Stacy Speaks Photography - Dreaming Big + Photo Shoot with Kaila Regina

My dream is to be a great photographer and I am determined to make it happen.  I am so blessed to get to do what I love and love what I do; which is why being a great photographer is a challenge I gratefully accept.

If there is one thing I have learned in this industry, it is that each photographer brings a piece of themselves into the unique perspective that is their photography style. Some excel in technical skills and know the best aperture, shutter speed, and ISO for every situation. Others can naturally capture a rare viewpoint that makes artwork out of a pile of stones or draws emotion from a quiet sunset. There are also those photographers who are so exceptionally gifted in marketing their brand and positioning their talent that the second they go public their name sweeps across the nation as an overnight sensation. 

I can easily slip into the snare of comparing myself to other photographers and measuring my successes against theirs.  If I’m not careful, I can find myself looking at the thousands of Facebook “likes”, number of booked weddings, or social media rumblings of an up and coming photographer and ask myself, “what am I doing wrong?” But when I snap back to reality, I know that being different is okay because each photographer has a different story and a different dream. Mine? I love to shoot all types of photography, but I dream of being a well-known wedding photographer. I want to mentor other photographers and have my work known throughout the wedding industry because I truly love wedding photography and everything that surrounds it.  When I’m shooting a wedding I feel a mixture of adrenaline and peace.  There is the rush to get every shot right and the calming joy of experiencing a couple’s love for each other. It’s exactly where my love, passion, and business meet and I know I am doing exactly what I was meant to do. This is my dream. I won’t and I can’t give up on it. I have made it a goal to hone my skills, network with other photographers and vendors, and to push myself to be successful in something I love. 

My friend Kaila, however, has a different dream. She is a wedding photographer and has begun to build her business around the amazing dream of becoming a well-known fashion photographer.  Kaila designs visually stunning shoots (like this rooftop shoot she most recently finished), networks with fashion vendors, develops marketing materials based on her keen fashion sense, and is taking all the right steps to following her dream.

Kaila and I get together every so often at our favorite spot (Starbucks) to talk business, life, and photography. I always walk away from each meeting feeling confident about where I am because I am following my dream just like Kaila is following hers. We may have different ways of doing it, but so long as we are following our passions; different is okay with us.

Kaila, you are a great friend to have in the industry and in life. You are super inspiring and all together AWESOME!

This last time Kaila and I met we decided to go out into the cool winter weather and practice with our cameras. Kaila rocked it out on the side of the road next to some chicken coops then nailed her farm-side top-model poses.

I hope you enjoy!



To see me on the other side of the camera, visit Kaila's blog here :-)

A Daddy Post - Love Poem for Addisyn

Everything I Have

Tonight I laid you down to sleep

On the night you turned two

We held your hands did mom and I

And said a prayer with you

We tucked you in with your stuffed pig

And kissed you on your cheeks

Then told you how much we love you

As you drifted to sleep

Later on that night while I was

Thinking of you down stairs

A passing train rumbled our house

I thought you might be scared

Did I hear something from your room?

I thought I heard you cry

Maybe I wanted an excuse

To hold you for a while

When I got upstairs to your room

In peace you laid at rest

Just in case, I still picked you up

And laid you on my chest

Holding you tight with all my love

I kissed you a time or two

And as you slept there in my arms

I whispered this poem to you,

“Baby I know when you wake up

Tomorrow I’ll be gone

But I’ll be back that afternoon

Promise it won’t be long

Daddy will be away at work all day

It’s what daddy has to do

Please know that while I am away

I’m thinking about you

I’ll never be so far away

That you should feel alone

You’ll never be so far away

That these arms aren’t your home

So though I have to leave sometimes

I’m always coming back

‘Cause you and mom and Jesus Christ

Are everything I have”

I kissed your head another time

And laid you in your crib

Knelt down and grabbed your little hand

And prayed with you again

“Lord I thank you for my daughter

Next year she will be three

I pray one day I can love her

The same way You love me”

To: Addy

Love: Daddy

*Addisyn was sick this weekend so we couldn't do our photo shoot. Below are some pictures I took at before her party :-)

Mom to Mom - A Lesson Learned

Mom to mom I’d like to share with you a great lesson in parenting that I learned yesterday…

