Blessed

It's been over a month since I've blogged anything, but it's been a great month!

I've been in the continuing process of trying to obtain a professional (non-photographic) position with the city. I should hear one way or the other before the end of this week.

In the last month, I have shot an engagement session, a newborn session, and a set of samples for a mini session. I am going to second-shoot another camera for Juhl Photography this coming weekend, and I have another maternity session on tap before the end of this month.

There are, of course, tons more photo events going to happen this year, including my favorite: the wedding of Corey and Liesl in September! The first wedding where I will be the main camera and not a second shooter. =)

It's been a great blessing being this busy!

I will share and blog my favorites from each of these shoots as I get them done.
(I still need to blog my favorites from the first wedding of this year, from all the way back in January!)

I also plan on blogging more. As of this moment, I'm not sure what I'll be blogging about, but I want to do it more frequently, and have it be more than just a sharing of my favorite images. (Isn't that what Facebook previews are for??) At least here, I guess, I can tell the story of the images better than on Facebook. =P

So stay tuned! This is sure to be an interesting (and blessed!) year.

2013: Stepping Back

Often in life, decisions are hard to make.
The following decision was one that came a little easier, all things considered.

At this time, I have decided that I am no longer accepting new sessions.

I will still honor sessions from anyone who has inquired about a session, and, obviously, those who have done a bit more than just inquire. However, at this time, and for personal reasons, I am no longer accepting new client work. 

I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused, but please know that this decision has been a long time coming. 

It does seem kind of odd, though, doesn't it, that I am stepping back right when it seems things are about to really take off.
I've had more inquiries in the last six months than I've had in all the previous 18 months combined.
It was just last spring --starting a year ago this month-- that I took a Studio Photography class to learn about studio lighting techniques.
I've had many friends --Krista Juhl of Juhl Photography principally among them-- introduce me to new opportunities and open the door to new experiences in photography over the last year. 

So why step back? If things are going so great and things are looking up, why derail the train? 

I need a breather. 

Yeah, I know, that's rich. There are photographers out there doing six shoots every weekend and at least two more during the week, in addition to raising their children, keeping their house clean, and juggling everything else in life, but poor little ol' me, who has one shoot every quarter (if I'm lucky), has no children (except a fuzzy one named Bailey who requires a leash every time she needs to relieve herself), and has minimal housekeeping duties, needs a break. 

I'm just going to re-examine where I am and how photography will really, truly, fit into my life. 

Do I really want to continue to offer this as a business? Or do I just want to do it for fun? 

I've tried for the last two and a half years to make it be both, but a fun business hasn't made any profit, or really turned out much of an attractive portfolio. 

Photography has been one of the things that has made me the happiest.
I can capture the world around me and share my unique perspectives with people. 

...but does that require me to have a client list? Does that require me to have a sitting fee? Should it? 

I decided about a month ago that out of all the styles of photography that exist, that I am closest to a lifestyle photographer.
I like to capture people in their otherwise unmemorialized everyday, doing what it is they do. Natural poses for clients in natural environments. 

It makes sense, especially because it (1) causes a permanence to exist for fleeting moments and (2) that line of thinking is what drew me to take photography more serious anyway.

This decision, to take a step back, is not a permanent one. I will be back. 

I just need space, and time, to think things over. To reacquaint myself with myself.
Hopefully, to start a new career and move out of my parents' house -- again. 

And figure out where photography is going to fit into all of this, and how deeply. 

I will still be posting work. I still have clients on my list; I still have sessions scheduled on my calendar. (And there are five weddings on tap so far this year! Woot woot!)
And I will be posting personal work. I don't plan on being photographically lazy. There will be more landscapes. More art. More springscapes. More animalscapes. More lifestyle photography from my own life. And, perhaps, more expressive work as well.

So I am taking a hiatus. Hopefully you will be around to see what happens during and after.

Thank you for your understanding. 

Ok, Ok: I Did It

For the longest time, I was editing with Lightroom 2, and using Photoshop Elements 6 for when I wanted to put watermarks on my images.

Well, I finally broke down and installed Adobe Photoshop Creative Suite 6. (And deleted the dated Elements.)

Now, I can edit and watermark without leaving a single program.
I still haven't quite gotten skin retouching down yet in CS6, but I am working on it.
The patch tool is quickly becoming my friend! =)

In other news, I am going to be quite busy over the next 46 days.
I have a maternity-cum-family shoot on Sunday. The mama's due in approximately three weeks with her second daughter. So excited. =) I am in the process of making a belly sash for her to wear. It's my first go, so I'm a bit nervous. (And most of it will be hand-sewn, because I am still unfamiliar with a sewing machine!)
I have two engagement shoots over the next month. One of the couples wants to mail out their photos with their invites before Christmas. The other couple is easy-peasy on time, and just wants it done before the end of the year.
Also coming next month is another wedding. Yep, I am second-shooting my fourth wedding next month! I am so excited.

All of this coming work is a blessing, and I welcome it.

Coming Up

While I'm waiting to share images from the wedding I shot at the end of May, I am also waiting to shoot another wedding this weekend. (I just found out about it yesterday!)

Also, a very dear friend of mine is pregnant (!) and expecting her second child on Christmas Day this year. Three weeks into her pregnancy, she announced that she was expecting and due "between December 17 and December 26;" I placed money on her having the baby on Christmas. While she's still baking that bun, it turns out that science agrees with me: the doc confirmed that she was due on December 25. (This is fitting: she's surrounded by holidays. It's the reason I claimed that she'd have the baby on Christmas. She was born on St. Patty's Day, and her eldest child was born the day before Thanksgiving.) I can't wait to shoot her maternity & family pictures this fall.

Two more couples I know are currently trying to get pregnant, and they are penciled in my calendar for shoots whenever they confirm that they are expecting.

I am also awaiting two lovey-snuggle sessions this summer, one of them with a married couple and one of them with a dating couple. The wife also said she'd be interested in posing for a rock-the-dress sesh, and I'm excited to see what comes from that!

In addition, I am formulating plans for a few model sessions. One of them is going to be formed around the signs of the zodiac (Taurus the Bull, Gemini the Twins, etc.) and the other is going to be formed around food & drinks (IE: what a margarita would look like if someone were to wear it). The playlist for my song-inspired model session is ever-growing, too. (In fact, the married couple that I mentioned in the previous paragraph is going to be a part of it!) 

The temperatures are rising here in Northern Colorado, and so is my workload! (The temperatures I will complain about -- the workload: never!)