Hillary & Evan 09.26.2009
Amy & Jeff 09.12.2009
Jules & Joey 08.08.2009
Erin & Teddy 07.18.2009
Portraits
Rolling on the Floor
Posted on March 12, 2010
Chris was going through his blog roll this morning and as I looked over to what the annoying music was about, I couldn’t help but to be entranced and laugh my butt off. Thanks goes to Mark Lutz for posting this. You so made my day.
Brian & Eileen’s Wedding Music Video. from LOCKDOWN projects on Vimeo.
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A Mother’s Confession
Posted on March 8, 2010
South Bend Special Needs Photography | Bryce’s Disorder
I confess, I have not been a very good blogger lately. I am sorry, but I promise it’s been for a good cause. It’s all Bryce’s fault. Well, not really, but it is mainly because every time I go to blog, I want to blog about him and I haven’t been able to pour my heart out quite yet. We knew about a year ago that there was something not quite right with him, I was concerned but passed it off that he was just a late bloomer. When we decided that he wasn’t making any improvements, I went to his doctor to get help. I was starting to worry that it might be Autism, but the doctor passed it off pretty quickly and decided that the 1st Steps Program would be best for Bryce.
After incorporating 3, that’s right THREE, therapists into his weekly routine, we have now been told that we have a special needs child with a Sensory Processing Disorder. I have found myself crying about it many times since the realization that there is a name to what is wrong with him. As his mother, I want the best for my child. It’s been that way since the beginning. I didn’t have an ultrasound, I ate healthy (for the most part), his birth was completely natural, I didn’t vaccinate him (YES, I am one of THOSE mothers – the fact is, no one has proved that vaccines aren’t killing our children so we’ll deal with illnesses as they come) and I breast fed him until he was 22 months old. In my mind, there was no way that he could have something with the word “disorder” in it.
My heart has broken in many pieces since the day his therapist gave me the reading materials to understand why he does the things he does. I have struggled to create a structured day for him and it’s hard for me to do because I LOVE to live by the seat of my pants, the problem is that his disorder is Autistic-Like and NEEDS the structure or he’s a child with a violent temper. I feel like I can’t take him anywhere anymore and it’s really frustrating. He needs to be social and he needs to be around other people or he’ll never be okay with society.
We have seen some really great improvements lately, like he tried to say “ready” on Friday, but said “eh-eee”. He will bring me his bottle if he wants milk and his juice box if he wants juice. We are starting to be able to understand him a little bit more in what his sensory needs are, like he can’t handle a lot of noise in his environment and he needs deep pressure for his arms, leg, and back. It hasn’t been easy, but I am so blessed to have the opportunity to work with him full-time. He is the reason I get up early every morning instead of sleeping in when I want to, the reason my life has some kind of structure to it and the reason that I’ve started cooking healthier (when I can, of course).
Since this has been a life changing event for us, I decided to make a category just for Bryce’s updates because we have so many friends and family praying for him and encouraging us to stay strong for Bryce. I’m going to try to make it a weekly update, but blogging has been the last thing I get to with Bryce’s schedule.
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Who Said you HAD to Have a Favorite Anyways?
Posted on March 5, 2010
South Bend, Indiana Commercial Photography | Pink Heels
Have you ever really asked yourself who decided we had to have a favorite toothpaste, season, type of clothing, or even color? When I was younger, I truthfully didn’t have a favorite color. My favorite color was whatever my best friend at the time’s was. As I got older, I adapted orange as my favorite color. I don’t really know why, other than it just made me happy and put me in a good mood. If there was one color I loathed more than anything, it was pink. However, when I was pregnant I got swept off my feet by that darn color and AT last, I had turned to the girl inside of me. After one of my models left her bright pink heels in my car, I fell deeply in love with her shoes, so I was on a quest to find my own pair. I LOVE these shoes so much and I can honestly say that I am officially addicted to shoes.
