My Family in My Life: photography

Showing posts with label photography. Show all posts

Friday, October 11, 2013

j. noel shop talk: confidence

I know most of you who visit this space are probably more interested in hearing funny stories or seeing style posts or, if you're local, getting some good ideas for places to go around Austin. Or maybe you stop in for posts like this one, about real life, or because you read our love story and felt invested ever since. But the truth is, this blog is influenced and based very much on what's going on in my life, and increasingly over the last year, my life has started to really revolve around my photography business. It keeps me very busy and consumes so many of my thoughts. So, I thought I'd give some business updates, i.e. "shop talk" posts here every now and then, to document my progress and to maybe even offer encouragement to those of you venturing out on your own business endeavors!

So... where to begin?

I think one thing that has really helped me out in growing the success of my business is confidence. I embrace every stage of the learning process and accept where I'm at, though that doesn't stop me from growing and getting better. I think a lot of creatives get really caught up in the comparison trap, when it's just easiest and best to let your talent unravel fluidly without always being down on yourself for not being as good as so & so. You will not be perfect in the first year of business. Or the first two years. Or ever. You will always grow and evolve and get better, though there will come a point when you're feeling a lot more secure and happy with the way you run things... I hope. I'm almost there, but not quite yet. So yes, BE PROUD of what you do. I remember being SO proud when I opened up an Etsy shop full of shitty prints a couple years ago, and now I literally laugh at what I hoped people would actually purchase from me (a couple sweet people actually DID order some prints, and that was the nicest thing ever. I am so grateful for all those who built me up instead of tearing me down during a time when I had unbridled confidence in a product that really wasn't there yet... at all.)

Lately I have been seeing the quality of my work-product improve pretty substantially. After a year and a half of honing my editing skills, I think I've learned to cut the fat and my eye has grown to notice subtle differences in natural editing and over-editing, and my work has improved because of it. I look back at past edits and cringe a bit, but I was proud of my work then, and that's all that matters. Again, BE PROUD of what you do. One year from now I may look back on my current work and notice all the places I went wrong, but for now I know I'm doing the very best I know how to do. And that's the most important thing. (If you struggle with confidence in the beginner stages of your work, please read this, it totally changed how I view things!)

Is there anything you'd like to see discussed in Shop Talk posts? Let me know in the comments!

And please take a moment to visit today's featured SOML sponsors. HAPPY FRIDAY!

* * * * *

Pretty Britt is the brains behind a lifestyle blog called One & Twenty, which also touches on beauty, wellness, and balance (which the tag line suggests!). ;) Britt occasionally discusses hair products, health, and like on today's post, her journey to become less guarded and/or cynical. Pay this sweet lady a visit!

Blog | Twitter

* * * * *

Miss Emily is a journalism student and the author of Sparrow in the Treetop, and she and her man live in Canada's capital city of Ottawa. The first post I ever read on Emily's blog was this TRUE ghost story. It will BLOW YOUR MIND, read it! Both parts! Do it now, it's so timely. Halloween is coming and all. ;) You can also get to know Emily a bit better right over here, in today's post! You will fall in love with this sweet girl. Go say hello.

Blog | Twitter

Only photos (a cop out)

Today's Blogtember prompt is only photos. I realize that this is a complete cop-out, but instead of photos from my own life today, I'm going to post photos I've recently taken for my business, since it's certainly consumed my life and my camera as of late. Hope you enjoy... :)

One click changed it all

Blogtember Day 6. Describe a distinct moment when your life took a turn. I'm not really going with the obvious answer for this one. I could say something like "the day I met my husband," and that would most certainly be a time my life took a complete 180 degree turn, but I've already told that story. You can read it here, if you fancy.

No, the defining moment I wanted to write about today was so much more subtle. I didn't fully understand it at the time, but now I see that moment as the beginning of something really important in my life. It was in late October of 2010, and I attended a family Halloween party. I was snapping photos with my little point-and-shoot digital camera, but then my mother-in-law asked me to take a few of her and her mom, since they both had cute costumes on. She handed me her DSLR camera, and I started snapping.

photo cred: Smitten Imagery

It's not very often that you remember the way you actually felt in a particular moment years in the past, or remember the actual thoughts that went through your mind. It must be an exceptional feeling or thought, whether positive or negative, to cause it to stand out among a million other memories. But that's how I remember that moment. As something very quietly exceptional. I fell in love with the way that camera felt in my hands. I fell in love with the sound of the shutter clicking as I snapped. It felt as though some tiny little light snapped on, like something woke up inside me that I hadn't previously known existed.

