Being a pro photographer is both a blessing and a curse.  I want to take the best pictures of my family possible, but I also want to enjoy time with my family and maybe even be in front of the camera every once in a while.  When we’re on vacation it’s a fine line of capturing the memories, but also being a part of the memories.

Here are some observations / tips on how to enjoy yourself while documenting your families trip:

1)  Don’t be afraid to leave the big, fancy camera in the hotel room.  When I have my DSLR down by the pool I’m scared that it’s a) going to get stolen b) going to fall in the pool c) get dropped.  So, I never leave it’s side.  I don’t get to go have fun in the pool.  I get to sit with my camera all by myself.  Just because you have a big, fancy camera doesn’t mean you have to take it everywhere with you.  It’s okay to leave it in the hotel room every once in a while.  I really only bring mine out when I know the light is going to be just right.

2)  Take the point and shoot.  If I leave the DSLR in the hotel room I bring my point and shoot with me.  That way I have it to snap some pictures if something fun is happening and I’m not stressed about it getting broken / stolen.  Also, if I want to be in a picture it’s important that I have it because people either don’t know how to use the DSLR or are scared of it.

3)  Don’t miss out on the memories because you are too busy capturing them.  My husband will tell you that I am guilty of this.  I’m so busy making sure I take pictures and video of everything that I’m not always enjoying the moment.

4)  Every image doesn’t have to be an amazing, blogable picture.  Shoot for yourself.  Shoot for your family.  And have fun with it!

Dear Brayden,

We get to go on some pretty big adventures together.  Whether it’s an adventure looking at snails in our neighborhood or a family trip to Hawaii we have so much fun together.  And what I love most about our adventures is it’s not just the adventure that’s so much fun for you.  It’s getting there.  Taking the shuttles from the parking garage to the airport is like a ride at Disneyland.  You are so amazed by everything that is going on around you asking, “What’s that, Mama?”  ”What they doin, Mama?”.  At 2 am when our shuttle pulled up to our car from LAX you said, “Thank you so much, Shuttle!  See you next time!”.  You made that shuttle drivers week.  He said, “I hope I have the pleasure to drive you again, young man”.

And while sitting in airport for most people is a hassle, you love it.  You could watch planes and choo choos (luggage carts) for hours.  And that’s a great thing since we got to spend nearly 5 hours in the Honolulu airport when our plane got delayed on the way home!  You asked, “Where these planes goin?  Where these people goin?” over and over!

While we were waiting for our plane people asked you if you had a good time in Hawaii.  You said, “Yes!  I went to Disneyland.  I rode Small World, Tea Cups, Fast Choo Choo…”.  They must have thought you were crazy!

The thing I will remember most from our trip to Hawaii is how you started calling me and Dad “Mommy and Daddy” rather than “Mama and Dada”.  ”Mommy” makes you sound like such a big boy!  I love it though!

Thank you for another amazing adventure, Brayden!  Excited for many more!

Love,

Mommy

Jennifer Imus is a mom to two beautiful daughters and a photographer in Orange County, CA.  Not only is she a talented photographer, but Jennifer and her family are one of my oldest clients.  I’ve done their family sessions for the past 4 years and I’m excited for number 5 in August!  I’m so thrilled to see Jen pursuing something she is so passionate about and I’m happy to have been able to help her along the way!

I told Drew that the gist of my blog would be about what it’s like to be the “40’s Momtog”. I wanted to title it The Forty-ish, Fabulous and Fit Photographer. But let’s be honest… Unlike Drew, I would only run if chased by a lunatic wielding an impressively big weapon. And even then I might try to negotiate. So “Fit” is definitely out. And while I have days when I am totally feeling my Fabulousness, I mostly think that it’s a term reserved for the Beyonce’s of the world. I mean, that girl OWNS Fabulous.

So, we are left with Forty-ish and Photographer (of course I need to include the title of Mom as well but I couldn’t come up with an “F” word for that).

I’m sure you’ve all seen the 1,258 Oprah shows that have documented how AWESOME the 40’s are, and how CONFIDENT you can be in your 40’s, and how 40 is OF COURSE the new 20. I remember being about 32 hearing all of that and thinking, “Sure, that is what women in their 40’s have to say in order to feel better about being so freaking old”. Well, here I am. Forty-ish. And I am here to tell you that it is all true. Except for the one about 40 being the new 20. Because, last I checked, I can’t hold down nearly as much liquor as I could back then.

