This Business

I am blessed beyond measure that God has chosen to provide for me and my family in the way that He has. When I was growing up, I always thought I would be a teacher. I would line my baby dolls up in the hallway, sitting on anything that could be considered a chair (including my baby sister's potty training chair), and would play school for hours. Then, I got to high school and did some student aide work and thought "what the HECK and I doing?!" So that idea was nixed. I finally made it to college and figured, hey, how about business? Of course, that was just a general degree. I figured I could do just about anything with that. Once I was sick to death of it, I considered cosmetology, and finally settled on psychology. I thought I could make a pretty decent counselor, but that one didn't last long either.

In the meantime, I had been playing with photography. And believe me, I thought it was just a fun hobby that wouldn't get me anywhere. I didn't think I was anything special. I bugged friends to let me take pictures of them, just for fun. I started out with film, my dad's old 35mm Pentax that he used to take pictures of ME when I was a baby, and had a blast. I am very thankful that I started with film, because it gave me the foundation in photography that everyone using something more than a point an shoot Kodak EasyShare camera should have. My dad taught me all of those fun words like aperture and f-stop. He taught me all about timed exposures and I got some fabulous lightning shots. He gave me dozens of filters...not the filters you click on in Photoshop...real ones. Cokin filters. The kind that you needed a square adapter for. I played and practiced, and spent tons of money on wasted prints just to get one good picture.

Finally, I wore out that poor Pentax and decided to go digital. My wonderful Uncle Rip(Richard Ira Polley) took me out shopping and bought me my first digital SLR. I was amazed that someone had so much faith in me that they would spend that much money on me! Right after that, I was asked to do my first wedding. I was terrified, and naturally the pictures weren't fabulous, but it got me out of my comfort zone. Ever since then, people have asked me to take their pictures. After I finally surrendered to this calling, I've been so extremely blessed with consistent business. I don't pursue it. I just accept it. I love that this is the way I am making a living. I'm by no means a professional photographer. I didn't go to school for it. I don't have any fancy training, certificates or great credentials. I just have what God has given me.

With all of this being said, I have to vent a little about this "business" God has placed me in the middle of. I am simply amazed at the cut-throat-ness (yes, I'm making up words) of it! I have never seen so many people be so flat out rude and mean to each other. I think a lot of photographers think that if they share knowledge with someone else they are giving away their secrets or that they will lose clients. You know what though? I have never been at a loss for business. And I don't think that is due to my ability to push a button on a camera. It's all because God has a bigger plan than me just making money to take care of my family. I would be naive to think it was all about me. I may not be a pro, and my work may not be perfect, but I do everything to my best ability.

I can't stand that there are so many photographers, just here in this area, that are so quick to judge other photographers work. Some will accuse others of "stealing" ideas, poses, locations, clients, etc. But I figure that if there are so many people in this area looking for photographers there is more than enough business to go around. We've all got our own styles and way of doing things. I figure that if the Lord wants me to meet a certain person, it's going to happen.

For M.J.

M.J.-
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Carolyn is a Mrs.!

Carolyn is one of my high school orchestra friends.  I was so excited that she invited me to her wedding.  Yes, I said "invited"!  In the past several years, I have only just attended 3 weddings! I've worked at dozens of them, so it's a real treat to get to be a witness at the wedding of a friend! But, my inner shutter-bug got the best of me, and I had to get some pictures of her gorgeous wedding! 

  

I love this next one.  After their adorable first kiss (above), Carolyn wiped off a little lip stick from her new husband's face :) 

 

Virus!

Yesterday, in the middle of editing Nikki and Kaylee's shoot, a virus decided to take over my lap top!  Things had been running sort of slow, so being the paranoid person that I am, I double backed up all of my un-edited photos.  Wouldn't you know, the day after I did that, here comes the virus!  Nate is such a wonderful husband, I swear he should be working for Geek Squad.  He totally fixed it!!  So, after a few hours delay, I finally finished up Nikki's photos. 

