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I’ve been “self-employed” for almost 60 days. So much has happened in less than 2 months, but so much needs to continue to happen. It’s amazing how many ups and downs, how often it goes from full-speed to stopped and back to full-speed again. Conversations turn into gigs, gigs turn into gigs, conversations lead to nowhere…ups and downs. when’s the next shoot? what about that email I sent, did it sound right? was I priced right, did I do everything I could. It kinda reminds me of this pic in that everything about the image is fun…but behind the camera, I’m getting doused with rice and my gear is getting all dirty and crusty…I don’t really know what I meant by that.

Maybe the hardest part of being a full-time photographer has been the change in certainties. Now, we all know that nothing, even a full-time desk job that feels certain…is actually certain, but this new venture is even less certain because I used to know that a check was in the mail every 15 days. Now it’s all about getting booked, making connections and selling “the brand”. Honestly, it’s really fun. It’s exciting to see my work get noticed, to have someone hire me for my creative eye, etc…but it’s also scary. There seem to be so many variables into getting the next gig, and I have so much to learn. Constantly feeling like I don’t know what I’m doing isn’t something I’m used to, and it’s been humbling. But the things I’ve learned have been that much more exciting because it’s coming from a place of total blindness. Shooting is the easy part, but learning to build a brand is the tough one. Before it was nice to have a shoot on the weekend…now it’s necessary to shoot as much as possible. Before I could take my time…now I always feel like I’m running out of it.

But, now I appreciate the time more. I’m more aware of it, and enjoy it more freely when it comes to me. From time shooting, to time with my family that I wouldn’t have had, had I been sitting in my cubicle in building C on the 16th floor, in the corner where the window overlooked the window in building D and blocked my view of Atlanta.

So, yeah…it’s tough when you’re only as good as your next shoot, but the competitive side of me is addicted to learning more, to discovering what it is I’m truly supposed to do, and to enjoying myself, my family, and my job more than ever.

I had the chance to shoot Paige and Jason’s wedding in Covington, GA on May 23rd. It was at the home of the FFA, on their large campgrounds and was an amazingly beautiful place to get married. Paige and Jason were such cool people and made shooting so easy (as you can tell from the pics), but the rain did test us quite a bit.

The bridal party was huge and everybody seemed to have a fun/lively personality, so it was a blast hanging out with everyone…even if we had to dodge the rain a bit.

The biggest challenge of the day was that the outdoor wedding had to move inside, to a basketball gym with no lighting aimed at the stage…I didn’t want to shoot with a flash because it would have been pretty distracting in that dark room, so I just opened up my ISO and let ‘er rip. I’m pretty happy with what I got, but was definitely sweating it a bit when the last minute decision was made to go in. All in all, an amazing day with great people and some fun images as proof.

Thanks Paige and Jason for a great day!

So…how cute is this little boy? He had such amazing eyes! It was great to shoot with the Conners again, as any second shoot is always amazing because it means they liked the work, so I was humbled to get to do it again. The Conners are an awesome family and we have fun when we’re shooting.

The shoot was crazy though becuase these storms were blowing through Smyrna every few minutes. It would be perfectly normal out, then the clouds would rush through and dump rain on us for like 10 minutes, then we’d shoot more, then more rain, then shoot…etc. You get the picture. All in all I was really happy with how the images came out, especially considering the challenges with the weather!

Thanks Kate, Steven and Augie for a fun shoot!!!

Right at the beginning of May I was got the opportunity to shoot a wedding for Norborne and Cathy. They have one of the coolest stories…both being a bit older but never having been married. I loved the fact that they didn’t settle…they waited and found love and sealed the deal at a beautiful resort in Cashiers, North Carolina at the beginning of May.

It was also a great experience because I was able to bring along Nam Nguyen to shoot with me. Nam is an amazing photographer who’s been doing this longer than me, so I feel like I learned a ton from him. He took great shots and just added to the overall package of photos that Norborne and Cathy are going to receive. THANKS NAM!!!

Here are a couple from the amazing day!

You gotta respect the location! and the camera on the right

31 People…and a couple people had run off already! haha…I like how it turned out though.





This Rockabilly Band Rocked the Reception…

And of course…a couple from Nam (how could I not post these???)
I totally appreciated this shot from Nam because it was the details that I really found him SO good at. I’d work with Nam every time if he’d do it!

Nam and I have similar styles, but it was cool to go through all of the images and see where we’re totally different. This shot was one where our styles went really well together…all I had to do was slap a little black & white on there and it was $$$.

This may be the best dance reception pic I’ve ever seen! LOVE THIS ONE!

Adler is pretty addicted to his friend Thomas The Train…here’s a little proof. It’s also proof that I need some work on my focusing and panning skillz.