So, what am I suggesting in Part I and Part II of this series?

Three types of scenarios regarding obituary photos. Strange topic? Yes. But, important? Yes. Please humor me! : )

1. FOR YOURSELF

Ask someone to take a photograph of just you. As in, without anyone else’s arm around you, or other people or distractions in the background, etc. You don’t have to tell the other person why. After all, some people might laugh at you, or tell you, “Well, I AM NOT going to take a photo of you if you are thinking you are going to DIE soon!”

Try to have your head/shoulders fill up 2/3 of the picture. Or, head-to-toe if you want it to show more. Just remember that when you are gone, people will want to be able to see you up close. With many cameras, head-to-toe photographs won't enlarge super big without getting fuzzy.

Ask the person to email the photo of you to you in as large a file size as possible. NOT text it to you. NOT tell you do download it via social media. Why? Because photographs can get compressed via the texting and social media process.

If the person takes the photo of you with his/her phone, even ask right away if you can help walk through the steps of emailing it to you. The reason I say this is because a day or two or more later, that person might forget to send it to you as a largest possible file size and instead send a teeny tiny file. Or not send it at all.

If you’ve got something in the photo you don’t care for, let someone edit it a little bit for you. (E.g., power lines in the background, beer can on a table, etc.) Or, edit it a lot. Your choice.

The photo doesn't have to be perfect, by any means. If it is, great! But, a not perfect, yet decent photo, will be so much better than no photo at all, or one that can’t be enlarged.

Have a 4x6 or 5x7 or 8x10 (or somewhere in-between) made of the photo. Keep that print, as well as the digital file, somewhere accessible for someone to use whenever the need should arise. The reason I say to have a print is so that if the digital file ever becomes corrupt or obsolete, at least someone can scan the hard-copy print and have an enlargement made or have it used for an obituary.

Certainly, the photograph may become outdated before you pass. Wills can become outdated before we pass, too. But, at least both provide some sort of backup plan in case they never get updated.

2. FOR a FAMILY MEMBER or FRIEND

Take a photograph keeping in mind many of the types of things I mentioned in “For Yourself” in #1. Again, you don’t have to tell the family member or friend why, unless you want to. (Although, my family is used to talking about such things. Recently, when I took my sister’s photo for a headshot example, during her process of selecting her favorite photo, she talked about which one she felt would better represent her at her funeral.)

3. FOR ANYONE YOU'VE ENCOUNTERED

Sometimes you'll take a photograph of someone completely spontaneously (or planned) and only to document your fun together or for whatever reason. Almost always both of you will live eons past that picture-taking moment. But sometimes that person passes sooner than anyone thought would possibly happen. Right after they pass, unless you know the family already has a photograph, don’t hesitate to email the funeral home with a digital file of that person, telling the funeral home director that you grant permission for the photo to be used if one is needed. (You could also copy a family member on the email if you think he/she would notice it in timely fashion, and be up to doing something with it.) Not really knowing if she should or not, my oldest sister did this recently by emailing a photo to the funeral home. As it turned out, the family chose to use her photo, and it was published in the newspaper with the man’s obituary.

BOTTOM LINE (or three bottom lines):

1) It is crummy to think about having a photograph taken with your death, or with someone else’s death in mind.

2) Just as with a will making life easier for those remaining after someone passes, having some sort of obituary photo available will also make life easier for those remaining. (Even if you don’t have an obituary published or have a service honoring you, your family members will likely be very pleasantly surprised to have a nice photo of you, if they don’t already.)

3) Once you have something on hand and someone else knows how to access it (Attorney? Funeral home director? Family member?), FORGET ABOUT IT and GO HAVE SOME FUN!!!!!

Even if you don't have an official obituary with photo, if you don't have a current decent photo of you, get yourself one. Your surviving loved ones will thank you for it. : )

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Full-of-Life At-the-Ready Obituary Photos --- Part III

1. FOR YOURSELF

2. FOR a FAMILY MEMBER or FRIEND

3. FOR ANYONE YOU'VE ENCOUNTERED

BOTTOM LINE (or three bottom lines):

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