Daring Greatly…

“To love ourselves and support each other in the process of becoming real is perhaps the greatest single act of daring greatly.”

~Brene Brown

Hi friend,

In 2018, my family decided to take the leap and start building our forever home.  Part of that forever home included a plan to build the portrait studio I had always imagined for myself. I had envisioned it for several years, so for this dream, so long worked for, to come true?  This was a moment full of gratitude, humility, and giddiness.

We were set to move into our new home in March 2019.  That month, we were hit with a bomb cyclone, which brought absolute destruction to ranching families everywhere, including mine, though we were fortunate compared to the devastation faced by so many.  Then I found out that I was going to need surgery to finally address (hopefully for a good long while) terrible hip issues that I had been trying to just deal with.  Long story short, between moving into our new home, making it INTO our home, dealing with the flooding and livestock fallout of the bomb cyclone, and then having 2 hip replacement surgeries, I was ready to get 2019 over (like so many other people) and ring in a new year, full of excitement and promise and new beginnings!

2020.

COVID-19.

BOOM.

Amiright?

I mean…really?

Just like all the other people in this nation (heck, the world), I had to make some hard decisions about my business.  I thought the best thing to do would be to keep my clients and my family safe and shut it down for awhile, and I fully recognize how fortunate that I was to be able to do this because I still had my full time job as a teacher.

I did what a lot of people did and threw myself into other things.  Namely, after my new experience of being an online teacher in the 4th quarter of school, I threw myself into working on mindfulness, nutritional wellness, and self-improvement. I took classes (photography and non-photography), did some house projects, and tried to enjoy this time of “forced slowdown” with my family.  In spite of everything feeling like chaos around me, I did my best to try to find the calm and look for ways to grow as a woman, a mom, a teacher, a photographer…a human, really.

What struck me, in that time of quiet reflection, and after reading a crap ton of Brene Brown (soooooo good btw!!!) is that I have been holding back something… for a really long time.

Here it is, friend.

I am a CHILD photographer, through and through.

The sessions that bring me the most joy are the ones where I get to follow your littles around and see the world from their perspective. The ones where I army crawl in the dirt and grass in order to see things from their point of view.  The ones where they forget that I am there because THAT is when the magic happens. Those are the images that fill my cup and make it spill right over.

10 years ago when I started my business, I didn’t know this about myself.  I didn’t want to pigeonhole myself into only photographing one genre… it was foolish to do that, right? Too limiting for a person like me. But now, after a lot of self-reflection, it feels SO GOOD to say out loud that I am specializing.

I AM A CHILD PHOTOGRAPHER.

I think I have always been and was too scared to say it because I didn’t want to disappoint anyone or turn anyone away.  Oh man though…did Brene have some things to share with me about all of that stuff.  (Phew.  If you haven’t read any of her work, I can’t recommend it enough.  She is one of my sheros!) My background in Anthropology and her research… I’m pretty sure we are besties and she just doesn’t know it yet, lol!

So… what does this revelation mean?

It means that, starting right now, I will exclusively photograph children. From the time they can sit up and crawl until the time when they spread their wings and fly away from home… they will be my sole focus as a visual storyteller. I will specialize, specifically, in telling the story of your children.  Of course, that story also includes you, their parents, so fear not, I will not leave you out! I promise, I won’t.  But, in general, I am shifting my focus to kids and young adults, and I CANNOT WAIT.

For many of you, this won’t change much, as I have already been your children’s photographer during their milestone moments (I cannot thank you enough for allowing me to be that for you!)

But, what this DOES change is that I will no longer be taking newborns, maternity, engagements, or weddings. I will honor all bookings that have already been scheduled for 2020, I just will not be taking new ones.  There are some other rock star photographers in the area, and I am happy to refer you to them!

There are BIG changes going on around here, and I am SO excited to share them with you!

For now, meet Avery.  Her session in the wildflowers was just dreamy, and her sweet spirit made it so fun to photograph her!  We examined grasshoppers, got photobombed by kitties, and made bouquets that, according to Avery, smelled like watermelons and lemon.

There is a little time yet to sneak in a wildflower session for your own little, and I am also now taking bookings for fall portrait sessions for your kids.  I hope to see you soon!

“The willingness to show up changes us, It makes us a little braver each time.”

~Brene Brown