March is Gone

March of 2010 will be history in a half hour. Crazy how sometimes life just seems to fly by. Today was a productive day with my assignments for this class. After work I "hid" until my projects were completed. Every so often I found myself peering out the crystal clear window to behold the beautiful sunshiny day that awaited me outside. Though I was temped to walk away from my computer and walk out the door to bask in the sunshine, I never did.White walls surrounded me as the buttons on my keyboard created a rhythmic sound, not a sound I will define as elegantly music, but it was a beautiful sound to me, the sound of productivity. Check mark by check mark I marked off my assignments. An enjoyable feeling it was. By the dinner hour I closed my computer with a beautiful list of check marks, as seen below. 

•   Sarahdipity Photo buy domains and change over
•  15 Images from each wedding
• Categorize your system areas ; describe current systems now
• 5 Words: Write down how they fit into your business
•  Continue adding to social circles with areas you are NOT INVOLVED with currently, but could become involved within
•  Inspirations Box continue
•  Daily log blog / goals
• Begin the profile of your ideal client "Dream" Client

Some of these assignments were already completed, but to have the whole list checked off just felt good. I planned to talk to Christina tonight but instead we rescheduled to tomorrow. This left my evening tonight free, open, chill, such an amazing feeling. Every minute has been used, from family time, to cleaning, to catching up with friends. 

As for tonight I wave goodbye to the month of March and soon welcome in April! 

As for tomorrow I will...

-upload more images to facebook 

-edit images

-work on logo =/ (any suggestions would be more than welcome! My new business name is: www.sarahdipityphotos.com )

 

Only so many hours in a day...

1)As for photography today I shot part of a baseball game. Twas' fun, other than a sad ending.

2)Earlier today I booked a photo shoot for next week. *Excited* (Sometimes I feel like I keep booking and yet it takes forever till the actual shoot date.)

3)This evening I worked on editing the images from my trip to NYC. When labeled as a "photographer" I often find that others just assume I have all the time in the world to edit, post, and burn images. I SO wish I did! Ever since the day I left NYC my friends have been asking why my images aren't online yet. If only they knew how much went into photography! Currently an album of random NYC images are uploading to Facebook. Honestly I'm not even sure what images I am uploading other than just images I rated and exported from Lightroom. Half of them are just fun snapshots of memories.

4)I kept trying to figure out some web domain complications. After changing my business name to "Sarahdipity Photos" I'm still trying to get everything changed. Also, I've been looking for a designer to design a logo. Fellow photographers, if you have any ideas please pass them my way.

5)Worked on assignments. 


At this point I should be sleeping, so for now, Good-night!

03.28.2010

What started out as a rather chill day ended up crazy. After spending my morning and start of my afternoon at church I sat down at my desk to work on photography. I started by working on switching my website over to my new domain. After chatting with live tech support, calling and staying on hold forever just to speak with a foreigner I could not understand, and then sending an email to tech support, my afternoon seemed to be over. The processes took forever!

My evening was booked with plans of spending time with friends so after an afternoon on the computer working with web hosting I was looking forward to a chill evening. My plan was to enjoy the evening with friends but get home at a decent time to work on more photography and get to bed at a decent hour. The evening did not end up that way. To sum it up it still has not come to an end after enjoying the evening with friends. From the "party" I left to make a run to the airport to pick up my brother only to sit and wait for 45minutes to hear the news that halfway through the flight the wind shield cracked sending the flight back to Memphis. I drove home, realized the flight now would not arrive till 4am at best so I grabbed my other brother and drove back to the airport to park a car so I would not have to pick Phil up at 4am. I'm just getting home.

At least I am blogging though everything else has not been completed! Now heading to bed to get some sleep before Monday comes and the new week kicks into full throttle! ~Sweet dreams.

Agenda Today: Art

Art, was on the agenda for today. The outcome I imagined and the real outcome were worlds apart. Though, in my opinion that defines art.

Rays of sunlight beamed across the riverfront gardens in Riverside at the break of dawn  this morning. Such perfect setting for the photo shot that was "suppose" to be. A photo shoot was on my agenda, but it was quickly taken off due to work conflicts for my models. Nonetheless, the morning was beautiful. Painting, painting and more painting ended up being the outcome of my art for today. Spring cleaning always means "painting" in our house. 

With a tin bucket of white paint, a wooden handled think bristled brush, and old colorful paint splattered clothes I started my day out painting! Hours later after the sun set my day started coming to a close as I brushed the last strokes of paint onto a windowsill. Art? No doubt about it, even with a can of white paint, one brush and wooden trim art is created! 


