falling back in love

where have i been?? i feel like i owe a little bit of an explanation, so here it goes...

last year was crazy & amazing for our photography business. it boomed, to say the least. we had started doing this together two years ago, and it just took off. we loved it and were doing it all the time.

last fall/winter we had the typical burst as more families wanted photos right before christmas. i was thrilled that so many people wanted photos, that i never thought about pacing myself, saying no, etc. we got to the point where for three or four months we were shooting at LEAST three to four sessions every single week. no breaks. no free weekends. nothing. i think one week we shot six sessions. it was insane & i was so excited.

however, the excitement quickly wore off. we bought a house. we found out we were pregnant. i got morning sickness BAD ;) all that jazz! and all the while, i was SO busy doing sessions and trying to get everyone's photos edited in time for christmas cards. i was beyond stressed out, and all of the sudden photography stopped being fun. it stopped being a passion. it just became work. lots and lots of work.

by the time christmastime was over, i was done. i needed a break. we even bought ourselves all this new equipment, a new amazing camera, and my favorite lens. i'm sad to say i hardly picked up my new camera for months after i got it. i just didn't care anymore and i needed a break. it stopped being fun. and the thing you love doing should never stop being fun.

earlier this year i quit my job to get a part-time one and started giving myself time with my husband, working on my house, getting ready for my baby. apparently i needed some "me" time :) we have still been shooting sessions, but i gave myself a limit. and i gave myself back weekends. and i started saying no. realizing i could do that was big. sometimes people just don't fit our style, and vice versa. i was tired of melding the photography i love for what someone else is looking for. 

a week ago, i was watching my friend's little boy and just started snapping photos for no reason... the light was lovely, he is cute... that was about it! last night i decided to pull them up in bridge, and pretty soon i was editing again. but not for a client. just for fun.

and last night, i remembered why i got into this in the first place. i LOVE photography. i love what i can capture, i love the people i photograph, i love going through and seeing what i've created. i really do love this. i needed to remember that.

so that's my sappy tale :) hopefully that explains a little bit where we've been. like i said, we're still taking photographs. lots, actually! we have wonderful clients who didn't give up on us after we fell off the face of the earth. but it's been nice to have a break and fall back in love with this.

like i said, our little boy is due in three or four weeks (yay!!). we'll be taking all of august off, until the very last week when we have a couple of sessions booked. and then we'll get back into the swing of things :) we also made the decision to take december off. for a few reasons:

1. i love christmas & the holidays & everything that goes with them. i want to be able to enjoy that time... especially with graysen!

2. we can still do christmas family photos, but have them done far in advance of when you'll need them for your cards. less stress for both of us, i think :)

3. it's just COLD in december! the sessions we did do last december were freezing and fairly miserable, even with our fantastic clients. warm kids are happy kids ;)

so that's what's going on here! we will be posting some of our more recent sessions... and rest assured, when this cute little boy comes, you will be flooded with photos of him as well. 

thanks to all our clients who have been keeping in touch and booking with us for the fall. we're only shooting september, october & november and we're already close to being booked in all three! we're not taking on as much, so that helps. but i'm so excited to spend time with all of you again! thanks for all your support... we love you all :)