But there is something that happens when you enter the decade of the 40’s. For one, you stop caring so much about what other people think of you.  Which leads to a newfound confidence.  Which makes you start to evaluate your life from a more personal and more powerful perspective. Which starts to make you feel like it is time to start doing something for you instead of everyone else all the time.

Now, I’m not saying that once you turn 40 it’s like “BAM!”. You can totally rock your old leg warmers and tube tops because you don’t care what anyone thinks. And you can’t stop feeding and bathing your kids because you’ve suddenly decided that you need to focus on YOU (unless you would like unscheduled monthly visits from the Department of Child and Family Services).

What I am saying is that there is this subtle catharsis that occurs. And those changes in how you view the world can be perfect for starting a second career… especially if this second career is something that you have a passion for.

I had a big career before kids… lots of money, travel, perks. But when I had my first baby, I left it to become a stay-at-home mom. And I decided I would THROW myself into the job. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I essentially made the decision to make my life about everything else BUT me. I was solely focused on being a wife, a mother and a “domestic engineer”. And I expected those things to make me happy instead of ME making me happy. And anyone that has seen an episode of Dr. Phil knows that the only person that can make you happy is YOU.

So, I decided to embark on my second career. I decided to become a professional photographer. And I will say that I think entering into a second career, especially as a mom, is a lot different than doing it the first time around.  For one, I will always be a mom first. And unless I decide to get a full-time nanny with references rivaling Mary Poppins, I am still the go-to parent in my household. And two, I have much different expectations for what this second career will look like.

I will offer some advice as someone that has made the leap (and is still very much in “mid-leap”):

• Learn everything you can. Read, talk to friends, research your field.
• Learn from the best in your field. When I decided to make photography a career, I picked two mentors, Drew Bittel and Nick Carver . And I spent a lot of time learning everything I could from them. And I know now it probably saved me at least 18 months of start-up headaches).
• Don’t expect to become an expert anytime soon. Whatever you decide to do as your second career, you’re not going to nail it in six months. Jessica Claire said it took her three years to really find her “style”. I can certainly give myself at least that long.
• As Drew once told me, set office hours. As a mom, the time with our kids is precious. I don’t want them to remember me as a mom who was in front of her computer for most of their childhood.
• Don’t let the business side dampen your passion. Sure, I’m a mom. But this is a business. And the business side can get a little… DULL.  But, I try my best to never lose sight of why I love doing photography.

Going into this, my desire was to have something that was my own… something that I could feel good about, that I could be proud of.  I wanted to have something that would add dimension to my life outside of my roles as wife and mother. And while I understand that not every mom needs this, I have realized over the last year that I have become a much better mother and wife for doing it.

So, if you are considering a second career and are on the north side of 39, go ahead and channel that inner-Oprah and believe that you are worth the risk. And don’t you dare feel guilty for doing something for YOU. Commit yourself to a new journey. And just like it is with being a mom, or anything else in life for that matter, the journey really is better than the destination.

I stole the next guest blog from Julie Carson’s blog, Joy’s Hope.  If you don’t already read Julie’s blog then stop what you are doing right this very second and put it in your reader.  Now.  Julie is a mom to three of the most adorable and fun children I have ever had the pleasure of meeting.  When she’s not busy being Super Mom, Julie is coming up with fun crafts and inspiring projects that make life beautiful.   She’s fun and funny and I’m very lucky to call her my friend!

I love this picture.
For so many reasons.

It’s weird.
I love weird.

But most of all because it reminds me of a moment.  A simple moment.  But one that I will hold dear to my heart as time goes on.

I was snapping pics of the girls.  Just sort of practicing.  Learning.  They were playing.  We had just spent a few hours in the car and they desperately needed to get their wiggles out.

Lucy was being wild.  Or Lucy was being normal.  Same diff.
She fell.
She needed me.
As she ran screaming, I clicked the shutter one last time, with my left hand and the camera at my hip, expecting little.

I scooped her up, got the requisite band aids and went on with our day.

When I loaded the pictures on to my computer this one surprised me.  I hardly even remembered taking it with all of the crying and the drama.

But here is my tough little girl, in her favorite shoes and favorite pants, running to me.  Actually needing me.  It is beautiful.  I am thankful it captured a moment.  A moment that won’t always be.

