Stepping Outside My Comfort Zone | Boone, NC Wedding Photographer

If you scour my yearbooks from 6th grade until my senior year in high school, you will only find my photo in two yearbooks. I used to go to great lengths to avoid having my picture taken when I was younger. I remember going to extremes in order to miss picture day, from faking sick to skipping school, I would do anything to get out of it! I hated the way that I looked in photographs.

NOT LIKING IMAGES OF OURSELVES IS UNIVERSAL
I can't tell you how many times I've heard from clients and friends that they “take horrible photos” or that they “never look good in pictures.” It pains me to hear that because I know how that feels all too well. And it's still something I battled with today. Still, no matter how much we despise it, people insist on doing it anyway! You end up submitting only because there's that thought in the back of your mind (maybe subconsciously) that you'll regret not having physical proof of who you are today to look back on.

BLAME IT ON SCIENCE

Come to find out, there may be a perfectly logical explanation for why we don't like seeing ourselves in 2D. Based on something called the Mere-Exposure Effect we like things that are familiar to us. You see, we're used to viewing a mirror reflection of ourselves, and when we are photographed that mental image is then flipped which plays mind-games on our brains. Maybe it's not that we don't like what we see in the image of ourselves, maybe it's just weird because we're not used to seeing ourselves in that way?!

PUSHING MYSELF OUTSIDE MY COMFORT ZONE

Now that you know my secret about going to ridiculous measures in order to avoid having my picture taken, you get that I can sympathize with you because I've been where you are. However, I recently stepped on the other side of the camera to experience firsthand what it's like for my clients. I'll be honest, I felt awkward at first because I had no clue what I was doing even though I direct my clients all the time. Once I was on the receiving end I sort of froze up, and just made a lot of funny faces to make up for my lack of modeling skills! Exposing myself in that way had me feeling extremely vulnerable but it was also a very freeing experience, too.

My lovely assistant/intern/mentee, Raejan, captured these images of me. She is an aspiring photographer so this was new for her, too, but we had a blast, and It wasn't so scary after all!

HOW YOU CAN LOOK YOUR BEST IN PHOTOS

Relax! And act “normal.” In other words, be yourself! You don't have to be a supermodel in order for your photographer to get great shots. Besides, having your photos made is about more than just the way you look. No one is less photogenic because they don't fit the mold of what some folks in society thinks is beautiful. We are all worthy of having our stories told! It's a matter of trusting the person behind the lens to tell yours in a way that is authentic to you. When you're comfortable and having fun your personality naturally shines!

So, tell me, how do you feel about having your picture taken?! Love it? Hate it? Let me know here in the comments or on WW FB page!

If facing your fears and being liberated by an uplifting experience that will leave you feeling like a gazillion bucks sounds like a good time, then you'll love the Limited Edition Celebrate You Sessions I am offering to welcome the awakening of SPRING! The unforgettable experience I'm offering is about CELEBRATING YOU and who you are right now, today. You'll have fun, walk away feeling more confident and beautiful, and you'll also have some gorgeous images of yourself captured that will leave you feeling all warm and fuzzy! 

It's time to redefine self-love. Click here to find out why: 

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A Stealthy Surprise That I Didn't See Coming

I sat there frozen in disbelief as Cody knelt down in front of me with a tiny box in-hand. Looking around the room in the busy restaurant at the people watching this happen, I said, “Are you effing serious?!” Tears immediately began streaming down my face before the moment really even sunk in. As I sat there crying uncontrollably with my mouth wide open, utterly speechless, I failed to hear the remarks he had so carefully crafted and practiced. My mind was mush. I melted into Cody's arms before I even mustered any sort of coherent response. He stopped and apprehensively asked, “So...is that a yes?!” All I could do was shake my head up and down and quietly utter a “UH HUH," as I began sobbing even harder.

{My One-of-a-Kind Engagement Ring}

You think that you'd be ready for a surprise like that when you've been waiting 5 ½ years for it to happen. But you're really not. I thought I'd be jumping for joy. I thought I'd scream out loud in an attempt to get everyone's attention, but I was just in shock.

It occurred to me that it was somewhat odd that Cody wanted to plan a trip to Charleston. You see, we had spent October traipsing all over the Eastern US, and the last thing I wanted to do was take another trip so soon. However, he was adamant. That should have tipped me off, but it didn't. Getting engaged was the furthest thing from my mind because I was not going to get my hopes up only to be disappointed. He kept calling it a “girlfriend appreciation” weekend, which I thought was really sweet. In the 5 ½ years that we've been together that's never happened. That should have tipped me off, too, but it didn't!

