It’s officially been a month since my dear print shop opened. It’s been crazy really to see this little piece of me thrive and become something I had never imagined it becoming. What started as an aversion to screen time turned into something that has been leading to so many amazing collaborations and a beautiful following of watercolor love. Thank you, thank you for supporting this piece of me. Truly, it’s been a journey that I can’t wait to see where it goes.
This week was amazing really, I’m in the middle of wedding season and caught up (what?!) I was able to finally shut the computer and live and breathe a life that didn’t include cords and screens for a few hours and to me it was magnificent. Can you tell it’s the busy season? This blog has been filled with the smiling faces of my amazing clients all week long, there is zero shortage of photos being shot in my world. You see, one thing I have learned is that when you are in the thick of wedding season, you need to seize every opportunity in which you are compelled to do something other than work. For me last night looked like a night filled with wine and beer and girl talk over butternut squash ravioli with one of my dearest friends (who is also a wedding photographer) and my two dogs who were begging for attention. I have reached a point in my career where I have learned that in order to create beautiful things, I need to follow my gut and sometimes this ‘ol gut needs a day off, or a nap, or some wine… either way, I’m learning to listen to it and enjoy it.
Something people joke about but don’t often understand is that the life of a wedding photographer is generally a crazy one, summer is full – over full if we are being honest. Sure we are busy shooting on Saturdays but that also means that we are spending Sunday – Thursday trying to keep up and not fall behind in editing / blogging / creating galleries of / facebooking / emailing / album creating and archiving the photos we took on that Saturday. We aren’t just shooting for 8 hours and then we are done, we have a full week of long days in order to keep up with the fact that we have 27 more weddings to go that deserve our whole heart and mind and soul. It’s a lot to swallow and part of staying on fire for our jobs means listening to our gut when we need a day or a few hours of down time. The funniest part about hanging out with my friends in the industry? We hardly talk about photography – I mean, theres’s so much to life to cover, why spend our precious time talking about work? No shop talk necessary, just someone who gets “it.” Instead we focus on life, dreams, recipes, and ways we have been feeling inspired.
This leads me to the print of the week… we all have the ability to make things that are beautiful. Do we seize the opportunity? Do we jump at the chance at doing something awesome? I instagrammed this painting yesterday, “Fear is for Jerks.” What would you do if you weren’t afraid? What would you accomplish if you knew you wouldn’t fail? We all have the opportunity to make something amazing and beautiful out of this life – the print of the week is reminding you that you, yes you, have the potential. Are you taking advantage of this potential and making something rad or are you letting fear get the best of you? Do something great this weekend, chase those dreams, listen to your gut, drink that wine, and have real conversations about life and hopes and goals. The world needs more people who have come fully alive so do whatever it is that makes you feel that way. You will make the world an even more beautiful place in celebrating the fact that you have the potential to do something great! (Yes, you.)
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My friend Chloe took that photo of me and Tucker and I can’t wait to share what it’s for!
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