It was a smidge irrational to believe that my sweet baby was going to stay a sweet baby forever. She was bound to disobey, test my patience, lie, scream at the top of her lungs in an attempt to get her way, and say or do things that would hurt my feelings.  These are all things I pretended to “know”, but I hadn’t quite understood because my sweet baby Addisyn could do no wrong…that is until yesterday. Yesterday was the day when my happy-go-lucky-parenting bubble burst and washed away all hope that my precious Addy was going to be the one and only child on this earth who didn’t have any disciplinary issues.  Disobedience was at an all-time high as she voiced her three favorite phrases (“Stop It!”, “No, No, No!”, and “Mine!”) with no regard for mommy sanity.  Patience and logic were exhaustively tested as I still can’t figure out how my daughter can’t count, but never comes to me when I ask her to until I get to “three”.  And, I know she wasn’t trying to hurt my feelings, but it breaks my heart when she will hug and kiss the dog who has been plopped on the couch all day and won’t even give me a little squeeze when I have a day of cooking, cleaning, running errands and changing diapers ahead of me.

Okay, I’m no idiot. I mean, I knew at some point I would have to rummage through my closest to find my discipline big girl pants, but I wasn’t prepared to dig up that outfit just yet. I was still riding on the fact that I have always had awesome communication with her and thought I could reason with my two year old if I ever needed to.  Usually just one timeout will do the trick, but it has never been like it was yesterday. Nope, yesterday I spent the whole day in a battle of wits and perseverance against a two year old girl with the super powers of heart melting smiles, irresistibly infectious laughter, the scream of a banshee, and the resilience of Rocky Balboa (queue Eye of the Tiger and visual of Addisyn shadow boxing in front of me).  

So here I am, finally writing this post one day late, three gray hairs (no lie), and two mini meltdowns later arriving at this one point (thanks to some awesome friends): I had a successful day yesterday. Parenting isn’t all about crossing things off my list, being the mom-of-the-year, or having the perfect day. Sometimes things are going to get chaotic and, no matter what I am up against, parenting is about doing whatever it takes to raise my child to be a good and loving person.  It’s true that with all the love I get to experience with the gift of Addisyn, I also have the great role of teaching and molding her to know right from wrong, truth from lies, and love from pain. It will be exhausting and discouraging at times, but isn’t that why being a mom is so special? I have been given a job to do. And like any other occupation, there will be days in the office that I will want to quit or scream or go “Office Space” on the nearest inanimate object, but at the end of the day as long as my daughter was shown what is right, remains safe in my arms, and is unconditionally loved; I’ve done my job.

This post is for the mommas J

***

Addisyn had a “Winter Wonderland” birthday party this past weekend that was so amazing! I am saving it for another post because we have two year pics coming up this weekend and a love letter to give to her. I can’t wait to show you!

"Life is like photography - Just use the negatives to develop positives." - Unknown

Addisyn at school...

My 101 in 1001

I mentioned last week that 2012 was going to be the year that I finally write down my goals and maybe by sharing them with you; I would be held accountable to these goals.  Yay!, for people keeping me accountable. Ya’ll rock!  You know what? You’re already helping me because when I sat down to actually write these goals down I started getting sweaty palms and wanted to quit.  Raise your hand if you’re a spaz like me? You see, the word “goals” to me sounds like “things-to-do” and given my minor obsession with writing daily things-to-do and my even bigger obsession with crossing them out, I had NO idea how I was going to handle seeing 101 things-to-do that I couldn’t cross off right away. That is until I realized I had promised you this list and a blog promise is about as strong as any pinky promise so I decided to get down, dirty, and honest.
  

I think you have heard me say that I belong to a group called Pursuit 31 which was started by Karen Stott. Well, that group is full of awesome ladies/photographers; one of them being Damaris Mia. She is the owner of Le Magnifique Wedding blog and an amazing photographer from California. She told us about a website called The Day Zero project which you can read more about here and basically that is all it took. Hundreds of people have started and finished their own lists and are scratching items off as I write this post. I am hoping by doing this that I get to share with you my successes and see your accomplished goals. Anyone want to give it a go?

