Easter...rabbits... and family

Hello! First and foremost let me say, Happy Easter! Today is an amazing day! 

Today is the day that Christ rose from the grave and was washed in grace by God, acknowledging that we are all saved through Christ. It is the most amazing thing that has ever happened in the history of Earth.

For those that do not believe in this take, I understand that as well. Today can be another day for you. This is something that I can respect and give credit too. 

In my neck of the woods in the US today is not going to be a great day for photos. As I sit here looking out the window it is a dreary rainy day and there is a tug of pain in my heart. My son spent his evening dying eggs in preparation for the arrival fro the Easter Bunny. I feel horrible for him. He is very excited about the arrival of the Easter Bunny and even looking for the Easter eggs. He loves the adventure of looking for the eggs. I can't blame him. I love watching him look for the eggs. I love the expressions, the joy, and the excitement every time that he finds an egg. Not to mention, it has given me a huge reason to pull out my camera, and capture some amazing moments with my son. I must admit that it saddens me that he is growing up and he is soon going to loose interest in coloring eggs and looking for them. It feels like I am losing a very special time in his life. 

I love Easter for a number of reasons. The first is the very reason behind it. The fact that God loved us so much that He was willing to sacrifice His only Son to save us from our stupid sins and ways that were not following in his teachings. The second reason I love Easter is the time with my family. I love the time with them specifically, and having the time to be with them with no interruptions. It is something that is amazing. Time with your family is something that is precious, and something that you may not have the next day. Life is something that is very unpredictable and a person that is here today may not be here tomorrow, and this is another reminder that time is important. The final reason that I love Easter, and just about any other holiday is a selfish reason really. I love the food! Horrible I know, but I love watching my children enjoy food that is only made during the holiday period and everything is just great! Horrible I know. 

Easter marks the moment that Spring has arrived. Spring and fall are very important in the world of photography. These are the two times of years that everyone are thinking about photos. I know that is strange but it is true. Spring is the time of year where everything is going from brown and dead, to growth, green, blooming of flowers, and beautiful. Fall is another moment in the year when everything is changing. The leaves are dying and going from green to beautiful colors of red and orange before falling turning brown. Color changes are so important and many people want to take advantage of that while they have the chance to do so. Which is understandable, you loose the option during the Summer and the Winter. Summer it is so dang hot, and green, and bright... and that is about all that you get, and winter is so dang cold, brown, or white depending on if you are in an area where it snows or not.  

I point all of this out because it is something that you need to be aware of as a client or as a photographer. As a client if you are looking for more than a Sears or Walmart portrait you need to look at what is around you. The time of year is going to affect where you go for portraits and what you do. You do not want to take photos in the dead of winter when it is brown and dead. There is nothing pretty or memorable about that. During the middle of summer it is hot and miserable and you have got to consider your comfort. Spring and fall are full of color, and the temperature tends to be pretty amazing as well. With the proper temperatures you are able to use more of your wardrobe as well. You can be comfortable in those cute jeans and a shirt or maybe shorts and a very cute long sleeve shirt. 

Before starting photography this is something that I never thought about. However I did not know how much I was missing out on by going to a commercial place for my photos. With a personal photographer the sky is the limit with your photos, and choosing to have this done during Spring or Fall only makes for an even greater memory. 

Senior Photos... Are they really worth it?

How many of you are in your last minute runs of taking senior photos? I know that I have a few that are booking at the last moment. In fact I have a few that are booking for Spring Break! When I first started photography I thought that each thing had a season. For example there is a wedding season, and school portraits are all done in the fall and early spring for make ups. I always believed that Senior photos would be completed in the fall, in time to have them printed and submitted to the high school for the year book. However I am learning that I am very wrong in having this thought process.

Last week a young lady booked with me to have her Senior photos completed over Spring Break. During the booking we spoke about the photos and what she expected. She really had no idea what she wanted, really she was just doing the photos to appease her family because they wanted them. As she put it to me she doesn't like to take photos, and has no desire to do this. As she explained to me there is no purpose. This struck me as odd. Today's children live in front of the camera, and to find someone who has no desire is very strange to me. I really had to pause and think about what she was saying and think about what I was going to say. I had never been confronted with a situation like this. I was had experienced with my guys that they never had a plan, but they wanted something nice, and that their mother would be happy, and of course they needed a "cool" photo that showed who they were, but those were my only guidelines. My ladies always have a plan, several wardrobes, and a million ideas and locations that they want to shoot at. So this was a whole new situation for me.

