We’re GROWING! | Hampton Roads Photographer

• March 21st, 2014 •

My “little” business is growing!!  For those who know my story, I didn’t INTEND for my photography business to become such a large part of my life.   I LOVED taking care of my family, where my job consisted of wiping butts, making crafts, teaching the alphabet and all the other things that come with being a stay-at-home mom!  In fact, I went to college and earned a degree in education but knew that when I met my husband and got married, I would give it all up to stay home and raise my munchkins.

Fast forward almost 13 years and here we are.  My babies are growing up and all in school and I have a full time job running my OWN business!  I am about as surprised as you are!  I love what I do and I am so thankful that God has bigger plans for me.  I am so very thankful to have had so many years caring for my family and being there for the kids’ important young years of development and I would go back and do it again if I had a choice!

But now, I also have a career!  And boy, is it WORK!!!  I love what I do but the “taking your portrait and selling it to you” business is not as easy as it sounds!  There is marketing and advertising, pricing lists and sample products, travel and location scouting, bookkeeping, education and classes, taxes and depreciation, buying and selling equipment, print labs, branding, scheduling, editing, ordering, etc, etc, etc!  There is SO much to DO!

At the beginning of this year, I was sharing with my friend how I REALLY needed an assistant to help me.  I am great at some of those things mentioned… but honestly, not so good at some of the others.  I needed help growing my business and making it run more smoothly.  But this business is like my fourth child… I am protective of it; I love it, even when it drives me crazy.  I can’t just ask ANYONE to help me.  So, I prayed and God sent me an answer.  A beautiful, awesome, amazing answer to prayer!

Everyone, please meet Jennifer… my new Office Magician!

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She’s pretty awesome.  She doesn’t know much about photography but has a Master’s Degree in Counseling and has worked in many offices throughout her life.  She’s a wiz at whipping me into shape… even has me turning off Facebook now when I edit so I am more proficient with my time (I miss my little “Dings” when you message me; but yes, she is right… you can wait an hour while I edit a session!)  Also, with her background in counseling, she’s adding new depths to my Renew Sessions. She’s helping me create an even more amazing experience for all my couples!  I am SO excited to have her in the office (I can stop talking to the dog now when I am bored!) and I am so excited to introduce her to you!  I’ve asked her to answer some of the following questions so you can get to know her a bit.  Like I said, I think you’re going to love her!

~ Favorite Color: Green, of course!

~ Favorite Food: Mexican – any form of chips and salsa…with a top-shelf, Grand Marnier margarita!

~ Favorite Movie: Pride & Prejudice…the BBC 6-hour version. Romantics, you gotta see it!!

~ Tell us about yourself: I love helping people get unstuck…whether relationally, spiritually, emotionally, professionally, etc! I’m great at being a counselor; it’s truly fulfilling. My passion is to live life fully and intentionally; we only get one chance. I am the oldest of four and am blessed with a wonderful family, with whom I don’t get to spend enough time. I look forward to growing my own family someday but am thrilled with all the opportunities I’ve gotten. I love my life!

~ Where did you grow up: I grew up in Indiana. After too many years attempting to survive the long, never-melting-snow winters, graduate school was my escape. So I came southeast and LOVE living oceanside! I would sell all I had if it got me a house ON the sand where I could hear the crashing waves each and every morning and evening!

~ Why did you want to work with Devon? One of my other favorite things is creating order out of chaos and helping create systems that allow organizations to run efficiently and smoothly. So when Devon approached me, I was conveniently between career moves and loved the idea of helping her create a working professional system. It has turned into more than me helping her…Devon is helping me as I work to develop my own organization, blending all my business experience with my counseling heart and knowledge, while working in churches. She’s legit and has been so encouraging as I trudge through the process of business development. Her support of me has been very needed and so appreciated! This has been a great, timely experience thus far and I look forward to what Devon and I can further create, capture, and change in Hampton Roads!