{Me & Cody • Circa 2006}

My mind was elsewhere, I suppose. I'm glad, though, that I decided to let go and allow the trip to happen. Can you imagine if I said NO after all the preparations he made?! Talk about being disappointed. I'm sure that he was really relieved when I finally agreed to go on the quick getaway to Charleston. Who knew it'd take so much arm twisting to get me there?!

A QUEST TO CONCOCT A ONE-OF-A-KIND RING

When he presented the ring, I was a little baffled by its appearance. To be completely honest, I was thinking, “WTF?! Why is it so weird looking?!” The setting was askew and quite odd, nothing like the typical engagement rings I've grown accustomed to seeing. I think that the confused look on my face said more than the words I spoke, because Cody said, “If you're not happy with the way it looks, I can get the guy to recast the ring.” Secretly, he was hoping that's not what I wanted. The idea of being able to redo it was somewhat appealing, but I knew that wouldn't be right.

He then told me the story of how he so thoughtfully brought this token of love into existence. It began with his idea to have a ring made that had the look of a twig. We are both so connected to trees and nature that it seemed like a novel idea. The problem was finding someone that would agree to carry out his vision. From what I was told, there were countless emails and calls made to numerous jewelers only to be told that they wouldn't be able to help him.

{Me & Cody • Circa 2007}

Thankfully, that didn't stop his quest to find someone who would be willing to work with him and the diamond taken from his great Aunt's ring. It wasn't until a couple of months ago while talking to his boss that he got a recommendation for a local jeweler. After meeting with John from DogsKin Studios, he finally found someone who would be willing to help him bring this ring to life.

WHY I LEARNED TO LOVE MY RING

The ring was cast from a dying birch tree that I spotted while Cody and I were walking around Bass Lake on 09.10.11. We stopped to identify this tiny budding tree that was losing a battle to the beavers who had destroyed it. Finding a tree budding at this time of the year was pretty rare, but happened to be exactly what Cody was looking for. From what he told me, he took the opportunity to slip one of the twigs down his shirt sleeve without my knowledge, so that he could take it to John, so he could start creating the engagement ring.

{Me & Cody • Circa 2009}

After hearing the story of how this ring came to be, I began to love it a little bit more. I realized that his idea of a perfect ring was, in fact, pretty darn perfect. He revived a diamond from a family ring, melted down his class ring to create the setting which was cast from a twig that he selected while we were on a walk?! I mean, come on! It is truly one-of-a-kind and can really never be replicated or replaced. That's special. Knowing what he put into it makes me feel special, too.

WELL WORTH THE WAIT

After all the tears and unfounded fears that I had about reaching this level of commitment in our relationship, I now know that this was exactly the right time for this to finally happen. He proposed on 11.11.11 in the city of Charleston, SC, which happens to be one of our favorite places, with an engagement ring that embodies our love in the most perfect way possible.

{Me & Cody • Circa 2011}

A lot of care and thought was put into this proposal, and I feel extremely lucky to have someone like Cody by my side in this life. Someone who's been with me through the hard times and life-altering moments. Someone who loves me and accepts me for who am I no matter what fickle mood I may be in at the time. Our relationship is far from perfect. I am far from perfect, but we can overcome the imperfectness together.

While I am not ready to set a date or start planning a wedding, I am eagerly looking forward to and am excited about spending the rest of my life with the most amazing partner ever!

Question: Tell me...How do you keep love alive in your relationship? 

What advice do you have for a couple who are in it for the long haul?

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Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from WW

Despite the fact that I look highly unhappy, my old Santa photos seriously make me laugh. I think that if I were to be put in this Santa pic situation again, it would most likely illicit the same reaction--me screaming and crying like a baby. Well, maybe not, but I'm not going to give it a try. I didn't want to sit in some creepy guys lap then and I don't want to do it now! haha But I do want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Facing My 30's Fearlessly!

In a few short hours, I will be crossing the threshold of my tumultuous twenties and stepping into, what I know will be, my burgeoning thirties. Unlike many other people passing this milestone, I won't be entering my thirties plagued by hesitation or crippled by reservations. Quite the contrary, actually.

For the first time in my life, I feel like I am exactly where I am supposed to be, barreling down a path that I'm not afraid to conquer. It's scary, yes. But I'm not scared.

I'm also not feeling unsure or confused about what I should be doing with my life because I know, and I'm doing it. It's been staring me dead in the face for longer than I care to admit, but I wasn't ready to fully engage with such "risky" endeavors until now.

In the past seven months (since I was laid off), there have been some major transformations taking place to prepare me for this next phase. Being pushed into doing something that I wouldn't have mustered the courage to do on my own has turned out to be the greatest gift I could have ever been given.

Since I've been away from the confines of an oppressive office environment, I have realized that the talents I possess shouldn't be squandered. Instead of quickbooks and spreadsheets, I should be utilizing my camera and other skills to demonstrate what it is that I am really capable of creating.

