Six years ago this month, I started my photography business. And at that time,I wasn’t sure what I was doing or where I was going with it, but I knew that I enjoyed what I was doing and wanted to do more of it. The year before I formalized my business, I had been fortunate enough to work with a couple other photographers in the wedding industry and that really helped solidify my choice to run my own business and move forward with it. 

So….let’s be real for a second here. In the beginning, I made just about every rookie mistake possible. Everything about running a business is about what YOU want to do and what YOU choose to do. Heck if I knew what I was doing at the time. I kept looking around at others and even from the ones I learned from and thought “hey, I should try doing what they are doing”….but that never worked. Because that’s not who I was and that’s not the direction that I wanted to take my business. I was asking tactless questions and intruding where it wasn’t my place to intrude and being quite unprofessional. I wasn’t super experienced and didn’t grow up experiencing weddings, so I tried to copy what the “trends” were. Monkey see monkey do, right?? Well, that didn’t take long to realize that that was not my thing either and I couldn’t keep up that either. After a year or two of that whole mess, (unbeknownst to everyone thankfully) I decided it was time to stop going in a million directions. I started to focus more on what I truly wanted to deliver and the kinds of moments that I would wish to be captured if it were my own wedding. I asked myself some real questions and tried to be as authentic as possible with my answers. And yes, DID some of the things I wanted also align with some of the things other photographers in the area did or want as well. Sure, of course! No idea is original and if you’ve read “Big Magic”, you’d totally understand that its okay to randomly have the same idea as another. These things happen. But at least I was choosing my own path this time. It was really a few years ago that it became clear where I wanted to be. I put it down into words…three little words. 

modern.fun.classic

I wanted to document classic and timeless weddings. Because if it were me, I’d want to look back in 50 years and say, wow, that’s such a timeless photo. No offense, I absolutely LOVE and just about die over the images of the wedding party running from being chased by T-Rex, but that’s prooooobably not going to be one of those….that’s so timeless photos, haha. Plus, I am not a photoshop queen so I’d do poorly trying to create that image, haha!!! I also wanted to document modern weddings, since that’s what appeals to me and what I find beautiful. And when I find things beautiful in my eyes, it only makes me more invested in the wedding and wanting to create amazing images. And lastly, FUN!! I may love an editorial shoot every now and then, but I will always always always prefer my couples smiling and laughing in their images. This is around the same time I started saying “ I dare you not to have a good time.” Because I knew that no matter what, we would all have a blast. Again, the more fun a couple, the more excited I get and happy I become to be there documenting their day. The more invested, the more awesome the images!!!! I love all my couples…so becoming invested into their day is never an issue. They’ve shown me their personalities and welcomed me into the fold. And I’ve been so honored to have documented over 100 weddings in my 6 years. 

So where does that leave me now? Simple, another amazing year at full force. As my 7th year in business, I’m up to so many things this year. Here’s a little peek at some of the things to come. 

New Office – yeah!!! It will be fully decorated and ready to rock and roll very soon

Giveaways – you know it! There will be a couple opportunities to win a free session and free jewelry!! (woot woot)

Styled Shoots – more wedding inspiration for my pinterest lovers and for those that have no fashion sense (like me)

Graduation – I know this isn’t photography related, but I plan to graduate with my MBA this year!!

My 10 Year Wedding Anniversary!! – that might mean another giveaway to some anniversary couples 😉

Tuesday’s Together Leader – working on building a strong community of creatives 

Those are some of the bigger items, but keep up with the blog because as new things happen, you’ll be first to know if you check out the blogs on a regular basis. And if you head over to Instagram, that’s where nearly all the future giveaways will be posting. I really can’t wait for all the wonderful things this year. Thank you all for your support these last 6 years and I’m only going up from here!!!

THINGS I GOT THE “PARTICIPATION” (aka Fails) AWARD ON THIS THESE PAST SIX YEARS

• MAKING MY OWN ENVELOPES (yeah…I tired)
• SEWING OR ATTEMPTING TO MAKE MY OWN CLOTHES (A for effort but F for actual progress)
• CALLIGRAPHY (let’s pretend I didn’t try this)
• WATERCOLORING (haha, I’m so not a painter)
• DYING CHEESECLOTH (really, dying my hands green)
• DYING MY HAIR (did I put color in my hair or is that just the reflection of the wall?)
• VIDEO BLOGGING (just didn’t have it in me)
• MY FASHION SENSE (I’m still working on it)