My Father-In-Law passed away in January after complications from heart surgery. A wonderful man with an amazing gift of writing, we will all miss him very dearly.
We have his stories of his adventures in Alaska to make us laugh and cry for many, many, many years to come and lots of photos as well. I took this one in October 2006 when he came to visit. His chair and cigar was pretty much a "signature" for him.
When we went up to WA for the funeral, I offered to make a slideshow for his gathering of friends and family. We were lucky to have so many photos of him but I remembered when my own father passed in 2000 how the last photos I had of my father and I were when I went to see him after finding out he was dying from brain cancer. All the images were teary-eyed and really quite sad and not images I care to look at in all honesty because I feel the pain as though it were those days.
I do the work with the charity I started (
www.naocp.com) so people don't have to look back on the photos like I had and are able to have some nice pictures with their family members that can bring a good memory.
After returning from WA, a client called and asked if I still had photos from their session last May. I said I did and she requested them because her Sister-in-law wasn't expected to make it after being diagnosed with cancer. I am so glad we got to take those photos and that this client had the foresight to have someone there to document her parents 50th wedding anniversary because they were the last photos they had of her.
I know you hear me say how important photos are to me, but now I hope you understand why that is. I know when you are faced with something so devastating, this may be the last moment you have - who cares if they have braces? Who cares if you put on a little weight or have a blemish (which can be worked around or edited by the way)? Capture moments with family - even as a photographer, I am bad about taking photos for myself and family but I do it when I can.
If you are putting off your session for cosmetic reason, don't wait. Life moves so fast, document it when you can. Everything else is secondary.