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Satisfy Those Taste Buds
Posted on February 23, 2010
South Bend, Indiana Food Photography | Cinnamon Chicken Salad
YAY! It’s back, my energy is FINALLY back. I haven’t seen it in quite a while. For the past 2 years, I have eaten nothing but junk. Not only did I eat junk, but I couldn’t get myself to workout to at least compensate for all the empty calories, carbs (my personal favorite), and aspartame infested sodas that I had consumed. No matter how many times I tried to stop eating and drinking that crap, it was like crack and kept calling my name.
Since Bryce’s diagnosis last week and reading more on what Sensory Processing Disorder meant for our family, I decided that there was a lot about the way we lived and ate that needed to change. Bryce is going to need to have mommy’s attention more and I need my mind to be sharp to constantly challenge him. I started to read Skinny Bitch in hopes that the slap in the face that they have given so many women about their eating and their health was just what I needed. Well, it was everything and more and let me tell you since I started getting more serious about my eating (I won’t even call it a diet because it’s really a way of life) I have been feeling great.
Last night, I made my favorite recipe with chicken. It’s something that I came up with one day in the summer last year to really spice things up. I always vary the spices, but the main ingredient is cinnamon. When I cook it on the grill, my personal favorite, I sprinkle cinnamon and either old bay or black pepper over one side of the chicken and then rub it over the entire chicken breast. When I cook the chicken on the stove, I warm up the pan with evoo then sprinkle in the cinnamon and the “spice of the day”, cut the chicken into pieces and then, you know, cook it. You can serve this in a salad or keep the breasts whole for sandwiches or accompanied by your favorite side dish. I highly recommend trying this one day, it’ll confuse your taste buds, in a good way.
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Brand Marketing
Posted on February 18, 2010
South Bend, Indiana Wedding Photography | Finding your Brand Market
I have always enjoyed hearing other photographers say that they have a particular niche that they market to. I never truly understood how to do this, but in my endeavor to re-brand myself, I started to put the pieces together. Your brand is absolutely THE most important thing that you have in your business. The brand you choose has to be wrapped up in everything from your logo, your font, your colors, your pricing, and yes even the way you photograph.
Let’s say you are doing some advertising and you design it with just your logo, if your logo looks like Ed Hardy, chances are you will attract the Ed Hardy client. If they go to your website and they see that you photograph in any other style than edgy, they probably won’t even inquire because of the mismatch between your brand perception and your photographic approach. The Joy of Marketing has some really great resources on this topic.
So, how can you market for the clientele that you are trying to attract? There are a few ways that you can do this. First, research other photographers. They don’t have to be in your area, but take a critical look at their work and see if you can identify with their photography. What about their photography do you like? Now, what does their photography and their client have in common? Here are a few examples: Jasmine Star is very crisp, clean, and makes you feel like you were there with her images. Chenin Boutwell is very sharp, retro and earthy feeling. Jerry Ghionis is artsy, unique and completely blows your mind. All three of these photographers attract the brides that resonate with each of their styles.
Secondly, decide which genre you fall under. If you are just starting out, I would evaluate the way you shoot or start learning to shoot the way that will attract that particular clientele. If your images, branding, and website eloquently state Chanel but your prices scream Wal-Mart at the $500 price point the high end market just won’t “buy it” and the low end market may feel the “deal” is too good to be true. Amanda Wilcher once told me that “sometimes people will buy something because it’s expensive”, that statement applies to both sides of the market.
I want to encourage all photographers to price yourself appropriately and effectively. Please, Plesae, PLEASE don’t under cut yourself. I have friends that are amazing photographers that are afraid to raise their pricing because they do what David Jay calls “Photo Disorder” where they constantly compare themselves to other photographers. This is a business and you have to protect your assets with the biggest asset to your company being you and you are completely worth every penny, charge accordingly.
So, tying everything together, take the time to write down your bottom line as a business owner. What are your expenses as a business owner for one year? What is your cost of living? What is the brand perception you are trying to aim for? Finally, is your pricing going to match your brand perception? This is a very time consuming task, but it is crucial and will pay off in the end (I swear, that wasn’t a pun intended). Have fun with this activity and make your money work for you, not the other way around (as Dave Ramsey would say).
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