[dropcap]Hello [/dropcap] + welcome to my new + cozy home here on the inter webs!!! This has been in the works for quite a few months now, so the fact that today is already here feels kind of surreal! 

My journey to a new website began over a year ago because I knew that the current hosting service I had did not measure up for what I needed as a photographer, for a lack of better words. As my business has exploded over the last two years, my website has become more and more important to me. I mean, after all it is my portfolio + a lot of brides’ first impressions of me!! I want visitors to come here + feel my presence and truly, I feel like this new website does just that! I wanted my website to better represent my brand: joyful, romantic, timeless, and inviting. 

The previous site I had was one I put together myself (yes, I know props to me for being such a web designer hahah!). But let me just tell you… I am not a web designer nor do I aspire to be! So, I knew I had to hire a professional web designer with this task.

I was browsing the Internet and found Rachael Earle *cue angelic choir*, a web designer affiliated with Showit.co – the hosting company I had already decided I wanted to go with! Rachael was a Godsend (literally!) and made this entire process so. flipping. amazing. Like, if I needed something or had a question, she was SO helpful + has the heart of a teacher. (God bless you, Rachael!).

I made things with Rachael officially official in August and hired her pretty much on the spot because once I make a decision I go at it immediately lol! I just had a feeling in my gut that I needed to do this (and it’s a good thing I did it, more on that later!;)). Rachael immediately began working on a new logo for me and I wanted it to be classic because honestly, I never want to have to re-brand again! Here’s the logo she made for me:

I LOVE it! (Brb still need to order new business cards haha!) I loved it even more when I saw it on my website! While I am a sucker for hand-lettered logos, I think the font in my logo is just so timeless + recognizable, which is great for any logo! 

And the pair of the logo + the website is just so perfect! My favorite part of my new website is the blog, I love the set up & how clean + crisp is feels! Blogging is so important to me, so I cannot wait to utilize it on this new platform from now on :). Also, special thanks to Landon Talmage for the video that plays on my “weddings” page! He was able to capture some clips of me at a recent wedding so it could play in the background on that page! (Unfortunately you can only see it on the desktop version because video like that isn’t supported on mobile, so I encourage you to go check that out on a desktop computer!!). Something else special I love about my new site are the dropcap letters that begin each section. It reminds me of a fairytale book! 🙂

And now….. time for the announcement!

With all of the excitement from my new website and logo, I figured this would be the perfect opportunity to announce….

Cue the confetti..

I’m….

going full-time with my business!!!!

Eight years ago in 2010 when my mother gifted me with my first camera, I never would’ve dreamt this was possible. All I knew is that I loved capturing moments that would otherwise be forgotten. I loved the feeling that photography gave me. I loved seeing the joy I brought people when I captured them in a flattering way – maybe in a way that they have never been captured before. I loved that I found my form of art. While others could draw, paint, sketch, mold, or make, I could cultivate + capture. I never took any formal training, I just shot. A lot. Everything you could think of – landscapes, rocks, trees, friends, the playground (remember I was like only 13 lol!). I remember printing my photos out and putting them in an album and showing my 8th grade English teacher. I was so proud of it. She told me that I had a natural eye for it and that I should continue to pursue it, but my young self didn’t really take it to heart. I thought photography was just a hobby, and I never thought you could make money from it let alone be a full-time photographer. Well, I am happy to say I was naive and just plain wrong! But it took quite a few years for me to get to this point..

When I was a junior in high school I put my camera under my bed and kind of just forgot about it (think of the scene in Toy Story 2 when Jesse is forgotten under her bed… I think that’s how my camera felt ha!). This was a time in my life where I felt so pressured to pick a degree field and go to college, study it, and then start my career. I thought that I had to choose a career path that would be kind of cut out for me. It was that year that people in my life started saying that I should be a lawyer, and that I would be good at that.

Now, I’m the type of person that loves words of affirmation – I mean who doesn’t? So when important people in my life kept reiterating to me that law would be a great field for me to go into, I started to believe it. I had no idea that deep down in my heart that wasn’t God’s plan for my life.

But I didn’t know that then! I decided to go to college and study Political Science and Pre-Law with the hopes of going to law school after I received my bachelor’s degree. I was so convinced this was my path because so many people were encouraging me to do it. I shut down my own thoughts that maybe it wasn’t for me. I had completely forgotten about photography at this point. I hadn’t taken my camera out in over a year.

During the summer before my senior year of college, I decided to buy a new camera. I was going on a trip to Italy and wanted to take pictures of my time there, because when was I ever going back to Italy?! Thank God I bought that camera.  It was so refreshing to get back behind the lens and my love for photography was once again sparked, except this time it was different.

I couldn’t shake the feeling that this is where I was meant to be this time.

I started asking some of my friends and their boyfriends if I could take pictures of them, and I figured out that I LOVE LOVE! I find working with couples to be so natural, so I kept taking pictures of couples, engaged couples, and then…. I got hired for a wedding.

I should preface this by saying that my mom totally told me back in 2012 that I should get into taking pictures of weddings. I told her “no way!!” Because that sounded. so. scary. haha!

Anyway, I got hired for one wedding.. and then another, and another, and another! In my first season of weddings, I ended up photographing 13 weddings! It all just felt right.

And then one of the photographers I look up to, Arielle Peters, announced that she would be doing a workshop, and so I signed up and went! (Life changer). I realized that this could be a full-time career if I wanted it to be!

Immediately I just knew: this is my calling. This is what God has designed me for. This is what I am supposed to do. It kind of all just started to make sense!

I just didn’t know when to make the leap, because I like the known and I like steadiness. The thought of working full-time for myself seemed so scary. So, up until this point in my business I have been working a day job and then hustling for my business at night and on weekends. I truly love my boss, and it was so hard to tell him that I am leaving, but I know that this is what I need to do. I was driving myself crazy this season because I was literally working around the clock, and I never want to get burnt out. For example, in June I had 6 weddings and a styled shoot. And during the week I was working my desk job. I was editing at lunch break, when I got home, and before I went to bed. I would then wake up at 6 am, edit until I had to get ready for work, and then repeat all of that over and over again!

As of right now, I don’t have an exact date I am leaving my day job because I will need to train someone in my position before I leave, but it will be very very soon! I am so excited for this next chapter! I am so happy to have this opportunity and for the support of family and friends. This feels right. It feels good. It feels like I am living out my calling.

All of that to say is, this is now my full-time job, and I can solely focus on my business! I am so grateful!! 2019 is going to be the best year yet! I can’t wait!

Now, if you made it all the way to the end – thank you!!! I have a treat for you!

I absolutely am so in love with my new internet home, and I hope you find this little nook of the internet to be cozy, inviting, and full of joy! I invite you to stick around and browse my neck of the woods ;)! But before you go browse around.. I have a giveaway I want to tell you about!

AND now for the giveaway..

I am giving away a $25 Amazon gift card to one lucky person who leaves a comment on one of my blog posts! Want to join in on the fun + enter to win? Go ahead and click on one of your favorite blog posts here on my site and leave a comment! It doesn’t matter which one :). Thanks in advance, and I will contact the winner directly on Sunday 10/28 to send the gift card to!!