Is Your Nest About to become Emptier?

Graduation - it was a time of great joy and celebration in our house. - But it was also a time that we realized that those that had been a daily part of our lives for 18 years are about to fly the nest, leaving both our house and our daily lives just a bit emptier.

Not only were our kids about to be gone from our day to day experience, but so were all their activities that we were so involved with, along with all the friends who used to hang out at our house.

I remember taking Hollie, my oldest daughter to college, and driving away with tears rolling down my face, as I realized that my life had now changed forever. Even today, as I think of it, (and as proud as I am of whom both my daughters have become,) my eyes start to well up a little bit. The last time she was home, and a member of our "nuclear family" was the summer after her freshman year in college, in 1995.

Not too many generations ago, it was common to live your entire life within a few miles of your family. But in this global society we live in today, families are increasingly spread out and far-flung Hollie and her husband Tony live in Italy, and we only see them about once a year. With Tony's career as an Air Force JAG Officer, the closest we can ever hope to have them live is Tacoma, if they get stationed at McChord AFB, but we fully expect to live the rest of our years with them (and our future grandchildren) many thousands of miles away.

Even now, getting the whole family together nearly takes an act of Congress. The last time we were all together was at Hollie and Tony's wedding in February 2007.

We may be missing Tony when Chelsie (our younger daughter) and Chris get married in August. He may not be able to come, due to his work schedule at Aviano AFB. So our next opportunity may be three or four years after the last one, and by that time, we'll hopefully have some more grandchildren.

Fortunately, on the all too infrequent occasions we ever do actually get all of us together, we do arrange to capture the family. On our last "family" vacation together (in Hawaii in 2001), we were photographed on the beach and have a beautiful canvas portrait hanging above our fireplace where we can see it every time we pass through the living room. That's the last portrait we will ever do with just the four of us, - the way we were for nearly 25 years. Because now, we're delighted to have added Tony, Chris and Owen to our family.

That's just the reality of the world we live in. Far-flung, rapid paced, ever changing, increasingly mobile. And much as we'd love to keep our children (grown or not) close at hand, it's increasingly unlikely.

That's why I'm so passionate about what we do - about the importance of creating wonderful, story telling family portraits for our clients; Portraits they can hang prominently in their homes, displaying for all the world the importance of their family in their lives, freezing forever the times we don't want to end.

Nothing is as important to me as is my family, and I'm sure that's the case with so many of our clients as well.

I've come to the conclusion that we're the cure for separation. Separation by time, separation by distance and separation by mortality.

It's easy to complacently feel that those we love will always be close, but in today's world, that's simply not the case. Our ability to capture for all time the essence of each family in a way that transcends the separation factors that eventually impact each of us is what I love about what I do.

No matter what changes life brings, the people we love the most will always be present in our hearts, and present visually, hanging prominently in your home. It doesn't cure the discomfort of separation, but it certainly can help diminish it.

June is the IDEAL time to finally schedule that family portrait session you've been thinking about for years. It's that time between graduation (or just the end of school) and the incredibly busy schedule that usually hits most of us starting in July.

But a graduation is only one great reason to schedule your appointment NOW. Look around your home? When is the last time you've captured the entire family together? If you're like too many of our clients it was when the children were small. Or worse yet, maybe even never. It's one of those things that's so easy to put off until next month, but "next month" tends to become next year, and next year becomes 10 years, and then finally, they've grown and gone and you've missed your opportunity.

Take advantage of one of our special events, such as the Families at the Beach, or Saturday in the Park, or let us custom design just the right setting and situation for you. Every family has a story. We want to capture just the right story for yours, including the people, places and things that are most important to you.

But DON'T PUT IT OFF AGAIN. Call the studio today at 503-588-0902, and schedule your consultation. We custom design every family session to tell the story of your family just the way it should be told.

Why I'm Passionate about What We Do!

Know anyone who begrudgingly gets out of bed on Monday morning, only to face a week at a job they can’t stand, simply trying to get to the next weekend, and ultimately to retirement? Functioning only in drone mode, walking through the day on automatic pilot, getting no particular reward from what they do other than a paycheck at the end of the month?

Of course. We all know someone who fits this description, and perhaps we’ve all been in jobs where this description fit perfectly (and painfully).

