A few months ago, I was contacted by a lady whose husband was in the last stages of cancer. She was hoping to have family photos done quickly because they had never had a professional family portrait and also she wanted her young boys to remember what their father looked liked before the cancer ravaged his body and took him away from them.

Last year, a former bride tagged me in a photo I took at her wedding of her father. He had been killed and that photo had been used at his funeral because it captured the essence of who he was, smiling, singing and playing the guitar. When I took that picture, I was doing my job, taking photos of everything so I could put it on a disc and make an album for the bride and groom.

We need to remember that our job as photographers is a gift. We have the ability to use our talents to make a difference in someone’s life. We may never know it, but the portrait we took yesterday may one day be the only thing a child has to remember his daddy by. They may not remember the photographer and that’s okay. You are a part of something bigger.

Today, I want to encourage you to take time to remember that your job is bigger than a wedding, or a family portrait. It is a memory of a beautiful time in one’s life that may never had been captured if not for you.

I wanted to highlight a charity organization that donates professional family portraits to cancer patients through a network of professional photographers. The F.I.L.M. Project  (Family Images for Lasting Memories) believes that in sharing our gifts, we can inspire healing, faith, and hope to these families during their most fragile times. To donate your time, talent or resources, click HERE.