Still here…..

Wow! Something disconnected with my blogging. It’s been such a long time since I’ve posted anything. Actually, I think I know what it is. I began feeling like… well… like surely it was boring just reading one post after the other about how much I love each and every shoot with a few photos from the shoot attached. It’s true of course, but I think I’m wanting my blog to be more personal. You can see lots of photos on my website. And there are times when a shoot is so special, I want to talk about it, but I want my blog to be more about sharing who I am. Maybe something will click that will help you relate to me as a person — which also ALWAYS has the wonderful effect of producing more amazing images.

So, my last blog post shared the final of last year’s high school senior season. I was reeeeeeallllly tired! I had worked practically around the clock making sure shoots, photo editing, announcements, coffee table books, and ordering sessions were all done in the small window of time before graduation. It was challenging because my brand of photography is not high volume, one shoot after the other after the other, filling up every day of my calendar with the business of photography. No. My brand is to pour 150% of myself into each and every shoot, pull up each photo individually, and see how I can turn a great photo into something magical. Then, I love to put the photos to music. And the thing is, it matters not if I have a ton of shoots in the cue… or one. I treat each one with the same 150% investment. I just work around the clock to accomplish each shoot with the same passion. But it was starting to drain the life out of me. Total sleep deprivation tends to do that after a few months.

Then, a little back and forth over a review I wrote for one of my photography heroes who had just had a new book published about all things Rocky Mountain National Park. I was mentioning to him my struggle to balance the “volume” with the “passion”, and time for life. He wrote something back to me that was more impactful to my life than he will ever know. I read it. I re-read it. I ended up printing it so I could see it by my computer – and repeating it to myself each time I was anxiously getting ready for a shoot (as much as I LOVE photoshoots, I still get extremely nervous and anxious with each one. It’s the perfectionist in me wanting everything to be perfect). Here’s what he said:

“Don’t fall for the trap of non-stop work. Instead, work to infuse your imagery with that emotional and spiritual substance that comes from a life centered in Christ. That will make up for the volume, and will cause people to wonder why your images have such power.”

WOW! It still feeds my soul to read that! God spoke to me through those words, and since that time, I have tried to do just that. I have worked more on keeping my life centered in Christ, NOT overbooking, and letting my work pour out of my relationship with Him! And you know what? I have been so amazed at how He has smiled on my work! I do feel a special kind of power in my images. Because, now, I’m not tired going into my photoshoots. I’m not distracted by more work at home than I can finish. And mostly, I’ve had time to attend to the things that make me a BETTER photographer, which is in fact, my life being centered in Christ and having quality family time.

So that’s my story since my Spring 2014 burnout. The images in this post are just a few of my favorite ones since then… all except the ones of the puppies…. THAT one will get its own blog post because my heart is too too tooooooooo passionate about my work with rescue pups to not give it a full story. Maybe that will be next. If you love dogs, you’ll like it. And, I’ll share the video I made for my amazing friend who is TRULY the angel in those dogs’ lives!

Until then… thank you for checking in. I do feel better having born my soul.