For Everything There is a Season

For everything there is a season. A time to be born, a time to die. A time to plant and a time to uproot. A time to take pictures and a time to have pictures taken by a professional.

Unfortunately, neither in Ecclesiastes nor in the Pete Seeger song do they actually tell us the right time for these various milestones and seasons. There’s no handy book that says “NOW is the time to cast away stones; NOW is the time to gather stones together.” Wouldn’t that be nice, though. I never know when to gather my stones.

I can possibly shed some light and give some pointers on the time to take pictures and the time to have pictures taken by a professional. The invention and advancement of the camera phone has really made it easier to take pictures ourselves. We can take our own photos of the things that happen to us on a daily basis; of things that we find pretty or shiny or funny. We can (and should) document our own families in the blur of the every day.

So when do we step back and let the pro in to do the hard work? How do you narrow down one or two times per year to make sure you’re getting in the picture, especially if you don’t have any “major milestones” coming up? If you’ve already gotten married, and/or you’ve had all the babies you’re going to have, you might think there’s no reason to go through the trouble of a professional. I’d argue there is (see the link <–) and there are ways to figure out when, in order to get the pictures you really want.

Think about your favorite photos. Not just the favorite ones of your family, but of others, too. Ask yourself why you like them. Do you like the light and airy feel of spring pictures, with pastel colors and short sleeves among the flowers and fresh air? Do you prefer the deep green backgrounds of summer, or the bright crispness of autumn? Or does the simplicity of bare trees and neutral brown grass (or white snow) of winter keep your gaze when you look at photos? If you have no “major milestone” to dictate when you need to hire a pro, think about your favorite season and what you’d like to see on your walls.

If you don’t have a favorite season (impossible), think about your favorite classic outfits – the ones that make you feel really good about yourself – and consider the best season to wear them. You wouldn’t wear that cute sundress in the snow, and you wouldn’t bundle up in that adorable sweater in July. If your big confidence-building outfit is a chunky knit and maxi skirt, think about doing a winter or fall session. If you’ve been working on your arms and want to show them off, you might want to wait until sleeveless season to pull out the big guns.

The other consideration is location. Do you have a location, a favorite spot or landmark that you would love to have hanging in your house? Where are your favorite places to go with your kids or your partner? It doesn’t have to be a fancy spot. When do you like to go there? Is it the river in the summer? The park in the spring? The front yard in the fall? If you don’t go there year-round, when is your favorite time to go? If you go year-round, when is your favorite place the prettiest?

Your chosen season can help dictate your location, or vice versa, and will help narrow down the laundry list of options to make an easier choice for the right time to book a professional photographer. And if you want something even easier, we can always do an indoor, at-home session. It can be as simple or as complicated as you like. But make a plan, and don’t put it off.

Hopefully this has been helpful for choosing the right time to hire a professional. If you need inspiration for locations or seasons, you can click here to check out my family photos for examples.