05/18/2026
I also used to think my iPhone photos were enough.
And in some ways, they were.
They held the proof. Proof that she was growing and that we made it through another week. It was proof that life was moving forward, even on the days that felt slow.
My camera roll is full of ordinary miracles.
Messy breakfasts. Cuddles in bed. Sleepy car rides. The way her curls look in the morning light.
And I love those photos.
But last year, I was journaling and I wrote something that surprised me.
I printed my professional photos, framed them, built albums around them. But I almost never print the ones on my phone.
Why? Why do they feel different?
I sat with that question for a while and then I saw it.
In so many of my iPhone photos⊠I wasnât there.
Or if I was, it was a quick selfie. Half distracted. Arm stretched out. Not in my most flattering outfit. Trying to document while still doing everything else.
I had hundreds of pictures of her childhood on my phone. But not many of us inside it together.
The first time I really looked at myself in a professional photograph as a mom,
I didnât see flaws.
I didnât see the tiredness.
I didnât see a body I didnât recognize.
I saw the way she fits into me, the way my hand rests on her back without thinking, the way she looks at me and knows sheâs safe.
And I understood something in a deeper way.
Professional photos arenât for Instagram, for perfection or even for my business, even though photography has been my passion for over a decade.
Theyâre for her.
So one day she can see how I held her. How I looked at her. How present I tried to be in this season. So she can remember her parents the way I hope she does.
When people ask me why a professional session matters if you already have a good phone camera⊠I donât give a technical answer anymore.
I just think about the quiet realization that life through an artistâs eyes becomes the version of your story your children will relive. Especially one day⊠when all they have left of us are the photographs.
And I love my work so much more for that.
