I have always tried to live with the 'no regrets' philosophy.  Today I have come across something that I do regret, it is probably at the top of my 'regret' list if I was to make one.

I regret not having pictures of me with my kids when they were little. 

My excuses over the years... 'I need to lose some weight', 'my hair is a mess', yada, yada... most of us moms could write a book of excuses.  As I thought about this today, I realized I have very few...if any, of my mom and me when I was little. 

So to try and rectify the situation, I will be taking more pictures WITH my kids.  Even though they are 28, 25 and 21 now.  And I promise as the grandchildren come along, I will take pictures with them.  I will also drill into my children that they need pictures WITH their children not just OF their children.

So now go...take some pictures with your kids.  One day it will be important to them.  And to my children, I am sorry I deprived you of knowing how your mother looked when you were little...and I promise to dig out the ones that I have hidden. ;-)

Sometimes you will do things that change your life.  Applying and being accepted to be a volunteer photographer for The F.I.L.M. Project is one of those things.  This September I was honored to provide the Christensen family with a F.I.L.M. session and met Cole for this first time.  

Since then I have been watching his mom Amy's facebook page and the Team MiraCole page they have set up for him.  Tuesday morning I had read that he was not doing very well and had even held an impromptu birthday party for his sister Lexie to make sure Cole could attend.  I was left with a nagging feeling I had to do more for this family....I just didn't know what though.  A few hours later I get a facebook message from Deidre owner of Room 2 Grow saying she had seen that I was the one that did the F.I.L.M. session of Cole and his family and wanted to know if I wanted to help get some gifts together for them for Christmas.  I told her from reading the updates I wasn't sure we should wait that long and we should try to do it in the next couple of days.  Crazy minds think alike so we decided we would try and get stuff rounded up for the very next day.  Christmas 4 Cole came together in 24 hours.  I heard that Cole had not opened his eyes for a day or two...but that magical night was able to give Santa a high five!  

After getting some very special gifts from Santa and the people of Lincoln, singing Happy Birthday to Lexie and Jingle Bells, Santa was off to finish preparations for Christmas.  

It was a very magical night that couldn't have happened without Deidre, various small businesses and the great people of Lincoln.  People say that this is what Christmas is about.  I think it is more then that.  It is what community is about.  What humanity should be about 365 days of the year.  Thank you Chris, Amy, Lexie and Cole for letting me be involved with your family these last few months....I think Lexie was looking at all the presents!  

This has been building up in me for a long time and I have decided to finally let it out.  As my kids friends are now the marrying age I have been seeing a lot of Engagement/Wedding photos floating around on the Internet...so of course I go check out the photographers work.  Now before you make judgement on me, let me tell you I no longer doing weddings. (except for the occasional very small, intimate ones) So my thoughts are not over not being the one to photograph them.  I realize I am not the photographer for every customer, nor is every customer the right for me. 

My thoughts:  I think it is sad that 'professional' photographers do not know the difference between 'Print Release' & 'Copyright Release'.  

Photographers..If you are a photographer, running a business and give 'copyright' release, did you know that you can no longer use those images in any capacity?  You can not even post them in a 'gallery' for the customer to view as they are no longer yours to use.  You can even be sued by your customer if you do use them, as in posting them to your facebook business page, or putting them in a gallery for the customer to see?  They can also edit your work any way they see fit.

Customers...if you choose a photographer that is giving you the 'copyright' then take the copyright and run with it...and don't let the photographer use them in any capacity, heck even edit them if you want and add a quad-ra-corn to the image...you can even sue them for copyright infringement if you want!  Maybe that will open their eyes to what they need to learn before they start calling themselves professionals and running a business. 

I personally do not offer 'Copyrights' to the images I take.  If I did, I would be out of business.  I do however offer a 'print release', where you are free to print as many as you want.  I still struggle with this though and the reason being...When you hire me it is to provide you with Professional services and products...If you do end up purchasing a 'print release' and have them printed elsewhere, I can not guarantee the quality...I would rather finish the job you hired me to do, which is provide you with the best possible product that there is.