Stepping out of your comfort zone

Through out my life I have been pushed to to step out and do things that I am not comfortable with. At the time I hated every minute of it, but I learned that most of the time when I stepped out of my comfort zone I really enjoyed what ever it was that I was trying to do. With this knowledge I have convinced myself to try more new things. It could be as simple as new color of nail polish to as big as a giant career change. All things that I have tried I have never regretted trying once I got through the newness.

I feel that I have gotten stuck in a rut when it comes to my photography. I mainly photograph my pets, (they don't argue with me like my children and they are easy to bribe when I have milk bones on hand) so I figured it was time for a change.

I was given the wonderful opportunity to second shoot a wedding with Whitney Montgomery, the owner of WAM Photography. It was amazing! Now I will admit that I don't think I was feeling the same pressure that Whitney was feeling as this was her wedding, and her name. I on the other hand was learning. I did want to give the best product, however I was not scared to make a mistake, or really missing a shot, because I knew that Whitney was working to get the same shot from another angle.

I must admit there are a number of photos that I was NOT happy with, there were times I felt rushed, and even though I knew I had no pressure to get "the shot" I still wanted too. I realized that I have alot of growing and learning to do when it comes to photography. I learned that I need to develop an understanding of flash, because using natural/available lighting is not always going to be optimal, and in some cases can destroy the photo. I realized that even though I shoot in manual and I can adjust my settings, there are times there is just not enough light. Focus was a huge challenge for me. As I look back over the files I notice how many shots I had that would have been amazing, but I missed the focus point.

Even though there were a number of shots that I missed I also nailed it on several as well. In fact some of these photos were given to the clients! I was actually quite proud of that small accomplishment when Whitney showed me the final product.

Overall I have learned a lot from the experience. I know that I am no where near ready to shoot on my own at a wedding, but this has opened up a new challenge for me, and hopefully this will help me to continue and to grow with my photography. I will never be able to thank Whitney enough for not only letting me shoot with her, but building my confidence as a photographer and offering to allow me to continue second shooting with her next wedding season! I am looking forward to a season full of challenges!

I would love to hear from the rest of you about how you step out of your comfort zones and continue to grow. This could be in any aspect of life! Please share your story below!

Ahhh... the Holidays......

Ladies and Gentlemen it is official! We have moved into the Holiday Season! I must admit that I will not acknowledge Christmas to much prior to Thanksgiving as I am one that wants to slow the season down and enjoy it just a bit longer than most. However I do love the holiday season.

What are the reasons that you love the holidays? I have a number of reasons. For one, well I love the food! I believe that Thanksgiving and Christmas are my two favorite holidays purely because of that reason alone. Since I have gotten older I have taken on the responsibilities of actually cooking the Thanksgiving and Christmas meals and it gives me time to reflect and be proud at the same time. As a child my grandmother was the one that held the big family meals every year and every holiday. I loved it because it was at this time the house smelled amazing, the food tasted amazing, and there was always something special waiting for me. My grandmother saved certain recipes for these holidays as well, and these recipes happen to be my favorite ones. My grandmother has since pasted and now the tradition has fallen to me. I know that I do not cook as well as she did, but I can tell that my children enjoy it as much as I did at their age and lets me know that I am on the right track.

I must admit that although there is nothing that I can do about it now, and that this is something that was completely out of my hands as a child, that there is something that causes a pang of pain from time to time during the holiday season. That pang of pain is caused by the inability to show my children exactly what the holidays were like for me as a child. My family has very few photos from the holidays that I am aware of, and it saddens me because these are some of my fondest memories. I can tell my children about the amazing Christmas tree that my grandmother and I put up every year, and the wonderful food she would cook, and the beautiful snow on the ground outside, but for my children it is a fairy tale. There is nothing to physically show them. Not only do I not have these photos for my children but I do not have them for myself. All memories fade to the recesses of our mind, and sometimes we need a trigger to bring them forward. A trigger can be a person, a smell, or a photo. I am sure there are a number of other things that could be used as triggers, but these are my triggers. With time my triggers are fading. The kitchen that my grandmother use to cook in no longer is in the family. My grandparents have past away, and I have no photos. All I have left are the memories, and I am afraid that one day they will fade away as well.

With all of this in mind I have made an attempt to provide my children with photos, so they will have something to trigger these memories for them years from now. I can only hope and pray that these memories will be as special to them when they are older as mine are to me. At least I know they will have something physical to hold on too and assist with triggering their fond memories.

Now that I am older I have finally realized why my grandparents loved receiving Christmas cards from friends and family. It was the one time of year that they were able to see the changes in friends and family that they were unable to see through out the year due to being unable to travel. How you ask? Simple, it was done with an updated photo. I can remember getting the mail for my grandmother and bringing it into the house for her and listening to her talk about Uncle So and So and how much Cousin So and So had grown over the last year. I witnessed the joy on her face as she read the cards and looked at the pictures and happily shared them with my grandfather. I never understood as a child the importance. I personally hated getting my photo taken. But now that I look back and I think about the excitement and happiness that these photos gave my grandparents I now understand.

I have said all of this to say that I am excited about the holidays and the fun that comes with them. I also wanted to remind you of the importance of holiday photos and what they can mean to others. In an effort to help you create these memories I want to remind everyone that I have open slots available for holiday photos. If you are interested in a mini session please email me and I will send you the information for these as well.

Don't forget about your furry family members either! All of mine LOVE the Holidays. As you can see this is my dear Brownie and her favorite toy, Santa. I completely understand that there are many that believe that their pets are part of the family too, and I support this! Bring your fur babies along for photos as well!

I would also love to hear about your favorite holiday memories! Please leave your favorite holiday memories in the comments!

But why?

Good Afternoon!!!!
Over the last week or two I have noticed on social media that there are a number of people that are becoming angry with the inability to find a decently priced photographer. This is not something that I understand at all.

Each and everyone of us have to have an income. In order to pay for your home, the things that you have, your transportation, everything. There is nothing in this world that is free. I know that this seems crazy when it comes to photography. I mean all it is pushing a button on a camera right?

Actually no it is so much more than that. For instance let us start at the beginning. There is the time that we must take to market ourselves as photographers and to get our names out there for our customers to find us. Marketing not only takes time, but it also can take money. There is also the initial cost of our equipment and then the upkeep of that same equipment. For the photographers who have studios and such there is also the money that it takes for the upkeep of all of these items as well. Now when you meet with your photographer there is a contract. I can promise you the paper that it is written on, and the time that a lawyer invested into making sure the contract is legal was not free. Now lets think about the actual shoot. Did you use props, did you go to a location that requires a fee? These are all things that do not come free to the photographer. Now think about why you hired that photographer. You hired them because of their talent, and their ability to create art. In order to create art many photographers use programs such as Lightroom and Photoshop, yet again another cost.

As you can see with each step in the process to get your photos there is a cost involved, and this cost is only to get through the process, it does not even pay the photographer. This photographer still has to be able to pay all of these costs, and be able to pay themselves in order to support their families.

So the next time that you are looking for a photographer and the cost is more then you would care to pay please take a moment to think about what all it entails, and that is before you are even paying for the actual talent and time for your photographer.

Here are some additional links if you would like to read them about the cost that photographers have to consider when developing their pricing guides. I hope that this helps bring an understanding as to why photographers cost more then what you may think that they should cost.

http://www.themoderntog.com/cost-start-a-photography-business
http://clickitupanotch.com/2012/06/photography-business-start-cost/
http://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-calculate-your-cost-of-doing-business/