The Tour

     During the past [almost] two years of doing photography as a business, I have covered a pretty broad range of focuses in my work. Although the majority of my photography is centered around families and children, really it feels as though I have done just about everything in-between. The past few years have seen me doing birthday parties and baby showers, maternity and newborn sessions, children and senior pictures, weddings, births, day-in-the-lives, and even business head-shots, all mixed in with a fair amount of families. Each session, no matter what category, has brought its own set of challenges and joys, and has taught me more about my camera and running a business.
     That being said, over the next few weeks it is my goal to take you on a tour. I will be visiting each category, one by one, in a series of posts. Each post will share some photo samples [of course!] from the chosen category, as well as a brief description about what each different category is teaching me. I will be covering categories in this order:

With You: Couple Photography

Promises: Wedding Photography

Waiting: Maternity Photography

Receiving: Birth Photography

Welcoming: Newborn Photography

Growing: Infant Photography (First Year)

Miracles: Child Photography

Moments: Day-in-the-Life Photography

Love: You and Your Child

Wings: Senior Portraits

Occasions: Event Photography

Professions: Business Photography

Together: Family Photography

I would be honored if you would join me for this tour! Check back in over the next few weeks-I really will be making an effort to post consistently :) I can't wait to share each of these with you!

Continuing August

     I am making an effort to keep up with own goal for the summer: A picture for every day of August. It is proving to be a true challenge. I have missed two more days, in addition to the one that I missed already. I am trying, whenever possible, to substitute another favorite picture from a different day. Funny, those few days that I have missed are the ones I already have the greatest trouble remembering. As my "accountability" comes from posting on this blog, I felt the need to confess. I am finding this goal of mine challenging, but in the end it's worth it.
     For the previous 10 days of August...

{August 12th - 21st}

{August 12th} Brother #2 turned 13 today. 

As in, I now have 2 teenage brothers. 

Nine days in, and we all are surviving so far :)

{Substitute for August 13th} This is one of the pictures I am substituting - a picture that I actually took on the 11th. I know it's way too bright (problems of constantly having to adjust manual camera settings)  but it's still one of my favorites from the day...

{August 14th} I actually took this one on the 14th. On this beautiful 14th day of August, I headed off with my awesome youth group to the Adirondack Mountains. This youth group camping trip is an annual tradition at my church, and one of the highlights of my summer every year. 

{August 15th} Words don't do this justice. 

{August 16th} Yes, that's me and my friend, kayaking. So peaceful and perfect that day. And if you wonder about the look on my face, no, I was not angry. Just concentrated :)

{August 17th} Sadly, this was the day we packed up and all had to head back home. The only good part was that I got to then spend 3 more hours in the car traveling back with my friends, listening to music, talking, and playing games. So in case you couldn't tell, this is a picture from the car ride, complete with dirty socks and everything (a token of camping).

{August 18th} Another exciting day. The coconut oil, in case you were wondering, was a photo from the birth that I was at most of that day (photographing).

{August 19th} Ok, this may be another one of the days where I didn't take any pictures. Again. So I am posting two photos from the 20th.

{August 20th} Throughout the summer, my mom watches a friend's kids one day a week. Which means for one day a week there are nine of us kids around the house instead of five, and because some of those kids are the same age as Brother #1, we spend a lot of the time playing card games, board games, etc. Or rather they do, and I join them every once in awhile.

{Also August 20th} Forts in the living room are a common site at my house, especially during the summer, with friends to help build and play. 

{August 21st} And finally, we have a favorite evening past-time of mine:

 Photo-editing with a cup of chamomile tea, of course :)

I have another exciting 10 days ahead to finish up the month, so stay tuned! If any of you have also been inspired to set your own, personal photo-taking challenge and would like to share, please feel free to comment or talk to me about it. I would love to hear how you are documenting your summer! And eventually, I will post about my business again. I have lots of favorites from my sessions this summer, coming your way soon:)

