KristinRogersPhotography

NEW BLOG - Come on Over

My Blog will now be here -------> www.KristinRogersPhotography.com. Ill leave this one up for a while though :)

 

Balance of Being a Mommy and Photographer….Sharing My Heart

I get asked often “How do you do it all….run your business, be a stay at home mom, Adia’s therapy, church and homeschooling activities …etc?”

 
 

This post is going to be directed mostly to being a mom, even though my life as a Christian and being a wife is extremely important and takes much thought and care to nurture as well. Also, I am speaking as a mom of two young children who we will be homeschooling. I understand some of this will not apply for mommies with older more dependent children.

 

Let me start off by saying, just because I do all these things, does not mean I am doing them all well at the same time. I normally am excelling in one and struggling in another or being very average at all of them. But I fight on and am constantly reevaluating my time and priorities. I want to hit on a few things that I think about a lot and constantly try to keep in check when running my business.

 

Priorities – to my very core, I know being a wife and mom is more important then any wealth I can attain in this world. With that said, we need to make money to pay for our house, car, food, etc. It is true that Jonathan has a full time job so photography is not our main income, but it helps us out tremendously with both necessities and liberties. This is such a neat place to be in that I know a lot of mommies are not in. Many of you HAVE to survive off your photography income. Something we always have to keep in mind (and this will look different for every mommy) is how willing are we to give up some of our liberties to be more free for our children. Are we willing to go to less movies, eat out less, purchase less pricy clothes, go down to one vehicle or even not have the newest photography gear? I know we have and might have to do some of this even more in the future so that I do not need to take more jobs to cover our expenses. So something I try to always keep in mind is if I am feeling pulled from my children in anyway, I ask myself and evaluate if I need to give up certain expenses in our life, if at all possible, that will allow me to take less work and spend more time with my children.

 

There but Not – This is important. We all know that taking pictures is not the only thing we do with our businesses. There is editing, e mails, follow up, album orders, phone calls, etc. These are things that may not take us physically away from our children but it can mentally. I am very capable of zoning out when keeping up on e mails with my BlackBerry and have one of my girls repeating “mommy” for the 100^th time, but I am clueless because I am in another frame of mind. This can be the same with emails or editing. So, I need to try extra hard to be there…in the moments of the day….both physically and mentally engaged in my girl’s lives, thoughts, play and giggles. I try if at all possible to keep my editing to naps and bed time. If you notice most of the time you get frustrated with your children are when they are “interrupting” you and your task at the moment, pulling you away from what you are in the middle of. So, I try to make sure I keep them as my task and not my interruption. Be there, for real, in each moment.

 

Recognition – When you are a mom, you don’t have blog statistics to see how many people are keeping up on your awesome mommy skills, you don’t have Facebookers “liking” your play time, you don’t have “fans” complimenting your skills at training and bathing your children. In the photography business you can get a lot of recognition, encouragement & accolades for a rad picture, an exciting blog you post, a feature you get or client you land. There are rewards of a payment at the end of your job. Well, as mothers, obviously don’t receive the same recognition for our work, time, tears, efforts and chores. Not like we do with photography. It is tempting to crave it or even need that to know you are doing a good job that others appreciate and value your work. We may take unnecessary jobs to make sure we can blog frequently …to see those comments or our exposure and stats rise. But this is something we need not feed. I try hard to value every “thank you”, hug, and smile and all those ways they show you they appreciate you. I try just remembering that my goal in this life and as their mom is what I am pushing for and not the recognition. Really, that is just a bonus! I will tell you this….a joyful day to day relationship with my girls filled with valuable time and teaching is more of a reward to me then any amazing blog statistic or publication!

 

Sacrifice – Is too strong of a word. Letting go is more accurate. I have to let go of quit a bit. Right now, we take one wedding a month with the rare exception of two. We have pass on many wedding requests and refer them to other photographer friends, we pass on shoots and opportunities that could open up financial gain or recognition in the industry. I’m not saying we pass on them all, but we pass on ones where they would take us from our children for too long, are contrary to our values. As of now we have the ability to only take this limited amount of weddings and be fine. I know this is not the case for everyone. But, it is still something to consider……are there any jobs you could cut back on or pass so you are not away so much?

