Over the last several months, the term “busy” doesn’t seem to do enough justice for how much has been happening both in photography and for me personally! I had several portrait sessions in the months of May and June and helped with several weddings in the process of all of that. I had a few jobs I did for my family, and I also had the opportunity to do a commercial job of food photography. Some may not realize that there is a process for photographers – taking the photos at the right time at the right locations with the right compositions and settings is only part of the process. After the sessions, a tremendous amount of time goes into post-processing – selecting the best images, enhancing images, color correcting, cropping, etc. to make the photo the best it can be for a client. Print orders are placed after proofs are reviewed and products are then delivered to the client. Depending on the size of the job, from start to finish, it can take anywhere from 10 to 50+ hours of work for a single photo session. On top of doing photography sessions, there is the business aspect of marketing, researching and learning as much as possible – as a fellow photographer put it, “It sometimes feels like you’re on treadmill that doesn’t stop.” :) I love photography and everything I do with my job, but there is a lot to be said to have balance between work and the other aspects of life.
So needless to say, being a business owner, wife, friend, daughter, active member of my church and a mom of my precious dog, I found the need to recharge. And that’s exactly what my husband and I did this last week when we visited the beautiful state of Virginia.
This trip was a time of relaxation and changing my focus from deadlines and editing to spending time with my husband and seeing friends/family we hadn’t seen in years. I was able to do some personal photography at the end of our trip of the majestic Blue Ridge Mountains. My husband and I often ask, “How could there NOT be a God with land this beautiful?”
This trip helped remind me of what my photography business is all about – God has given me this passion and the ability to see things, so it needs to be for Him. I think it’s so easy to get down on ourselves as photographers because we didn’t get the perfect shot every time, or we weren’t able to get every single detail in every shot. My reminder to myself is that it’s not about me – it’s about God. And if He can work through my photography to make a difference in people’s lives, then that’s all I could ever ask for.
So I encourage you to take some time for yourself to recharge and spend some time with your family/loved ones. It’s something priceless that we won’t have forever – cherish it for what it’s worth while you have it. I think it can be too easy to fall victim to the small things of day-to-day life instead of keeping in mind the bigger picture of what our real purpose in this life is all about.