*pictures at the end of the post

1. Build a website that fits my style, make it my own, and love it.

2. Change my blog to match more of my website and give it a clear direction to what I want it to be.

3. Book 15-20 weddings a year.

4. Design and complete a new office for my business.

5. Read the Bible every weekday morning before Addisyn wakes up.

6. Memorize Bible verses. Knowing the word of God will help me witness to others more.

7. Write at least two posts a week on my blog (personal or photography)

8. Go on a vacation with Steve to somewhere we have never been – Italy? New Zealand?

9. Go on vacation with my whole family to somewhere we have never been.

10. Either own a house or have my current home half way paid off – Dave Ramsey style.

11. Workout three or four days a week for a year.  

12. Get down to 19% body fat.

13. Weigh what I weighed in May 2006 – my goal weight.

14. Plan my dinner meals and cook dinner five days a week.

15. Get my nice flat toned tummy back.

16. Do 10 pull-ups without assistance.

17. Give Addisyn a brother or sister (God willing of course).

18.  Submit a wedding I shoot to a wedding magazine and to a wedding blog.

19. Have one of my weddings published in a wedding magazine.

20.  Go to Showit United.

21. Learn how to coupon and put it into practice.

22. Buy most of my food all natural and cut down on processed foods permanently.

23. Have headshots done by one of my favorite photographer friends.

24. Photograph another photographer’s wedding.

25. Create a fun promo video for my website.

26. Shoot a wedding in at least ten different states  (I have done North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware so far).

27.  Go to bed with my husband every night even during the busy season.

28. Drink more water each day – minimum of 60oz.

29. Make time to read more books (I love reading and in 2011 my reading was almost non-existent).

30. Get some of my blog printed up and bound for Addisyn and our family.

31. Design/create a personal year in review photo book each year-starting this year.

32. Go on dates with husband at least once a month.

33. Organize a minimum of two stylized shoots.

34. Mentor a new photographer.   

35. Enter my photos into three photo contests.

36. Create an LLC for “One More for Love” for the purpose of our family’s savings and investing.

37. Invest my money in some way.

38. Study the Scriptures and understand it enough to relay it in conversation.

39. Make more time to hang out with my sister’s, brother, mom and dad.

40. Write more love letters to Addisyn.

41. Take more photo journalistic pictures of Addisyn.

42. Pray more (I don’t do this nearly enough).

43. Practice weekly on different photography techniques.

44. Get a Mac, Macbook pro, and Ipad for the business.

45. Go to more photographer’s workshops.

46. Go to another P31 event.

47. Meet Jasmine Star at an event. She is just plain awesome.

48. Meet David Jay at an event. He is such an amazing human being.

49. Stop comparing myself to other photographers or bloggers. I am exactly where I am in life because God wants me to be here.

50. Do something for my community with my community group or as a family.

51. Share my faith more on my blog.

52. Grow my hair long and don’t cut it until these 1001 days are over with.

53. Wake up before Addisyn every morning so I am 100% awake to love her. Maybe I can even get some things done (i.e. my Bible study).  

54. Get better about sending birthday/anniversary/thinking of you cards. Even though up until this point I have tried my hardest to boycott all cards (even some coming my way), I will admit that they make the recipient feel better.

55. Be interviewed and featured on another photographer’s blog.

56. Shoot a true destination wedding.

57. Stay more in contact with my in-laws. They are all awesome and live much too far away.

58.  Get finished with steps one through four on the FPU baby steps.

59.  Hang up a wall display of my pictures in my office and a wall display of our family in the living room.

60.  Experiment with different lighting situations.

61. Start doing same day slide shows at my weddings.

62. Create office hours and do not work outside those hours.

63. Create a structured workflow and follow the workflow steps making adjustments when necessary.

64. Inspire other mom’s to follow their dream and find a way to be a stay at home mom and do the thing they love to do.

65. Buy an 85mm 1.2 and 24-70mm 2.8 lens for my collection.

66. Create yearly slideshows for my children and of my family.

67. Do whatever it takes to help my hubby and his friend Donald get a children’s book published because it is awesome and all the children in the world need to read it.

68. Go to a Jasmine Star event.

69. Make a big purchase with cash (i.e. car).

70. Organize my house and keep it clean each day.

71. Create fun bridal packets.

72. Go to a Crossfit competition.

73. Go shopping for a bikini again.

74. Go on mini field trips with Addisyn.

75. Find a ministry to get heavily involved in or start a ministry.

76. Be in a flash dance mob.

77. Shoot a real life proposal.

78. Be asked to shoot an international wedding.

79. Take more self-portraits because I hate myself in front of the camera.

80. Challenge myself to do something that I never thought I could do.

81. Go wine tasting somewhere on the west coast.

82. Write more and practice more writing.

83. Create my brand and stick with it.

84. Network with other local photographers.

85. Read the whole Bible.

86. Start a workout group with other SAHMs.

87. Be even closer friends to my two sisters.

88. Hike a mountain somewhere with my family.

89. Go on date days with Addisyn.

90. Get our Love Story printed and bound when it is finished.

91. Give abundantly of my time, treasure, and talents.

92. Help someone accomplish one of their 101 in 1001.

93. Book five weddings a year with videography. Our videographers, Becca and Dave, are just fantastic.

94. Eat more natural fiber.

95. Build a sand castle with Addisyn.

96. Go to the zoo as a family.

97. Go running with our dogs more.

98. Run 3 miles in less than 26 minutes

99. Buy a back up Mark II.

100. Be an accountability partner for someone’s 101 in 1001.

101. Create another 101 in 1001 list when the time comes.

Whew! That was fun. I can't wait to see yours too. Comment below with some of your favorite goals.