Along with awakenings, this time has been for healing, too. Emotionally, physically, spiritually and mentally, nothing has been exempt. I have emerged an entirely different person, one who is happy, confident & motivated. And I'm feeling more determined than ever to transform my long-held dreams into a reality.

So, no, I'm not scared of facing the vast amounts of amazingness that lies ahead of me. Okay, so, maybe I'm actually terrified. But you know what?! I'm going to do it anyway :D

This is me saying that I'm willing to do what it takes to make it happen, all while embracing the unknown with reckless abandon. I want you to know....I want the universe to know....Hell, I want to shout it from the rooftops! I'm not afraid of the BIG BAD 3-0! Bring it :P

You know what else I want to shout from the rooftops? That, I love you. You, meaning, all the beautiful people who support me and believe that I have something special to share. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, it really means the world to me.

Related Links:

• A Reminiscent Roundup: Oahu, Hawaii {This is where I was last year on my BIRTHDAY!}
• Wordful Wednesday

Christmas Flashback

Posted in Wordful Wednesday

HAVE A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Let's hope the holiday season doesn't leave you kicking & screaming :)

Cut out the Crap

Sorry so brash, but I'm in that kind of mood.

It's been a while since I've had any portraits taken of myself.
When you're behind the camera all the time you don't think about getting involved.

Meet WW. Me.


Cody took this photo of me while we were waiting for lunch at a restaurant in St Augustine.
When I first looked at it I didn't like the overall image, but I looked happy.
I wondered what I could do to get rid of the background distractions.
So, I did a little sleuthing and decided to use the Lens Blur Filter.

The tutorial I found was very easy to follow and may be just
what you need to transform any so-so photos you might have.
It gives you a more shallow depth of field which will place
more focus on whatever area you designate.



Above is a comparison of the straight-out-of-camera (SOC) shot and
one with the lens blur filter applied then converted to B&W.
As you can see, it made a huge difference to the entire photo.
I don't love any photos of myself, really, but I do now.

Interested in learning how to apply a Lens Blur Filter in Photoshop?
Len Blur Filter Tutorial

*Also, in the photo at the top of the post, I tightened the crop a little more.
Compare it to the other B&W in the triptych.

Random:

• The weather is super yucky. I feel equally yucky.
• Tomorrow I am getting a new hair style for FREE!!!
  
• I'm thinking about side-bangs?!
  
• My bosses gf opened a salon and I do her books - more free haircuts are in my future.
• This week she's doing free hair styles and is having before and after pics taken by a man who just started working for our company. He has previously been a pro photographer.
• After my 9am haircut, I get to assist him with taking everyone else's photos.
• I know nothing about artificial lighting so I'm looking forward to learning something new.
• Maybe I'll also have some sweet before and after hair pics to share! I'll let you know how it goes!

Happy Bird-day to Me!

Now, seriously, you can't say that I'm not the cutest dang thing you've ever seen.

I mean, it's almost too much for me to look at with my Smurfette cake.
Last night, I looked through old photos, I guess I was feeling nostalgic.
I found this one of me on my 3rd birthday, and couldn't resist posting it.

As promised, here are some of the flowers.


Anyways, today, my birthday.......
was no different from any other day.
Except that, at work I was running a million miles a minute.
Thinking 20 different thoughts simultaneously.....
I did, however, get a ton of stuff done today.
When I came home for lunch, I absentmindedly locked my keys in the house.
A lady from work had to come pick me up to finish the last few hours.
I really needed those last few hours to get everything done, too.
Tomorrow is going to be just as busy,
but that will make the day go by faster.



I have to tell you, I'm feeling very spoiled right now.
Not only have I gotten 5 bouquets, a box of my favorite chocolates, and a cake,
but this morning when I woke up, I received a present!
It was mostly because I repeated, "Where's my bird-day present!",
while rubbing my hands together in a sinister fashion.

Without hesitation Cody handed me a card.
I was touched from the moment I began to read.
It was by far the sweetest card ever;
I don't think I've ever cried at 7 in the morning.
And if you were wondering, the actual birthday present was cold, hard cash :)



I am slacking off right now,
and should be packing!

Thank you for all of the wonderful Birthday Wishes!

Quick Getaway : Gatlinburg, TN

Friday evening we packed up the car and headed to Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Instead of staying in a hotel, like normal tourist, we opted to camp out in the Great Smokey Mountains. This was somewhat of a special little trip for me because I have been to the town once, but that was when I was 12. From what I do recall, the Great Smokey Mountain National Park was not a part of those memories, which was one reason why I wanted to stay there.