One sip of coffee remains in the mug beside me. A few words left inside me yet to be spoken. A happy tune still rings through my head as I finish up this day with some photo editing, blogging and then head to dream land; where there are beautiful sunrises every day and art is created in every way. =)

The Past Few Days

Honking horns, crowds of people, hype, celebrities, skyscrapers, beautiful weather, best of window shopping, friends, entertainment and photography would be at start to defining my past few days in NYC. Upon arriving in NYC I felt as though I was in a different country. Its an unique place to visit though I would have to say I do not think I would want to live there. Amazing, chill, fun, memorable are words that come to mind when I think of this trip. I left work behind and enjoy every moment of the trip. Last night I returned home, therefore today I was back to the grind. To say the least my day today was filled to the brim. As for photography I shot a 4.5 hour baseball game after a full day of work. I'm currently uploading the images and trying to find the creativity to write another blog on my business blog. Tomorrow will be here before I know it, so off to bed I shall go. -Night

Packed & Ready

It was a full day of work, errands, cleaning, family time and just life! As far as I my "To Do List" I believe I checked off most everything for today. As for tomorrow I head out of town bright and early for NYC for the weekend. I am packed and as ready as I can be. Batteries are charged, memory cards are formatted, camera and accessories are packed! As for me, I am heading to bed in attempt to get some sleep before 4am comes and off to the airport I go.

A New Week

With an hour lost but an hour of sunlight gained the weekend just seemed a bit flip-flopped. "Whoosh"and the weekend was gone! Photography was not in the radar for the weekend for there was much else to complete. Last night though I sat down and looked through blogs, talked to photography friends, researched some shooting/location ideas, wrote ideas down, just chilled with photography in mind, enjoying every moment. As 1am came I was just getting more into it. So much for getting to bed early... 1:30am came and I decided to hit the hay just to realize I had too many thoughts and ideas to actually fall asleep. So I grabbed a pencil and paper and started writing more. After a bit I put the paper and pencil aside and once again tried to sleep. At 3:00am I was still wide awake. I thought about getting up and just pulling an all-nighter but I knew I needed sleep. Finally I fell asleep sometime after 3:45am just to wake up at 6:45 to get ready for a 9 hour day in the office. After work I headed to H&R Block to get advice about filing taxes on my photography and such. Then I was off for the rest of the evening. Now I'm home, it's 1am again and I'm thinking its time for sleep!

In the craziness of everything this past weekend I also decided to join some friends this coming weekend for a trip to NYC. I booked my flights and I am stoked! :) I'll fly out this Friday morning and head back Sunday afternoon. SO if you have any advice/"NYC have to see places" let me know!

For now, ~Good night world

Completed!

1)Met a new client for dinner. Talked over her scheduled engagement shoot as well as about wedding photography.

2)Edited some images.

3)Browsed wedding photography/bridal shoots for inspiration.






4)Replied to client emails

5)Worked on my blog and got the domain and such corrected! Yay!

Here we go again...

Grr. So I wrote a post. I was on the last line when firefox decided to have a random crash! Was my post saved under drafts? NOPE!

Here we go again...
Yesterday I left town for a business trip and returned this evening. Upon my return tonight I started working on photography.

1)Received a (scheduled) call from a girl, Sarah, whom I have helped mentor in photography. I answered photography questions and gave her my advice for about 45 minutes.

2)Uploaded images to the FB group (sorry, they were a few days late! =/ )

3)Past two hours: Contacted clients for multiple reasons; scheduling, details, travel info for weddings, location options, images in general, etc etc etc.

4)Browsed around on the internet to find local photography groups. Also sent an email requesting information about a group.


As for tomorrow...
(I have a full day of work at my day job...then I will...)

1)Meet a new client for dinner to talk over her scheduled engagement shoot as well as talk about wedding photography.

2)Edit some images.

3)Browse wedding photography/bridal shoots for insperation.

4)Reply to any photography email that I may receive tomorrow.



Good night fellow photographers! May your night be amazing and may you wake in the morning to behold a beautiful day because every day is beautiful when you personally know the One who holds your day.  ~Sweet dreams.

One Week Has Past

Reflective seems to be my current state of mind. As the first week of this photography mentor-ship comes to an end I am happy with what I see. For I was not sure what to expect but reflecting on this week I am happy with the results.

Each week has challenges of its own, this week has come to a close with the flu. Fever, cold symptoms, headaches, etc. would be a good way of summing up yesterday and today. Yesterday nothing photography wise was accomplished. (Nothing that I can remember.) Today I bit off more than I could chew for the day. Or rather I could not bite off as much as I wanted to due to web domain setup and processing. The process ended up being much more complicated than expected, it took up hours of time transferring things. Now I await my new domain to be setup.

4 hours of blogging researching, creating, etc. etc.

Current goal: Get a good nights rest in hopes of getting well and leaving the flu in the past.

Day 5

Wow. Day 5. As I typed the title I had to recount the days. For a few minutes there I forgot today is/was Friday. Oh how it has past so quickly. 

As for photography business accomplishments today it was close to zilch. I had not planned to achieve much though I always hope for more. It was a busy day at the office then I headed out of town for a Friday night baseball game I had promised I would attend. By the time I got home around midnight, the day was gone; just like that! 

