Cascais Family Photography

It's easy to go through life forgetting that time passes so quickly. Children grow up in the blink of an eye, great grandparents and even grandparents age before our eyes, becoming people we love and admire - people we appreciate - more and more as time goes on.

But having something concrete to look at, a frozen moment in time, the memories of what we were like and how we used to be - together - these are some of the most precious photographs in my own life that I not only relish having to remember the past by, but also wish I had more of as time goes on.

We will only be this age once. Our children, yes, but us as well. And in the hustle and bustle of busy modern life, it can feel hard to make the time to create moments, memories, and life treasures like valued photographs that we can remember the present by, but once this moment has passed, if we didn't make this time, it can be painful realizing we do not have as much as we would have liked to hold onto besides our memories.

As much as I personally love photography and enjoy taking pictures of everyday life, I dreaded the weeks and months after my beloved grandmother's passing - realizing that while I had discovered photography in time to have taken so many pictures of her, the images I'd taken just weren't enough. I wanted more - more photographs of her sitting in her favourite armchair, more pictures of me, holding her hand and laughing and smiling with her.

Pictures of images burned into my memory that I wanted to hold before me and see.

Then there are the children - pictures of my dear cousins who grew up - younger than me, but with me all the same. I relish the photographs we took together - just for fun - but I can't help wishing there were more.

The more time goes on the more I realize how valuable these pictures are to me. I imagine the time I will have with my family in the future, and I hope I do a better job creating memories and even art around those I love. Things I can treasure when I am having a tough day, or when I am missing certain stages in my life that have passed.

There may be some in this life who have flawless memories that do not need images from the past as much as I feel I do, but even those I know who have vivid memories - upon bringing out an old photograph of a distant, forgotten time, a small slice of our life, where they are happy together - a light goes off in their eyes.

There is something magical about family photographs that capture a particular moment in time. There is something so special about having something to look at - an image that represents a person you loved - after that person passes. It's invaluable and if there is a human on this planet who doesn't treasure these, I have not met them yet.

Take the time, make the moments, capture the present, because one day it will be the past you wish you had more from to back on.