the power of a photograph

the power of a photograph

Above are some of the photographs that I cherish!

I recently went and saw the new Planet of the Apes movie and there was a scene about half way through after they had restored power to the city… and the leader of the humans was sitting at his desk and his tablet had finally turned back on. The first thing he did was go into in folder of photographs and look at one of two young boys. He smiled and began to weep while staring at the image. It never explained, but I can only assume that the boys were his children and they had died. The world around him was crumbling and he wanted to simply sit there and look through his photos… His memories.

Now, this movie is silly Hollywood entertainment, but in that moment I was truly moved and inspired at the concept behind what this man was doing and the power of a photograph.

To give a real life example… I was looking through a book recently that had photographs and stories from people that were affected by the awful flooding in Colorado last fall. It was a heartbreaking book to look through, but there was one image that caught my eye. There was a woman sitting in her garage surrounded by photographs… The text explained that she was drying out family photos that were damaged in the flood…

Photographs are timeless – they are memories of the past that inspire.

I take photos everywhere I go – whether I have my nicer camera’s or my iPhone – it doesn’t matter. I want to document everything. The people I love, the adventures I have, and the beautiful world around me.

I am surrounded by amazingly inspiring people! I have an incredible husband that I truly adore and admire, a family that I would be lost without, and friends that I am honored and blessed to call my own.

There truly is power in a photograph. Flipping through photos is like traveling back in time through the memories that we can often forget. When I look at photos of people that I love that have passed away.. I feel joy and of course sadness, but i truly love that I have a tangible item that I can hold in my hands and see their face and it’s often like a flood of memories and emotion. The smiles on their faces bring me happiness. When I glance through photos of old friends that I don’t see much or talk to often I am reminded of the amazing times we had and the incredible impact they had on my life. Looking through my wedding photos is like reliving the day over and over – it was like a blur and having the beautiful images to treasure forever is such a blessing!

My encouragement to you is to take photos everyday! Whether it is the big things or the little things in life… preserve the memories and capture the joy around you. There will come a day when you will treasure it more than you would think possible.

Here is a great article on taking a photo a day for a year! What a fun idea!

I found this awesome article that gives some basic, but helpful tips for taking great photos. Even if all you have is your cell phone, there are simple things you can do to take awesome photos!

I encourage you to print your photos! We live in a digital time where everything is online or on our phones. Not as many photographs are being printed, framed, hung on the wall, or put in keepsake books/boxes. I have photo’s everywhere… They are in albums, hanging on my walls, falling out of my books (i usually use a photograph as a bookmark) – I treasure being able to hold a photograph in my hands.

Artifact Uprising is an incredible album company run by genuinely awesome people. They have other unique products as well. Check them out! You can create albums right from your phone!

Looking for something different?? Check out H.H. Boogie!! They create beautiful and unique handcrafted keepsake boxes for your photographs. I have never seen anything like the products they offer and I have heard amazing things about them.

If you don’t have Instagram – get it! It’s amazing and such an awesome way to take photos and share them – plus you’ll have this huge collection of photos you are taking on a daily basis to look back on.

There are many more resources for learning about taking photos and tons of awesome and unique things to do with them – these are just a few that I personally like. Start exploring!

Find inspiration around you and discover creativity. Life flies by and time is fleeting – make the most of what you have and create memories!!

Here are some more photos that I treasure…