Jackson Avenue Photography: stop motion (ramblings from a cocoa beach photographer)

first off, I've been a horrible blogger lately. not sure if I was ever really a good one. but I really hope to change that. I would love to make it a daily thing. like an online diary. but even when I had a diary as a child I wasn't good at keeping up with it. so who knows! all I can say is I'm going to try to be better:)

life has been crazy hectic lately. between getting all the editing done from the sessions I did on my last trip to the Gulf Coast (posts on those coming asap!), to planning my July 4th wedding, to spending a whole weekend in front of my computer to catch Zack Arias's studio lighting workshop on creativeLIVE (which was SOOOOOOO worth it!), I was really overwhelmed. for the first time since starting this business I felt like I might be in over my head. another saying comes to mind, if you've ever worked in the restaurant business you've probably heard someone shout "I'm in the weeds!" and someone comes to help them out. that's what I felt like screaming. problem is when you are running your own business, it's all on you. there is no one there to back you up or go take a drink order for you:) I'll admit it, when I first started out doing photography as a full time job I thought it would be kinda easy. boy was I wrong. not only is it just as hard as a 9 to 5 job, it's harder. when you are doing something creative as a career you are putting a little piece of you out into the world with everything you do. I love taking photos, and I love editing them and adding that artistic touch. I feel like I'm more than just a photographer. I'm a digital painter:) because none of my clients ever get an image straight out of the camera. there is always something you can do to make the image better. I like to say "bringing the photos to life." but in short, I make my mark on my work. I want my work to have a distinct look so that when people see one of my photos they don't need a watermark to tell them who shot the image. they'll already know it's me. all my favorite photographers have that. When I see their work I know it's theirs. It has their "mark." ok, so anyway. does this blog have a point? haha. not really. I'll just say that the past few months have been eye-opening. I have been working hours on end just to get by. I never feel like I'm caught up with my work. there is always something that needs to be edited, posted, emails to respond to, etc. ALWAYS SOMETHING. but I guess I'm blessed to be busy. I'm paying my bills with a camera. that is something I never thought I would say. sure I've always loved photography, but I never ever in my wildest dreams thought I would be where I am today. I still have a long way to go. but it's that pressure to always try to be better than the last shoot that pushes me to create unique work. I don't always have time to be the perfect blogger, but I'm putting my heart and soul into my work and I hope it shows.

I spent last week in Orlando with the fam doing the Disney thing. and I just unplugged for the week. no facebook, no editing, no nothing. well I did take my camera out a few times:) but other than that I was completely free to relax and reflect. I don't want to lose my passion for this art. I don't want to get so wrapped up in the business side of things that I forget why I wanted to do this in the first place. it's about the people, it's about the moments. it's about smiles, happy times, and unconditional love. and I finally broke down and asked for help. Michael (my other half) is going to be joining me and we are going to turn this into a husband and wife photography team! I'm so excited that he wants to become involved in this. I think in the beginning he was a little worried about me wanting to become a photographer. I spent my first summer interning under another photographer and doing most of my sessions for free. so for the first 6 months of my photography career I made no money. it was hard for Michael to see what I was getting out of the deal. it was hard for him to understand the big picture. but now I know he does. he's watched me go from using a point and shoot and not knowing what the heck photoshop was, to where I am today. still a little green, but definitely far better than I was when I began. I think over the last 3 years he has become more and more involved, how could he really help it? he's so supportive and he really believes in me. he's my biggest fan and it's a great feeling:) so clients you will be seeing him more and more in the future. overtime he will even be second shooting for me:) but for now he will just be helping me with returning emails and phone calls and helping in that department. so don't be alarmed if you get a call from him instead of me!

I'm going to close for now, I think I've rambled quite enough. I'm leaving you with some videos I ran across this morning. they were all made using "stop motion photography." how cool is that? and I complain about my workload!?! I think all us photogs look at the world differently than other people. I feel like I see life in still frames. always trying to find beauty in the everyday things. I hope you enjoy these as much as I do:)