Hello 2012!

Happy New Year!!  2012 should be an awesome year and we have a bazillion things we want to accomplish!  Here's our list of goals for the new year:

My personal goals are to sleep more, exercise more, and eat less.  That is so much easier said than done!  I always try to cram a ton of things into a tiny space of like 24 hours, so I am always running around.  I really need to work on pacing myself and taking care of myself, and letting everything else fall into place.

For the business, we have set a lot of goals.  The first is to update and refresh both our blogger site and our webpage!  We want to put our best foot forward for our customers to see. 

Weddings!  We love photographing weddings and just do not get to do them enough in our area.  To change this and reach our wedding goal for the year, we have to complete the next goal of - Marketing!!  This is a big one.  I seriously want to canvas the area locally and branch out across the state.  No joke. 

Slideshows.  Yes, we want to incorporate more of these.  I'm learning.  And I found an awesome website to help me out. 

Again with the webpage.  Everyone has a smart phone these days, so guess what?  We need to make our webpage compatable with those too. 

And last but not least - Shooting!  Yes, we really want to keep practicing and working on our lighting techniques to be the best we can be.  We want to continue to grow and be creative. 

Look out 2012!  We are ready and determined!!

http://www.timelessmemoriesarcadia.com/

Silly Holiday Photos

Out of all of the holiday photos I've taken, there are two that stand out as taking the cake for making us laugh until we cried. 

The first is of our puppy, Hershey.  She came to us last year on Christmas day and we got pictures of her in a box in front of the tree.  I decided to do the same shoot this year to show how much she has grown and changed.  Well right when I took the picture, she blinked.  That combined with her patch of white fur made her look like an old wiseman sitting on top of the mountain handing out fortunes!!  There is no way you can look at this picture and not laugh:

But the one that really wins this year's prize is the one of my son taunting Santa.  Yes, only my son would do this!  He is SOOOOO lucky that he didn't get a lump of coal for Christmas because he totally deserved it! 

Here is a little background story before I post the picture:  My son is ADHD and has several sensory issues.  He doesn't do well with strangers, new places, changes, loud noises, etc.  Christmas seems to be all of those things wrapped into one.  We never know what to expect from him because sometimes he can seem downright normal, and other times he can be completely crazy.  This was a completely crazy night. 

We went to this place in Sarasota called Jungle Gardens to go see their light show and meet up with Santa.  My daughter was more than thrilled to gaze in awe at all the lights and then get to meet Santa!  She was as excited as Buddy the Elf as she sat in his lap and listed all the toys she wanted to open on Christmas Day.  My son on the other hand took one look at Santa and decided he was something to be feared - as if he was a giant spider from some low budget horror movie. 

Well, in a big wide open space, what does a scared kid do?  He runs.  And boy can he run.  Since we were the last ones of the night, Santa gave chase.  Seriously.  LOLOLOL.  I was not expecting that.  I guess he knew that we really wanted pictures (I was toting around my ginormous camera through all of this), and I suppose he thought he was good enough with kids that he could bribe him with candy canes and candy.  But Santa met his match that night.  As he tuckered out yelling, "I am not going to chase you!!" and stopped to catch his breath, my son turned around and gave him this SMIRK.  The smirk that says a thousand bad things. 

Oh I need the song "I'm getting nothing for Christmas" to be playing right about now...

http://www.timelessmemoriesarcadia.com/



Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year

Yes, I am well aware of the fact that it is already 2012!  This past year has just flown by and I am shocked by my lack of updates on the blog.  Well, actually - I'm not.  December is always the CRAZIEST month for me with all of the awesome studio work that Christmas brings along with it.  Add in a few weddings, and my own anniversary, and well - I usually end up sick and completely sleep deprived and delirious by the time Christmas Day rolls around.  It's not exactly the best way to be spending time with your loved ones - lol!!

This year I had to add in the mix an array of computer issues.  Ugh!  My laptops that I love to use (b/c I can sit on the couch and edit pics while watching tv) are really old and struggling to keep up with me.  Then one got a virus that necessitated it to be wiped completely clean!  I am always really good about backing up customer's pictures, but I always put mine off.  So I had to rush around and take hours and hours to back up an INSANE amount of pictures.  Like 11,000 pictures.  On a slow, ancient laptop.  Sigh.  It's just not what I wanted to deal with at Christmas. 

