The find of a life-time... well, close anyway!

Today little man and I ventured over to Cowpens, SC, where one of the major battles of the Revolutionary war was fought. Here, there is an old train depot that they have relocated from one block over and have turned it into a museum. Outside is an old railcar that little man enjoyed climbing on. This is a photographer's dream shoot location! (What! No location shots? Nope, other than the few I took of my little buddy, I am going to keep you in suspense until next week when I post photos of all the locations I found!) There is the depot, the railcar, railroad tracks behind the depot, a veteran's memorial park/garden across the street, and just past that is an old abandoned brick building that is perfect for senior photos!! After a rather disappointing day yesterday finding almost nothing that would work for senior shoots, my find today completely made up for it! I am hoping to hold a senior session there with a friend's son tomorrow! Can't wait! Enjoy some sweet photos of my buddy below, and please excuse the discolored last two. I don't have photoshop on this computer to fix it!

Here's to a Terrific Tuesday!

Is that a "ta-tor"? Why yes it is! Let's go check it out!

Coming back to what makes me smile...

Wow! It has been so long since my last post! I've taken a small sabbatical you might say from photography the last couple of months as I worked to get started with Mary Kay. Sometimes I definitely bite off more than I can chew. Let's hope this isn't one of those times!

I am officially coming back to photography because I have missed it so much! While I LOVE, LOVE Mary Kay products and sharing them with others, I realized that I don't have the same drive to "move up" in Mary Kay that others have. Would I mind becoming a director one day? No. Do I still want to do facials? Definitely! Yet when I sit and think about what is most important, realizing that I can't do it all, I ask myself... well... what would you be most sad to fail at or leave behind? Being a good wife and mommy is number one on my list after faithfully following Christ. But then I think, besides the obvious, what would I miss most if I had to give it up? Photography or Mary Kay? There is no contest. PHOTOGRAHY wins hands down!!

Why photography? Because... photography makes me smile. Photography gives me a medium for expressing the beauty that I see in others and their life's "journey." Photography allows me to capture memories that might otherwise be forgotten and to record stories that might otherwise go untold. Photography is my passion and just the thought of giving that up hurts deep down inside me.

So... here I come! I'm back! I can't wait to start shooting again!

Since my mom is in rehab after a bad car accident, I can't promise how often I will post, but I will post as often as possible! And I appreciate your sharing my name with anyone who is looking for a photographer who is passionate about what she does! :)

It's good to be back! God bless!

Ally

My Shootsac and Photoshop CS5 are here!

So... I just got two new, fun photography tools (a Shootsac and Photoshop CS5), and I am sooooooooo excited! I got the money for my Shootsac for Christmas, but I opened the card from my great aunt with the last bit I needed on New Year's Eve about 6 hours AFTER their "After Christmas Sale" ended. :( So I joined their mailing group and have been waiting for the next sale ever since. They ran a 3 day President's Day Sale a few weeks ago, and I was so excited to finally be able to order my Shootsac ! When the UPS man rang the door bell, I felt like a little kid again and picked up the box while singing, "It's here... it's here! My Shootsac is here!" Haha! How mature of me! I haven't had a chance to do a shoot with it, but I hope to soon! If you are like me and always feel like carrying your camera bag around on a shoot (or while shooting photos of your kids) is just to cumbersome, then you've got to check out Shootsac video!

I also recently purchased Photoshop CS5 and am LOVING it!!! What an incredible difference it makes in my photos. The black and whites especially look better, but so do the colors because I have better contrast control and "blemish" editing capabilities. I have played on it for hours every night! Fun, fun! (I'm such a nerd!) This purchase was a small dilemma for me because I had promised myself that other than the Christmas money for my Shootsac, everything else was going towards my new camera... hopefully a Nikon D700. But when I got an email from amazon.com about a $400 discount, I felt like this was an opportunity that I couldn't miss since I had figured that it would be at least 2-3 years before I could save enough to purchase the camera first and then photoshop (since CS5 is usually $700). And now... well... my camera savings fund is almost down to nada, but I think it was a wise purchase, and I'll just start saving again for the camera. Anyone need photos this month? ;)

Hurray for new photography toys... I mean tools!

Have a Fabulous Friday!

Ally

Here's my Shootsac with the new custom cover that I got for Christmas... TOO CUTE!!

WWJD - Part 3

(This is the last installment in my WWJD posts.)

Even on the heels of a great fasting experience, while I was reading a book about starting your photography business, I started to covet new equipment again and began to allow myself to feel inadequate as a photographer. I felt like I couldn't in good conscience market myself a "Pro" if I didn't have "Pro" gear, yet I wanted so bad to be a "Pro."

