Behind the Scenes in 2018 | Business

Behind the Scenes in 2018 | Business

I think I often come across as serious and thoughtful in my online home. I try to make my blog and social media posts worthwhile and thus, they often result in a less-than-complete representation of my life. The truth is, Nathan and I love to have fun, especially around each other. On wedding days we can be intense and goofy from one minute to the next. When I get too serious or too stressed about timing, Nathan strikes a pose for light testing so I can’t help but crack up. When we get to the reception and everyone is a little more relaxed, we follow suit.

This blog, more than any others, is an accurate picture of the highs, lows, and hilarity of a wedding day. Our goal is to photograph the most joyful people on the best day of their lives with as little stress as possible. This results in a lot of shenanigans, laughter, joking, and some sarcasm thrown into the mix. It also results in both of us competing to capture less-than-flattering pictures of each other, all in the name of joking and an epic end of year blog post!

Enjoy a laugh at our expense and if you think this is funny, I can’t even begin to describe what the actual wedding day is like…

Four Easy Ways to Become More Productive | Business

Four Easy Ways to Become More Productive | Business

A few weeks ago my sister asked me how I am so productive and efficient during the day. I laughed at that thought, because I often feel like I’m running around with constant interruptions. My days look so different from each other, and working right now is the hardest it has ever been. There are a lot of factors beyond my control that add some disorder and difficulty to my life as far as being productive is concerned.

But then I realized that maybe, just maybe, this is one of my strong suits. As chaotic as I feel inside, I know my business has remained strong and most people probably have not noticed much of a difference. Weddings are still getting delivered. Family sessions are still getting scheduled. Blogs are still written (case in point!). So I began to think about how exactly I can accomplish this in the midst of life upheavals. I came up with a few pointers…

The Best Business Decision I Made this Year | Business

The Best Business Decision I Made this Year | Business

Before I even start, I’ll admit that I have mixed decisions about this topic. I referenced in this blog post that I wanted to be a photographer partly so I could do all my work while taking care of however many children we had with no issues. But when the rubber met the road and I actually had to do said work while taking care of said child, things changed.

For the first year, I made it through. At the beginning, while babies wake up at night, they also sleep during the day - and Willow has always been a great nap-taker. While I was tired and stretched, I was able to find time during the day to work. It also took a long time for Willow to crawl (7-8 months) and walk (14 months), and she was generally fairly content to play with toys. I still spent plenty of time with her, but I could also work while she was awake and took full advantage of this fact.

Right around 11 months old, though, things slowly started to change…