I always plot and plan, brainstorm, etc. throughout the day, especially as I drive. Counting that as accomplishments and photography business work just doesn't always seem like it should be counted. It just happens because I love it. 

To sum up the little things I did accomplish with photography today

1)my strengths finder book arrived. I scanned through it and hope to read more as soon as I am done posting.

2)faxed photography contract papers to a client.

3)talked to a bride of an upcoming wedding I've booked.

4)shot a few images just for fun.

5)took note of some things I really need to work on.

6)thoughts about business, my purpose/theme with photography, etc.

This week has been great. I have given a lot of thought to photography and the demands of it. Some of the key thoughts I'm pondering.

Q: Purpose with photography. Is it headed where I want it to head? Where I feel God is leading?

A: Yes and no. I am loving it. The realm is good. But I feel like I could do more to impact the world, not just paid photo shoots of happy moments.  - Balance

Q: Would it be good to try to find a photography group to get involved with? If so where and how?

A: There are plenty of photographers in Jacksonville. I know there are photography groups but I'm just not sure where to go and where to jump in. Though I do feel it would profit me to have local photography friends.

Q: Should I try to find someone to "intern" with just to get experience in new realms without having the stress and pressure of being paid and having to reach a certain standard.

A: Experience is great. Often times I feel as though I don't step outside of my "shooting box" enough because I am comfortable shooting in "my box" because I know the results. Also, customers have hired me because they like what they have seen. Therefore I can just sit back and shoot. BUT I know I want to try some out of the box things. Light painting, crazier exposures, longer exposures, etc. So I've wondered if shooting along side with someone without having a "certain standard" to have captured while shooting if it would give me time and opportunity to venture out and try new things.  - I'm not really sure if that makes sense, writing it down on paper is different and harder to explain that just thinking it through. ;)

Enough for tonight! As for tomorrow I will hopefully get further into creating a blog for my photography with great excitement!

Day 4 - Light and Focus

Today my schedule was full. I knew there would not be time for photography. Clocking out at 9.5 hours at my day job I came home to babysit my 2 year old niece and get dinner for my sibblings due to my parents being away for the night. (note: I felt more like a mother than a photographer, lol.) As we were finishing up dinner a good friend of mine stopped by in need of some advice and a friend to talk to. After 2 hours of wonderful fellowship she left and I realized any extra time in my day was now gone, but for the best cause. Last thing on my to do list for today was to finishing painting the dinning room for my mom. I painted it last weekend but it needed a second coat. With ceilings reaching 20 feet this is not a small task, nonetheless I needed to complete the job. As I covered the walls in warm tones of fresh paint I accomplished much thinking; photography related thoughts to be exact. Business, mission photography, goals, ideas, travels, customers, marketing, balancing life, inspirations, were most of the topics flowing through my mind. It was not that I was searching for answer, just ideas. Just in the last little while my thinking has seemed to wrap up in one way but in another it is as if the idea took wings and flew. I will leave you with my thought; 

Two factors in most every image, light and focus.  Light not captured correctly becomes just an abstract piece of work tossed around without care or often deleted.  As for focus, if your focus is off your image captures a different story than intended. It is the same idea for life in general.

Without the correct light and focus what is life? 

 May Christ be my only source of light and may He always be in focus.

Day 3

[today]

-worked my day job....then...

-photo shoot
-edited photo shoot
-talked with bride of upcoming wedding
-put together a photography package to mail
-delivered images from a previous shoot
-booked a photo shoot
-corresponded with a bride to be about wedding and engagement photography

Day 2

Replied to photography business emails, inquires, etc.

Uploaded and started editing images from yesterdays shoot. 

Total time spent = Just over 1 hour.

Now off to dream land...where I'm sure I'll be photographing in my dreams! = 6 hours ;)

Today...[...in a nutshell]

Great achievements? 
   In one way or another...
 
Amazing progress? 
   Yes....maybe not on paper, but between everything many things were thought through in my mind.That counts, right?
 
Got inspired? 
   Very much so. :)
 
Enjoyed the day? 
   Twas' a Monday, full of stress but it ended happily.
 
Worked hard? 
   Put in more hours than planned (at my day job, sorry Christina, I *wish* it had been with photography...) and I feel accomplished.

Ha-ha, I wish each of these questions could be answered with a bold "YES" just the way I had planned... but I'm afraid they don't. Each day I set out with my plans in mind. Often times plans get changed before the brilliant rays of sun have greeted the morning, especially on Mondays. :)  As for today I may not have made the great achievements I had planned but I know today was successful; that is what counts.

As for photography....
Last night...

• talked to Christina :)
• ordered book 
• made payment

Today I...

• Started this blog
• Worked on my website making modifications (mainly worked on a logo with the help of a friends idea)

• Photographed a local high school baseball game this afternoon
• Thought though different photography ideas, projects, blogging sites, etc.