Fast forward a few more days to Sunday afternoon. I was sitting down reading The Cost of Discipleship, and I began to feel convicted that I was not obediently following the call of Christ in my life. I know that he called Peter and Levi (and others) to leave their careers (their personal choice for their life's path) and follow his call, and I began to ask what that was supposed to look like in my life. I can't very well leave James here to fend for himself while I go off to Nicaragua (or elsewhere) and "win souls to Christ." But I also knew in my heart that James is my calling, and raising a child to love and seek God with all their heart is without a doubt a very worthwhile calling. Quickly I began to ask if my photography was the desire I was to give up in pursuit of Christ's calling. The same old struggle was fresh again as I battled my selfish desire to succeed as a professional photographer and my spirit's desire to please my Savior and Lord. In times like these I love to journal, so I began to feverishly write out my thoughts, frustrations and confusion to God. Below is part of today's entry:

How am I to know what my calling is? God, why do I have such a passion for photography? Why do I hold myself to such a level of perfection? Surely I can glorify you even without a better camera, but when I look at the quality of my photos I am dissatisfied. And I feel like throwing up my hands and saying, "to heck with it!" But then I would miss the chance to glorify you with my craft. I want to be content with glorifying you rather than seeking perfection but then why can't I let that drive go? What I want to do I do not to and what I do not want to do I do. Why God?... Where is the balance between this driven personality that you have placed in me and satisfaction in less than perfection in what I do? Why must this unique blessing [the drive] you gave me be so easily twisted into sin? How do I make the most of your gift [of photography] without being extreme with it?

Thankfully, God also gave me a wise counselor in my wonderful husband, and after letting me vent all my frustrations, desires, disappointments, etc., he calmly explained how he believes God looks at my callings- mommy and photography. And it clicked.

Yes, I may get frustrated that I spend most of my days re-doing what I did the day before (or in some cases just minutes before) like washing dishes or changing dirty diapers, but those things are all important, and just because I am called to something, doesn't mean that I will "like" every moment of it. "Do you think the disciples were always thinking, 'Yay! I love walking miles and miles in these sandals following Jesus all over Israel!'", he asked. "Or when Stephen was being stoned for his faith was he thinking, 'Yeah man! I love these rocks! They are so much fun!'?" Point well taken.

So that brings be back to WWJD. Jesus did you "like" everything you were called to do during your ministry on earth? Obviously, you didn't enjoy the cross, but did you ever think, "I'd really rather rest than heal the rest of these people, but I'll do it anyway" or "I'm tired of teaching, but this is why I came?" You were fully God so you fulfilled your calling perfectly, but you were also fully human, so there must have been times that you were tired or burnt out, but you chose to press through those feelings. I am called to do the same.

So, what would Jesus do? I believe he would keep washing dishes and changing diapers no matter how pointlessly repetitive it seemed. He would keep playing blocks with James and putting them back in the box again no matter how impossible it seemed to keep anything put away neatly. And he would keep shooting (photos) no matter how frustrated he got with the graininess of his photos in dark light or the lack of time he had available weekly to "better his craft." He would seek to glorify God by showcasing His amazing creation in new, beautiful ways and by providing tangible reminders of special moments to families who couldn't afford a "Pro" with more expensive gear and correspondingly high prices.

I have a purpose... a calling if you will... in my photography. I want to become as proficient as possible at using my equipment and patiently wait for God's timing in "upgrading" if that is part of his plan. I also want to be satisfied and confident providing the best services I am capable of to my clients at prices that they can afford. And I want to look for "divine appointments" to use my photography talents to make an eternal impact for God's Kingdom!

To Him be the Glory,

Ally

WWJD - Part 2

(This is the 2nd installment of three WWJD posts.)

I wrote in one of my last personal posts about struggling with the idea of balancing my desire for pursuing photography with being the Mom that Christ has called me to be. This is not a new idea. Admittedly I have an easily-obsessed personality because of my natural drive for excellence, which often morphes into perfectionism. At times it is so bad that if I can't do something well (a.k.a. perfect), I'd rather not do it at all. You can probably see where I'm going with this.

When I started getting into photography, I would spend hours outside photographing various parks in Michigan or parts of our condo community to practice my new-found passion and talent. Very quickly, I became obsessed by it. I would spend hours and hours editing photos and researching techniques and professional photographers blogs and advice. Then we bought our first house and James came along, and I didn't have as much time or money to pursue photography, and I began to feel frustrated because I wasn't progressing as fast as I had nor was I able to purchase the new equipment that I felt would take my photography to the next level. The last couple of months I've gone back and forth between feeling obsessed with the idea of pushing forward and getting better and feeling guilty because I wanted to spend some much time on it. I even began wondering if I should give it up altogether because felt that I was dangerously close to making this God-given passion into an idol that I placed before him in my life.

