Magic Happens

“Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty…"

― Theodore Roosevelt 




I love it when things just come together. Lately I've been giving a lot of thought about my photography and where I want it to go. Last year I felt like a machine. I cranked out over 200 sessions and lost complete control of my world. I haven't been a good wife or mother or daughter or sister or friend. I wasn't able to focus on what truly matters most in my life. After much thought and prayer I decided to talk to a couple pros about what to do next to regain balance and joy. It was truly a blessing to work with so many wonderful families and I do feel that I learned volumes about lighting and composition but then I seemed to plateau... Everything went stale and I just worked like a machine to keep up with demand. I want to grow as a photographer and learn as much as I can about lighting and composition and creativity and yes even weddings... I do love weddings and just as I said NEVER again... God has opened my eyes to see that I am gifted to work with brides... I just needed to step back and look at my world from a higher elevation. I took a risk and re-worked my schedule and pricing for 2014... I know I have lost some business due to the changes... and that's okay. I know in my heart I had to do it. My calendar stayed jammed, not because I'm the best, but because I was the cheapest in town.. Wise words from my mother... "Shelly, you don't want to be the cheapest gig in town." It felt harsh, but it was true. Another wise woman spoke truth into my life... Denise said, that we should truly enjoy the art of what we do and when we're spinning on a wheel, we lose that joy (or something like that). There is great talent in the area I live in and the photography biz is competitive. But I want to be known for my work and work ethic/customer service, not price or lack there of..

I'm excited to continue to grow and learn more about this art that I love. I have several workshops scheduled and plan to focus most on portrait photography and yes a few weddings... With that said I feel it's important to have a studio to work from. Weather plays a huge factor in natural light photography and it would be awesome to have shelter when this crazy South Texas weather rears it's head... I would love to be able to choose from modern to traditional backdrops and have a permanent place to shoot newborn sessions. I have this AMAZING...HUGE beautifully lit front formal room that isn't utilized nearly as much as it could be... do you see where I'm headed? Hoot practices piano in this room daily and we often do homework there and we always put our Christmas tree up in the is room but other than that... it's not being used like it could (Lambert this is for you). Today I bribed my children into letting me take a few quick snaps at 4:00 when the lighting was just beautiful and magic truly happened in this room. God has blessed us with this home and I'm sure I can make better use of it :) So changes are a coming... I hope that if we build it... children and families will come... we shall see.