I belong to an amazing forum of photographers called DWF. It’s a forum of professionals, it’s where we go for advice, chatting and sharing.

When I saw this post by two fabulous photographers I had to ask for permission to repost it.

I wanted to repost it because it’s real, and it’s so very true and it’s something we don’t think about nor do we like to think about it… but again…

It’s a reality of what we do, as people and life.

I wanted to share it with all of you. My photography friends and those of you we photograph. I hope to change the way we both see things.

Posted with permission

Last year I was asked to shoot a large family group by the daughter. They had put it off and put it off and I finally said that it was now or now…so we chose to bring who they were as a family into the shoot. XXXXXXX rode motor bike, worked on motor bikes and trained speedway drivers on how to be safe on motorbikes. He was a quiet unassuming man who felt more comfortable in his shed with his great grandson and son than out “posing.” We did the shoot and they never bought any…this is a family of procrastinators…it had already taken them a year to book the shoot so I wasnt surprised that it took them another year to organise to come and view the shots. It was to happen this Friday. Unfortunately, XXXXXXX was tragically killed on his bike on an afternoon ride with a group of friends on bikes. He was hit by a 4×4 and killed instantly. Now the images we took a year ago mean more than gold. I copied them all to a disk and took them over as a gift to the family and we talked about the shoot and the laughs and giggles. I also put together a small animoto and I want to share that with you. For those of you that have clients that keep putting it off…tell them that time is fragile and dont put it off. Too many times we put things off only to find out that we should have done it then and there. For me, it was a lesson in photography. Why? because so many times we art images and make statement award pieces for our clients to hang on the wall as large bold canvases. Today, it was the images that we took a year ago where I said to XXXXXXX and XXXXXX (his high school sweetheart) “you guys are like teenagers. I love your giggles” that spoke volumes. Simple, honest and true.

Thanks so much for letting me share this on my blog and with many more people!

There was a moving video created but I have decided not to show it to keep the privacy of the family involved… exactly that.. private.

It’s not so much the people, but the story that counts. None of know the day or the hour that will be our last. Live like you know. Love like you are in that hour.

Thanks for reading our blog… Comments appreciated and wanted!