Frustrations and Contentment

Lately I have been getting really upset with the turtle slow pace of my photography career and being an avid blog stalker has not been helping the situation. I read between 20 and 30 other photographers blogs on a daily basis and somedays it can be inspiring but other days it can make me downright green with envy! I sit there and start asking "What am I doing wrong? Why hasn't my business taken off like all these other photographers?"

It's funny how God works because the message the guest speaker brought to my amazing church really was meant for me! It spoke straight to my heart! During the summer our pastor takes a break and we have a ton of inspiring guest speakers. In July, we had Dr. Darryl Delhousaye and he was such a blessing. We have been studying the book of Phillippians written by Paul while he is in Roman prison. The sermon was about contentment, Dr. Darryl spoke about how contentment is learned and we humans are not born with it. We must learn how to be content with what we have in the present and not be so focused on what we think we "need". I have been so focused on the lenses and the website and branding that goes along with my photography business, that I have lost sight of who has given me the gift to be able to see the image and capture it. The Lord has blessed me with this creativity and this longing to capture the beauty in everyday moments. If it were not for Him, I would not be able to do what I love so deeply.

Despite everything that I think I "need", my camera is working and the lenses I have have gotten me this far. I have been able to capture some amazing images with the equipment that I have and I need to thank God for blessing me with the things I have right this moment.

I hope when I look back at this time in my life in the future I can laugh at the miniscule things i was stressing about.

Almost Baby: Gina Steelman

A few weeks ago, I went to Mike and Gina Steelman's house with the intention to do a mini maternity shoot. We figured if I brought Lily with me then she could play with her son Judah and we would be able to have a little bit of time to do her pictures. Our plan took a nosedive when the little ones got bored after 5 minutes and decided we needed to entertain them. So we were only able to take a few pictures before they both had a meltdown.  Here are the results of our super mini maternity shoot:

Suites are the ONLY way to go...

This past Sunday my friend Sybil and I drove up to San Francisco and watched the A's vs Giants game. This was my first experience at a professional baseball game and being the supreme divas that we are ;-) we just had to watch from one of the luxury suites.  After walking around the lower level of the ballpark trying to find the elevator for 20 minutes, we finally made it to the fourth level where all the suites are located. We are two directionally impaired females so we managed to go the opposite way we were supposed to go and ended up walking a full circle around the park AGAIN! As we were walking, we were peeking into each of the suites and O man! these suites were loaded! All of them had plasma screens and couches with a buffets of snacks laid out on the coffee tables.  They looked like hotel rooms with full bars and little mini fridges. We finally made it to our suite and we were just ready to get a drink and watch the baseball game.  After all the walking, the patio seating overlooking the 37,000 people (yes there were 37,000 people at the game! insane right?) was so comfortable! We were high enough that we could see the entire field and all the crowds below us. It was so incredible! The game was so much fun and I will absolutely be attending another one in the future... In style of course :-)

The window behind us reflected the field perfectly.

Preston Castle Shoot: Glamour

What do cracked walls, hot models,and ghosts have in common? 

A few weeks ago, a group of photographers drove up to Ione, CA for a Glamour/Model/Bridal shoot. We had such an amazing time exploring the rundown castle that has been abandoned for decades. The castle isn't really a castle at all, it used to be a boys penitentiary in the early 1900's. The whole place had cracking walls and cobwebs everywhere. There was an infirmary complete with beds and old empty medicine bottles, a bathroom with showers and empty bathtubs, and a wine cellar with dusty old barrels. It was totally creepy and was such a rad background for some of the bridal shots.  Here are a few of my faves:

Everyone needs a Mike!

Since I am a relatively new blogger, as well as a relatively new photographer, I thought I might give all you readers a little history lesson on...ME! Not too many people know the story of how I ended up walking down this crazy road I am on, so here goes...

I always had an interest in photography, I can remember my mom giving me her old film camera when I was about ten. I immediately took it and went out in the fields behind our house. I took pictures of flowers, ladybugs and dirt! I loved it so much! Now fast forward a few years and I'm in college, I decide I want to be a nurse so I start taking the courses to apply for nursing school. As I am looking over some of the classes required, I notice I need a few art classes and what do you know they offer black and white photography! I signed up for beginning black and white and from that first class on I was hooked. I remembered what I had loved so much about photography as a kid, except this time I took more pictures of people and less pictures of dirt! ;-) I enrolled in every photography course that college offered! I loved the creative aspect of developing my own film and printing my images but it never occurred to me that I could make a career out of it, so I continued with the nursing prerequisites.  Now if you don't know already nursing schools are highly impacted and it is extremely hard to get in to their programs. I met my best friend, Tana, in anatomy lab in the spring of 2003. She was almost finished with all the prerequisites while I was just beginning. I watched as she applied to school after school and never could get in. This process of her applying and not getting in went on for more than three years. So watching her receiving disappointment after disappointment was a little discouraging for me. After completing all but two classes, I decided if she couldn't get in then what would be different if I started applying so I decided to drop out of school. 

