Protecting Your Memories in a Digital Age {McKinney Senior Photography}

We all do it.  We all use our digital cameras and phones to take pictures of absolutely everything around us and then we allow our images to fall into the digital hole.  We always think that we will take the time to get them off our phone onto our computer, and eventually off of our computer onto a flash drive.  Yet how many of us actually do it, and how often?

So even if you are one of the amazingly organized people who regularly back up your images and get them onto an external storage device, have you ever wondered what would happen if the technology today doesn't exist in 50 years?  Have you wondered how you would access your images then?  I know...I know...I can hear the pontificating even now about how you have it all under control.  BUT...what if you don't?  What if the future holds something you haven't thought of?

Let me give you an example.  When I was in my 20's I purchased every single Disney video when it came out.  After all, Disney said it was going in the vault and might not come out again.  Being the perfect gullible consumer, I believed them and bought every one of them for my children to watch someday. (Ok...I admit, I watched them in the meantime)  Let's set aside the fact that Disney abandoned the concept of the vault; and let's set aside the fact that I had boys and they aren't interested in most of the movies I purchased anyway.  Here is the simple fact - I can't watch them now even if I wanted to.  They were all VHS movies and we don't own a VCR anymore.  I could buy them again in DVD version, sure...but what if those VHS cartridges held my family pictures?  What would I do then?  How would I watch them?

Well, you say, you can take them to a service and have them transferred to DVD.  Yes, I can.  In fact, I did just that with all of my family movies back to the 1950's that were on Super 8 format.  I boxed up hundreds of reels dating from 1950-1986 and took them to a company to transfer for me.  A couple of things occurred in the process.  The first horrifying realization was that it would cost me well over $1,000 to transfer them to DVD.  I bit the bullet and did it and pretended to myself that DVDs will always exist and I won't ever have to pay to transfer the data again.  But then I received the call.  The company called me to let me know that somehow the shipping company had lost 40 of my reels.  A box had opened in transit and they fell out; there was no way to trace them.  40 reels of my family memories were gone - just like that.  I will never get them back.  Never.

While I let that sink in, I encourage you to apply this to all of your family pictures sitting on a computer, or phone, or CD, or flash drive.  There is only one way to protect those memories...and that is to print them.  Yes, it is old fashioned.  Yes it takes up space.  Yes it is a pain.  Yes wall space in our homes is at a premium.  Yes it takes time to put them in an album.  I could go on and on.  Yes to everything I mentioned.  But, in the long run, isn't it worth it? 

How many times do you actually sit down at your computer, put in the flash drive and look at your family pictures you had taken last year?  I bet not often.  And yet, several times a year I will pull out my photo albums or my wedding album and let the memories wash over me.  Looking through those albums brings me back to a place in time I can't ever live again, but I can remember.

Every time I look at my walls and see my children's portraits or my family portraits, I stop to think about the day we took them and what was going on in our family.  When I look at the image of my two boys when they were 5 and 8 with the dog under the tree, my heart fills with laughter and tears at the same time.  Laughter because my then 5 year old INSISTED on tucking in his shirt even though that wasn't the style and it drove me INSANE to take his portraits with his shirt looking that way.  Sadness because the precious dog my boys were walking passed away 3 years ago.  When I look at my family picture taken 5 years ago on the beach, I can't help but think of the vacation we were taking at the time.  I have to laugh at that picture too because the same said child from the dog picture refused to wear the shirt I had brought for him that coordinated with everyone else.  Instead he wore the shirt he wanted to and it is immortalized forever on a canvas on our wall.  (Fortunately the shirt he picked looked ok, just not as good as the one I picked :-))  I remember how the photographer had the boys laughing and goofing around even though 5 minutes before we got out of the car they were fighting.  I wouldn't remember most of that if my images were on a flash drive.  I certainly wouldn't think about it and relive the memories as often as I do passing by them hanging on the wall.

So I just want to leave you with a thought.  How will your kids remember their childhood?  How will you?  Will they have the records you have left behind for them to look at, or will they be stuck in a computer or lost in a shipping warehouse to be forgotten?  Do you need some new family portraits so that you can hang new memories on your wall?  Come and see us.  We will provide you with beautiful fine art images, and we can create a custom album for you to remember all of the little funny details from your session.  Then next year, you can sit down with your kids during the latest Dallas Snowmaggeden and open the album and remember the fun. Sometimes the old way is the best way.

Aimee

Allison ~ McKinney Boyd High School Class of 2015 {McKinney Senior Photography}

Meet Allison!  She is another one of our amazing Class of 2015 Senior Model Reps. 

Allison's family own a house with the most AMAZING back yard!  We just walked right out the gate and were able to capture everything we needed! 

