Wow.  It's been an interesting few days.  This weekend was great for me... personally and in terms of my photographic work.  I am so charged up right now - I CAN'T WAIT to get out there in shoot.  My path has become clearer and I feel that I am starting to have a stronger sense of how I'm different and how to make it work for me.  I feel like I took a giant step toward my future this weekend.

On top of that, I found out that I've been accepted to Fearless Photographers.  This site is a collection of wedding photographers from around the world, and you have to apply to be a member of this community.  Needless to say, I'm pretty excited about making the cut.  There are contests every few months and you can submit a handful of photos for each one.  Let's hope that one of these days I'll will a Fearless Award ;)

Lastly, I came across this quotation about art this past weekend and thought I'd share:

The act of making art exposes a society to itself.  Art brings things to light.  It illuminates us.  It sheds light on our lingering darkness.  It casts a beam into the heart of our own darkness and says, "See?"

Do you remember the post about Sequoia?  Well, the whole reason I was out there was to attend a workshop.  I am a member of the Beloved Collective, which is a group of a few hundred photographers exploring this new genre of experiential photography focused on couples in love.  This workshop in L.A. was organized by the incredible Jesh de Rox who has spent the last four years of his life developing this genre.

This workshop was simply life changing.  We covered everything from how to meet with a couple and explain what it is that we do as Beloved photographers to digging deep and finding yourself as an artist to discovering what we're afraid of to using our technical knowledge to further our artistic vision.  It was simply amazing.  I was constantly laughing or crying and looking into the core of myself.  I cannot believe that it was already a whole month ago.

For those of you in our industry who have never worked with Jesh: you need to.  He is an amazing, open, genuine, and caring person... and he knows how to bring those things out in you and help you bring it out in other people.  Through this aspect alone, he will make you a better photographer and a better business person.

If I had to sum up everything I learned those few days in LA in one sentence, it would be: "At the bottom of everything, we are all the same and we are all beautiful."  Sure, we hide it and go through life radiating things other than beauty from time to time, but if given the right space to let love shine out, everyone can be beautiful.  At the end of the day, it's our job as photographers to create the space for that love to shine out and to use it to show people how beautiful they really are.

And because every post needs a picture... here is a shot from the little concert that Jesh gave one night.  You can find some of his music here.

Thanks also to the incredible folks who presented along with Jesh:

Amina Moreau of Stillmotion - Her talk on using technical knowledge to convey emotion and mood was mind blowing.

Samm Blake - She spoke about working through resistance and finding yourself as an artist.  She also gave us several challenges to help us work out what the heck it is we

Jesse and Whitney Chamberlain of Our Labor of Love - These super-creative folks talked about building your brand and building a community.

Freydon Rassouli - He was a guest speaker - a painter.  He talked about chaos and creativity and how to overcome the blocks that come to you.  And he looks like Super Mario.  Bonus!

Tamara Gold - She's a makeup artist and talked about finding yourself and following the opportunities that fall into your path.  Her passion was simply breathtaking.

My boyfriend is also my assistant.  When I'm photographing a wedding or doing a portrait shoot, he is always there to support me and ensure I have whatever I need, whether it's a lens, a piece of lighting equipment or some water.  I usually don't even have to ask - he's on it before the words come out.  THAT is a fantastic thing.  I couldn't do what I do without him.

We were talking about a recent wedding and how it all went, and I mentioned that I always get compliments on what a great guy he is.  People always make a point of telling me that they enjoyed meeting him and that he is very friendly and polite.  Frequently the ladies will add in 'and he's cute too!'  Trust me, I know. ;)  As we were talking more about his role as my assistant, it came out that he was interested in shooting, too.

I think that Bo with a camera is a fantastic idea.  True, he has no experience operating an SLR.  True, he is not at all familiar with such things as ISO and f-stop.  But I know that he has an eye, I know that he has a distinct stylistic sense.  I can't wait to see what he comes up with.

This past weekend we started working on some of the basics of photography.  It's amazing all the small things that you don't even realize you know until you have to explain them.  It was refreshing to start from the beginning.  It inspired me to go out and shoot with a beginner's mind... in a way that I haven't done in a while.  When I first got my camera, I would shoot whatever I could on my walk home from work.  I almost never do that anymore.  Yesterday I went out with Beginner Mind and shot whatever caught my attention.  Maybe some shots aren't perfect, but that's ok.  That wasn't the point.