She will outgrow the pants.  She will outgrow the shoes.  But she will never outgrow the need for her mama.

Today’s guest blog is written by New Jersey photographer Stacy Canzonieri, of Stacy Mae Photography.  When Stacy  is not making chocolate chip pancakes for her little girls, you can find her behind a camera somewhere in NJ.  She has been in business for about 2 years and has loved every minute of it.

I don’t know about you but I would be thrilled if my 7 year-old showed an interest in photography. Right now she’s still figuring out what she’s good at. But, when I was a kid, I can remember setting up mock photo shoots with my dolls. I would drape a blanket across the back of a chair and pose my dolls with props and everything. Who knew that seeing those pictures years later would jumpstart my career in photography.

Summer is a great time to inspire a love of pictures in your kids. You don’t need a fancy camera. A simple point and shoot will do. The idea is to make taking pictures fun. Here’s a list of 5 things you can to do help your child fall in love with photography.

• Start a scavenger hunt. Create a list of things for your child to photograph around the neighborhood. Try to come up with items that are easy to find but not so obvious. You don’t want your child to get frustrated but you also want to encourage them to think creatively.

• Create a picture book. Teach your child to tell a story with pictures. They can choose their favorite stuffed animal, a doll, or even a pet. Photograph them in a variety of places doing silly things. Let your child be the one who sets up the shot and then put all of the images together to make up a story.

• Make silly shadows. Head outside on a sunny afternoon and see what kind of fun shadows you can create. Teach your child to ‘see the light’ and where it’s coming from. Explain how the shadows will sometimes be taller or shorter depending on what time of day it is.

• Teach them about perspective. Your child’s experience with photography has probably always been in front of the camera. Now that they will be behind the camera, encourage them to play around with angles. Show them how to shoot from above, get on the ground, tilt the camera, shoot from below, get in close ~ anything that helps them see things differently.

• Go on vacation. When you go on vacation you are exposed to things you don’t see on a daily basis. Take advantage of the opportunity to record all of the details from your trip. Have your child take pictures of their favorite people, places and things.

These are just a few examples of things you can do to encourage your pint-sized shutterbug. Before you know it, they’ll be begging you to upgrade that point and shoot to a fancy pro model.

Dorie Howell is the mother to one adorable little 2 and a half year old little girl and lives in Virginia right outside of Washington, DC.  She has been in business for a little under two years and is loving every minute of it.

So you want to grow your business?  I know this might sound crazy, but one of the best things you can do is get to know your “competition”.  Really… get to know the people in your area that do what you do.  And I don’t mean in a stalkerish (yes, that is a word ) , competitive type of way.  Get to know them as people.  Learn about them and make them friends.  Why, you ask?  Well, there are many great reasons to get to know the members in your community who are in the same line of business as you.

Many people think I am crazy when I tell them this, but I truly believe that most of us photographers are out on an island.  We work, shoot, edit, make business plans, and everything else alone.  We don’t have the advantage of having a cubicle mate or co-worker to bounce ideas off of.  I don’t have the advantage that my husband has when he goes off to work.  I can’t lean over and say, “Hey, Howard, can you come check this out for a second?”   Sure, most of us find places online where we can share our work, get critiqued, and generally find people who will take the time to look at a picture for 30 seconds and give us some feedback.  Those avenues are invaluable.   BUT, try to go out and find a community of photographers in your area that will not only tell you how it is, but guide you in how to fix it.  Most importantly, they can tell you when something just doesn’t work.  And if you can do it during a mom’s night out, that is even better.

One way to connect is to go to Happy Hour events hosted by camera stores, meet-up groups, traveling seminars, etc…  The chance for networking there is tremendous.  The reason I love the meet-ups and sponsored happy hours is because I get to put my grown up clothes on (maybe even something that had to be dry cleaned – woo hoo!) and I get to meet photographers that specialize in all sorts of subjects.  I specialize in child and family photography.  It is so great to sit and chat with a wedding photographer about their business and how they do things.  Not all of it applies to my business BUT hearing different ideas can be inspiring.   I never knew how to do a multiple edit in Adobe Camera Raw.  I was completely oblivious to that fact.  But someone turned me on to that at a happy hour and it has saved me HOURS and HOURS of time in my editing chair.  Something so simple…that I should have already known… but didn’t.  And in a brief chat, in a bar, in downtown DC, on a Tuesday night, it seriously revolutionized my editing.

