Redefining Success

It’s my birthday! So, I am totally writing this from my bathroom while I soak in a hot bubble bath and sip on a glass of crisp, unoaked Chardonnay.  All the while, my littles are downstairs eating shrimp and bagged steamed corn, and the hubby is eating leftover chicken wings. It’s my birthday and I can do what I want, and I choose no cooking! Thankyouverymuch.

The idea for this blog post has been on my mind for quite some time, but I didn’t know how to approach it. At first, I thought I was going to disappoint a lot of past clients, or maybe even lose a lot of potential business, so I just didn’t know what to say or how to make this announcement. But, through a lot of prayer, and after tears shed with friends and family (the good kind), and a lot of soul searching, I’ve realized it’s time.

Over the past year, I have been working to make an idea I had for my business into a reality by “rebranding” my business into something I believed in. Over the years, I’ve been listening to all of these photographers who had made it big, and who were successful, and who were saying that what I wanted to do wouldn’t work. So, I spent my time readjusting to the industry norm to do what would work to make my business “successful” according to industry standards. All that time knowing that I had a very specific passion, and all that I was currently doing was not entirely reflecting my passion. I continued to accept business in almost everything I received inquiries for, and continued to adjust my prices to make things work for people.  And with every little decision I was making, and every photo shoot I was booking, I realized I was focused on the wrong part of my business. I was so focused on pleasing everyone and meeting everyone’s standards, or even making my business “successful”, that I lost the definition of what success *actually* means to me.

At some point after the spring of last year, I realized that I had to make a change to something I truly believed in. Except this change meant changing a lot of current practices I was doing that were working for me. After attending a women’s conference last year, I realized that I needed to stop trying to control everything in my business, and so far it has been five months of trying to believe just that: This business is not my own. I need to believe that. This business is not about glorifying me. I need to own that and live that. This business is about glorifying God and about making relationships. About being real with my clients. About establishing a relationship with them from the beginning, and opening my heart to them, so that I can always be there for them, and share in their joy and in their struggles. It has always been clear to me that I have a passion for families – for the growth and emotional health of the family unit. I just didn’t know how to put it into a genre of photography because it spread across multiple genres. So, I just need to brain dump everything I believe for you, so you can see where I am coming from.

I believe in a family who lifts each other up. I believe in a family who doesn’t give up. I believe in a family who celebrates overcoming obstacles and struggles, and shouts on mountaintops their joy and love. I believe in true love. I believe in the sanctity of marriage.  I believe that in marriage the honeymoon phase may fade away, but by actively loving your spouse every day, the fairytale can still live within you. I believe that being a Momma is a God-ordained job. That it is the best job. That torn sweatpants and slobber and snot-stained t-shirts don’t make us any less perfect for our children. They are ours for a reason. I believe that a daddy’s love is magical.  I believe in a love that lasts sixty years because I have seen it. I believe that a love can grow stronger through suffering a loss. I believe in the love that keeps growing every single day.  That it multiplies tenfold in one lifetime. I believe that it deserves to be celebrated. It deserves to be captured. It is timeless and important and totally worth investing in.

I want to stop being that photographer for everyone, and start being that photographer for the someones who believe this. Who believe that a mini-session is not enough time to be in front of the camera, because they want to try and bottle every moment they love about their family. I don’t want to be the photographer who photographs your wedding and then never sees you again. I want to see your love multiply over and over again. I want you to know that I believe in your love and that I know that there will inevitably be hard times, and maybe even lots of them, but all of these months and years you spend together are comprised of a thousand little moments that mean something. They mean something because they are your story. They are your adventure. The smiles, the tears, the laughter, the deep contented sighs, the tight grips, the interlocked fingers, the tiny whispers, the little unique quirky inside jokes. All of it. I want to photograph all of it for you.

This year will be a year of change, in so many ways actually. But, in the biggest way, I am going to photograph what I believe in – the family. Your family. From start to finish. From your first kiss as husband and wife, to the butterfly kisses your daughter can’t wait to give you when you walk through the door after work. I believe in it because I live it. It’s time to celebrate not only the wedding day, but the marriage, and ALL of your love multiplied that makes you love your own little adventure.

If you were a past client, there are some things that are changing from past experiences that you might want to pay attention to. Please keep reading so you can find out how to invest in my Porch Swing deal below.

What changes are coming?

I will not be having any mini sessions with the exception of two commitments I have every year for fundraising and school functions. I have made this decision because I want you to know that I think that your story is worth so much more than 15 minutes, or even a half hour. Each of my sessions will be 60-90 minutes with your family of mostly candid shots, with just a few posed shots.

I will not be shooting child and senior portraits exclusively (i.e. cake smash, one-year portraits, six-month portraits, senior portraits, etc). I will be happy to add these at the end of a session for you, but I want to spend your time at your session focused on the relationships in your family.

I will not be selling different packages. Each client will invest in their session, which will include their high-resolution digital images. I have decided that I want my clients to have these memories forever. So you can have access to them for many years. I also want you to have them in all mediums – print and digital. I believe that your family’s love is art, worth hanging in your home. Therefore, I have added the capability to have a print consultation after your session if you would like.

My newborn sessions will be mostly lifestyle driven with studio time for an hour for a few posed shots. In the past, I have focused heavily on posed shots. But, I have recently fallen in love with newborn lifestyle photography. I want to tell the story of your children’s lives, and your love for them in those first few days.

Lastly, I will be running all my sessions a little differently than how you might be used to in the past. While I will still be giving clear direction for some posed shots, I really want to bring out the most candid and natural emotions from your family. My wish is that this session will be a beautiful experience for you. One that is relaxing and joyful and inspires an even deeper connection with your loved ones.

The Porch Swing Deal!

As a special promotion, to drive home my desire for forever clients, I am offering to anyone who books by March 31, any session in 2014 (excluding weddings), a special price of $695.  Every session afterward will be reduced by $50 each time, until you reach $445 or five years (March 2019).  If you reach $445 before March 2019, you will maintain the $445 price until March 2019 for any session.  A payment plan will be available. If you know you would like to book a 2014 session (newborn, family, or couple), and you aren’t quite prepared to pay the session in full by the end of March, you may reserve a session date by paying your first of three payments in the amount of $250.

I want to tell your story.  Your whole story.  A story that we can watch unfold from the front porch swing, and share with the generations to come.  Your legacy.  Your love multiplied.  Can’t you just see it?

**And just because every blog post should have a picture…here is one I took the other night of my two littles watching a movie**