Belinda Olsen Photography » Utah Wedding & Portrait Photographer | Logan, Utah | 435-881-2184

“I love my mother as the trees love water and sunshine – she helps me grow, prosper, and reach great heights.”  -Terri Guillemets

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about families. We watched the movie ‘Hook’ last week with some friends. I loved the quote by Maggie, “He’s a mean old man without a mother.”  It made me chuckle and think of the value of a mother.

Last week marked the 17 year anniversary of Craig’s mom passing away from ALS also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.  Craig was just nine years old when his mom died.  I’ve never experienced such tragic loss.  I love it when we get together with Craig’s siblings and they share various memories of this amazing woman. Craig especially lights up when he sees photographs of her.  There is so much power in a photograph.  He gets really animated when he tells me stories of her cooking, their holiday traditions or stories of her being a teacher.  Each photograph I see of her just makes me love her even more for being the center of an amazing family.

This brings me to something I’ve been thinking a lot about lately. A photograph is able to tell a story and preserve tangible memories. Photographs are one of the few things that appreciate with time.  I learned the deep impact of this when a couple months ago I was visiting with my sister in law.  She pulled out photos of her parents, photos of the family, letters and journals that were her mom’s.  We giggled at the silly photos.  We chuckled at how people looked so different. Most of all, we were all very moved when we found the last batch of photos taken of their family and of their mom before she got sick.

I’m sure that many of us, myself included, fall into a trap of either being the one behind the camera all the time or we refuse to have our photo taken.  Despite how much I am around cameras, I still get nervous to have my photo taken!  I think that’s normal. Today I challenge each reader of my blog (myself included!) to pull out the camera.  Take a quick snapshot of yourself with the people you love.  Each life is precious and you never know what will happen to ourselves or those around us.  Don’t wait to lose those twenty pounds.  Don’t wait for that perfect hair day.  Don’t wait just because your kids are in their pj’s.   Don’t wait for anything!

As an incentive to encourage you to take a photo of yourself with those you love I’m going to offer a contest!

Go to the Belinda Olsen Photography fan page on facebook and upload the picture you take of you and your loved ones.  In the comments write what you love most about the people you chose to photograph.  (don’t forget that you need to be in the photo too!  Use your camera timer or get a friend to take the photo!)  Come back to the blog and leave a comment that you posted your picture.  Craig and I will pick a winner based on creativity of your photo and the comment you write.  The winner will receive one complimentary session that will happen in Cache Valley by the end of September and $100 in print credit. Retail Value of $225!  Our winner will be announced Friday August 13th here on the blog.  Don’t wait!  Go and pull out your camera!