I am grateful for my life.
I am grateful for my family.
I am grateful for my friends.
I am grateful.
When I reflect back on my life, I really don’t think of it as a continual stream of memories. It’s more like a series of “mental snapshots” of special moments that were life-changing in one way or another; some more significant than others, yet still all important to me.
For some of those occasions, a photograph was taken to remember the moment. For many more, no camera was involved, but I still remember.
Heading Off to College
This is an example of a moment where I happened to have my camera with me. 
I was 17 years old. I had my Plymouth Duster all packed up and ready head off to college.
After leaving the house, I stopped by to say goodbye to my Mom and Dad who were both still at work. While I was excited about leaving, I was also a bit nervous about this new life I was entering into. As I said my goodbyes and was walking out the door, I turned and paused, and took a snapshot of them.
I wanted to remember that moment. I then stepped out the door and entered into a new phase of life. Only now in hindsight, knowing what it is like as a parent to send off my kids to college, I have a deeper understanding of what a major moment it was in my Mom and Dad’s life. I am glad I took this photo. I bet if I had shot a closeup, you would see tears in their eyes.
That Girl I Met
There were countless other major moments where I didn’t have my camera with me. Like the time I was in college and was making color prints in the darkroom preparing for an upcoming photo contest and this girl named Gail walked in and I said “hi” not realizing she would one day become my wife and mother of my two precious daughters.
A Perspective Shift
And there was the moment where I became a Christian. Having been an I-don’t-know-what-I-believe person for the first 27 years of my life, this was a major moment in my life. If that doesn’t make sense to you why that would be such a big deal, well, all I can say is I can understand that. Remember, I was not a Christian for 27 years, and that stuff about Jesus didn’t seem to be big deal to me either… back then. But to my surprise, it really changed my life for the better in more ways than I can possibly explain in a blog post. In fact I would say it is a major “defining moment” in my life.
Death
Then my Dad died. It was my first experience being with someone I love as they died. That was tough. No photograph of that moment either, but it is indelibly burned into my memory.
Life (Wow x 2)
Less than two weeks after my Dad died, in a whirlwind of emotions, our first daughter was born. Wow. Just wow. Another big defining moment. And then 3 years later we had a 2nd child. Wow, all over again.
I think, of all the experiences in my life, being a “Daddy” to my two precious daughters tops everything. They mean the world to me. Fortunately, I have photographs of many of those special moments. I’d call those “cherished memories.”
A Clown
Yes, that’s me, the big clown on the right. I tended to be a bit silly on Halloween. 🙂 Some people might say I am still a big clown.
A Lifetime of Wow Moments
I could go on about so many more moments, but I am not trying to tell my life story here… walking both daughters down the aisle at their weddings, the birth of our grandkids, and so much more I could tell. More “wow” experiences, most definitely.
We Are Shaped by These Moments
I just want to say how much we each should take an “inventory” of the special moments in our lives, some of them “wow” moments, and realize how those moments have shaped us to be who we are. It explains why we each see the world differently, and maybe we each need to just appreciate and embrace the differences.
I have so many wonderful friends, and I love them just the way they are. Many of my “mental snapshots” of special moments in my life involve some of you who are reading this. And then, some of you I have not yet met.
Whatever your story is, whatever your life experience is, embrace that which is good in your life, hold onto those memories, and take photographs when you can.
The Most Important Thing About Photography
This is a photography blog. I wish I could say the most important thing about photography is to impress others about what awesome lighting you have achieved, or how well you do HDR image processing, or your mastery of your Photoshop skills, or how many photography contests you have won. Actually the most important thing about photography is the remembering of the most meaningful moments in your life.
I love you all.
Kevin Gourley
P.S. Every photographer would probably do well to include a quote by Ansel Adams in their writings, so hear ya go:
“A great photograph is a full expression of what one feels about what is being photographed in the deepest sense, and is, thereby, a true expression of what one feels about life in its entirety.” – Ansel Adams