At least the pictures are all saved and backed up.  The computer has been restored with new and faster software.  Lightroom 3 anyone?  Ya, I have new programs to learn.  It's both a "YAY" and a "Awww MAN" feeling at the same time.  I am still not completely issue free either.  The hubby is currently working on networking the computer.  I can't gain access to the server and see or access any of my awesome pictures.  Which also means, no cool blog posts full of pictures.  The hubby has an awesome computer (which I am currently on), but he needs it for work, school, and games (ugh!), so I don't always have access to it either.  AND one of the big things that I wanted to do was update my website while on break.  I have seriously taken some super awesome pictures lately and I want to show them off to the world.  The next bad news is that I lost all of the website templates when the computer died.  I have access to some of them through my website, but I will kind of have to start over from scratch b/c I am not a web designer. Sigh.  Starting to feel my stress? (Complete with eye twitches!!)

I have had several friends respond with, "Get a Mac, and you won't have these problems."  It's tempting.  But expensive.  And I know nothing about Macs.  And my hubby hates them.  He builds PC's.  A Mac in the house might be grounds for divorce.  (Ok, not really, but I swear he won't help me with it one bit.  Lol!)

So for those of you still reading along out there (all twelve of you), this is the side of business that sucks!  OMG!  It can be hard and tough at times.  Most people only represent the shiny glossy side of this world.  People think it's all fun and games, and lots of money and glamor.  I could only wish!  I find that most of us don't want to talk about the negatives, and I have even found myself lately not even posting things on fb for fear of sounding too down or dismal.  I wish I had a magic wand to wave all the bad away and magically make it go away.  Of course I could be charging more for sessions and then just hire someone else to deal with it right?  There's an idea....

While it may seem like I'm complaining, I'm really not.  I am just like a bazillion other photographers and entrepreneurs out there just working hard to make it.  I really want to MAKE IT!  I am determined to get somewhere in this business, and these are the issues and the drive it takes to deal with and overcome these obstacles.  I really enjoy it - not the obstacles - but the people, the creativity, and the shooting.  I love learning every bit about it, and I love making people happy through my work.  One of the best Christmas presents I had this season (other than a super awesome 35mm prime lens from the hubby) was getting to deliver prints and photo gifts to customers this season.  We even surprised quite a few, and those were the best reactions!  Watching people cry tears of joy and happiness over images we created just makes us feel all warm and fuzzy inside.  <3

It's a little late, but Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah.  I hope you all had an awesome time with family and friends!

http://www.timelessmemoriesarcadia.com/

I'm becoming a Grinch

I was hoping to write a big blog post today about all the things I want to work on for my business for the new year.  I have come a super long way in the past year and I am proud of how we have grown by leaps and bounds.  But you know what?  My dryer died.  My husband was rear ended the other day.  He also needs a $190 textbook for his next class.  My computer got a virus and is out of commission.  It needs to be wiped clean and everything has to be backed up before I lose it.  I never take the time to back up my own family's pics.  Ugh!  My beloved and ancient weenie dog is covered in tumors and doesn't want to go up and down the stairs to go outside.  It's Christmas and I refuse to put him down.  As much as I am trying to see the "glass is half-full" view point, I just want to cry.  And in all of it - there aren't enough hours in the day for a super long, well thought out, professional blog post. 

This business is super hard.  It is super time consuming.  It doesn't pay that well (which is my own fault, but I'm working on it).  Yet, I do love it and I keep chugging away at it.  I hope picture deliveries tomorrow along with watching my kids sing Christmas carols will help to get me out of "Grinch mode".  I hope I've also had enough bad luck this week to last me for another year.  So I am off to get a few hours of sleep before I try to juggle mommy duties and business owner duties. 

And because I can't write a post without a few pics, here you go! 

http://www.timelessmemoriesarcadia.com/

It's November!!

It's my birthday month and I couldn't be more excited or busier!  It's the busiest time of year with the holidays coming up.  I am super excited about all of the awesome shoots we have planned this month - especially the weddings that we have the privilege of photographing.  We've put a lot of work into them, and it will be amazing to see it all come together on THE day.   

Since it is my birthday this month, we will be giving out a free metallic print with any Organic Bloom frame order.  Just pick out the size frame, and we will add the print for FREE!!  This is a huge discount and a super deal, so be sure to tell your friends about it and grab it in time for the holidays. 

Just giving a heads up - it looks like we will have our first Christmas mini-sessions on Nov. 19th.  Disks will be included with 5 images from a 15-30 minute shoot. Contact us now for available session times.

Also, we are booking quickly into 2012!!  There are very limited dates left this year, so if you want a full session, jump on it asap. 

Thank you to all of our wonderful customers for making this year spectacular.  I feel so blessed to have each of you in our lives. 

-Tanya

On that note - I have to share this session of a gorgeous little girl.  She was a bit camera shy at first, but wow!  These images are nothing shy of amazing.

http://www.timelessmemoriesarcadia.com/