So, as you can see, she’s a rock star!   I am so blessed to have her join our team.  With her in the office, I can make every one of my sessions more special and meaningful as I have more time to truly focus on what I LOVE- capturing and photographing you and all your amazing moments!

Making YOURSELF Proud… Are ARE important!

• March 4th, 2014 •

In high school I had a friend who is now a very well known Hollywood actress. I was recently thinking about her as she isn’t in the tabloids and news as much as she used to be. She is still acting, but seems to have pulled away from the limelight a bit. As we aren’t friends anymore, I have no idea if this is her choice or not but I was thinking about her and how this “lessening of exposure” might be affecting her. Does she resent it? Enjoy it? Seek it out herself? Miss it?

She has a beautiful child and seems to be a great mom. She is still working… Broadway, fashion and directing. In her hometown, I am sure lots of people are talking about her. But on a national scale, she seems to have “disappeared.”

It got me to thinking how it impacts us when we no longer feel “relevant to others.” How do we react when it seems at one time “everyone knew about us” and now, they apparently don’t. Do WE resent it? Enjoy it? Seek it out? Miss it? Life is a big roller coaster. Sometimes lots of people are talking about you, other times, we can feel like no one cares.

It also got me thinking about my life… my business. How things have changed so much! At one time, my husband and I were pretty big leaders in our church: leading small groups, running ministries, volunteering at every event. Then, my marriage went through some pretty tough times and we pulled away from leadership to focus on fixing our marriage. It’s hard taking a “step down” in any leadership capacity. It was difficult for me to go from “being on top” to merely surviving. I used to be the one people called when they needed help because I gave such a great advice and support. Then I became the one who was calling others because I couldn’t figure out my own life.

And then my business: going from no one knows me at all, to feeling like everyone knows me; from one month of the phone ringing off the hook, to a few months later of the phone never ringing; from one client LOVING their portraits so much they are moved to tears, to the next client not giving me any feedback at all; to a potential client booking a session without even talking to me, to another saying my work isn’t worth the investment.

Life is a roller coaster! It can change from one minute to the next…one moment you can feel on top of the world, the next at the bottom of the barrel.

Lately, I have been trying to quit morphing myself into “relevant and important” and making “the world” proud. Really, my goal in life is to make God, my family and myself proud. Of course, I LOVE recognition and praise from anyone, but it shouldn’t be my goal.

I posted this last week on Facebook:

“Just because you aren’t relevant or “important” to others… doesn’t mean you aren’t relevant or important. Quit worrying so much what others think of you or who is “talking” about you. Be you and follow your dreams and passions. Love those in your life and make YOURSELF proud.”

I hope you take something from that. I know I am not the only one who struggles with feeling important. I believe that most people want to be recognized positively for the work they do. It isn’t bad to want recognition… it’s only bad if that is your only motivation!

I LOVE my job. I love capturing amazing moments and the love between people! I love when YOU, my clients, love what I create for you. But my motivation for all I do is to make my family and myself proud and to provide for family. So if the phone doesn’t ring as much, the friends you refer don’t call or book with me, or other photographers have more FB “likes” than me… I will not to be upset and I’ll let it “roll of my shoulders.”

I will remember that there are LOTS of happy clients out there. I will remember that my proud daughter took my Village News Ad to school to show her friends: “Look! My mom is in a MAGAZINE!” I will remember that four years ago, I had 22 FB likes, one camera and lens, and NO IDEA what to do to start this business. I will remember how far I have come and how my “little business” has allowed my family to survive when my husband lost his job and went to school full-time to change career paths.

Life is a journey. And it’s YOUR journey… YOUR story. Sometimes you have lots of supporters and cheerleaders. Other times you don’t. Don’t ever let that stop your momentum because the next rise, the next “winning moment” could be just around the bend!

YOU are Awesome!

