What I Need To Know In 6 Years

Funny, at 24 I think I am well on my way and pretty much already there.

By 30, you should have ...

1. One old boyfriend you can imagine going back to and one who reminds you of how far you've come.

Marrying my one true love and only BF.

2. A decent piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in your family.

3. Something perfect to wear if the employer or man of your dreams wants to see you in an hour.

4. A purse, a suitcase, and an umbrella you’re not ashamed to be seen carrying.

5. A youth you’re content to move beyond.

6. A past juicy enough that you’re looking forward to retelling it in your old age.

7. The realization that you are actually going to have an old age -- and some money set aside to help fund it.

8. An email address, a voice mailbox, and a bank account -- all of which nobody has access to but you.

G knows too of of course. We are equals and partners 

9. A résumé that is not even the slightest bit padded.

10. One friend who always makes you laugh and one who lets you cry.

11. A set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and a black lace bra.

12. Something ridiculously expensive that you bought for yourself, just because you deserve it.

13. The belief that you deserve it.

14. A skin-care regimen, an exercise routine, and a plan for dealing with those few other facets of life that don’t get better after 30.

15. A solid start on a satisfying career, a satisfying relationship, and all those other facets of life that do get better.

By 30, you should know ...

 1. How to fall in love without losing yourself.

2. How you feel about having kids.

3. How to quit a job, break up with a man, and confront a friend without ruining the friendship.

4. When to try harder and when to walk away.

5. How to kiss in a way that communicates perfectly what you would and wouldn’t like to happen next.

6. The names of the secretary of state, your great-grandmothers, and the best tailor in town.

7. How to live alone, even if you don’t like to.

8. Where to go -- be it your best friend’s kitchen table or a yoga mat -- when your soul needs soothing.

9. That you can’t change the length of your legs, the width of your hips, or the nature of your parents.

10. That your childhood may not have been perfect, but it’s over.

11. What you would and wouldn’t do for money or love.

12. That nobody gets away with smoking, drinking, doing drugs, or not flossing for very long.

13. Who you can trust, who you can’t, and why you shouldn’t take it personally.

14. Not to apologize for something that isn’t your fault.

15. Why they say life begins at 30

What Know One Will Ever Understand

• The long hours I have spent at night worrying if I will be good enough or if I will make it
• How I strive to capture perfect images and always seem to fail in my eyes
• The countless hours I have put into not only editing, but designing my site, facebook page, getting fans, and offering free shoots.
• The countless hours of planning, contacting clients, getting excited. Only to have them cancel last minute
• People telling you you are not good enough
• Seeing people you know go to crappy photographers and thinking how beautiful you would have made them
• taking an amazing photo and not getting the response you were hoping for
• spending tons of money on upgrades, props, business stuff, etc
• always trying to better yourself by reading hours and hours of articles and tutorials 
• being pooped, peed, and spit up on and taking it with a smile

All of this and so much more is what I deal with everyday. Why is it worth it? This is why.

Wedding Song Drama

Dear wedding planning,
Picking a wedding song is hard, it is even more hard when you have been together for 7 years and you have tons of songs that all have a special meaning. I we have it narrowed down to 4......

Dark Blue

Chasing Cars

Turning Page

A Thousand Years

Top 10 Best Advantages Of Being A Photographer

I love my job, in my eyes it is seriously the greatest single thing that has ever happened to me. To be able to do what I love and have a passion for, for a living is one the the greatest joys in life. Here are some even more reasons why I am so lucky.

• My family gets amazing photos. I have read on a number of sites that you should charge your family for doing their photos and give them a discount. This is bull crap in my eyes. My family is my FAMILY and they get to share in my amazing talent and get all the free photos they want!
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• When I have kids and they get older they will not only get to see memories in old photos, but beautiful ones at that! Seriously there will be no ugly or crappy photos for them.
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• I get to create art for a living, how many people can say they do this?
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• I have made of the best friends in my clients. Seriously they are amazing and I truly love them and am grateful to have them in my life.
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• I get to prove people wrong everyday. By being amazing at what I do and making good money I am proving those people wrong who have doubted me or thought I would amount to nothing. That is a great feeling.
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• Editing is my down time. Seriously I know some may hate editing or just view it as part of the job, but for me it is a relaxing and helps me stay calm and carry on ; )
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• This is one of the only fields were you will never peak, you will always keep growing and changing.
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• I am my own boss!
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• I get to come up and design new and creative ideas for shoots, being a creative person this part is so much fun and very rewarding. 
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• Naturally I am not a social person and being a Photographer makes forces me to deal with this issue, resulting in me expanding who I am and becoming a better person.

