A Personal Post | A Fresh New Year Ahead

Whew. I don't know about everyone else, but for me 2017 was a crazy year! It was definitely a year of personal growth, and that in turn means changes for my business. Lessons that I thought I knew and beliefs I thought I had were just reinforced! I know I've said it many times, but I believe it now more than ever, that life is short and experiences with people are what matters! You honestly never know what life is going to throw at you and even though you think you've got everything planned and figured out, something will happen and you've got to adjust and change your course.

I like to think that one of my strengths as a photographer is my calm and easy-going personality and that lends itself perfectly to wedding days and even portrait sessions when the unexpected happens. But I also like to think that helps to attract the kind of people that I want to work with! I have been so blessed to have so many wonderful people that have come in to my life through my business, and I am honestly so grateful for the opportunity to preserve so many important memories for them! I have said numerous times that weddings and portraits should be about creating an experience, that's why I suggest making the extra effort to hike to an epic location or really think about the parts of the wedding day and things that matter the most to the two of you.

As you can see from the collection of images I've put together above I really try to practice what I preach in my life, but have I really done this in my professional life? Well I don't think I'm quite there yet in my professional life, but I'm more at peace with that! One of the new things that I've learned is that it's not always about the end goal, that the journey can be even more important! Haha basically I'm going in to 2018 with a more zen mindset. It's so easy to get caught up in the unfairness and unpredictability of life that I think sometimes we forget to just stop, slow down, and appreciate all that we do have. I'm grateful for my amazing friends and family, a very special guy that makes me feel loved and special, a job that I absolutely LOVE, and good health which allows me to eat all of the pie that I want :) Outside of that, I'm still working on improving and growing my business, but my focus now is about really creating those experiences that I keep talking about!

Remembering The Meaning | A Personal Post

When thinking about what I wanted to blog about this week I knew it was going to be a crazy week for me. This weekend is the Explore North Workshop which is the very first workshop I have ever planned and hosted. That being said, I thought it would be nice to just take a little breather and have just a little time for reflection.

With all of the final details and busyness of every day life you can easily forget why you're doing something in the first place. You put in countless hours, sleepless nights, elevated levels of stress, and then you get to the big event and forget the reason behind it. This can happen with any work project, but unfortunately I see it happen all too often with my wedding clients as well.

That's why today, just a couple days before we head to the Northwoods of Wisconsin, I want to remind myself why I've been working so hard on this new project. I love helping others, creating a community, teaching, exploring, and most importantly sharing in a unique and valuable experience with others. April, Shaunae, and I have poured everything into this workshop so we can create the best experience possible for all of the wonderful photographers coming and I can't tell you how excited I am to see everything come together!!

I wanted to take this week to remind myself, but to also encourage you to do the same! If you're feeling overwhelmed or stressed with your wedding plans, just remember to take a step back, take a deep breath, and just remember why you're doing all of this work. It may be stressful now, but it'll all be worth it in the end :)