. Now in this digital age she wants me to delete them. And While I have many pictures of my daughter, and thousands of strangers, there are very few of me. It’s the old shoemaker has no shoes problem. ( I was a pro photographer for 15 years) Ladies How many of you are guilty of not wanting yourself photographed. How many photographers out there have few photos of themselves, especially snapshots. Well my wife and I had a discussion on the way home. I told her I would no longer stand for her not wanting to be photographed. It is a very selfish position that robs me of memories, God forbid if anything were to happen. And I recently bought her a Kodak P&S at an after Christmas sale. I told her I expect her to start taking snaps of me. In the end this is all we have. This poor man had deteriorated so bad during the 54 days that they had to have a closed casket. Thank God he was a Bank President and had a very nice professional portrait to display on top of his casket. So please don’t be selfish or inatentive. Photograph all of your loved ones, especially your spouse, even in the morning before they make themselfs beautiful, and Spouses photograph your photographers so your not left without precious memories. It’s not too late. Start right now! Peace be with you, Spiney-Dave
This is a realization I came to about two years ago. I had been avoiding cameras for several years because I wasn’t happy with my weight (so what else is new?) But I realized that my son would have no pictures of his mom when he was a child, and that just seemed like stealing from him. After all, his memories of me would be at the weight I was whether I allowed myself to be photographed or not. So I don’t avoid cameras any more … for his sake.
Thank you Janet for your reply. This is exactly were my wife is coming from. We have talked about this several times since the funeral. She now agrees to be photographed. I love Her, not her dress size. I also bought her an easy to use P&S digital camera that she likes. Now I need to get her to photography me so she will have something. I really wish we had a video camera to. Someday. I’m envious of families who have extensive video coverage of family events. Bought I’ll be very happy for stills. Thanks again, Dave