Well, I count myself as one of the luckiest people on earth, because I LOVE what I do. I get up in the morning, and I’m anxious to get to work, and I thought I’d share with you why.

As I write this, I just returned from a conference of some of the top photographers in the US and Canada. Known as the Wall Portrait Conference, this gathering brings together a group of people who are passionate about creating beautiful, heirloom quality wall art telling the story of God’s most incredible creation – the family.

It was unseasonably cold and even snowy in Yakima, Washington, where the conference was held, but we still had a number of sessions outside.

One afternoon, while we were all circled around the fire for warmth, we had the opportunity to share the story of our most poignant and memorable opportunities to create wall art for our customers.

Interestingly, many of the stories were personal. Many were very poignant, some were very joyful, but each touched my heart, reminding me why I’m in this business, and I wanted to share them with you. (Beware, some of these are very heart tugging).

One of our members shared how he had taken the opportunity to create a beautiful portrait of his sister, her husband and their daughter. Down by a lake, the very young daughter held in the arms of her father, he described the setting in great detail, and we could all picture it in our minds. It sounded beautiful, but to this point, fairly typical.

Then, he went on to tell us, two months after the portrait was created, the father and daughter were killed in a tragic automobile accident. We all had tears in our eyes as he told us they were buried together in the same position in which they had been in the portrait (again, my eyes are moist as I write this).

Another of our members shared an actual wall portrait that had been created of her and her son, who looked about 2 or 3 years old. It was beautiful, the two of them exploring the beauty of the cherry blossoms. She then showed us another gorgeous portrait of the two of them walking through a beautiful field of tall grass together. Absolutely gorgeous, and you could tell by simply looking at them of the love that existed between the two.

But she went on to tell us that here children had been adopted, and shortly after these were created, she lost her children to their birth mother. She had to give up her children, and these portraits are all she has left. They are valuable beyond words, beyond any amount of money.

Again, we had tears in our eyes as she told the story (photographers are an emotional group).

But not all the stories were sad. Some were very joyous.

Another of our members told of a portrait of his family taken 20 years ago that still hangs in a spot of honor in their home. It’s a beautiful portrait, taken in the snow, showing their entire family at a very joyous time in their lives. It hangs in their dining room, where his wife can see it clearly and proudly from her kitchen, where she spends a lot of time (she’s a wonderful cook).

Nothing unusual about this, but in the 20 years that have passed, there’s been a number of members added to the family, and of course, being in the business, he could create a new one each week if he wanted. But his wife won’t even THINK of replacing this particular portrait with a new one, because of the wonderful memories this particular time elicits every time she looks at it, which is often.

I shared one of my favorites, taken when I was very first getting interested in this business. It was of my 93 year old grandfather, and my 3 year old daughter, sitting in a rocking chair in my living room, him reading her one of her favorite stories. Pappa-Pappa, as she called him, was my best friend as when I was a little boy, and my daughter was the apple of my eye, so here were two of my very favorite people in the world together in one portrait.

Now, at this point, I didn’t know much of what I was doing, so technically, it was not so great. But emotionally, it’s perfect, and it hangs in my family room, where I see it every day of my life.

My grandfather has long since passed away after a wonderful live of 96 years, and my daughter is now married and living in Italy. I see here about once a year, but every time I look at this portrait, I get a wonderful feeling, and I remember how much I love both of them. This portrait gives them a daily presence in my life.

We carry this same passion as we create the story of our customer’s lives as well. We understand that every family has these kinds of relationships, these kinds of memories. We also know that since none of us is immortal, there will come a time when all those we love will no longer be with us on a daily basis.

But the beautiful wall art I get to create on a daily basis will serve as a constant reminder of the love and bonds that exist between each of our customers and those who are or were a part of their most perfect work of art – their family. It will hang in our customer’s homes for years to come, and provide that constant presence of those they love the most as well. And then, it will become a family heirloom for future generations.

And it’s with that understanding, that emotion, that passion, that we create each family portrait.

Our mission statement is entirely based on the following philosophy:

“When all is said and done, and we come to the end of our lives, the only thing that matters are the people that we loved. No amount of riches or possessions can take the place of the family that made our life complete as we were walking through the journey of life.”