One of the blessings of living out in the country is being able to immerse ourselves in nature. At the base of the hill, on the edge of our property is this creek that rushes during the spring months. I love opening the windows and hearing it move in full force down its path. When we moved here from Philly, I immediately fell in love with the peace I found here.

There was a time when people thought creative people were only the artists, the writers, and the dreamers. Today, we are all just a little bit more open minded about who embracing creativity and who is just out of sight of its healing power.

More often than not I end up finding a place for families. I do enjoy having the ability to find something for them, but sometimes I don't know their area as well. I thought I would share how to choose the best location for family portraits and reasons why you should have something planned ahead of time as a family.

Only in the last 10 years has it become increasingly more popular to have lifestyle type family portraits done. I remember as a kid going to a studio and having to sit with my hands propped a certain way in front of a big camera on a tripod. Nowadays photographs have become truer to personalities and set in very diverse locations. I thought I would share 4 myths that I have heard over time about these lifestyle family portrait sessions.

You know how it goes. You finally get around to setting up a time with the photographer for family photos. Somehow you found time in that schedule of yours. Then fear comes over you when you think about what you are supposed to wear. Yikes! I've seen it. I've been there before. You want to look your best but you don't want to have to spend more money on new outfits for everyone. Let me give you a few tips that might help either answer the questions or ease the concern. 

So you want to know what is in my camera bag? I am honored. No really, I love being able to share what I have learned along the way and what I do to make magic happen. Well, my type of magic anyway. When I first started out, I used to go straight to the post from a photographer I followed, to see what type of gear they had. I wanted to know, "How do they do it?"

Having a fancy camera is great. Taking the plunge and getting the best gear was the best decision I could have made for building my craft. My travel packing list will give you an idea of what I have, if interested. At the same time, one of the most influential ways in which I really learned about light and shooting differently was by using my iPhone. Yup. I am completely unconventional and after taking one digital photography course, I decided to teach myself everything I know (that doesn't discredit going to school; my favorite photographers went to art school). 

So I debated sharing this, but I thought what I learned from it could help others too. About two weeks ago, my external hard drive with all of my photos on it, DIED. I had been meaning to back up everything onto another one and even online, but I didn't do it. I was too busy. It made me cry crocodile tears and it felt like someone important to me had died. All of my work, as well as my memories, were gone.

Growing up I always had an aversion to being fake. Anything and everything that smelled of it made me run. So when it came time for posing people in front of the camera, I used to panic. My mind would freeze and I would find myself saying "ummm" "uhhhh" and looking rather unprofessional. I tried to stick to just candid stuff like events, but something deep inside was telling me that I needed to get over this.

Perspective is everything. Especially for artists. You can influence a lot of people just by how you see things. But what is it like for the artist? How are we influenced? What makes us see what we want others to see? Here on this blog, I will occasionally share thoughts that are rather contemplative.

Travel is a big part of our lives and it is something that I enjoy. The only thing is that travel can be tiring and if we forget something, it doesn't make things any easier. As a photographer, I like to bring my gear with me when I am either on vacation or doing work. I like to travel light and with just what I need. I thought I would share with you today a few things that I bring with me.

Right now I am in a transition with my photography career. I am no longer sitting in the unknown wondering how in the world I am going to make this dream real, but I am also not on the other side of things calling it my full-time job. At this point, things are just becoming real and I can still taste the unknown with excitement. I was thinking that it would be a good time to write down a few ways that got me to this point so that I might encourage some of you to take on your dreams and make them happen.