Typically when we visit a friend's home, more often than not we are greeted by the warm smiles of the members of the family beaming through the picture frames that line up the walls or decorate the bookcases of the living room. Such a presence could only mean and prove how much we like pictures and how it is a part of our lives. And why do we value pictures so much? Let us count the ways.

* Pictures are there to capture our precious moments. A wise saying goes “we only pass through this way once, so we might as well make the most of it.” Very well put, indeed. Along these lines, we can say that those moments can only take a second, a minute or two and then it's over. But there is a way for us to capture it, to capture the happiness, the joy and the euphoria we experience at that moment and we can do it simply by taking pictures.

Pictures can catch that first smile of a baby, the subtle tear that ran over the left cheek of a dad (before he wipes it off) as he leads his baby girl to the altar and the first scratch and bruise that one got after crashing with the bicycle during his initial riding lesson. We can also take hold of a beautiful sunset or a picturesque view, two things showing how wonderful God's creations are and we can see them all through the images that photography allow us to make.

* They are the memento of the past. A lot of people would agree that at times pictures are all we have left of the past. It is through pictures that we may be able to relive those wonderful memories that we have shared with loved ones, family and friends of the years past. Pictures remind and they can do so vividly and in full color.

When one needs a “bring me up” and seeks a happy thought, a happy memory, they often go back to the old photo albums and scan through all the happy faces they find and get cheered just by spending a few minutes of looking at those old photographs. It may be that joyful time that you spent with your circle of friends having fun and enjoying each other's company or perhaps the day when you caught first sight of your newborn baby whose sweet and angelic face had made you forget all about the pains and soreness that you felt minutes earlier while you were suffering from labor. And so these pictures allow us to go back, visit and experience those precious memories again and again and make them everlasting.

A famous song goes “a picture paints a thousand words” and it does in most cases; people would agree that it really does. So if you are not one who is as gifted as Shakespeare and are not really into prose, then go ahead and take a picture. Nine out of ten, your picture message will be greatly appreciated.