I thought back to when I had my senior photos. To an extent, I guess I could see where this young lady was coming from. Growing up I was a tomboy, I had no desire to wear more than jeans and a t-shirt, and when it was cold I would add a sweatshirt. However I do remember the excitement of thinking about the excitement of what I could do with my photos, and than decided that it was just to much work. I finally ended up at Sears with a close friend of mine and we got our photos done, and even though they were done at Sears, at the time I loved them. I was able to wear my cowboy hat, and show my true self, I didn't have to dress out of the ordinary, and I could wear the things that made me happy, jeans, a super cute shirt and my favorite hat. I was able to be me, and it was less strict than taking photos at school in a cookie cutter fashion. Now I realize many years later that Sears is nothing more than a cheaper version of the cookie cutter version of photos but for me the experience was so much better. Which lead me to explain to this young lady just how important senior photos are, for her and no one else.

Senior photos hold a huge meaning. They mark the end of childhood, and the graduation to adulthood. It is something that is not really noted, but think about it. This is the last time that these children will have professional photos done until their wedding day in most cases. I think this is the biggest selling points to parents. For the young lady or man, it is so much more. It is their final chance to show who they are or were while in high school. Taking Senior portraits gives each person the chance to show how beautiful or handsome they are and incorporated in these photos are the things that made who they are. For example, did you play sports? Well lets add in a basketball, soccer ball or what ever you did. Lets go to the basketball court and take some stylized shots. This young lady or young man spent a lot of time on that field or court in the last four years, and in many cases this is where their dreams lived and died every season. This is a memory to take forward into the new world that they are getting ready to enter.

I took all of this information and I explained it to my young lady and it was amazing to see the change in her thought process after presenting this to her. Once she changed her perspective of what these portraits can represent she started to develop her own ideas. It was amazing to watch the sudden change in her and see the thoughts start to roll. I am looking forward to her session!

What are your thoughts about Senior Portraits?

How do you feel about them?

Please comment with your answers! Lets learn from each other!

What happens when you just can't

I am sure that I am not the only one that has suffered from the "I can'ts". However lately, I have just been dragging. For a time now it seems like I have not been able to get myself to function as I normally do. I guess that you could say that I have hit burn out. I have experienced this before and I must admit that it was no fun at all.... and it caused me to lose a lot of precious time with my family.

For some people the quickest way to turn around during a burn out is to change pace, change the routine, livin it up or slow it down. This is something that depends on the personal need. The last time that I hit the burn out phase I took some time off from work and honestly just slept. I slept when everyone else was gone, and hung out for several days and did nothing. I even went to the beach and read a book and slept. It was the best thing in the world. However there is not always the option to do that, and I completely understand.

In an effort to help I have done a bit of research on what to do to prevent burn out, so you can keep going in the fast paced life that you have. Here are some tips that I have found.

1. Start the day with a relaxing ritual. I use to jump up and hit the floor running. However now I am learning to slither out of bed and mosey to my friend the coffee pot for a wonderful cup of coffee before starting the craziness known as my life.

2. Adopt healthy eating habits, sleeping habits, and exercise. The exercise has been easy. The military has always been a great help for that, and well that was about it. The eating habits and sleeping habits was something that I think the Army ruined for me, and I am slowly working my way back to the right way of doing thing. I really think that having stable times to eat and sleep make things so much easier, and helps maintain your weight if that is something that you are concerned with. I highly recommend staying away from the fast foods and the grease, even on the busy sports filled days with the kids, I have noticed now that I am slowly cleaning up my eating habits that when I slip up and eat to much greasy food I can feel it, and it really weighs me down. Always make sure you are sleeping. I never realized how important sleep was as a kid. Now... I miss my naps... LOL Getting a decent six to eight hours of sleep a night will help you get through the day and feel rested longer... and it keeps the day from feeling like an eternity away from that wonderful pillow and bed.

3. Set boundaries. This is one that I struggle with a lot. My children are on the go in five thousand directions as once. On top of that I have a business to run and a husband to keep up with. It is hard. Believe me it is hard. One of the hardest things that I am having to learn is to say no. I hate the word, especially when it comes to keeping my children active and busy with sports, but there are just times that you have to say no, and take a moment to catch your breath.

4.Take a daily break from technology. Weird I know, not to mention hard to do. But do you realize just how draining the stress on Facebook and twitter can really be? It is a regular soap box without all the video streaming, and in some cases even that is there. Just take a break. Even it is only for 10 minutes. Set your phone, tablet, and computer down and just walk away. You will not believe how nice it is to just unplug for a while.

