I think that sometimes it’s easy when you’re building a business, growing as a photographer, AND chasing your dreams, to lose sight of your “why” amidst the busyness all around you. WHY it is you do what you do? Justin + Mary talk a lot about this; defining, knowing, and OWNING what it is that makes you love what you do. What keeps you going? Pushes you forward? Makes you more passionate about your craft? Causes you to continually be bettering yourself both as a person and as a photographer?

A few weeks ago, while culling through Caleb + Lindsay’s wedding images, I came across this image. And it gripped me in a way a pretty shoe shot never could. Because this? This is what my job is all about. A father seeing his precious daughter in her wedding dress for the first time, with the bride’s sweet mama looking on…

Surely, this is my “why.” It’s capturing fleeting moments like this that remind me that what we as photographers do matters… and it matters a lot. I never want to get so focused on capturing pretty detail shots that are wedding-blog “feature worthy” that I overlook the beauty of real, raw emotion like this that authentically tells a story, and will for generations to come. That is powerful and I’m so thankful for that amazing privilege!