Happy New Year, 2019!!!

10 years ago I was given a little inexpensive point and shoot camera for Christmas. I was pregnant and due in April with my first daughter, Gracie.

It was then that I discovered my love for photography.  The talent, well that came with practice. Lots and lots of practice. And educating myself as much as I could. 

Over these past ten years I have learned so much about running a business, working with clients, being creative to set myself apart from the rest, and not giving up. Because believe me when I tell you there were more than a few times I was ready to put my camera down. 

I have clients that have stuck with me since Day 1, and on Day 1,  I wasn't very good. I feel as though I owe them something big for believing in me. Seeing something in my work when maybe I didn't yet.

Over these years I have met so many people, experienced so much joy and have been able to capture soo many beautiful memories for people that it makes my heart swell. There is nothing I like to see more than when a client sends me a photo of my pictures hanging on the walls of their home. 

I've been a part of some of the most incredible moments, and I have been able to document them. Weddings, births, anniversaries, birthdays, engagements, holidays...and deaths... and yes, I just said death.

One story will always stick with me, and when I am having a hard day or when I want to give up, I go back to it.

I was contacted by a family asking me to come to their home and take photographs because their grandmother was sick. It was an entire extended family shoot in a small split entry home.

I needed my flash.

I had to move furniture.

It was over an hour away from me.

And I was booked that entire weekend.

But when I got that call, I knew I had to make time. I felt it. Something inside me told me not to say "no". 

I showed up that day and took a million photos of Grandma with the grandkids, the great grandkids...Daughters and sons...in-laws….We made it work. And we had fun.

And then that beautiful, sweet Grandmother that smiled in every photo....She passed away a day later. 

I took the very last family photos with her that they would ever have.

I don't even think that this family expected it to happen that quick. But it did. 

When I found out, I cried.

I cried because what if I had said no? They never would have had these memories. And maybe these photos provided them with a small sense of comfort during a really sad time in their lives.

So when I am ready to set my camera down, I go back to this story. 

I am ringing in 2019 celebrating being in business for 10 years. I am ringing in 2019 with an open heart, big dreams, and incredible ambition.

I have big, fun ideas for this coming season, so stay tuned!

Thank you so much to all of my clients past, present and future for supporting a small, mom owned business like mine. You all have helped me keep my tiny family afloat in some of the hardest years I have ever experienced in my life. And for that, I can't thank you enough. You've made me believe in myself, you've made me strive to work harder and you've made me stronger. <3 

Happy New Year from my family to yours. May it bring you all peace, love and joy. 

~christine