Fast forward to two weeks ago... I decided to take a week-long fast from photography. (Yes, there were posts on here that week because I set them up ahead of time so that I would not default on my photography resolution.) But for a week, I didn't pick up my Nikon, read blogs or magazines, edit photos or even let myself think about photography outside of snapping a few fun shots of James in the tub or playing with Daddy. When I decided to do this fast, I knew it would be hard, and I feared that God might use it to show me that I had to completely give photography up for Him. But even so, I went into that week ready to hear what he had to say. And I have to tell you that that week was such a breath of fresh air. James and I had fun playing every morning, I went to the gym, I got all my housework done, I had some awesome personal times with God, and just rested. It was a very needed break. When I was done, I didn't have a sense that I needed to "give up" photography, but that I needed to back off from it a little and discipline myself to focus more on my "mommy calling" and just trust God to take my photography where he wants to. It was so freeing!

Then the beginning of last week (my first couple of days back from the fast) I received a confirmation that I had been selected to photograph the Tallahassee Homeschool Graduation again this year! I was so excited, and it was like confirmation that God is still in control of my photography journey, and if I will let him have the reigns, he has an exciting ride in store!

And because a post is just boring without a photo... here's a neat one I took at the park near our house.

WWJD - Part 1

(This will be the first of three posts.)

Remember those W.W.J.D. bracelets that EVERYONE was wearing back in high school? (Half of them sadly having no earthly idea what WWJD stood for.) Of course, WWJD is an acronym for "What would Jesus Do?" which came from the classic book, "In His Steps" written by Charles Sheldon in 1896. In the book, a pastor asks his congregation to commit for one year to ask themselves "What would Jesus do?" before they do anything or make any decision, and then act based on the answer to that question, and subsequently, that challenge changed their lives.

That idea has been in the back of my mind for the last couple of months. This is your fair warning now that in this post I am not holding anything back for fear of offending someone with my spiritual convictions. So if you are prepared to come along on the ride, read on.

Many of you know that my dad is the Senior pastor of Canopy Roads Baptist Church in Tallahassee FL. I am very proud to be a p.k. (pastor's kid), but that's for another post. This year most members in their church have committed to do a year-long "Radical Experiment," which you can read about here if you want to know more, and my husband and I have made the commitment as well. It promises to be a spiritual turning point for many of us, but it will also be a year full of spiritual warfare and self-evaluation. I feel like, I have already run a spiritual marathon in just the first month of this commitment, and who knows what the next 11 will hold?
This post will likely become one of many as God is working in me this year. Part of the radical experiment is committing to meet weekly with other believers in small group or mentor relationship. Jim and I are already members of a Sunday morning Life Group at our church, but recently I've been hungering for something more (not that I'm knocking Gene's lessons because he definitely puts in a lot of prep time and does an awesome job). I wanted a one-on-one relationship with someone that I could be completely open with who would hold me accountable and push me to grow in my spiritual walk with Christ. So a friend, Keri, and I have started meeting every other week for mutual discipleship and accountability. We've decided to start off by reading The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was the "real deal," staying true to his Christian convictions in Nazi Germany even when it cost him his life. We're just two chapters into the book and already I'm having a "meltdown" of sorts! This chapter is called "The Call to Discipleship," and it starts out talking about the calling of Peter and Levi, both of whom immediately dropped what they were doing (fishing and tax collecting respectively) and followed Jesus. Bonhoeffer talks about the importance of immediate and complete obedience and being willing to drop everything that we have considered important in our B.C. (before Christ) life in order to follow Christ. He connects faith and obedience stating, "only he who believes is obedient, and only he who is obedient believes" so the two most co-exist in order for either of them to truly exist at all.

By this point you're probably thinking, "What does this have to do with photography?" Just hold your horses, I promise that I'm getting there. ;) But I think this is enough for one post. Check back tomorrow for more!

Balancing work and home

I decided it's time for a personal post again. So here goes...

Recently, I've really been struggling with how to balance being a mommy and pursuing my photography career. It's so funny to even hear myself say that because before I had kids I thought it sounded strange that a mom would be torn between her kids and her job. I always felt like once I had children, they would be my whole life. I guess maybe that was partly because I hadn't really found a job I was passionate about yet. Don't get me wrong, I loved being a Spanish teacher because it gave me the opportunity to be a mentor to my students and be there when no one else was, but I never had any desire for "climbing the ladder." I had no aspirations to become an administrator or even to pursue my masters. I was happy just being a teacher and mentor until God blessed me with kids. Then we moved to Michigan and God started me on my journey in photography. Read more about how that started here.

And ever since then, I've found my true calling and passion in photography. I could (and sometimes do) literally sit for hours editing photos, researching new cameras/lenses/etc., reading other photographer's blogs (like Jasmine Star and Jem Photography) to get ideas, or learning more about photography techniques.

