The Hardest Part? Just Doing It.

“Who you’re becoming is far more important than what you’re doing. And yet, it is what you’re doing that is determining who you’re becoming.”

~Hal Elrod

As wedding photographers, it’s easy to get caught up in meeting beautiful brides and creating fabulous pictures that capture every moment of their unique stories. Those are some of the most amazing parts of what we do. We love it. But lately we’ve been learning more and more that developing ourselves as business owners, and just as people, is as important as developing ourselves as photographers.

We want our brides and grooms to have the best experience that we can possibly create. We want them to love every step of their photography journey as much as they love the wedding pictures. We pour our hearts into our work and we want them to feel it!

Joel and I are taking a journey. A journey to become better people. Better photographers. Better business managers. Better dreamers.

We’re jumping into this experience with our hearts and souls. We want every one of our couples to be blessed because of their experience with us. We want them to have more than just amazing wedding pictures. We want their lives to become richer and more beautiful because we’re walking on their journey with them.

Brainstorming, business books, research, mentors. Finding ways to strengthen our marriage, to honor God, to have a servant’s heart. We love every bit of it. Today we want to share some of the experiences we’ve had.

Zach and Jody Gray are gurus in every area of wedding photography. Lighting, business, image management efficiency…you name it. Ever since Joel and I decided to become serious and intentional about our wedding photography, Zach and Jody have been there. They’ve played a key role in where we are today by sharing their knowledge, inspiration, and everything in between. Last week we spent an entire day with them, talking about our business and where our dream is taking us.

I feel like there should be a million exclamation points after that last sentence.

Dream come true for this girl. And they are every bit as fabulous as I always knew they would be.

Then we went to Imaging USA, a photography conference with speakers, vendors, other photographers….everything wonderful. We were inspired, instructed, encouraged, and challenged!

We’ve been devouring books like crazy. I’m reading this book called “The Miracle Morning” by Hal Elrod. (Find it here) After seeing the second half of the title: “The Not-So Obvious Secret Guaranteed To Transform Your Life Before 8am”, I almost didn’t even want to pick it up. I get up early enough, and I was not interested in requiring more of myself in the morning.

Well, it does require more. Being intentional about following your dreams always requires more. And as much as I really didn’t like the thought of 5 am mornings, I gave it a try. I’m blown away by how much you can be empowered by being intentional about what you do and how you do it. Give yourself the tools to be successful – even if it means rolling out of bed at oh-dark thirty. I won’t give away any more Miracle Morning secrets. I’ll let you discover them for yourselves. :)

This journey is a beautiful one. As we continue on our path to reach our dreams as wedding photographers, we want to encourage you to take the time to discover your own dream. Remember as a kid when you used to sit there and daydream about what big and wonderful things you were going to do when you grew up? They might have changed a little bit, but never let those dreams die. Don’t stop striving for what you want to do and who you want to be.

The hardest part? Just doing it. You can achieve more than you think you can. So close your eyes, dream big, and come up with a plan to get you there!

*hugs*

Amber