Reese

This evening I took Reese's senior photos. This was our second try - last week we couldn't find each other in the busy parking lots downtown. Reese is a swimmer at Northwest, and he actually swam with my niece Madeline, which is how he found out about me. Here are the favorites from our session.

Jeep Graphic

Some of you may remember the graphic on my old Jeep. It was very simple - just my old logo in white on both back side windows. Well, Adam and I decided that wouldn't work on this Jeep, and so he came up with the idea to design a graphic that would go across the entire back window. I was a little skeptical, as I've seen people with camo and hunting graphics like that on their trucks and hated it. He argued that if I designed something that was really nice and professional looking, it wouldn't turn out like a hunting thing. :) So I tried my hardest, and while I'm not in love with it, it does help people find me easily at their sessions, and maybe I'll get a little advertising while driving around. What do you think?

My Goals

I was reading another photographer's blog, and they had a very long list of goals that they wanted to accomplish, both in their personal and professional life. I thought this was a GREAT idea!

To start, let me tell you a little story. When I was first trying to start my photo business, I knew absolutely nothing about running a business (or even starting one), all I knew was that I wanted to take pictures and be my own boss. I went to several different people I knew, asking how to make my business legit - i.e., what legal or tax documentation I needed to be able to make money from my services. No one would give me a straight answer - I was extremely frustrated. People kept telling me that I needed to come up with a business plan first, that I needed to set goals. My mindset was "I don't want to set goals, I want to just start this business already!" Everything was finally made official in the fall of 2006, and I'm now at a place where I think goals are a great idea, and could really help me see the vision of where I want my little photography business to go - I've got big ideas!

So here starts the list of my goals. I may update this every so often and then re-post it, just a warning. Also, I've added some in here that I've already accomplished (for motivation), they're marked in bold.

1. Have a photograph featured on a magazine cover.
2. Have a wedding featured in a bridal magazine.
3. Own a house that will accomodate my ideal studio/office setup - comfy couches, multiple computers, meeting area for clients, possibly a projection screen, large canvas prints mounted on the walls (which will be painted bold, rich colors), cool decor like zebra print rugs and 5 foot vases filled with long-stemmed grass, etc.
4. Marry the love of my life. :) June 3, 2006
5. Organize my workflow to be more efficient.
6. Learn to be a better businesswoman.
7. Book a destination wedding (preferably on a beach somewhere - Mexico or Hawaii would do).
8. Pay for and go on a 2nd honeymoon with Adam - we want to go back to the exact place we went on our first honeymoon in Hawaii because it was amazing.
9. Keep normal office hours. Maybe something like 9-3 or 9-4.
10. To accomplish number 9, I must get up earlier in order to get my workout done and be ready to open the office at 9 am.
11. Hire some help! Another photog, or an office manager.
12. Book more than 10 weddings in one year. 2008
13. Buy my dream camera - a Canon 5D. Or maybe two. May 2008
14. Learn to charge high enough prices to make a living at this.
15. Have a booth at a bridal fair, which means I must print literature about GDP.
16. Become an LLC.
17. Book a full year of weddings - for me, this means around 25. I would ideally like to do 2 per month so that I still have somewhat of a family life. :)
18. Change proofing system - possibly use a projection screen in my office?
19. Get to 20,000 hits on my blog (you guys can help with this - tell your friends to look me up!).
20. Start a photo workshop to help people learn more about their cameras and also to learn some tricks in Photoshop.
21. Buy a motorcycle for my hubby, though I would enjoy it too.
22. Have a family (two babies - one boy and one girl, to be exact).
23. Start a weekly date night with Adam - a night set aside for just the two of us to spend time together. This means NO photography (for me), and NO radio-control planes (for Adam).
24. Go on a cruise.
25. Go on any kind of vacation.
26. Learn to be better with money (saving, investing, NOT eating out).
27. Learn to cook.
28. Learn to play the drums.
29. Achieve a mental state where I don't crave pop.
30. Revamp my closet of clothes so that I have enough clothes to wear without having to wear stuff I bought in HIGH SCHOOL! Though, maybe I should be happy I still fit into it.
31. Stop being addicted to checking my email and facebook. My business email is an exception. :)
32. Drink more water.
33. Design branding for my business. Early 2008
34. Drive a Jeep. March 2007, and again February 2008

I'm sure I'll think of more right after I hit the Publish Post button, so this list may be edited soon! Make a list of your own - it's kinda fun!

Kelsey

This afternoon I took Kelsey's senior photos. She's a senior at Maize and is getting a free ride next year because of her amazing ACT scores! She brought her son Braedon along and what a cutie he was. Kelsey's mom was with us to take care of him during the session, and any time she stopped pushing his stroller, he got upset because he just wanted to be moving. I couldn't resist posting a bunch of the photos of the two of them together.

Erin + Garrett

Meet Erin and Garrett. These two are getting married in September in Hesston, which is about 7 miles away from the town I grew up in. So we knew a lot of the same people, which was cool. Another thing they have going for them is that they both went to K-State, which makes them extra cool. Aside from Garrett narrowly missing sitting in a rabid ant nest, our session went really well, and in their words, it was very "efficient." Thanks for a fun evening, you two!

Tonn Family, Take 2

This afternoon I photographed the Tonn family at Botanica. I had taken their pictures last May, and was amazed by how much the two kiddos had grown! They loved just running around, and they made sure that their shoes made a lot of noise. :) At one point, little Manny lost his shoe, and so I helped him put it back on. That was all it took for him to warm up to me - he kept saying "Thank you, Gina." His dad said to chalk the flirting up to his Latin background. He also told me a lot about his vacuum cleaner. Luckily all the impending weather held out, and the overcast skies were perfect for our session! Here are my favorites.