You may also get referrals from networking with other photographers.  I get some of my best customers from referring photographers who cannot take clients for one reason or another.   One photographer cannot be all things to all clients, so I love having a network of very talented people that I can refer people out to.  That makes me look helpful and hopefully those people will remember me when they need family pictures in the future.

But here is a word of warning about these events. When you go, behave in a way that will make people want to refer business to you.  Recently at a photographer event, I had a wedding photographer say something extremely crude to me within the first two minutes of meeting him.  It was apparent by his harsh demeanor and free use of foul  language that he was just being himself and didn’t mean anything by it, BUT I would never in  a million years refer any of my clients to him.  If he was that rude to me within two minutes of meeting me, what would he say to my conservative client base?   Make sure your reputation stays intact, even when letting your hair down.

So I encourage you to get out, make friends, and connect on a face to face basis with all the talented people out there.  Don’t be scared if you are just starting out or aren’t in this to make a full-time career.  Some of the best people to talk to are the ones that are doing it purely for the love of the lens, not the love of the money.  No matter what, you have something important to share and people will embrace it.  You can do it!

I am here…

(insert picture of beautiful Hawaiian sunset)

Sorry.  No pictures because in my rush to pack I didn’t realize that my card reader doesn’t work with my my brand new laptop!  I guess that makes it easier to not do any work on vacation!  Don’t be too jealous though.  We’re not having too much fun.  Just swimming, playing on the beach, taking leisurely strolls along the water, reading, eating too much ice cream, and watching beautiful sunsets.  It’s a tough life I tell you.  But, just because I am on vacation doesn’t mean that Mom*tog is.  This week there will be 4 guest bloggers taking my place.  Be sure to check back tomorrow for that!

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July!  We did!

Aloha!

I’ve had an old point and shoot sitting in my desk drawer for sometime and had been thinking about letting Brayden play around with it.  After seeing this story I decided to go for it.

The camera is a little too big for his little hands and he has a hard time holding down the button long enough to get the camera to focus and the shutter to release (especially inside).  And he likes to put his fingers on the lens, which drives me bonkers!  He’s only dropped it once and it’s still in working condition.  He has fun with it and I like watching him ask his subjects (toy snake, flowers, Hauggy) to say, “Cheese!”.

Here are two of his “masterpieces”

When can I start using him as a second shooter?  Maybe when he turns 3…

Judy asked yesterday how I liked the Fuji Instax Mini camera I got for Christmas and that reminded me that I hadn’t blogged about it yet.

I have a love hate relationship with this camera.  I love it because of the instant gratification and how fun and cute the credit card sized photos are.  I hate it because, well, the quality is what you would expect from a instant camera.  I’ve tried messing around with the settings and getting it to work for me, but it’s always a surprise how it will come out.  Maybe that’s part of the fun of it?

If the film were a bit cheaper and easier to find, I would probably play around with this camera more.  The Instax Mini 7S (the version I have) has come down in price and is now just over $60.  There is a newer version, the Instax Mini 25, which looks like it may have some improvements to it.  It is $95.  I would love to try that one out!  Film can be found for as low as $14 for 20 exposures.  That’s $.69 per image.

Would I recommend this camera?  If you have the extra money laying around, why not?  It is fun!  But, I would save up for a DSLR any day over this camera.

Have you seen Toy Story 3 yet?  It’s amazing.  Seriously.  Brayden and I went with my Mom yesterday and Brayden loved it!  My Mom cried (I may have shed a tear or two).  Brayden is now officially the biggest Buzz fan there is.  Memaw had to go right to Target after the movie to buy Brayden a Buzz and Woody action figure.  He played with them all day.  Took them to his nap.  And in the pool.  I overheard Brayden tell them that they are going on a plane to Hawaii with us.  Lucky action figures.

If you go bring the tissues.  The movie totally hit home because I can remember growing up and going off to college myself a couple (or 12) years ago.  I took my Teddy with me though.  And slept with it all through college.  Actually, I may have slept with Teddy until I got married.  Shh.  Don’t tell anyone.  I also played with Barbie dolls until I was 16, but that’s a whole different story.

And it hit home because I know before I am ready this little guy is going to be leaving me to go off on his own.

F 2.0, 1/3200, ISO 125

I just want him to stay like this forever.