Make A Wish

On Why I Should Not Have A Phone

It was 3:45am. I wake up and can not find my Iphone. I look on my bed, then feel around on the floor for it. Not there. Look down and were is my phone? Sitting in the cup of soda that I left next to my bed before I went to sleep.

I panic. The phone seems OK, go in the living room and try charging it as it is on 3%. It say it is charging but the % is not going up. Unplug it and still seems to work except for the few times it restarted. Look a little while latter and it is dead. Try to charge it and it is not charging!!!

My uncle is looking at my phone that was sitting in soda for who knows how long..... If he can not fix it, will send it to see if it can get repaired. If this does not work? We will have to get a refurbished one for $300, this after we just forked over 1k for my 7d.

This is the story of my life. Something goes awesome, something has to balance it out and go horribly wrong. Seriously what the hell is the chance that it would fall in the one little spot were my cup was? SMH.

I should also mention in this middle of this I am having a full blown panic attack...

Dear Rebel

Dear Rebel,

You were my first love and ISO wish things could have worked out for us. You taught me everything I needed to know and took me far in life, I promise I will never forget this. The thing is I have found someone better. He is amazing! Every fast, easy, and a lot bigger than you. His name is Seven and he is now the love of my life. I did not mean for this to happen, but sometimes people grow apart and frankly it is time for me to move on to bigger and better things.

Please remember the good times between us and it is not like this is goodbye forever, I will still have you as a back up and know you will continue to wait for me to put my hands around you in a loving embrace. You are loyal like that. You will always have a special, everlasting place in my heart. 

Two

Two people I love more than life.

I Love Me Some Jackson

Taken with my NEW Canon 50mm F/1.4 A.K.A my new BFF<3

What A Difference A Year Can Make

It has been one year since I wrote the following blog.

This is going out to my fellow photographers and inspiring photographers alike. In June it will be one year since I got my DSRL. Since then I have done nothing but take photos. I have realized what type of photographer I want to be and have a pretty solid business plan in order. The only thing I am hung up one is am I ready?
So here are a few samples of some recent work. Be brutally honest and let me know what is good, bad, and needs improvement. Also please excuse the storyboards just threw them together quickly.



My logo

I was going through my blog and can not believe I wrote this. The main reasons are three fold. 1 I was not asking for "real" opinions I wanted to be praised for my "amazing" work, did I really think these photos were good enough to be professional?!,  and oh how little I knew back then!

One year ago was the start of my journey. I really thought I knew it all and could make it as a professional photographer. I was very into myself and thought my work was the shit when in reality it was shitty. Seriously what the hell was I thinking?

The funny thing is that self confidence and utter delusional thinking has gotten me were I am today. I was so in love with taking photos (still am) that no one could talk me out of it. I think I am still pretty much the same person, the only difference being I know my work will always be continually growing and improving and I can actually look at my work abstractly and see what I could have done better, what I will do next time, and what I liked.

Another huge difference is simply experience. I do not understand why people think having a degree in photography makes you a photographer. Honestly classes are a great way to learn your camera and gear, but that is about it! If you want to take great photos and keep improving the only way to do so is experience.

So a year ago I was a newborn just starting out in this great and crazy business and here are some goals I have for the coming year. Plus some awesome photos as well ; )

• I want to have at least one newborn a week and really start honing into specializing in this field.
• I need to upgrade my camera, at this point I am starting to grow out of my beloved Rebel xs
• I really hope to get better at nailing exposer  in camera along with being slightly better at focusing (especially since I love shooting wide open!)
• I hope to have plans or have my in home studio done and ready!

Easter Time

This are photos taken this week, what did I actually do today? I edited, played xbox, and ordered pizza. That's how we roll ; )