I made reservations through the website a few days prior to the trip since I read that July was one of the busiest months of the year. After a few hold ups, mainly traffic related, we made our way to the Elkmont Campground. As late arrivals we skipped checking in and headed toward our campsite. Elkmont is the biggest campground in the park with 220 sites, however, we managed to find our plot of earth.

You would think that after setting up our tent, and a 3 hour drive, we would be ready to relax.......but nooooo.....I was ready to head straight to the action! I never imagined exactly how much traffic we were in for, but I hardly cared because I was thrilled to be there. Has there ever been a time when you were happy to be in bumper to bumper traffic?! It's sick. Speaking of traffic, at any given time, whether walking or driving, you were constantly surrounded by 360° of chaos. Not that I don't pay close attention usually, but you had to be on high alert to get around that town.



Walking the strip reminded me so much of our Las Vegas vacation last year.
I have my mind made up that Gatlinburg, TN is like the Hillbilly Las Vegas.
Not that I didn't have a great time, but if it walks like a duck......
We didn't pay to do the space needle, but it reminded me of the Stratosphere where we had dinner at the "Top of the World Restaurant".
Although, the Stratosphere was 5 times as tall.



Saturday evening took us on a ride up the mountain on the Sky Lift.
The view was spectacular!



Walking through the souvenir shops was about the only other thing we did while we were in town.
The Village was a set of shops that were tucked in a nook off the main road.
The different shops were all done in various styles of architecture,
the Bavarian styled building was my favorite, but I didn't really get a good photo to share.



For dinner, I wanted a soft pretzel......so that's what I had!
It was delicious :)



Aside from the plethora of airbrushed t-shirt stores, olde tyme photo huts,
and pancake houses, candy stores were also plentiful.
We bought a 1 lb. box of Aunt Mahalia's Salt Water Taffy.
The box of taffy has been hit pretty hard, it's almost gone!
It's Cody's fault, he eats 2 to my 1......don't lie, you know you do :o)





I'll leave you with this cause it makes me laugh.
Giddy up!

Happy New Year!

We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives... not looking for flaws, but for potential.

~Ellen Goodman

Kicking & Screaming

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!




Here we are in Atlanta, Ga. safe and sound to spend Christmas with Cody's family. The drive went fairly well, thankfully we didn't hit traffic until the last 30 minutes of our ride. The weather was damp and dreary the entire time and looks as though it will remain this way according to the forecast. There aren't any strict plans we are to adhere to while in town so we'll be playing it by ear. I do know that I really want to see Sweeney Todd while we're here since being the lame town that we are, it won't be shown in Boone!?

I'm sure that you can tell that I've been sorting through some of my old baby photos* passed down to me from my mom. This one is particularly funny, aside from the obvious facts that a) I'm screaming bloody murder and b) the 'fake' Santa holding me can't wait for my parents to take me back so the screams aren't bursting his eardrums any further; what's even funnier is that another photo found of me sitting on Santa's lap is ALSO of me red faced, mouth wide open, with a full on scowl. There are only two that I've found so far but who knows what others are floating around in the land of forgotten photos that my mom still has!

*See a few posts back, entitled 1984.

1984

(I didn't take any photos this weekend so here's this kid next to a snowman)



It snowed on Sunday, I mean all day Sunday...............
I hate to admit that I didn't even step foot out of the house but, I didn't.
I kept thinking that I needed to get up and take some shots of the snow, but I simply didn't feel like it. The fire was too darn cozy!
There will be many more to come, I hope. No, I'm positive! I know the winters are not nearly as rough as they were a number of years ago, and from my experience thus far with snow I've noticed a change. Last year it seemed like it only snowed about 4-5 times, I mean a real good, heavy snow. Locals will agree that we've had it pretty easy the past few years. The guy delivering our wood last week was talking about living in this area in the early to mid-90's, and he was telling us how they used to ski down the mountain to get to the grocery store and stuff when they were snowed in for days or weeks at a time, now that's crazy?!?! Indeed, times are a changing................

*For those of you who have yet to realize that dorky little kid is, you guessed it, me!

The Prodigal SUN Returns..............

This weekend proved to me once again why I am so very thankful when the sun shines. The weather of last week can get you down right depressed when the deficiency of the sun lasts that many days in a row. By Saturday morning I felt normal again, and was ready to get outside and enjoy the day. I couldn't stop smiling because I was so happy that the sun had returned. These pictures were actually taken yesterday when Cody and I took a walk around Bass Lake. I've had this idea of taking the throwing leaves pictures for a few weeks now but until yesterday we weren't able to do them. Although Cody was the one behind the camera I merely had the idea, set up the shot, and supplied the enthusiasm - not that Cody wasn't a willing subject or anything, he just didn't get into it at ALL. I fulfilled my picture taking goal this weekend and throughout the week I will be sharing some of those favorites with you, as usual.