The first few images are some of the first ever created by Bo with an SLR.  The rest are the first I've created with Beginner Mind in two and a half years.

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So there has been a LOT going on pushing me closer and closer to finding the right path for my business.  This is perfect timing because this month marks my official one year anniversary as a small business owner.  So here are a list of some of the major things that have really influenced me over the last couple weeks:

Visiting Swallowtail Farm for a lovely picnic and tour

Listening to Jesh de Rox his concept of the 'Beloved' movement in photography

Attending a talk by Jeff Jochum, SmugMug Marketer extraordinaire

Having my photos included in the Citizens Co-op Kickstarter video

Ok... some random stuff, some clearly business-y stuff... some controversial stuff (yep, that's the Beloved stuff for those who are following the gossip)... how does it tie together?

I visited the farm took some photos while I was there.  It was just a great day.  I loved hearing Noah speak about the farm... every detail for why they do exactly what they do.  Every single choice is made consciously and with the best intentions.  As with other shots I've done for them, I offered my photos freely for them to use in any way they can because I believe in what Swallowtail stands for.  I believe wholly in their endeavor.

A week or two later I started hearing rumblings about this whole Jesh de Rox talk.  I listened to a two hour talk he gave at WPPI about two years ago and was blown away by the raw emotion... the 'Beloved' movement believes that all people are beautiful, all people are loved.  As photographers, we can invite that beauty and love out of people by creating a space for a couple to really feel deep emotion for each other, and then THAT's what we capture.  Some people think the whole thing is a bunch of hooey, but I personally want to explore this idea.  I have always known that I wanted to capture authentic, honest moments... I am excited to walk down this new path with hundreds of other photographers and see where it leads.  It could be something really, really touching. 

The next day I travelled to Jacksonville to attend the monthly SMUG meeting organized by SmugMug.  Jeff Jochum was leading this meeting and discussing how to market yourself as a photographer. He said something that so many others have said but it didn't finally sink in until he said it. Be unique. Yes, we all know that everyone tells us that we need to find a way to stand out. For me, the thing that tipped it from 'generic piece of business advice that I can't really relate to' to 'holy cow, I get it!' was that I should imagine myself looking for a wedding photographer. I would want that photographer to be like me, right? Someone I could relate to...

I would want that photographer to really care about local businesses, the health of the planet, farms in our area and capturing a really authentic moment in the great outdoors rather than a pretty pose in a studio.... and you know what? That's me! I am that photographer! I had a little epiphany as I came to that realization. Re-enter Swallowtail farm.  Enter my previous work with Citizens Co-op.  Enter my work for East End Eatery.  Enter the Beloved movement and the desire to photograph something REAL.  Enter the eco-friendly printing options I offer. Enter the first wedding I shot back in 2009... a down-to-earth couple clearly in love - in that 'place' and so easy to shoot because of it, much of the material aspects of the wedding were hand-made, and the impact on the environment was part of their decision-making process.  

YES!  This is it!  This is the direction I want to go in!

Lastly, I attended a screening of "Dirt: The Movie" tonight, hosted by Citizens and the CMC.  After the movie, Gretchen showed the Citizens video on kickstarter... it had some of my images in it.  I was so touched that they chose to include them.  Afterwards, I talked to a radiantly pregnant Gretchen.  I thanked her for recommending my work to her brother and sister-in-law-to-be, whose intimate outdoor wedding I will be shooting next weekend.  She thanked me for helping out the Co-op.

Yes... this is where I want to be.  This is the community.  This is the approach.  This is the right direction for me.  I am so happy to have found it and even more excited to see where it leads.  Wish me luck!

"Nature reveals to him, and, seeing and feeling intensely, he paints, and whether he wills it or not each brush stroke is an exact record of such as he was at the exact moment the stroke was made."

What a true and beautiful sentiment: the work itself is a record of who the author was at the moment they created it.  Anyone can look back through their own body of work and be reminded of who they were at the moment each piece was made.  Your body of work is your history.