Giving thanks

Warning: This is a personal post. Not much to do with photography, just a lot to do with me, my thoughts, and my religion. Consider yourself warned. :)

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It's easy to say I'm thankful. For my husband. My family. My job. My health, my friends, my home. And when it comes to those things, I'm thankful. Very thankful. But it's harder for me to be truly thankful for all things.

"In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you" (1 Thes 5:18)

Thinking back over this past year, there are definitely things for which I don't want to be thankful. There were hard times, long days, and pain. But in all of this, I try to remember that God has a plan for me. And for this I am thankful, because I'm not smart enough to figure it out on my own. One thing that is clear from this past year -- God has put certain people in my life for a reason. On the days when I didn't want to keep walking, when I wanted to curl up in a ball and hide from view, there was always someone there to say "Get up. Move on. This too shall pass." So while there are some things for which I cannot yet bring myself to give thanks for, I offer up a multitude of thanks for those people who have gotten me through those times.

I'm working on being truly thankful. For all things. But it's a work in progress.

Dylan & Dorothy ~ Gainesville Portrait Photographer

A quick sneak peak from Dorothy and Dylan's photoshoot on their farm in Gainesville this past weekend. More to come!

The business of photography

Something nobody tells you when you start a photography business: It's a BUSINESS. Should be pretty self evident, right? But when you start (or at least when I started, or as I'm in the process of starting <- probably more accurate) you think "Hey, I love photography. I'm decent at it. I have the technical ability (or a wonderful husband with it) to set up a legit website. How hard can this photography business be?" And so I made myself a website, set me up with a blog, and voila! a business. Rrrright.... and then came contracts, and model releases, and balance sheets, and legal forms, and fictitious names, and taxes, and finding customers, and, and. The business side of this is hard! I'm still working on my business plan and let me tell you -- it is downright difficult to (succinctly) put into words the vision I have for Sarah Reed Photography. How do you describe a passion in business terms? I know where I want to be in a year, but for someone who has no background in marketing, how do I get there? Where do I start? How do I measure success? Is it income? Number of shoots booked? Quality of photographs? And how do I make sure that during all of this buisness focus, I'm not losing the focus on my art? That my photography isn't becoming stagnant, that I stay true to my style of shooting??

So if it's been a little quiet on here lately, that's why. I've been mulling all of these things over in my head, working on them. I'm not sure I'll ever entirely have it figured out, but all of the good resources I've read say that the business plan is not a finite document, it's ever evolving and being reworked. So I'm setting some goals. Keeping them small for now (like, FINISH the business plan, don't just think about it!), talking to some professionals about the way I should be doing business, and making some grand plans for next year. Actually, those plans are starting a little early, I suppose. I've got three shoots coming up in the next few weeks that will hopefully rock your socks off. So stay tuned. Because while it might get quiet on here every once in awhile, it's usually because I'm scheming.... ;)

Finishing on a good note, with quite possibly one of my favorite shots ever...

Pete and Repeat

A few more photos from Spain... notice the pattern here? I love repeating patterns in my photos!

(Alcazar, Almeria, Spain)

(Aqueducts, Segovia, Spain)

(Palacio de Carlos V, Alhambra, Granada, Spain)

(Alcazar of Segovia, Spain)

Okay, so not a repeating pattern... but still pretty!

I'm not feeling very talkative (write-ative?) today, so I thought I'd just put up some pretty photos. These are some I took while in Spain for Sara and John's wedding (look here, here, and here) and hadn't posted on the blog. So enjoy the prettiness today!  (oh, how I would go back to Europe in a heartbeat!)

 Garden at the Alcazaba in Almeria

Aqueducts in Segovia

The tiny streets of Madrid!

Someday, I want a window like this....

In the Alhambra, Granada, Spain

Almeria, Spain

Mojacar, Spain (yes, it's on a hill....)

Calling all brides....

Married or not, wanna be or current brides -- Want a chance for some fabulous, unique bridal portraits? I'm looking for a few lovely ladies to take part in a photo shoot tentatively planned for Dec 5th (that's a Sunday).  If you're interested and in the Gainesville area, let me know!

This does NOT require you to have a wedding dress (so single ladies, if you're interested too, hit me up!) but that would be handy. There is a chance that the dress may get a little dirty (we're not trashing anything here, though, I promise!), so if this is before your wedding, we might chat about what you'll be wearing.

And because no post is complete without a photo:

PS -- In the upcoming months, I may also be looking for some of you beautiful soon-to-be mama's, so if you're in that category and would be interested in some maternity photos, leave a comment here or shoot me an email!

Fall

I've been trying to sit down and write this post for three or four days now; it's been that crazy of a week! Jared and I spent this past weekend in Pennsylvania, visiting for a Penn State game and for Kirra and Mason's baptism. It has been a really long time since I've been home in the fall, and I was SO excited for fall colors! Fall may just be my favorite time of the year up north -- the leaves are changing color, the air is crisp, and the temperature is lovely during the day and cool overnight.  There's just a feeling of crisp excitement in the air. The extra fun was that we were home for Halloween and got to see all of the munchkins dressed up! I've got some exciting shoots coming up, but until then, here is some fall prettiness to hold you over!