And now for some fun pictures from the last few days.

Saturday was puppy play time and Addisyn loved being out there watching "Pithes" run really fast.


"Up! Up! Up!"


She took off her gloves so she could wear dad's gloves.


You see?


That is one happy puppy!


...and one happy girly!




Peek-a-boo "I see you".


Be still my heart...


We were trying on dresses for her party this weekend...


and she decided to read to her friends.


She didn't want to change.


So we kept it on while she showed me how to pray...

and while she put Pig and Baby down for a nap.

But first she held their hands and prayed with them because daddy and mommy do that with her.


Next, she said "Amen!" in a joyful voice because that is what she does with mommy and daddy.


Finally, she kissed them goodnight and they went off to sleep.


 Addisyn wanted to sleep too! I will never get tired of those little tootsies!


Poor Pig was thrown out of the bed.


Only long enough for Addisyn to realize that Pig was getting the camera attention and then she came back to get him.


The End!

Mom to Mom - Blog post dtd 1/9/2012

Mom to mom, you know I am having a good day when it starts off in a coffee shop.  It still comes as a shock to me sometimes that this is my real life. I am snug in a corner with which I have unofficially deemed, “mine” with my laptop, my cup of mint mocha, and listening to an assortment of righteously relaxing music pumping through the coffee shop speakers.  I use words like “righteously” because they are perfectly appropriate for any situation that involves typing away on my laptop while sipping on a warm, fresh cup of coffee and listening to Jack Johnson, Adelle, and Jason Mraz. I also have no idea where this post is going or what I am going to write about so my Word document is cleverly entitled, “Blog post dtd 1/9/2012” and I find much contentment in that. I can simply write, breathe, and enjoy the moment that I’m in.

So consider yourself warned. If you continue to read this post, it is going to be full of positivity…get ready for my random-grab-bag-of-happiness-post.

Where to begin…

Oh, yes! My daughter is TWO! Can you believe it? A whole two years and some-odd days ago my world was changed. Before I had Addisyn, I can remember watching other moms with their children and being exhausted with the thought of the constant love, care, and attention that one child would need. I also remember being pregnant and people telling me “You are  going to be tired all the time, but it is so worth it”- an accurate, but entirely too generic description of how I really feel about being Addisyn’s mom. The truth is I don’t know if I would be able to precisely define my life now that I have Addisyn in it. It is so much more than being the comforter and constant provider of love and support for her. It is so much more than cherishing the kisses, the words, and the moments I have with her. It is so much bigger than all of this because I know that it is a role I have been given by God himself and I can’t fathom why He chose to bless me with this responsibility. I have had two amazing years knowing God has given me a great gift that I get to treasure every single day; a feeling that will likely not be the same, but even better on her third birthday, her fourth birthday, when she turns ten, and even the teenage years!

Of course, with the turning of two comes party planning…stay tuned, but here is a little clue as to what the hype is all about.

It is January 9, 2012 and I have yet to make an official goals list. Although my calendar is beginning to look like a war zone with things jotted in different spaces throughout the pages – scratched off, rewritten, starred, double starred, and triple underlined.  I need to make it formal and share it with someone who will hold me accountable.  The truth be told, I have never made an official and organized yearly goals list, but this year I am going to be cool like that. So here is the deal my friends, next week I am going to be talking about a very specific goals list called “My 101 in 1001” (101 goals in 1001 days).  If you are anything like me, you are running for the hills because it sounds pretty darn scary, right? It’s so definitive. Well, that is why I would love to do this together. I would like for you guys to create a goals list and share it with me and then update each other when we scratch those goals right off our list. I will have mine ready for you next week so you have a good idea of what the list means. Don’t worry, it will be fun ya’ll. Let’s Carpe Diem the heck out of those goals!

Now it’s time to go back to my happiness:  chasing around a two year old, picking up after her, and letting 1/9/2012 be a day without a title, but a day to be enjoyed.

Addisyn spends most of her days taking care of her baby dolls.



She reads to them...



She feeds them and comforts them. She even multi-tasks (see her talking on the cell phone on the picture to the left)



She snuggles with them...



this time with the cell phone away from her ear :-) Love seeing these precious moments!



With Love,

Stacy Hart