Summer

     I come to you today, not as a photographer, but as another person running the marathon of... summer. For me, living in a household with a large family, the pages of the calendar fill up months before we ever hit summer. Camps, vacations, family-get-togethers, sports programs, church activities - you name it - we do it. All that is in addition to the normal running of the household and both my parents' work schedules. The transportation and the running around the city is in and of itself time consuming.
     Don't get me wrong - I love summer, and always have. The busy and the crazy and the hectic are just a part of life some days, and you have to go with it. Yet to me it feels as if the busier we are, the faster time goes by. I try to remember the past few years and what I did over the summer. It all slips by me so fast, that sometimes it just goes right overtop of me. I try to reach out, grasp hold of time, hold on and make it slow down just a little. But time keeps right on rushing through that race and I am dragged along with it. Before I know it, school starts back up again, normal routine returns, and time and life have dragged me through another summer at break-neck speed.
     You may wonder what all this has to do with photos, and why I am writing my thoughts out on a photography blog. I write this here because out of these thoughts has come my own personal summer photo challenge. At the end of July, with summer half-way down and me feeling as if it had just started, I purposed this challenge to myself. The challenge is this - to take a photo for every day of August. It does not have to be limited to one photo, it only has to be a minimum of one. And it can not be a photo that I am payed to take (for a photo session). I did this because I feel like photos capture time for me. At the end of the summer, I do not want to look back and wonder where time has gone. I want to have something to show for every day that passed, and I want to use photography as a tool to live in the moment that I am capturing. Sometimes taking a picture is just what I need in order to slow down long enough and realize what is happening around me. Maybe, just maybe, you feel that way too.
     This challenge is my own personal challenge, but I also want to invite you to join me. I realize that it is now August 11th, so taking a photo for every day of the month is a little bit unrealistic at this point. However, if you are inspired, set your own personal goal. Aim to take a photo for every day until school starts. Or, if every day is a bit too much, take one every week. I am keeping mine in an album and labeling them, and I will also be posting them on here as an accountability measure. I can't guarantee that my summer will slow down by doing this, but at least each day won't slip past me and be forgotten by the next week. At least I will have something captured each day that I can hold on to forever.


{My First 11 Days of August}

{August 1st} Kitten and Brother

{August 2nd} I always rearrange in my room at least once during the summer... 

these are some favorite "new and improved" corners :) 

{August 3rd} "Risk" is a favorite at our house

{August 4th} Sleepover and ice cream date with my amazing Buddy <3

{August 5th} One last evening with my cousins before they headed back home 

(Getting everyone to look and smile at once was somewhat of a failed challenge here)

{August 6th} My parents headed off to my dad's 5-day work conference in DC, 

taking the opportunity to see family and celebrate their 20th anniversary. 

{August 7th} I have a confession to make: I didn't actually take any photos on August 7th 

(I promise you didn't miss much - I was literally just home all day). 

So I am substituting a[nother] picture of my cat, which I took on the 6th and edited on the 7th. 

Editing is half of making the picture anyway, right?

{August 8th} My lovely grandparents, who stayed with us for a few days 

and helped "hold down the fort" while my parents were out of town.

{August 9th} After my grandparents had to leave, we went to stay out at my other grandparents house (Papa was out of town for the weekend, but Nana hung out with us for a few days)

{August 10th} I photographed my first wedding as a 2nd shooter (working with a primary photographer). It was a long day, but oh-so worth it :) I decided that for my pic of the day, 

a self-portrait was in order, since this is literally what I looked like all day.

{August 11th} Baptism Day. The two oldest of my brothers were both baptized, and it was a special day for my family. But while at service, Nana (my grandmother) made a spur-of-the-moment decision to make this her baptism day too, something she had wanted to do for years. I have pics of all of them, but this was my favorite for the look of pure joy on her face. It doesn't get any better than this.

     And that, folks, is all for now. My first 11 days of August, in a nutshell. I look forward to bringing you the rest of August as it plays out, hopefully every week... or every 10 days... or so.

