Friday Night Games

Oh what the love of a child will make you do.

When you use to go and party

now, the party comes to you

in the form of little men that you get

to walk around a board.

Oh what the love of a child will make you do,

forget the high heels

and makeup.

Bring on the dice,

and share a night

off the town

with the ones you love.

Valentine's Day Mini Session

Sweet tooth?

As a homeschool teacher, I'm always ready with a good reward for a job well done.  So, what are your grades like??

Brownie Points?

I remember when I was young, my father had a collection of these Kodak Brownie cameras in our den. They were all little square bodied cameras that according to him took a beating and kept on working. Well today, you can't even buy film to give them a whirl anymore, but they are still oh so cool to look at. I was blessed with this little beauty one summer by my wonderful son, who knew that his mom needed this more than anything else for her birthday :)  To get similar photos now, you can make a pinhole camera ( http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml?pq-path=11865&pq-locale=en_US&_requestid=42787 )

Project 365

How many of us take photos on a daily basis? I normally take photos at least once a week, and they are always of different things. This year I have committed to take photos on a daily basis, you know get to really know my community and my camera. So, my first photos of this year long project are of my crochet hooks and current project for a family friend who is expecting a little boy any day now.

Why do it?

Taking a photo a day is a big undertaking with big payoffs. Here are just a few reasons why you should consider doing it:

• Imagine being able to look back at any day of your year and recall what you did, who you met, what you learned… (Often we find it hard to remember what we did just yesterday or even last night, let alone a whole year ago! I know that I'm so in this boat.)
  
• Your year-long photo album will be an amazing way to document your travels and accomplishments, your haircuts, your children's haircuts and relationships. Time moves surprisingly fast.
  
• Taking a photo a day will make you a better photographer. Using your camera every day will help you learn its limits. You will get better at composing your shots, you’ll start to care about lighting, and you’ll become more creative with your photography when you’re forced to come up with something new every single day. Even if you have a simple camera on your cell phone, use it daily, that way you can document lost teeth, first days of school and those yearly birthdays :)

Also don't be afraid to photograph those who are not your family, friends are awesome and if a cool looking person on the street catches your eye, go for it. You may never know who you might meet if you do.

Just starting out

Today, on this beautiful fall day, I got to photograph a new family just starting out. Heather and Chance had a very handsome son almost 3 months ago, and he is their first. I love photographing new families and the Edwards were wonderful today. I got to share in some of the joy that they have everyday with little Wyatt, such a cute little "Fat Man" :) as his dad loves to call him. Plus I got to photograph his oooooh so adorable pumpkin outfit, he was so cute!

Tips on Balancing Life as a Mom and Professional Photographer

Today, I got some of the best advice on how to be a great mom and a professional photographer:

Tips on Balancing Life as a Mom and Professional Photographer
Have you ever wanted to pull your hair out from the stress of juggling a career, kids, family life, and more?
Here are a few tips for keeping it all together:

1. Set aside work hours: Grethel suggests trying to keep “normal” business hours. Keep track of how many hours you are working a day. Make a point to have lunch breaks, etc. as you would if you weren’t working from home. Don’t accept phone calls after hours and set aside time specifically for returning emails. Try to get out of the habit of being always available. Put down the iphone.
2. Schedule your downtime/family time: Ashley admits to the fact if she doesn’t put it on the calendar, it usually doesn’t happen. This includes time for herself and time with friends or family. Being a mother of two active school age kids is a job in itself. Everything is put on the calendar, including days off. Keep some empty spaces on your calendar for family time! Schedule a regular lunch date with your child or date night with hubby.
3. Still be professional: Just because you mainly work from home, does not need to decrease your professionalism. Grethel states, that everything from your emails, phone conversations to packaging should be just as professional as a large multi-employee studio. Keep strict deadlines and maintain a consistent schedule for delivering proofs, products, etc.
4. Know what you can handle: This is something that Ashley has admitted to learning the hard way. In the early stages of her business, things grew rather quickly. At first you take any job that comes your way. Pretty soon you have an overbooked calendar and jobs that aren’t your ideal. Know how many sessions you can successfully handle and still have a life! If you become over scheduled, you tend to make more mistakes, quality can decrease and things can fall through the cracks. Abide to these rules in order to keep your sanity. Don’t take jobs that aren’t your forte. If someone asks you about product photography, (which you know nothing about) pass it along to the talented commercial photographer in your area. You will all be happy with the results!
5. Keep a separate work area: This can be challenging when working from home. You will be happier and more productive if you have a space where you can close yourself off from the world and work. Teach your children to respect that area. Ashley has recently moved her shooting area out of her basement and into a shared space studio with a few other photographers. This has greatly reduced the stress level for her and her family. No more picking up legos before a shoot! Grethel is exclusively on location, which helps keep that separation as well.
6. Stay organized: Grethel swears by her “to-do” lists! Daily and long term lists are very helpful for keeping track of things. With today’s smart phones, you can quickly make a note or list and have it with you at all times. Utilizing things like Apple’s Mobile Me or other “cloud” technology programs, can make your business run on-the-go. You can sync calendars, contacts, emails, etc all from your phone and have them show up within minutes on your calendar on your home computer or vice versa.

Hopefully these tips will help you to run a smooth business and still keep a happy home!


Ashley Warren and Grethel Van Epps are portrait photographers in the Birmingham, AL area. They are also both moms in addition to running their own home based businesses. This year they teamed up to host a workshop (Share… The Workshop) for those new to the photography business. One of the things they stress in the workshop is balancing family with the work load. For more information on Share…The Workshop, email Grethel at info@gvephotography.com or Ashley at ashley@ashleywarrenstudios.com.

Thanks to Ashley Warren for these awesome tips, and who knows, maybe one day I will have them all down :)