5. Nourish the creative side! This is my favorite! Start a blog, pick up the camera, and dust it off, go for a walk, scrapbook all those photos laying around. Anything to bring out the creative side of you. Painting, anything. I am a huge fan of grabbing my camera and heading out for a hike and taking some amazing photos when I can. It has always helped me! My grandmother use to crochet, and now I understand why, it was her way to prevent burn out.. and it can be fun as well. There are so many things that you can do!

6. Learn how to manage your stress. This is a hard one. Especially for me. you may be able to do this alone, but always remember that there are people out there willing to help you figure this out. These people could be family or friends, or you can even look into professional help. Either way it is a good practice to develop.

Burn out can effect every aspect of your life, and if you are trying to run a business, or even if you are not, burn out can destroy your business, or career. I can only hope that these small tips have in some way helped you. I look forward to hearing from you and your ideas and tips on how to prevent burn out.

If you would like more information on the prevention of burn out or the ways to recover from it here is a link for you to read.

http://www.helpguide.org/articles/stress/preventing-burnout.htm

Have a great Friday and enjoy the weekend!

The purpose of practice. Does practice really make perfect?

Over the course of the last few weeks I have been listening to some new podcasts. I will admit up front that what I know about photography, the things that I talk about here, are not all my idea. In most cases these things come from experience, such as the previous blog where I talked about all the mistakes that cost me editing time that I made at my last family session. I am currently listening to the Improve Photography Network, (which has multiple podcasts about photography) Tips from the Top Floor, Fotobug, Full Time Photographer and ProBlogger. Crazy I know. That is a lot to listen too, and I have listened to ALL the available podcasts. It is a lot of time that has been invested. However I feel like I have benefited. The reason that I feel that way is because I take a look at what I am doing in my own life and my photography and based upon what I hear and learn it changes what I am doing. So like I said there have been some major  changes in my life and I have had the chance to add two more podcasts, and as of late I must admit, they are the ones that are making me think a lot harder about what I am doing with my photography.
 The first one that is not really affecting things, and really is the only one that I am listening to for fun is Serial. If you have not heard of it, well it makes you think. They have taken a case about a 17 year old Muslim that was arrested, tried, and convicted to a life sentence in Maryland for killing his ex girlfriend. I know, sounds crazy that anyone would care, but you know it makes you think. They talk about the facts of the case, the way that these same facts in the case during trial were twisted, and how things like prejudice may or may not have affected the case. Believe me, it has really sucked me, and it really makes me think. Which is great, it gets the gears turning and once the episode ends I really start to day dream and think about other things, like my photography and well for lack of better term gives me the chance to start thinking about new fun ways to improve. Weird way to get there, I know.
The second one that I started listening too and really the reason that I started writing this post today is Profitographers. Mind you I have only listened to two episodes at this point and I am hooked. I am hooked for one simple reason. A question was asked "Does practice really make perfect?' My answer immediately was yes, and of course I was stunned when I learned that is really not the case. Practice does not make perfect. The explanation was so simple and made so much sense that it really can make you feel kinda... well... stupid. The simple answer is NO practice does not make perfect. Very strange right? All of your life you have probably been told that practice makes perfect and to keep trying. However, think about it, were you practicing to be perfect, or when you achieved what you deemed as perfect, were you practicing perfect? Let me explain. With everything that we do in life there is a bit of a learning curve that goes with it. We "practice" fail, at whatever it may be, and we make a change, and than we try again, right? So think about it. You have just changed whatever you were doing. You changed the way that you look at how you compose an image for example, and you continue to make minor changes until you get to a point that your composition is correct, and than you apply that one method to every single time that you shoot from that point forward. once you are applying that same process with no changes every single time, that is practicing, however, it is practicing perfect. I understand that it is not exactly the way that each and everyone of us is use to looking at it. However it makes sense.
Let me illustrate it another way. I use to be a very avid sports player, my favorite sport being softball. When I started I had no idea how to catch, hit or throw. I am quite sure at the young age of 8 I was a horrible sight to see as I was struggling to learn. I especially struggled with batting. I was admittedly horrible. During games I use to pray to be walked, just so I wouldn't have to suffer the embarrassment of striking out, because I couldn't connect with the ball. I use to go home after games and practice and I would swing a bat for hours trying to make my swing "perfect", the problem was I was not changing what I was doing. Each time that I swung the bat I would drop my shoulder and this would cause the bat to change the level that it was at, and would cut right under the ball, or it would catch the bottom of the ball if I was lucky and it would cause a pop up, which of course led to an easy out. It took a long time, but I finally realized what I was doing wrong. When I focused, and stopped dropping my shoulder, I would connect every time with the ball, thus creating what I deemed to be the perfect swing. From that point forward, once I corrected the error I practiced, correcting the muscle memory that I had created with my bad habit and replaced it with the perfect habit,and therefore practicing perfect.
I found this whole idea very interesting and I love the way that it is applied to everything that we do every single day, and it has really made me stop and think. I hope that it does for you as well.