 

Accountability – I must say, I am one lucky girl who has been blessed with an amazing husband and good solid friends. Jonathan holds just as strongly to these ideas as I do and therefore is supportive of all we need to do to keep our children my main endeavor. I have good friends who share many of these same values and are trying to balance their other endeavors as well. I know that if I began to get caught up or begin to consistently drift in a direction that is against my value of being a mom….they would call me on it. I need that around me, I can get caught up in things just as much as the next girl. Its tough to hear or even embarrassing, but I have to stay open to hearing when I am on the computer too much or maybe took too many jobs in a month…or the most common I’m guilty of, zoning out and not being in the moment with my family. Try to keep good friends that know your values and will help hold you to them if they see you drifting.

 

Now, I know everyone is in their own circumstances and this will all look different for each family. I do not think I have it all down. I’m not perfect even at my own goals and I am constantly reevaluating these things with the help of my husband to make sure I am staying on the right track. I don’t ever want to look back and think I took a lot of unnecessary time away from my children that I regret. So, this is my thoughts and perspective on how I am a mommy and photographer, my common tensions and how I try to balance those roles. I hope it helped those of you who have asked me this before or has opened some ideas on how to spend more joyful time with your little ones.

Photography Tips - Getting The Shot

I have done this in the past and I think its fun when other photographers do it, so I thought I would do it again :) Jonathan I both shot this last session so we grabbed a few shots of each other while shooting. I end up in the weirdest positions and have such weird looks on my face, but its funny to see. I almost always end up on the ground since I am a wide angle girl and Jonathan is like a sniper way in the back with his telephoto. Its how we role and I love the different perspectives we both bring.

For you photographers, I thought it would be fun to give you our settings so you can see how we get the shot!

Nikon D700, Lens 17-35 2.8

ISO 200, 35mm, F3.5, 1/320sec

 

Nikon D90, Lens 70-200 2.8VR 

ISO 200, 200mm, F2.8, 1/400sec

 

Nikon D700, Lens 17-35 2.8

ISO 320, 17mm, F2.8, 1/125sec

 

Nikon D90, Lens 70-200 2.8VR 

ISO 200, 70mm, F2.8, 1/100sec

 

Nikon D700, Lens 17-35 2.8

ISO 800, 17mm, F4.0, 1/60sec

 

What wedding photographers want to tell you …but don’t

I recently read an article in wedding magazine called “What wedding photographers want to tell you …but don’t”. It went over some items that photographer’s would love to tell their wedding clients but at times might feel too pushy or embarrassed to do so. I liked a few of them and had many of my own that I would like to share. I hope I don’t come off too pushy or later feel embarrassed for writing this...but here it goes! 

I also want to be clear….what matters on the wedding day is the marriage itself and what these two people are committing to each other. We want you to be happy and comfortable so some of these things might not be worth the photography opportunities it will provide or it is not in your budget. That is understood and you can still have a beautiful wedding and pictures. But if its in your budget and you are up for it, here are some things that would be beneficial to consider.

 

Seeing each other before the ceremony aka “First Look” Here are some reasons why it is beneficial:

 

  

 

* Your make up and hair are fresh and looking the best it will be before you possibly get sweaty or all scrunched up by all the guests that are going to squeeze and kiss you all day.

* It allows you to share that moment (which for some is quite emotional) in privacy. You have a moment to talk and be with each other without all eyes on you.

* It allows for the photographers to have great positioning for the shots. Sometimes the ceremony venue does not have spots with great angles to allow us to capture both the bride and grooms first look at each other.

* If you are having an evening wedding... you are able to get some amazing bride and groom portraits before the sun goes down. You will be in the natural lighting which is always best in my opinion!

