Sunday, February 10, 2013

Sunday Notes...

Dear 2013, you've been interesting so far, what else do you have in store for me?

Dear Eriksen, we never knew we could love an animal so much.

Dear pantry, why do you not stock yourself?

Dear house, you really are such a happier place when you're clean.

Dear weddings, you are the happiest events in the world. Thanks for letting us celebrate with wonderful couples AND photograph them.

Dear birds in our backyard, hearing you when I wake up in the morning brightens my day.

Dear beach, we haven't had a chance to enjoy you all summer, so please let the summer heat hold out long enough for us to see you!

Dear vegie garden, I can't believe you are still going strong despite the hot weather and our forgetfulness.


Thursday, February 07, 2013

Wedding Day Prep
Lessons Learned

Luke and I started less than a year ago on our wedding photography journey. Since we photographed our first wedding back in June 2012 we are still super new to the game! After that first wedding, we automatically talked about how we did, what we can improve on, and what needs to be changed. This casual form of process improvement has led to a lot of procedures getting put into place, future goals being recorded, new equipment purchased and lots of practising techniques (FYI, 10pm in the loungeroom wearing trackies with no make-up, all the lights dimmed using flash doesn't make gorgeous pics!). There are a ton of responsibilities, tasks and behind-the-scenes  things that photographers do and so it goes without saying that there is much for us to learn!


Monday, February 04, 2013

2013 Resolutions
A New Year


I'm sitting here writing this on 4 Feb...so already my 'blog more' idea for my blogging has flown out the window! I'm going to just pretend today is the first day of the year - better late than never, right?? So here it goes...

What is it about the new year?  It’s like a big box of possibilities all wrapped up in a bright and shiny bow.  Made of sequins.  It’s the permission we give ourselves to start fresh.  To forget about our failures and go after those big dreams.  It’s this one day out of the whole year that say anything is possible.

This list is about being accountable and realising the little goals in my life that, in turn, all add up to a list of bigger goals. Although I won't be sharing those bigger goals with everyone (well, not at this stage...) these smaller goals going public still reach far out of my comfort zone.  This little list below is about realising you can’t get anywhere if you don’t take the first step. I tried to not let fear keep something off the list.  Fear of failure.  Fear of what people would think.

So, here goes my little list...

Business goals

- Blog 2-3 times per week (AND in a timely manner - No more 'Ill blog about this eventually and then end up posting it on FEB 2!!'). This will be the hardest for me...what to write, regular processing of photos, time to plan out and write the blog...but hey, it's good to have challenging goals...right?

- Attend a workshop (I'm planning on attending one big workshop per year). Already in the works! I will be spending two February days in Sydney, attending the  James Day wedding workshop!

- Finish updating our website. This has been in the works for quite a while, lets see if I can make it happen!

- Update website galleries with recent sessions.

- Decide on and purchase print packaging. Another goal that has been in the works for a while. If you have any favourite Australian packaging companies, let me know!

- Design a sample album. We need this. Our clients deserve to hold, see and feel how amazing albums are. We believe in albums and having your photos displayed in a tangible way is priceless. Luke and I have chosen our favourite company and we can't wait to begin using them!

- Be more intentional with scheduling 'business' time. Since Luke and I work non-photography  full time jobs, our business and down-time compete for attention. I want to implement a weekly business schedule of what I want to get done that week and block out time in my calendar to do it! Like they say 'A failure to plan is a plan to fail'!

- Finish new client packages and information - this has also been in the 'works' for quite a while...no excuses now!!

Personal goals

- Get Erik to behave and be obedient before the year is out! Erik is an inside dog, and I there is nothing more annoying than a pup that is naughty! We fully intend to get Erik to behave so that visitors enjoy visiting and don't have a dog jumping up on them.  We have taken Erik to his first puppy preschool class where he was so super shy and timid! He was the smallest and youngest but we are hoping he can get his confidence up and learn some cute tricks!

- Take more photos of Luke and I (oh, and Erik too!). Although we have tons of photos of our nieces and nephews, we seem to always be behind the camera! Hopefully we can resolve to take more couple and family photos of us!

- Shoot more photos for me! Following on from the above, I want to remember to take photos for the sheer love of it and for the memories. Lots of beautiful non-business related photos. Now that we have plenty of space and bare walls, I want to fill them with our own work.

- Eat more meals at home. We are getting into the swing of things but our habit from living in a rental that was so close to so many take-away places is still lingering. Hopefully this year we will eat minimum 5 meals at home a week (but we are hoping for more than that!)

So, although this isn't a huge list, it's things that I want to make sure get ticked off the list and these are goals that I know are achievable. Bring it on!

Here are some photos of my favourite fluff ball...