And then I proceeded to badger my husband for the entire month of November, until he purchased me a DSLR for my birthday. ;)

Since then I've taken plenty of bad pictures, tried to sell some of those bad pictures on Etsy (hahahahah), experimented with editing styles that make me cringe to look back on, started a business, done things wrong, done things right, made great friends in my clients, and continue to learn and grow along the way. I've realized that you don't just go from zero to incredibly amazing as a photographer (or anything, for that matter) overnight. It takes lots and lots of time and practice and hard work and honing that only comes from time and practice and hard work. I am nowhere near where I'd like to be as a photographer. But do I feel completely in my element? YES! And I can trace it all back to that one little moment back in October of 2010, when my life took a turn. Funny how that works sometimes... ;) Tell us about your turning points in the link up below. Happy Tuesday!

Giveaway: $270 worth of Photography Concentrate tutorials!

You guys. YOU GUYS. I am so excited for today's giveaway! If you're interested in learning photography, whether you'd like to do it professionally or just to improve your every day photos, pay attention to this one! Many of you know I am a big, big fan of the folks over at Photography Concentrate and their fabulous tutorials. I rave about them every chance I get, because they are just that good! Extremely Essential Camera Skills transformed my work and jumpstarted my photography business, and Super Photo Editing Skills taught me Lightroom. There are so many helpful things I learned from those two tutorials, both major and minor, that I NEVER would have figured out myself, and for that I am so grateful. Rob and Lauren, the masterminds behind Photography Concentrate, are a married couple and photographers themselves, and they created these tutorials as a simple, clean, affordable, and aesthetically pleasing way to teach others photography. You could spend hundreds or thousands of dollars (and lots of time) to take college courses or other photography classes... orrrrr you could just get these tutorials and learn it all in one or two sittings. NO BRAINER.

Anyway, the really good news is that one of you will win an entire set of Photography Concentrate tutorials - that's a $270 value, or compared to what you COULD spend elsewhere, it's worth thousands and many hours of your life. Here's what the winner will receive:

1. Extremely Essential Camera Skills ($49.95) | 2. Super Photo Editing Skills ($79.95) | 3. Backup or Die ($19.95) | 4. Awesome Album Design Skills ($79.95) | 5. Simple Wedding Photography ($39.95)

For your chance to win this awesome prize pack, enter in the Rafflecopter below. GOOD LUCK!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Photo shoot with Smitten Imagery

Last month I had the real pleasure of working with Brittney of Smitten Imagery for the second time - remember these? That was back when she had a different biz name! I am so proud of Brittney and all she's accomplished in the last couple of years - she's truly honed her skills and even started shooting film, which accounts for most of these images. I feel so lucky to count her among my friends and fellow professionals. I've learned so much from her already! She is actually the one who first recommended I try this tutorial I'm always raving about. I am so incredibly grateful that she did.

Brittney and my sister in law and I had an amazing time at The Prairie by Rachel Ashwell, practicing boudoir photography indoors and frolicking around outdoors in the fields for some regular portraits. Below are a few of my favorites from our outdoor photos! Don't hesitate to hire Brittney if you're anywhere near the Houston/The Woodlands area. Girl knows her stuff, and she'll make you look gooood. ;)

dress from Madewell (on sale!)

And now for today's featured SOML sponsors! Pay these lovely ladies a visit - I think you'll be glad you did!

* * * * *

Girl Meets Baby is an incredibly beautiful blog by an incredibly beautiful girl called O.E. - learn a little more about that name AND the lady behind it right over here! I think you'll be smitten with her unique and captivating writing style after just one post - like perhaps one of her Therapy Thursdays entries like this one. Amazing, right? If that hasn't convinced you yet, read this one. Absolutely beautiful. Reads like a book you don't want to put down, right? You will love this girl, her sweet family, and her truly one-of-a-kind blog.

Blog | Facebook | Twitter

* * * * *

After April is a blog by another total sweetheart named Amber Marie - fall in love with her right over here. Amber Marie started After April a month after her father passed away - she turned something tragic and hard into something that motivated her to put beauty out there into the world. I have had the pleasure of getting to know this girl via the blog world, and she is just one of those you'll love to meet. Read her post called "Perspective Object" here - it's one of my favorites, and really makes you think. Enjoy!

Blog | Facebook | Twitter

* * * * *

Happy Friday :)

So, what's your thing?

photo cred: Smitten Imagery

Last night I was thinking, like I sometimes do, and I was thinking about my “thing” and other people’s “things” and whether or not everyone actually has a “thing.” Allow me to explain with an example. We were watching the news the other day, and there was a story about these deep water divers that go down without any oxygen - they train themselves to hold their breath for three, four plus minutes at a time, and they try to break world records or their own records or what have you - and that’s their thing! They love to see how long they can go and how deep they can get without coming up for air. Personally, that sounds like the most terrifying and worst possible way I could spend my time and enegy, but those particular people love it.