Keeping Up

     In all honesty, photography is definitely one of the harder jobs that I could have picked to do for a part-time high school job. I could have picked something that had regular, consistent hours, instead of a photoshoot here and a photoshoot there. I could have picked something that didn't require my mom to run me all over the city and my brothers to get dragged along constantly. I could have picked something that didn't involve correspondence and email/text answering at irregular times throughout the day. I could have picked something a lot easier, maybe work at McDonalds or something.
     The reality is, I didn't. And even though this photoshoot life is crazy sometimes (ok, it's crazy all of the time), I feel so totally beyond blessed that I am able to do something that I love as my highschool job. My work is something that I enjoy, from connecting with people to taking pictures to spending hours on editing. I am thankful to my family because they put up with it in all of it's insanity. I am thankful to my mom because I could not do it without her. I am thankful for my parents that they homeschooled me, so that I have the opportunity to be flexible with my schedule and to pursue things that interest me (yes, my mom counts all of this photo time as school credit). And I am thankful to my  Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, because ultimately all of this comes from Him. In all of it's craziness, photography is infinitely better than McDonalds.
     That's a little bit of background for you about my photo life as it currently stands. Now, to catch you up on the photos... :) I recently did a shoot with two families, a few all-together group shots, and a few of each family individually. When I got into the car, I immediately hit the review button on my camera and began flipping back through the pictures. When I got to the group photos of everyone together, I was so, so excited. Each and every person's face in the picture was clear and sharp. I counted the shoot as a success at that point :) That was just the first of many family/holiday photo shoots, and I will continue to post some over the next few weeks.

I'm Back

     "July 16," my last post reads. That means that over a month has passed since I last wrote on here. Photo World did not cease to carry on, not by any means. Rather, it took on a different form than normal. I travelled and went to a few different camps, and nearly every time my camera went with me. In addition, another really neat opportunity came up in the middle of August. My photo teacher, who taught the classes at my homeschool group, allowed me to shadow him on two different photo shoots. I was able to see what he does on a shoot, and learn from him how he handles different lighting scenarios and such camera things. Although it was all incredibly helpful to learn, it took me a few days to process all the new tips and information, and to learn how to put it to use. The week after I shadowed him, I went to a summer camp with two of my brothers, still processing all that my teacher had showed me. I played and played with my camera, trying to perfect my lighting with every picture. Even now, I am continuing to learn and experiment with everything he taught me.
     I learned another thing this summer about photography. There is no "right" way to do it. I shadowed another photographer this spring, who does things very differently from my photo teacher. In addition, I have photographers within my extended family, who do things very differently from either of the previous two that I mentioned. With each photographer that I encounter, I admire their work, the quality and the style of their photos. And with each one I learn something new and different that I had not learned before. At the end of the day, though, the best way that I learn about photography is by experimenting and playing. Over and over again.
     I could go on and on about everything I learned about photography this summer, and about everyone who has aided me in this journey. But... that wouldn't be quite so much fun as showing you, through photos. Late this August, about a week and a half ago, I finally did another photo shoot. I didn't realize how much I had missed doing shoots until I got back into it. This time, I did a 4-year-old little girl, who is... how should I say it... adorable? Precious? Only photos can really describe her accurately  :)

Hoping to have some more photo shoot/posts for you soon!  

Seattle

   I finally did it. After months of studying, practicing, fundraising, photo-shooting as a fundraiser, and more studying, I went all the way across the country to Seattle, Washington. I went with the Bible Quiz Team from my church, and we met at Seattle Pacific University to compete with teams from churches across the country. To those of you who are not familiar with Bible Quizzing, it is a youth ministry where teams compete on biblical knowledge, using questions and memory verses to test knowledge. It is an fun way to incorporate competition and Bible memorization all in one, and the amount of Scripture stored in the minds and hearts of the youth has had life changing impact on kids and adults alike. If you are still confused, you can check out an article that was done on quizzing a few years ago, at the link below: 

 http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/episodes/july-18-2003/bible-quizzing/5136/ 

    This is my sixth year being involved in quizzing, and my fifth year going to Bible Quiz Nationals. This year was so different from any other before it (and also the farthest away), and I loved every minute. Everything - flights, sight seeing, fellowship, and quizzing - went extremely well. I think that I am in love with the city of Seattle - it is just a beautiful place to be. And yes, my camera went with me. Everywhere we went during the past week, my camera went with me. I thought maybe you might like to see what we did throughout the week - especially if you did photo shoots as a part of my fundraiser for the trip. So here they are, and with them is a big "thank you" to all of the people who helped make the trip possible. 

From the plane...

Finally there

[No caption needed]

Fun views from the city

Love those mountains!

From the boat...

The aquarium - and my shoes

Touching the Sea Anemone 

From Gas Works Park

The Space Needle

At the top of the Needle

The Needle and Experience Music Project all in one

Back on campus...

The material we studied for quizzing this year

Coach/Quizzer/Father/Son pep talk 

And quizzing... the most important part!

So thankful for the ministry of Bible Quizzing and for the opportunity to go on this incredible trip!