Family Fun

So far this fall I've had quite a few Family Sessions!  I've had so much fun getting to know everyone!  Here are just a few of my favorites:)

CHALLENGE TIME!!

Today I'm taking on a challenge:  get rid of EVERYTHING in this house that isn't serving a purpose.  If I put it in storage with the thought that I might use it one day, it's getting purged!  We don't have a lot of clutter, but there are closets and drawers and cabinets that are holding things that just need to go.

I'm getting rid of clothes I don't wear.  I'm getting rid of baking pans, dishes and kitchen utensils that I've never used.  I'm going through the kids' toys and trashing every single McDonald's Happy Meal toy I can find!  Leave no stone unturned! LOL  I've had it!  I'm ready to be free of 'stuff'.  One room at a time.  One closet at a time.

Things of value will be sold.  Time to pay off some debt/investments that I've made in my photography business.  This is going to be fun.  I'm excited to see what this place looks like in a couple weeks.  The next step is design.  It's time to paint and be creative.

When we lived in Illinois we COMPLETELY remodeled our house in just 4 months.  It was a major challenge!  We were so tired of the home improvement shows/magazines.  We vowed to never take on that big of a project again.  Now that we've been here for almost 6 months, it's time to start thinking about making this house OUR home.  Bailey got a new look in her room and loves it!  But all the other rooms are beige, beige and beige.  It's time, baby, it's time! 

My first creative goal is my office.  I'll have free riegn in here with no opinions from the husband:)  I can't wait to get started.  Logically, we've decided to wait until after Christmas, but if things really take off with the business it will be sooner:)  (I'm praying for 'sooner'.)    I can't wait to share our progress!  I'll post before and after images as we go.

So, challenge yourself!  Are you struggling to find that little extra cash for the holidays??  Go through a closet or two and find those things that just aren't working for you anymore.  Don't hang on to anything that isn't serving a purpose.  I think we'd all be surprised to find how much potential cash is hiding in our closets!!

*Sigh

Have you ever questioned your ability?  Has self-doubt ever crept in causing you to re-think everything that was once so clear?
Rebuilding my photography business has brought me to a very humble place.  Before we moved in June I was very confident that I would be successful right away.  I guess I was so use to being busy all the time back in Illinois.  In teh back of my mind, I guess I thought I would just pick up where I left off back at home. 

I've had a handful of sessions in the few months that we've been here.  It's been a slow start, but I've loved every single sessions I've shot! In my downtime, I've had plenty of time to research what other photographers are doing in the area and, boy, are they busy!!  Then I feel it:  the pressure to be busy and 'successful'.  *sigh.  I begin doubting my creativity.  I doubt my ability to grow.  I doubt everything about myself.  It's a horrible, humbling feeling!  My stomach does flip flops when I see other photographers out shooting by an old barn or a field of tall grass with the sunsetting gently behind their subjects. 

After sulking for a couple days my amazing husband took my hand, looked me in the eyes and said, "There is no limit on success.  You had a measure of it back in Illinois.  Take your time and enjoy the journey....we've only been here 5 months!!"  It was at that moment I realized that, 1.) I'm married to the most wonderful man on the planet and 2.) comparing myself to others success is unneccessary, distructive and smothers my own creativity.

So, I look to the upside of things from now on!!  I'm excited to grow and I'm determined to enjoy every painfully slow and humbling moment! (smile) 

I'd Like to Try!!

As a photographer, there are so many things I'd like to try.  I want to expand my horizons and shoot for things that I haven't done yet.  I'm in the fun, (and sometimes painful), process of expanding my business.  Investing in better equipment and growing as best I can.  It's fun because I get to play with new 'toys'.  But it's painful because I'm not nearly as busy as I was back in Illinois.......YET. 

I want to try a few Kids Sessions shot completely in Black and White.  I'd like to try a 'trash the dress' session.  I can't wait to try my new u-lites that are enroute as we speak!  I want to try to get better at walking up to a cute pregnant girl in the grocery store to give her my business card.....but it always feels like stalking:/  I'm trying to become more patient as I wait for my phone to ring with new clients.  (I constantly remind myself that I've only been here 5 months!  Patience, grasshopper).

I want to try and find my niche.  Is it Families?  Kids?  Babies/Newborns?  I've heard that it takes 5 years to find your niche.  Great!!  More waiting!  I'd like to try and find more amazing outdoor spaces where I can shoot my clients.  I love my neighborhood where everyone loves to come, (and, yes, it saves on gas), but I would absolutely LOVE to do more on location where I'm not in my comfort zone.

I want to try so many things.  New things.  Improving on old things.  Investing in fun things.  Exploring amazing things.  I can't wait to look back in a year or two and see how far I've come!  I can't wait to see the areas where I've tried and failed as well as the areas where I've tried and succeeded.  It's an uphill climb right now......but I'm trying!!!

All I Want for Christmas is.......

.........A NEW CAMERA! :)  And it looks very promising!  I'm in love with my camera, but as my business grows, so does the need for a backup camera.  There's just one thing I need before I can run out and get it:  fundage. :)  I've racked my brain trying to figure out how I'm going to pay for it, but until my schedule is a little fuller I'm just going to have to be patient. 
I've come up with a priliminary 'plan' on how to reach my goal: give YOU an incentive.  So, I'm offering you something very cool.  *Whoever sends me 10 people before December 31st will receive 3 FREE sessions to use in 2011!!   If you think about it, it's not terribly hard.  For those of us with Facebook, we can look at our friends list and see that we know PLENTY of people who might enjoy a fun session for themselves or their kids. Especially this time of year!
Then there are our church friends, work friends, best friends, neighborhood friends........well, the list goes on and on!  I'm in the process of registering my business and just picked up my business license yesterday! Yay!  But I'm not in the position to advertise quite yet.  I run completely on word of mouth.  And it's working:)  Arkansas has been VERY gracious and kind to me! 
SOOOOO, if you'd like your sessions to be completely free in 2011, just tell your friends to look me up!  And they'll tell their friends.......and they'll tell their friends.....Before you know it, I'll be booked with a shiney new camera in hand!  AND my images will be even more crisp and clear!  THAT makes me excited!  I want to offer my customers the BEST images possible!
Y'all are the GREATEST!
~Tia