For me, my thing is writing. Or at least that was the thing that sparked other things that have entered my life, like blogging and now photography. Writing has been a part of my life literally as long as I can remember. It’s always been part of my identity. I was writing little stories and books and poems ever since I was a little kid, and people would always tell me I should be a writer someday. When you have a passion, and you’re doing it, there’s almost no greater high feeling. The only thing comparable for me might be eating a Gourdough’s doughnut. But I digress.

You see all these inspirational quotes everywhere, like “follow your bliss” and “if your dreams don’t scare you, they’re not big enough,” and stuff like that, but sometimes I think what about the people who don’t have a dream? Who weren’t born with that one thing they love doing and really fulfills them? What about them? I imagine it would be a strange feeling, when you see the world carrying on so much about “following your passions” when that doesn’t seem to really apply to you.

But as I was tumbling this little thought process along in my head, I think I came to the conclusion that I believe everyone really DOES have a thing. Even though it may be uncultivated or undiscovered yet. Maybe right now, it’s just something you really appreciate and admire. I always used to really appreciate and admire great photography, but never really imagined becoming a photographer myself, until that one day I felt a DSLR camera in my hands for the first time and something woke up inside me, as dumb as that sounds.

So if you’re one of those people without a defined passion yet, I guess I just wanted to say to you that I believe it’s there somewhere, waiting to be uncovered. A God-given talent or predisposition that will feel really good to find and will give your life extra purpose and excitement. It’s scary and awesome all at once. I hope you find it.

What about YOU? What is your thing? Do you have one yet, or not? Do you think people without a “thing” yet can still find one? It’s so interesting to hear about people’s passions. Like the ~~freaks~~ divers that like to hold their breath for extended periods of time and almost die on a regular basis, we are all unique, and I love to hear about what makes other’s tick.

Happy Hump Day!

A few snaps with the 85

Much to my horror, my 50mm 1.4 lens (AKA the only lens I owned) BROKE while at the conference last weekend (though luckily it went kaput right before the end of Prom on Saturday night, so I didn't miss much). It's so weird to be a photographer and have your means of photographing taken away, and after last weekend, I vowed that this would never happen to me again. I did some research, and decided to buy an 85mm 1.4 lens by Sigma as a backup, which wasn't as affordable as the Canon 1.8 OR as crazy expensive as the Canon 1.2. A happy medium, if you will, and it's the aperture I'm used to on my 50 (which is now repaired, by the way!). And I'm really, really, really happy with it so far. A great portrait lens, and seriously beautiful bokeh (that blurry, creamy, delicious, light-spotted background). Here's just a few snaps with the new 85! Happy Friday, everyone... see you back here on Monday! :)

Norman!

* * * * *

Today's featured SOML sponsors...

First up is pretty Belinda from a blog called Found Love, Now What? This expat was living in Washington state when she met and married her love, who happened to be from the U.K.! Now they live together in Wales, and Found Love, Now What? is all about life as a newlywed overseas and the general adventures of an expat, of course! Read a little more about Belinda right here, and read her and Neal's sweet love story right here. These two. are. adorable. :)

Blog | Facebook | Twitter

* * * * *

Living In Another Language is, guess what? Another expat blog! Must be expat day here on SOML! :) Amanda is the brains behind the blog, which is all about her and her husband Derik's adventures teaching English in South Korea. This is a great place to start to get to know these two, and if you're an expat yourself, Amanda has some resources for you here! Also, if you're interested, Amanda has a great article on going poo-free (shampoo, that is!) right here! :)

Blog | Facebook | Twitter

* * * * *

Venus Trapped In Mars is, guess what? Oh wait, NOT an expat blog! Go 'Merica! ;) Meet Sarah, the author of the blog and whom I'm betting is a ton of fun in real life. Sarah is a sports fanatic but self-proclaimed girly fashion lover at the same time, and her blog is chock-full of all kinds of fun posts, stories from her life, and the occasional "Saturday Sessions" like this one on how to make your own social media gadget links. Peruse more popular posts here, and don't forget to tell Sarah hello!

At The Prairie, Part II

As promised yesterday, part II from The Prairie! I'm so excited to share these photos with you. This place is like a big fluffy cloud. That's all there is to it. We stayed in the Seabury Suite at Liliput Lodge, and it was just the most perfect thing. I cannot wait to go back with a book and some writing and plans to relax and soak it in instead of work. Rachel Ashwell, can you come do our new house? ...Please?

Brittney from Smitten Imagery and Pearl. We wanted to keep her.

The next set of photos are from the Ranger's Lounge, which is the office and common area at the Prairie. You go here for coffee and breakfast in the morning, and it's just as divine as the rest of the place. See for yourself!