As always feel free to leave comments. This could be an amazing discussion!

Time Management

Over the last month there has been a number of things that have changed in my personal and professional life. With these changes one thing I must admit has not changed, the lack of down time. I really thought that when my professional life changed that I would have more down time. I do realize that as a mother (and I am a mother that loves to be over involved with my children) I still thought that I was going to have a lot more down time. I thought that I would be taking pictures every day, blogging, and eventually running out of things to do, and looking to find ways to fill my time while hubby is at work and the kids are at school. Oh how wrong I have been.

My life went through a major change a month ago, and I will be honest, it just doesn't feel like it. I have barely had a moment to sit down and type out a post, let alone pick up my camera. The bonus, I am guaranteed at least an hour of shooting time every week while the kids are playing basketball. I really thought that I was going to have more time. I thought by now I would be flooding Facebook and my blog with glamorized selfies and such because I was going to be bored out of my mind. However this has not happened. I think that my children realized that I was going to be home more and they plotted against me and they have made it to where even though I am home more it does not feel like it. I have not had the chance to sit down for a moment.

I have been thankful though. I have had the chance to slip out from time to time and get shots such as the above. The birds are coming back from their winter sabbatical down south and I am glad they are coming back. I believe that my poor dogs are glad as well because I really think that they are over me taking pictures of them.

I have yet to figure out how to manage my time and balance my family and working at building my business. I am sure that there are a number of you that are very successful at this and I am hoping that you will take the time to chat with me. How do you go about working your business and staying up with your family as well? How do you make it seamless and prevent one from interfering with the other? I am quite curious to know what each of you think and how you feel about the situation. Please leave your how to's below on this topic so we can all learn from your experience.

I can't wait to hear from all of you!

Lighting and Shadows.... Lessons I have Learned.

I wanted to share some recent lessons that I have learned while taking family portraits for a client recently. I know that some of these things are very basic, but on the same note, some of forget the basics from time to time.

1. SETTINGS!! - I shoot in manual mode like many other photographers in the world. I am proud to say that since I have converted that I have been pretty happy with the way that I have been able to get things right in camera, and that I am able to control it and make the image more than just another photo. I can make it a memory for that person or family. However this week I learned that I have gotten a bit complacent with monitoring my settings and what I was doing. The session took place at a beautiful family farm that had many different venues to shoot at, but each had its own unique lighting. Every single time that we moved, I had to adjust my settings. Even walking just a few steps in one direction or another would require a change. I did not realize it until I got home but in several instances I was so excited about the shot, that I had forgotten to change the setting to adjust for the movement in location, which lead to photos like this:

A shot that I was super excited about.... ended up causing me a lot of anger, frustration and tears while trying to save it in Lightroom and Photoshop.. Time that I was not paid for, but caused myself to do extra work from one simple mistake. 

2. SHADOWS ARE NOT YOUR FRIEND! - I know, I know, many people will laugh when they read this, but it is true, they are just not your friend. Even the unintentional shadows that are caused by the subject and their pose. Those are not always flattering, and in some cases they are extremely distracting. I must admit that as the sun is setting I have always loved the long wispy shadows that are created, however, they too are not my friend. In fact they change the lighting, create hot spots on subjects and are just horrible to work with. 

3. SLOW DOWN! - This is another common statement that is heard in many photography classes, and honestly through this whole session echoed in my head... However I was having fun. This family was great, and they had many great ideas for the photos that they wanted and I wanted to capture them all, but I was rushing. And in rushing to stay within the window of time that they had booked, and to stay within the golden hour of lighting I was rushing to get everything. Throughout the whole session I remember thinking several times that I needed to slow down, breath and just enjoy the moment, and all in all get amazing photos. Most of which I did. I got some amazing shots, and I enjoyed the moment, but I did not slow down, and I did not breath. Not doing those two things lead to hours of playing with post processing to give the family a product that I was proud to put my name on, and not a piece of trash that I would be embarrassed to even show on my Facebook page. 