• February 5th, 2014 •

It’s the month of Love! Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. I Love LOVE but I am not a crazy, fanatical fan of Valentines Day because I really think we should do our best to show love to our loved ones ALL YEAR ROUND! I do think having a day to stop a minute and say “If I don’t say it enough, I really do love you” is important. So Brett and I WILL be going out and I WILL be writing him a sappy love letter. And I am hoping he will do the same (hint, hint if you are reading this honey!) BUT if he doesn’t, it’s okay. He shows me love everyday (in fact, he painted my toenails for me last night and if that isn’t love from my burly motorcycle lovin man I don’t know what is!!)

Celebrating MLK Jr. Day! Is his dream alive today in YOUR life?

• January 20th, 2014 •

One of my historical heros will always be Martin Luther King Jr.  I am so very proud of him and all the civil rights leaders who fought for equal rights between the races. Today, I take a look around MY life and believe that if Dr. King were alive today to see my life, he would be proud of me.  I attend a multi-racial church, my family is a multi-cultural family, my home is filled with friends, at any given time, showcasing many different cultures, races and ethnicities.   I love that my children have grown up making friends based upon personality and common interests, not based upon color.  I LOVE that my business is so colorful and multi cultural! I love all the unique and different qualities we all have, but also how similar and alike we all are too!

I hope today you can take a minute to take a look at your life… does it reflect the fruition of Dr. King’s dream?  Do you have a colorful life?  I hope so!  And if it’s not that colorful, it’s okay, you can change that.  Invite one of your children’s friends (of another race) from school over for a playdate. Ask someone of a different race from your work out to lunch or coffee. You’ll be surprised how much you might have in common!

We have come a LONG way from 1963 when Dr King gave his “I Have a Dream” speech.  Today I took my boys and their friends out for a play date.  We went out to a restaurant and ate pizza, played some games and eventually saw a movie.  We were quite a rambunctious group- and a colorful one as well (Caucasian, Ethiopian and Italian.)  So many things we did today wouldn’t have been allowed in Dr. Kings Day…we all went to the same restaurant and sat at the same table.  The boys all used the same restroom before the movie.  We all went into the same theatre and sat in the same row and we all shared a bowl of popcorn.  Things that today we take so for granted, are the very things Dr King fought and eventually died for.

I am so thankful to live in this country and to have the freedom to love whom I want and share life with whomever I choose.  We may have a very sordid past, but we don’t have to live there anymore!  With people like Dr. King, we have the opportunity to CHANGE our world.  While we can’t rewrite our past we can learn from it and make our future better!

We have started a new tradition of reading Dr. Kings “I Have a Dream” speech every MLK jr. day.  If you haven’t read it, I hope you will now.  It’s a great way to remember where we came from, see how far we have come, and look for ways to better our future!  I have attached it here for those who want to read it!

“I Have a Dream” Speech

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free; one hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination; one hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity; one hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself in exile in his own land.

So we’ve come here today to dramatize a shameful condition. In a sense we’ve come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was the promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note in so far as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.” But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so we have come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make the real the promises of democracy; now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice; now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood; now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children. It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content, will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the worn threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protests to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy, which has engulfed the Negro community, must not lead us to a distrust of all white people. For many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back.

There are those who are asking the devotees of Civil Rights, “When will you be satisfied?” We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality; we can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities; we cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one; we can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating “For Whites Only”; we cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro in Mississippi cannot vote, and the Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No! no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until “justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations.  Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi. Go back to Alabama. Go back to South Carolina. Go back to Georgia. Go back to Louisiana. Go back to the slums and ghettos of our Northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.  Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I HAVE A DREAM TODAY!

I have a dream that one day down in Alabama — with its vicious racists, with its Governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification — one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I HAVE A DREAM TODAY!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low. The rough places will be plain and the crooked places will be made straight, “and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.”

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope.  With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brother-hood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.  And this will be the day. This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning, “My country ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my father died, land of the pilgrim’s pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.” And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire; let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York; let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania; let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado; let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California. But not only that. Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia; let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee; let freedom ring from every hill and mole hill of Mississippi. “From every mountainside, let freedom ring.”

And when this happens, and when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: “Free at last. Free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are free at last.”

