Fort Myers Photographer | Life and why pictures are important to me.

I am going to take just a minute to blog my thoughts and feelings at this moment as they are tender and near to the surface.  I am currently in the process of editing several amazing sessions with some really wonderful people...if you are one of those anxiously awaiting, they will be posted soon I promise!  I just need life to give me a breather so I can get to them!  It will happen. They are all quite adorable and I cant wait to get all your smiling faces on here!

Anywho...with that being said I wanted to share a reason why pictures are so important to me.
Yesterday I attended a memorial service for a friend of mine's father.  All though I have known the friend and her mother and her daughter(and have even photographed them), I did not know their father.  At the service we were asked if anyone wanted to share their feelings for the amazing man who had passed.  Those who did gave such heartfelt memories that my heart was overflowing.  I wanted to share my feelings but just couldn't get the courage to stand.  I knew that if I did I wouldn't be able to get through it without breaking down and since I didn't even know the man...that might have seemed strange.  So, I just sat still and took in the other messages and left my message unsaid.  That evening at my home we had two very intense and scary incidents that could have had very different and tragic outcomes.  As I gave thanks that night to my Heavenly Father for his love and protection, for literally cradling my loved ones in his hands,  my thoughts from the memorial service came back to me again.  I felt they needed to be said.  So I am going to say them here.

I was asked to put together a video presentation tribute to the life of a man I did not know.  His family sent me pictures and I began to piece together a life.  I was given song titles to use and I as I put these pictures in order I saw a man I never knew, I all though I never met him, I knew the kind of man he was, because of pictures.  I saw a man who loved his wife, I saw a man who tenderly held babies in his arms, his own, grand babies and great grandbabies.  I saw a man who proudly served his country and loved those he served with.  I saw a man who loved his family (he endured family photos regularly lol).  I saw a man who like to laugh and play and be silly.  The family told of how this man loved his hair, and although I didn't see that...I did see that he had nice hair!  :) I saw a man who went from a beautiful baby boy to a matured and handsome man who had endured a lifetime filled with its share of joys and hardships, but still smiled at the camera every time.  He had a sparkle in his eye that was caught on camera that showed his zest for life. Pictures ARE worth 1000 words.  In this case, pictures showed me a man.  They showed me a life lived.  They showed me one more reason pictures are so important!