Welcome to Swoyer Photography!
Let me tell you a little bit about what I do.
I believe that everyone should have a family portrait. As much as we may hate sitting in front of a camera lens during that magical moment that will be immortalized forever, the result is something amazing.
I was never one for photos in my youth. I hated sitting in front of the fake cloud background, smiling until my cheeks hurt, and trying to block out the creepy man wielding some sort of stuffed animal or shiny object to attract my attention toward the camera. Now I know better. That is not what photography should be.
A photograph should capture a moment; an authentic, truthful moment. It should happen with those we love or in a place we love. A photograph should reveal something about us, be it in an expression, a gesture, or a location.
Most importantly, the experience should be fun!
My grandma had a wall in her house of family portraits, mostly old black and whites, going back generations. I used to stand and stare at them, trying to imagine what their life was like, what they were thinking at that moment. The oldest generations held themselves with a serious, rigid pride; their expressions stalwart and austere. The younger generations exhibited the slightest of smiles, as though they were genuinely happy to be there in the moment.
Those photographs were a fascinating window into my heritage. I feel incredibly lucky that I was able to see relatives, generations older than me, when they were in their prime. Some did not live to be much older than I am now and I am thankful that their is proof of their life up until that point.
One of my favorite photographs was of my grandparents, just married, young and in love. My grandmother a petite beauty and my grandfather a handsome naval man. I had never thought of them as anything other than my sweet, old grandparents. Photographs let us document any stage of life we want.
Children grow up, our hair turns gray, the years slip by in an instant, but with a photograph they can be preserved forever.