Phoenix Family Photographer – Mara Blom Schantz https://mbsgallery.com Fine Art Photography Tue, 15 Mar 2016 21:29:00 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.1.1 https://mbsgallery.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/cropped-M-32x32.png Phoenix Family Photographer – Mara Blom Schantz https://mbsgallery.com 32 32 Transitions https://mbsgallery.com/2016/03/15/transitions/ https://mbsgallery.com/2016/03/15/transitions/#respond Tue, 15 Mar 2016 21:29:00 +0000 https://artisticimpressionsbymara.com/dev/2016/03/15/transitions/ Continue reading Transitions]]>

Monday was the first day at my studio in twelve years where Megan was not there.  Of course, while she worked for me she took vacations and sick days, but Monday was different.  She is not on vacation or out sick.  She is not here and will not be here as the studio manager and my right hand ever again.

I am feeling a little emotional about this.  Of course I am so excited for Megan as she starts her new endeavor working full time for the candle company that she and another friend (and former employee) started.  I am happy that her company Mame Soy Candles is successful.  I am excited to see how successful Mame will once she can give it her full attention.  But, transitions are hard – especially after twelve years.

Megan started working with me when my oldest was in kindergarten and my youngest was still in preschool and was still in diapers.  Now both my sons are in high school and my oldest will be graduating in two months (that is another transition that will be bittersweet but I will save that for another post).  She was with me when I moved into my first studio space (that was three locations ago).  She was with me when my sister and I parted ways (both professionally and personally – sad but necessary).  She was with me when the economy went into the toilet and I didn’t know if I would be able to stay in business.  She was with me through the yearlong illness and death of my mother (and basically kept my business running allowing me to focus on helping my parents and saying goodbye).  She was with me when I turned 40 and commemorated it beautifully.  She was with me when my last studio flooded and I decided to buy the building for my new (and current) studio.  She was with me to help me decorate the new studio and watch as I constantly change things up.  She was with me to help me create all three of my books.

Megan was more than an employee.  She was my friend with whom I talked about life and events and tv shows and books and friends and family and everything almost every day for the last twelve years.  Now she will be my friend who will occasionally do design work for me and who I will see sometimes for a glass of wine or coffee and cheer for her success as her own boss and business owner.  I will/do miss her and I am sure that my clients will as well.  Cheers to transitions and new adventures and friendship!  Cheers to Megan! If you see her, please wish her good luck and congratulations.  Mame soy candles can be found locally at Urbana, LGO, Frances and also online at mame soy candles.

]]> https://mbsgallery.com/2016/03/15/transitions/feed/ 0 What is the value of fine photography? https://mbsgallery.com/2014/08/08/what-is-the-value-of-fine-photography/ https://mbsgallery.com/2014/08/08/what-is-the-value-of-fine-photography/#respond Fri, 08 Aug 2014 16:50:00 +0000 https://artisticimpressionsbymara.com/dev/2014/08/08/what-is-the-value-of-fine-photography/ Continue reading What is the value of fine photography?]]>
 Last month I had the pleasure of photographing this loving family again four years after I first met them.  They had moved to San Diego from Phoenix and time just got away.  But something happened this past spring that made them call me again.  There was a fire.  They had to evacuate their home.  As the mother related the experience to me I could only imagine how terrifying it must have been to leave everything you own behind and not know if you would be able to return.  She explained that her girls were safe at school so she only needed to gather the dogs up.  And she had time to gather a few other things that she said were the most valuable to her – her portraits of her family and children from our first session together.  She said that she saw those every day and they helped her to remember the time when her girls were so small.  It made her happy to remember how it felt to hold them, love them and nurture them.  Thankfully, the fire did not touch their home. 

I love that I can create portraits for people that help them remember.  I love that they are printed on archival fine art paper and printed in a way that will stand the test of time.  I love that this mother, who loves her children so much, will be able to remember what they were like as little ones even when she is an old lady.  I love that someday her sweet girls will be able to show their own children and grandchildren these portraits hanging in their own homes.  

Someday your hard drive will fail.  Someday cds will be obsolete.  Someday your smartphone will break and the cloud will experience a technical issue.  Someday you will wish that you had portraits like these to remember your babies.  Someday you will regret that you did not invest in fine photography with a true professional who gives you beautiful portraits that will hang in your home for your lifetime and beyond.  Or, you will be happy that you spent the time and money to create a legacy.
Fine photography is an investment.  An investment just like a great pair of shoes you will wear forever, or a beautiful handbag that will last many seasons, or a great car that you are excited to drive and that will keep your family safe, or that sofa that will make a room, or a classic piece of jewelry that you will someday give to your daughter.  But unlike all of those things, fine photography will transport you back to that moment and make you feel the emotions of being part of a family, of having your children with you, of what it was like to nurture those young lives.  
In a world where everything is so quickly obsolete, where people seem to spend more time on their phones than with their friends and family, portraits like these can help us to slow down and take a breath, to remember what is important to us.
There are many, many photographers for you to choose from.  Every third person with a digital camera is a photographer and that is fine.  It is a great profession that I have had the pleasure of working in since I was just a teenager.  But, if you are like this mother and don’t want to leave your memories to chance and would like to have actual fine art, archival, hand printed, beautiful portraits to hang in your home, hire a trained professional who can create that for you.  

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