Worth Keeping

     I am sitting on my back porch, listening to the music of night in the backwoods and editing a photo shoot of my kids tonight.  Nothing depresses me more than trying to do a photo shoot with my 2 year old daughter.  She has an knack for making the shot as stressful as possible.  I always finish the shoot wondering why anyone would trust me enough to pay me for their families memories when a 2 year old can nearly bring me to tears.  That was yesterday.
     Today, after looking through the edits, I saw that, though she gave me several more grey hairs, the photos themselves were ok.  As I was going through them, I even laughed at some of the funny shots that were taken.  Funny how quickly the stress can melt away, when I start looking the photos and remembering how that sweet face can be so contrary.

 
     The best ones, I even edit and save with the shoot.   If you've enjoyed a photo shoot with me you know I do the same thing for clients.  No, those candid shots will probably never be framed, but they are the true story sometimes of that day.  Personally, I scrapbook them separately from the original shoot.  I love the memories they bring.  They don't remind me of how difficult a shoot was, they remind me of how much, stress and all, I love my job.

Thanks for keeping up with Backwoods Photography!

Backwoods Dreams

 I've been busy the last few weeks getting a chicken coop ready for our new baby chicks.  Backwoods Photography is aptly named, though we don't live as far out in the country as I'd like.  If I lived as far out as I liked, I doubt my current project would ever come to fruition.  My dream for the past year has been to integrate photography locations into any new projects we work on on our land.  I have many plans and dreams that will take years to accomplish but I feel great knowing that some of the plans are starting to become real.  With the building of our chicken coop, I accomplished several things.  Its a super cool, secure place for our new family members, its made of 90% recycled materials salvaged from here on the land and three sides of it are very good photography locations. 
I've also become confident enough to photograph how and what I enjoy.  I figure (and I should have figured it out sooner)  either you like my style, or you don't.  If you do, you'll love what I do, if not, well you should find another photographer for your family.  The last makes me feel like a bit of a diva, but honestly, the times I've tried to photograph what doesn't feel "right" to me I'm just not happy with the end product. 

These are photos from my most recent shoot.  Both are taken at my chicken coop and I love them, I hope you do too.

Time flies

Last week I photographed my niece's engagement photos.  Its hard to imagine that the little girl that wanted to be the "lellow" Power Ranger and at four, was determined to only wearing dresses that "worked" (twirled properly when she spun) is old enough to have made me a great-aunt and is getting married.
It's made me think about how many other rights of passage I have photographed for my family over the years.  I've photographed our elders that are now gone and babies that left us too soon.  I've been there for momentous occasions in their lives and documented them for over 10 years now.
I am the archivist for the family.  I scrapbook and keep all the photos and memories associated with all the ebbs and flows of over 50 people that I am blessed to call family.
Its a humbling realization that I don't take lightly. 

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