* This is the huge one..... after the ceremony the amount of pictures needed to be taken will be kept to a minimum which will allow for family to be freed up to visit with guests and enjoy the cocktail hour. Also, it will relieve the stress of having to squeeze in a ton of pictures knowing you have a whole party of hungry guest waiting your arrival.

* It normally will allow for the photographers to take pictures of the reception venue before guests are seated and details are moved around. You spend so much time prepping for everything to look perfect, we want to capture that!

* Most brides simply find it a stress reliever….get the jitters out.

* I have never heard a bride say that it took away from that "moment". The moment you imagine when he sees you for the first time...if anything you have the moment to soak up and enjoy and in the mean time we are getting great pictures of it (from a distance).

 

Keep Room Clean

 
 

When we come in to do “getting ready” shots, it is helpful when the room is not too messy, have random trash or anything that would not be great in the pictures. The background does show up and it can be a bummer when little things are in the background that takes away from the shot.

 

Professional Make UP

 
  

You may have a friend who knows how to do make up better then the average Joe, but normally when someone does not have their make up professionally done, it looks great for a couple hours but then begins to wipe off, smear or simply disappear. Professional make up artists use primers, sprays and other tricks to keep your make up clean and set for the whole day!

Lighting

 

 
Lighting is everything in photography. Please keep this in mind when choosing where your alter will face or the brightness of a room/church you may use. Dim settings with candles create a great ambiance but is tough for photography if there is just not much light. Your pictures will turn out as crisp and clear the more light you have. You can have the DJ or venue light the floor, hire a lighting specialist or add coffee shop lights to add ambient if its indoors.

Details/Props

 

Details and fun props add so much character to your pictures. I am stoked that “Do It Yourself” projects are getting so popular for weddings. Many couples are also finding neat bottles, umbrellas, jars, bird cages, windows, picture frames, etc at thrift shops or garage sales to use on their tables or as decor around their venue. Also, details like bright colored shoes, a fun veil, parasols, bow ties and crazy socks are so fun!  All these little things photograph well and will bring a unique touch to your pictures. 

 Food and Payment

 

Please don’t forget to provide a vendor meal for your photographer…especially if it’s me. I love me some food and get super hungry when I have been working for hours taking your rad pictures. Also, please don’t make the photographer ask for payment, especially if you owe a payment on your wedding day. We don’t want to make you uncomfortable or have you whip out your check book while your enjoying your day…plus it can just be kinda awkward. Have all the funds ready!

 Have Fun

 

It also adds a ton of goodness when you are willing to do fun things for your photographs. Sit down, lie down, climb up, and stand on things in your wedding dress and suits. As my friend Logan said “dust can be removed from the fabric but great wedding pictures are once in a life time”.  



I hope this helps future brides when considering photography for their big day! :)

 

Photography Tip - Support Good Causes

If you are a photographer, you can find a charity, ministry or non profit organization you want to support and offer a shoot to donate. They can auction it off and  keep the money raised for their purposes! I hope to do this more as the opportunity arises. This is what I made to hopefully draw in a good donation :)

I did this last year and the Joy family won my shoot. We finally were able to meet up for them to redeem their shoot this weekend. They were sweet and easy going. They recently got their new dog Annie, who now is the fifth member of their family.

Here are a few from their shoot..... 

Nice to finally meet you Joy family! Thank you for donating on my shoot!  
  

Photography Tip - Fiano Albums

I use KISS for my wedding albums but when it comes to guest books and other fun albums I go to Fiano. They have lots choices, colors, textures, products with an edgy feel.  They custom make the albums so you have to give them time to make it and ship, so don't order last minute.  Overall, I have been happy with the books I have ordered from them.

This is a guest book for Matt & Kristina......10x10 Smokey Blue. These books are blank on the left for guests to sign and has adhesive on the other side for you to place a print. I think this is how they keep the prices very reasonable. When the pictures are placed I think they look great and it has a quality look to it at a great price!

Just an option to consider my photo friends....