During the two years I took off, I moved to Sacramento, moved back to Monterey, got married, had a beautiful baby girl, got divorced, and moved back in with my amazing parents. After all the chaos settled, I had time to really think about what I wanted out of my life.  Having my daughter sparked my love for photography again but this time something clicked! I really thought long and hard about starting a business in wedding and portrait photography. I didn't know anything about the business side of photography, much less where to start but I was determined to see if it might be possible to make a living with it. Then I got a call from Tana...she had just received an acceptance letter from a nursing school and she was starting in 6 weeks! I was beyond excited for her but now I was at a crossroads, do i pursue my love for helping people with the slight chance of getting into school or pursue my love of art with absolutely no knowledge of running my own business? The only thing I could do was research every aspect of a photography business and weigh my options, so I started trolling the internet for local photographers and making cold calls hoping someone, anyone, would be willing to help me. And this is where a very generous Christ-like man came into my life. Mike Steelman was a member of my church who always said hi to my family, always shook my father's hand and was always so genuinely friendly. I had come across his website a few days before and thought he looked familiar but I couldn't place where I knew him from. Then he walked past me in the foyer and I put two and two together. I immediately called him and made an appointment to come by his office with what I told him were a "few questions" when in reality i showed up with a notebook full! Sorry Mike! He was more than willing to sit and answer every single question and I was so grateful! 

Mike has since become one of my best friends and we have been shooting weddings, engagement sessions, and family sessions together ever since. He was the first person who truly believed in me and was willing to take a chance on me. He has invited me to second shoot with him on so many occasions and without his generosity I wouldn't have a portfolio. I am forever in debt to his kindness and I hope one day I can inspire someone as much as he has inspired me. In the two years since that first meeting, he has taught me so much not just in photography but in life. He has set an example of how a Godly person should act and treat others and he has set the bar high for all the prospective guys in my life. He is the first one to keep me accountable in every aspect of my life and someone I trust wholeheartedly.  So Thank You Mike for being a huge influence and a true friend. Thank you for having guts and letting a complete stranger tag along with her camera and single lens. Thank you for being completely honest with me about EVERYTHING! You may never realize what a blessing you have been to me and how honored I am to call you a friend!

One random fact about Mike: He loves to take self portraits with any camera left within his reach so never leave your camera alone with him or you will end up with this...

the SLO life

Last weekend I took a drive down Highway 1 through Big Sur then on down to San Luis Obispo. It was an amazing drive but a little too long since we picked one of the hottest weekends EVER! We got stuck behind tourists going 30 mph the whole way! It literally took 5 hours to get from Monterey to downtown SLO!

 All in all I think it was a once in a lifetime trip and I loved the view from the vista points along the way. The whole reason I wanted to take Highway 1 instead of 101 is so Lily could see the elephant seals. They were just lying all along the beach, hundreds of them! Lily kept yelling at me, "Mommy, look!" 

 Attempting to get a decent picture with Lily looking at the camera is nearly impossible. She might not be smiling but at least she is looking in the right direction LOL!

After eating lunch in Cambria, we continued on down the coast through Morro Bay to San Luis. We walked around downtown and came across this alley that was covered in bubble gum! Literally the whole alley had thousands of pieces of gross chewed up gum stuck on the walls! It was completely disgusting and of course Brian had to add to the nastiness! :-)  

After driving over 5 hours to get there, we didn't even think twice about taking the 101 home and we made it back in less than 2 hours!!!  Taking trips like this makes me appreciate the little amount of time I have left before Lily becomes a little girl. Everyday she says new words and sentences and that just blows my mind! She just turned two and it feels like just yesterday she was a newborn completely dependent on me. I think there will be many more adventures in our near future!

I finally gave in!

After going back and forth in my head about whether i needed a blog or not, I decided to go ahead, pull a Nike and Just Do It!  I am an admitted blog stalker so it is only appropriate that I have my own space to vent and share what is going on amidst the craziness I call my life! So welcome and please feel free to stay as long as you like...and because every post is better with an image here is one of me taken by my best friend on a recent wine tasting trip to Carmel Valley!