Yearly Archives: 2013

A few embarrassing things happened to me when I went to my coaching session with the amazing Katelyn James!

The First most embarrassing moment:  I got lost!  Which is really not new for me so it wasn’t that embarrassing.  It was only embarrassing because I had to call Katelyn 80 million times in fear that I was going to be horribly late!  I also had to call Amanda Hedgepeth like 50 times to make sure I was on the right path which was also awful because I knew I was interrupting her already busy day!

The Second most embarrassing moment (and one that has really stuck in my mind every day since then) was that after our 5 minutes of introductions,  Katelyn told me that I was not at all the person she had pictured stepping out of that car to meet her.

My “brand” was 180 degree opposite of who I am in real life!  And it was not a positive thing!

I never really fully believed that an online personality had anything to do with business!  I thought that it was nice.  I thought that nice websites were just that… nice, pretty websites!  I thought logos were cool and I appreciated them a lot!  Especially because my dad was a freelance graphic artist and one of my best friends in college was aspiring to be a graphic artist as well!

But for me:  I didn’t really think it would make a huge difference! I mean come on now, could a few teeny tiny details online like font type and color scheme really give a perspective client a perception of who I am?!

And then I hopped out of the car for my coaching session to have Katelyn tell me that among other things she expected see an over 40 something, very old school photographer!  Who she did not expect to meet was a bubbly, outgoing, somewhat goofy blonde with pink in her hair who wears her heart on her sleeve!

The first piece of advice I got was to get re-branded!

So… here I am now stepping into this crazy FUN process, and I thought I’d take you with me.

Meeting with Katelyn was a HUGE step for my business!  Since meeting with her, Tuck and I have taken some pretty big leaps!  But moving forward with this step is a pretty personal journey and it’s really revealing!

Right now it feels like I’m a bit confused and all over the place.  My homework has been to pin on pinterest which I mean that’s kind of awesome!

Tuck comes home and asks what I’m doing and instead of feeling guilty about being on pinterest, these days I get to say “Homework!”

But in reality it is a little tedious and hard!  I don’t want to overwhelm my team!  And some times I feel like I’m a bit of a multiple personality with all the randomness that’s going on there!

But it makes me feel like a puzzle with all the pieces!  I can’t wait to see what it all looks like put together!

I’ve also found out a few things about myself and my business that I never would have known.

Like I really do have a clear cut vision and amazingly the possibility of a tag line even!

It’s all pretty cool!

 

I can’t wait to see how it all unfolds and what my team comes up with!

Check back with me here next Friday to see what’s happening along the way in this process.

 

 

It’s time for a 52 portraits update!

YES… I have been keeping up with my portraits a week, although I know I have not been posting them at all.  I have completely failed at posting because I stopped at what, like week 3?!  Epic fail I know!

But seriously ya’ll life gets in the way!  Right?!  It sounds soo incredibly cliche to say but it’s the darn truth!

I feel like for a while there I had it, like really had it!  I got down with that whole balance thing!  (And that was said in my very best Urkle voice possible).  But then even saying that I feel is a bit of a joke.  It’s kind of a cocky thing to say!

This is totally just me in my state of jibber jabber but I feel like once you say to yourself “man, I really have this balance thing going for me”  it’s like God kind of chuckles to himself and then winks and says OK… let’s see!  Because honestly, it IS really cocky for us to say we have it down and under control.  We can’t really learn anything if we aren’t challenged!  And I think that is what God is doing when he chuckles at us and starts changing it up and throwing us stuff to shake up our balance act we think that we have under control:  to teach us and help us grow!

So basically that is what happened to me over here in my corner of the world!  I was thrown a few curve balls that completely threw off my balance and life just happened!

We had some craziness mixed in with some urgent and emergency (which was stressful… I’m not going to lie) mixed in with some awesomeness, thrown in with a bit of blow your mind kind of life!

BUT what I learned is that all of that stuff is life!  WHAT?!

I know… things just got real deep over here!  These crazed moments when my hair looks like I stuck my finger in the wall socket and I may or may not have my underwear on backwards and my little man is in fits of giggles spinning himself in circles holding on tight to a toy vacuum cleaner that is now his BFF are what make up my wonderful life… and truly it is absolutely wonderful! 

So those are the moments when I remember why the 52 portrait project is important!  Because life is crazy and messy and beautiful!  It is hectic and so incredibly fast paced that we have to stop for a moment sometimes to catch our breath and click a button on some camera some where!  That way we can go back and laugh at ourselves and find the joy and the peace and the happy!

So I leave you with a slice of my heaven…

It was our first Chili night of the season (and we think it was an obvious hit)

Model Faces… from daddy! And total cheese face…from mommy!

 

Hand in hand they walked all along the cobblestones and the streets of downtown Norfolk;  his hand never leaving her hand or the small of her back!  They laughed together and joked… making those playful jokes that only couples who are completely comfortable with one another can make.  You know, the ones that come with the comfort of not only loving but truly understanding and supporting and believing in your partner.  Through good times and great times as well as some times that aren’t as wonderful!  The love that comes from being with someone that truly does render you a best friend, a better half and a half of someone else’s heart!

Vince and Krystin met 5 years ago during this time of year:  fall and Halloween.  These two have been laughing and joking and giving each other a good natured and loving hard time ever since that wonderful day five years ago!

You see in between all the jokes and the story of how they met (which is filled with laughter and oh no’s and oh my goshes); if you look close enough, you can see how deep their love runs.  You see that Vince never ever takes his eyes off of Krystin.  He watches out for her in every step she takes:  protecting and guiding in the most gentle and loving way!  If you pay attention, you will find that Krystin comes to life when she tells their story!  Her eyes light up and her smile is so incredibly beautiful and endearing that it could make the Grinch’s heart swell like Christmas morning!

Krystin and Vince share such a special kind of love and I am beyond excited and blessed to be a part of their big day next September!  As well as an incredibly exciting year this will be for the two of them and their families!

They were so at ease in front of the camera during their engagement shoot that I can’t wait to see what special moments we are able to capture during their wedding!