I'm ashamed to admit that sometimes I'm sad when I hear my little guy wake up because I'm thinking, "Not yet... just a few more minutes."

I think it's all about balance and priorities though, and I'm praying about how that should all look. Praying for the peace to enjoy my passion for photography and for the wisdom to know when to put it aside and just be mommy. And I know with time it will all fall into place.

Yes, it actually does snow it Georgia. Although we usually don't get this much. We took the opportunity after our big snow to get a couple cute snow photos.

My journey into photography

Yes! I'm making my goal so far... two posts last week, this one today, and a senior shoot post tomorrow! YIPPEE!!

Today I want to write about how I started my photography journey because it's so crazy to look back and see how God put all the right pieces in place. To begin, I've always LOVED to take photos and dreamed of one day owning a "real" camera, but I never thought it would become a reality. I remember when my college room mate got a nice camera for Christmas one year and was having so much fun taking a photography class and learning about lighting, composition, etc. I have to admit to being a little jealous of her because I just "knew" that I would never be able to afford a camera like that, but I really enjoyed see the work she was turning out, and the thought was planted in my head that if I ever could save enough, I'd buy myself a nice camera one day.

Fast forward 3-4 years. I was in Nicaragua, Central America leading a mission team, and it was our "tourist day" at Masaya Volcano National Park. One of our team members asked me to hold her Nikon d40x for her while she hiked around the edge of one of the dormant volcanoes, and she added that I could take as many photos as I wanted. Oh... no! A few... no, wait, SEVERAL... photos later, I was hooked! I flew back to the states determined to save for a ditigal camera.

Around the same time, Jim and I had moved to Michigan and started attending a Life Group at a local church, and it "just so happened" that one of the members of our group, Emy Moody, was a professional photographer. So I immediately started asking her about which camera she would suggest to start with... blah, blah, blah. Since Jim was getting overtime and per diem while he was on assignment in Michigan, he offered to get me started with my first camera. I ordered a Nikon D60 in September 2008, and immediately fell in love. I went all over taking shots of the beautiful fall colors in Michigan and practicing different techniques.

In October, Jim and I found out that we were pregnant, and we immediately began dreaming about our new future life as parents. Then in December, we discovered that I had a blighted ovum, which basically means that be baby started to develop and then stopped, and on December 17, I had a procedure to remove the dead tissue. I was devastated. It was such a hard time for me both emotionally and spiritually. I remember falling at God's feet every day, begging him to remove the pain that was ripping through my heart and felt like it was crippling me. I also remember thanking him for all that I knew he was teaching me through the experience (maybe there will be more on that in another post) but asking for him to comfort me.

I threw myself even harder into my photography, which became a much-needed distraction and outlet for me. Emy began to teach me about shooting in manual mode (changing all the settings yourself in instead of letting the camera do it... as when in auto mode), and she invited me to go out with her on a mock bridal shoot in the SNOW! I did a couple more photo shoots for friends and started to dream about the possibility of turning my new-found passion into a business when we got back to Georgia. I distinctly remember telling Jim that I wasn't going to photograph weddings because I just couldn't handle being under so much pressure to get all the right shots, and instead, I planned to stick to portrait sessions.

Then at dinner one night, Emy asked me to be her second shooter at a wedding in Putnam County, Ohio. I was both thrilled and shocked. Just before the wedding in April 2009, I was finally able to purchase the 18-200mm zoom lens that I had been drooling over for months. That wedding completely changed my vision for my photography business, and I came home and told Jim that I absolutely loved shooting weddings, and I couldn't wait until my next one! A few months later, Emy asked me to second shoot with her again in June at another Putnam county wedding, which further boosted my confidence in my photographic abilities and taught me sooooooooo much about how the wedding day runs and how to conduct myself as the photographer. Thank you, Emy, for all the things you taught me those months! I would never be where I am without you!

In October 2009, I booked my first "solo" wedding. It was a third marriage for the bride, so she was not so picky about her photos. While I didn't make much money on that wedding, just getting my first wedding as the offical photographer under my belt was a huge accomplishment for me. In 2010, I photographed a homeschool graduation, another wedding, two Senior Portrait sessions, and several children and family portrait sessions. Many of these sessions were not paying sessions since they were for friends, but I was able to get some great experience, as well as add to my portfolio. I can't wait to see what 2011 has in store for "The Journey by Ally Photography"! Hang on Spartanburg... here I come!

And of course I have to include a few photos. Here are some of my "neat shots" taken when I first got my camera. The first one is a shot of the "Cinnabon" Cinnamon Rolls that I learned to make in Michigan. The second is a photo of my mom's baby sister's grave marker. The third is a photo of the little boy I watched in Michigan.