4. PLANNING! - Planning is key. I am thankful that the family listened to me about timing, and when to shoot. I believe that was amazing, however I did not know my subjects as well as I would have liked to prior to the session in order to have an idea of what poses would work best for them, or even what their thoughts on what they were looking for were. In the end it all came together smoothly and seamlessly, but I think I could have provided a much better experience had I had that knowledge in hand prior to the session. 

5. Apparel for the family. - Now I know some will say that I should have not let the family where all flannels to their session. However, in my personal opinion their choice of apparel fit them and the scene well and I do not regret allowing this to happen. I will say that this is something that is on a case my case basis. I do not think that it would work for every group, and I DEFINITELY do not recommend this for a studio setting. However in this case I believe that it worked well. 

6. Be yourself - I think that this is something that goes far with anyone and any situation. However my husband and I were ourselves through out the whole session. Which fed into the experience that the family had. We are a lighthearted couple that allows are love for each other show through in every thing that we do, and I believe that this played into providing the amazing experience that the family was able to enjoy during their session with us.

7. Gear - I think that this is something that is over thought quite a bit when it comes to sessions. I took every single lens that I own, both my flashes, filters, and anything else I could think of with me to this session. The one thing that I did not take was my reflector, which was the one thing I wish that I had brought with me. Everything else... honestly ended up being there just for show. I never once putted out my 55-200mm lens, or my 50mm prime... I never even thought about attaching one of flashes to my hot shoe.... The plus side, my hubby got his work out in carrying all that stuff for me while I moved from place to place with the family! Really think about the location, and really think about what you are doing as you are packing your bag and I think this will help lighten the load, unless of course you are lucky enough to have someone to go with you to carry everything, than by all means so it! 

8. Having a second set of eyes -  I will tell you that this is where my husband played the biggest role. He would stand behind me and make sure that the setting was right, that the poses were perfect, and that if anything went wrong it was going to be on me when I pushed that shutter button. As I would finish up in one area he would be scouting the next area and taking mock photos with our Ipad in order to check lighting and determining where the best place for the family to be located at for the next set of photos. This really helped me because it cut down the time between movements and based upon what I saw on the Ipad I could determine if I really wanted to use the location, or if we needed to move somewhere else. 

Now that I have shared what I have learned with you, I would love if you shared in the comments below the things that you have learned during photo sessions, either as a customer or the photographer. 

I hope that I was able to help each and everyone of you, either as a client or as a photographer.

Decisions.... Change.....

This month has been huge for me. There has been a number of changes that I was just not ready for. Things like my oldest getting one step closer to being an adult (something I am not sure that any parent is really ready for), realizing that my Brownie is another year older, (and age is catching up to her) and the biggest, a change in my day job. Personally I feel like that is the scariest of them all.

For my whole entire adult life I have worked in a very structured environment. I have never had to worry about my job security or if my job would be there when I went into work the next day. It has been a comfort to know that I have a paycheck no matter what happens, and that my family has all of their needs covered. To an extent that has all changed. You see I am retiring from the military. This is a giant change. I am losing the structure and the consistency that I am so use to having. I am not going to lie and tell you that I loved this structure and consistency, however it gave me comfort to know that it was there and that no matter what my family was taken care of. Being in the military has also given me a sense of purpose. There was always something going on, something to be completed, a Soldier to be taken care of... Something. It was a never ending cycle of what was to come next. However that is all changing. With retirement I am losing the hustle and bustle of the military, the extra worry for my Soldiers that I am responsible for and...well... to some extent my sense of purpose.

In realizing that I am losing my purpose I now must make some decisions, and I must make some changes. I now must refocus and find a new purpose, new goals, and new things to push forward too. The question is what will that be. There are alot of people that have told me to work as a federal civilian, others have told me to stay home and enjoy retirement and my children.... All the while my friends and family are making bets about how long it is before I go stir crazy and lose my mind.I must admit that I am quite concerned about these prospects and I also know that I am not one to set still for long.

I look at the picture that I have posted above and I feel that it is very telling of the situation that I am currently facing. There are two directions that I am able to go, and I must make a decision about which way to go. Do I take the path that has been cut by others and appears to have a lot of traffic or do I take the cut off to the less traveled road and take an adventure to a new beginning? If this were you standing at this point which way would you go? Why would you go that way?

I would love to see your responses in the comments below and have a conversation about this. I hope that this will help each of us as we are all in this situation from time to time in our lives. Looking forward to hearing from you!