Hey Friends! I'm going to get raw with you for a moment, and I don't mean RAW as in the data type of the photos I capture as a professional photographer in Midland Michigan. I mean emotionally raw. I want to tell you a true story from my life when it became vitally important for pictures to be more than just a digital file stuffed in a drawer or shared on social platforms where their quality is degraded. If you're a crier (like I am), you may want to take a moment and grab a tissue box before reading on.
My journey with photography started at a young age (that full story is for another time), and it grew after having my first child. Photography became a small business where I was a photographer in Midland Michigan who provided shoot and burn digital image services because it was cheap and everyone wanted digitals. My camera and business were shelved when I was placed on bed rest with my second pregnancy. Instead of carrying a camera, I would carry twins.
One of those babies was born with medical complexities that required lengthy hospital stays and medical interventions. In fact, most of her life was spent inside the walls of a medical facility. The professional photoshoot I had imagined for my twins was out the window! My energy was spent learning about her various diagnosis and working with medical teams to keep her alive and help her gain health. It seemed as though our efforts were working... until they didn't.
At the age of 18 months old my daughter passed away. Children are not supposed to pass away before their parents. This is not something we think about or plan for. I had so many dreams of moments that would be spent with my daughter like getting our nails done together, taking her shopping for prom dresses, planning her wedding... Those dreams all shattered. Instead of planning a wedding for our little girl, my husband and I found ourselves doing the unthinkable. We were planning a memorial service.
We did not have boxes filled with years full of her memories in printed images to pin to memory boards. We had digital cellphone data. So, I culled through the data and sent it to a local one-hour print lab because we needed those pictures, stat. I can't really recall what happened when we arrived to pick those pictures up. I was so deep in the fog of grief, but I do know that I met one of my closest friends that day. I believe that I had mistakenly sent all of the thumbnails instead of the full resolution files. What a mess! My new friend helped me through the emotions I was navigating, and we did end up with every single image we had of our 18 month old daughter in print. All of them.
I'm not sure how to explain the feeling of finality that happens when you hold the very last image you have of a loved one in your hands and wish for one more. One more moment. One more hug. One more I love you. One more laugh. One more song. One more dance. One more kiss.... One more photograph.
My daughters life was much shorter than most, but she lived it fully. As I sit writing this blog post, I reflect on her passing ten years ago. Her sweet smell is gone. Some memories have begun to fade. The photographs and videos we have of her take us back to the forgotten moments, to the time we shared, to the dances, to the hugs, to her. These cellphone images and videos have less than ideal quality. Some of them were pulled from social media making the quality even worse, but they are... ALL we have.
As you know, my studio has reopened where I can continue my journey as a photographer in Midland Michigan and is going through a transformation to ensure the best service and products are offered to you. Here's what you can expect:
Full Service Photography Sessions
PreSession Planning with studio team
Wardrobe Consultation
Pose Planning
Finished Product Plan (Prints, Albums, Digitals, Wall Art, Reflection Film)
View + Order Session
Deliver or Pick Up
Product Guarantee
Photography Education
Workshops
Weekend Travel
Styled Studio Night
Day Classes
Webinars
Open Studio Nights
One on One Mentorship
If you are a client who has journeyed with me through my trials, thank you. I'm so appreciative of knowing that you have walked along my side. I"m excited to see how we transform together!
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