Source: Martin Luther King, Jr., I Have A Dream: Writings and Speeches that Changed the World, ed. James Melvin Washington (San Francisco: Harper, 1986), 102-106.

Photographs and Fire

• January 14th, 2014 •

Photographs and fire just don’t play well together!  You, like most people would probably say that after your family and pets, your photographs would be one of the first things you’d save in the event of a fire!  The photographic memories of our kids growing up, with all of their (and our!) bad hair styles and crazy fashion choices are things we want to be able to remember and share with the next generations!  Losing them to a fire or theft can be devastating!

Recently, one of my long-time clients, Christy, had a house fire.  Praise the Lord, everyone escaped unharmed and after some renovations and repairs, they will, in the future, be able to move back into their home.  However, many things were lost, including all of her family portraits.  🙁    She has been a client of mine for many years and when the firefighters were there, one of them commented on the loss of her family portraits.  Her response:  “It’s okay, we know the photographer!”

Yep, every single portrait I have taken of Christy and her family are safe!   And we have worked together a lot over the last few years, so all of her family portraits, back to school portraits, ring dance portraits, portraits with Santa, Senior portraits, and more are safe and sound!! 

When you book with me, I keep your portraits backed up in multiple places so in the event I were to have have a theft or house fire, your images will still be safe! (Think about it… are Sears, Picture People, Portrait Innovations and Walmart going to offer you that peace of mind? Nope!)  When you have a house fire, I will work with you to make sure all of your past portraits will soon be back on display in your home!

(Sadly, the snapshots YOU have taken and stored in photo albums can still be lost though.  So please don’t forget to save those digital copies in the “cloud” or on external hard drive that you leave in a fireproof safe.)

Please keep my friend Christy in your prayers and thoughts as she and her family transition through this difficult time of temporary housing, insurance claims, rebuilding and more.  

(If you would like to help out Christy and her family, our church is taking donations to help them during this time!  You can give at www.comegetfree.org and click on the “Join us in eGiving” icon.  Just put “Christy Myers- Fire” in the Other category!  Thank you so much from both Christy and myself!)

Here are a few images of Christy and her awesome family from when we first started working together to now!  Soon her walls will be displaying some of these awesome memories once again! 

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(A little late) Wrap up of 2013!!

• January 6th, 2014 •

We have all said it multiple times these past few weeks, but WOW did this past year fly by!  So fast in fact, it flew right past me and we are now FOUR days into the new year!! So, yes, I am late in sending out this 2013 wrap-up but I have decided to do it anyway, for you as much as for me!  I love reflecting on the past- to see how much I’ve grown and to remember all the amazing people I photographed and portraits I created!

2013 was a year of faith for my family!  As many of you know, my husband ended 2012 unemployed and we desperately needed a new start in his career.  We prayed and talked for months and then made the difficult decision for my husband to go back to school fulltime while we relied on my photography business income to support our family.  Talk about surprised and overwhelmed!!!  While I LOVE my photography business, I wasn’t quite ready to be the sole provider for my family… but when God tells you to jump- you jump!!  So we jumped and without surprise, God provided!!!

My business plan has always been to develop strong relationships with my clients, to be blessed enough to photograph families as they grow and experience life changes!  And I was so very happy to strengthen some of those relationships this year as I photographed, weddings, graduations, pregnant mommies and newborn babies, sweet 16’s and more!   Thanks so much to all of you who have been to see me again this year!  You truly do make me do a little “happy dance” when you rebook me year after year!!  Here are a few of my “favorite” shots of 2013 from some of you who have become so near and dear to my heart and who I now consider part of my photography “family!’

 

And just as exciting, I was able to photograph many NEW clients this year too!  So many of you have referred and recommended me and I am so honored!  I do not take it for granted when you tell your friends to visit me and I had sucha  great time getting to know so many new amazing people!  I am hoping that some of my new clients of 2013 will become repeat customers as well!  Take a look at some of their, and my, favorite portraits!

 

 

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