I love these two girls.  Kaylee was one of my first  babies when I worked at the day care.  She was always plopping herself down in my lap any time I was sitting.  She always has kisses to give, and she's got some MAJOR personality!  Nikki actually came to work at the daycare with me for a while, and we became very good friends.  I'm so excited that she is getting ready to have a baby girl in November!

Johnathan was such a funny kiddo!  He was NOT in the mood for pictures! It took about half an hour just to get him warmed up to pictures, but as soon as his Grandma was about ready to give up, I mentioned a change of scenery...to a park, and Johnathan perked right up!  This kid has some seriously funny facial expressions.  He was cracking me up the whole time!

Hello Monday!

Mondays seem to be my productive days.  I've already managed to get to my third load of laundry.  If you don't know much about me, I would rather let the laundry pile up until I can't see the floor anymore.  The dishes are still dirty, but I've got to take this "housewife" thing slowly. :-)

I'm working on my editing today, trying to get as much done as possible.  I have an editing schedule, so I can eventually get my turnaround time down to just a couple of days, instead of a couple of weeks.  I was up until midnight last night, watching a movie out of the corner of my eye , editing my 4th shoot of the day!! *Whew*

I've got to say, I really enjoy doing mini-shoots.  I did one for a sweet little girl named Paisley for her 9 month portraits.  Her mom has been amazing about keeping up with getting her picture made every month!  Here's her session:

She's pretty stinkin' cute, huh?


I'm off to get some more editing done (and possible a tiny cat nap).

Here Comes Fall!

I'm just going to warn you now, this will be a long blog. I am going to do my darnedest to keep up with this now!!

Summer is gone (technically). The heat, I'm sure, will be here to stay for at least a little longer. I'm more than ready for the cooler weather. My air conditioner is as well. With the change of seasons comes changes in business. Wedding season is wrapping up, and I'm in full swing with Christmas photos! I say wedding season is wrapping up, but I still have about half a dozen weddings to shoot before the new year. It's amazing how fast this summer flew by! So many things have changed in just the past couple of months. I (reluctantly) quit my full time job at the day care I was working at to pursue my photography full time. God had been tugging at my heart to just trust Him, and when I did, I was floored by how He provided for me and Nate. To kick off the new chapter in my life, we finally went on our honeymoon to Vegas!

I got that picture from our fancy-schmancy dinner at the Top of the World restaurant in the Stratosphere. YUM-O food.

We had so much fun, and I'm happy to say that we get to go back in December 2011 for our first destination wedding! *happy dance* By far, the best part of the trip was seeing Beatles LOVE. We are huge Beatles fans, so it was one of those pee-your-pants-from-excitement kind of experiences. We hit up all of the hot spots like the Coca Cola store, M&M World, all of the major hotels, and walked until our shoes nearly melted from the 200 degree pavement.

A week after Vegas, I made the 15 hour drive with my mother in law, sister in law, and 7 year old nephew to Maben, Mississippi to visit Nate's grandparents. On the way there, my wonderful family humored me and let me make a little detour to Mineral Wells so I could revisit the Baker. I stayed at the Baker back in 2001 when they were still conducting "ghost" tours. We spent the night, hunted for ghosties, and scared ourselves silly. Ever since then, I have been itching to go back. The hotel is condemned now, which makes me sad, but it's so beautiful. I love the architecture, the fixtures, the pool...everything. Just the history of the place made me fall in love with it. Read up on this place. People like Bonnie and Clyde and Judy Garland stayed at this fabulous hotel.

www.bakerhotel.us/

Now that vacations are over and school is back in session for you smarty pants type people, I'm starting to think more about my second year as a serious photographer. I'm planning on adjusting my pricing, especially for weddings. I like doing weddings, but I am finally able to understand why photographers charge what they do. Don't worry, I will still offer "Name your Price", but I'll be creating a few packages so people can tailor their photography experience to their needs.

Please bear with me as I try to keep you all updated on what's happening in my crazy world! This blog is not just about my photography...it's about me and my crazy, messy, sleep deprived world!!