The first image of the day right outside the gate!  Did I mention that a rain storm was headed our way?  It was dark and windy and threatening to "spit" rain on us the entire time.  These are times that I am so thankful for my photography education so that I can bring additive light to any situation and we are not controlled by the weather. 

Allison describes herself as "down to earth".  I found that to be very true and reflected in her session.  Her fashion style and her sense of what she wanted from her session was simple and pure.  I loved this image with a flower we found by the lake.

Allison wanted classic images that weren't cliché.  We focused on simple and natural and her beauty steals the show!

Well...ok...so we did go a little bit outside of the simple theme - but when I walked in her house and saw this settee, I KNEW we had to use it in an image.  Her fabulous dad and my assistant carried this from her house, down the stairs, across the bridge, and a long way through the fields to get it where I wanted it.  It was totally worth it (says the person who didn't do the heavy lifting...)

Allison plays the piano, the oboe, and the cymbals in the McKinney Boyd marching band.  She is multi talented and extremely humble!

We were treated to a concert in order to get some of the images that I wanted.  I posted a behind the scenes video at the end of the post so that you can hear some of our personal concert!

I think this is my favorite image.  I love to capture the essence of a person - and this classic image in front of the baby grand just speaks to me.  There is something to be said about classic and refined images.

 

I am so thankful that Allison joined our 2015 Senior Model Team.  She is such a beautiful person inside and out and I truly loved working and spending time with her. 

 

Here is a little treat - a behind the scenes video of Allison playing for us.  Have fun watching!

 

 

 

Aimee

Spring Fashion Guides - How to Dress for Senior Pictures {McKinney Senior Photography}

It may not feel like it or look like it, but Spring is just around the corner!  One of the main questions on the mind of every senior girl who walks in our door is "What do I wear?"

In our sit down consultation, I go over every detail from head to toe concerning what to wear and more importantly, what NOT to wear. 

But, until you actually sit down and plan your session with me, here are just a few cute outfit ideas to get you started thinking....

Our senior girls (and guys) know they can always call us with questions or text us pictures of what they are thinking of wearing.  We are always here for our clients!

Aimee

Marissa Class of 2015 {McKinney Senior Photography}

Fun..Fun...Fun...is all I can say about Marissa's senior pictures.  I have to admit something...the images below are from a quick re-shoot last week.  I lost some drives in the fall and we are still working with Drive Savers to get the images back.  They aren't lost, but to a sweet senior who is waiting for her pictures, they might as well be.

So....we did a quick re-shoot last week to make sure she had some images now to share with her friends.  It was cold!  Did I mention it was cold?  It was cold!  Marissa was a trooper and never complained.  We had a total blast! 

Marissa is one of our Class of 2015 Senior Spokesmodels...and she has assisted me on some of my sessions.  I have spent some time with her over the last few months.  A few things I have noticed about Marissa....

She is beautiful (duh!)

 

 

But...Marissa is not only beautiful on the outside, she is beautiful on the inside.  She makes me smile just by walking in the room.

 

Marissa is a ton of fun!  She is willing to try anything and she loves to laugh!

 Marissa isn't afraid to get dirty.  This ledge outside my studio was filthy.  We did our best to clean it off, but ultimately, she just jumped on up and sat down with a smile.

 

Marissa is a strong girl.  I can't tell you how cold it was when we took this image, but you would never know from her attitude and her smile.  I am shivering just thinking about it!

 



Marissa doesn't mind getting wet.  At her original session, she jumped in a water fountain for some fun images.  For this session, the waterfall was splashing her from behind.  Did I mention it was cold too? :-)  She is a trooper for sure!

The best thing about Marissa: Marissa loves Jesus.  She has a solid faith and foundation in Christ.  How do I know this?  When you spend time with people and when you have to present a difficult and inconvenient situation to them (like telling her family that her images were stuck on a disk drive and I can't access them until I get it back from Drive Savers...and she has senior deadlines before I will get them back), you can really see what is in a person's heart.  I am sure she was frustrated and disappointed.  However, she never once complained or said an unkind word to me.  She braved the cold to capture some images needed for her deadlines, and she did it with a smile (and lots of laughs).  The word of God says "For what is in your heart determines what you say"  Matthew 12:34  I have found this to be true - words are just words, but when pressure is added, what is really in the heart comes out.  I love seeing the light of Christ in Marissa and I am so blessed to have her on my Senior Spokesmodel Team!

Aimee

Senior Session

Kreirsten Lindelof

Reinecke Family Portraits

 

Such a beautiful family!

We like to have fun on our photo shoots!

Beautiful faces!

Newborn Session

Peyton Williamson