Okay, I have decided to start this blog to give you an idea who I am and also to give my thoughts, tips and suggestions regarding photography.  I have not been a "blogger" before so if I break any "rules", I apologize in advance.  It reminds me of texting where it takes a while to learn the lingo.  I used to think LOL meant "lots of love".  Oh well people sure got a laugh at that.  I guess it is a good thing when we can learn to laugh at ourselves.

First a little about myself:  I have been married almost 19 years, and have 2 kids ages 13 and 17.  I have always loved kids.  When I was 11 years old I started babysitting and my goal in life was to grow up, get married and have 10 kids.  I of course changed my mind once I had a dose of reality with my own 2 beautiful kids who between the 2 of them, and my husband, took all my extra time.  I really don't know how people can have 10 kids.  One of my recent brides was from a large family, I think 9 brothers and a sister.  Wow!  Hats off to her mom!

I have always loved art and photography. I used to take pictures of all my friends when I was young, then my kids, vacations, etc.  I went to a few family weddings one year and took pictures and they all told me my pictures were better than their photographers.  This gave me some courage and I decided to take a photography class at the college.  I fell in love with it from the start and felt I had a natural eye for composition.  I learned about equipment, lighting, proper contrast and density, color theory and correction, dark room techniques, photoshop skills, etc.  I loved it so much, I just kept taking class after class, some more than once.  It is very addicting.  I found that working with photoshop, I could enhance and beautify pictures and most importantly make people look their best.  My favorite is designing artistic album pages for weddings, babies, etc.

My friends and clients tell me I have a way of capturing peoples personality and emotions.   So I have worked toward this specialty which comes in handy for weddings as well as portraits.

So now I tell people that I didn't decide what I wanted to be when I grew up, until I was 40.  They all think that is funny. 

I have always loved weddings and figured what better event to photograph.  Everyone is happy and looks their best.  They are so romantic and there are lots of opportunities to capture those special emotional moments I love so much.

When I would first meet people and told them I was a wedding photographer, I would always get a horror story of what they didn't like about their wedding photographer.  I was shocked by some of the stories I was told and I vowed never to do any of the things I heard about.  I set out to be the best, and provide the best service and best products to my clients.  I wasn't going to skimp when it came to quality.  I heard a quote once that I think says it all "Cheap isn't Good and Good isn't Cheap!"

To go along with that, now that I have some experience, I believe some of the people who have complained about their own wedding photographers really are victims of "getting what they paid for" or willing to pay.  Wedding photography is one area you want the best.  Hindsight on a wedding is a sad thing as it can't be redone.  So if you are getting married, spend as much of your wedding budget on your photography that you can.  It is the one thing that you will have after the wedding is over and the one thing most important to save if you were to have a natural disaster or something.  It is better to save elsewhere. 

I once had a fellow photographer tell me that she tells her clients that it is in their best interest to pay her more for their wedding photography.  When asked why she would reply, " Have you ever done a job and didn't feel you were paid very well?  They would reply, "Yes"  (I think we all  have).  She would then ask if they looked forward to going to that job and did they try their best?  Most would say, "No"  Then she would ask, "Have you ever been paid well for a job?"  If they said "yes" she would ask them, didn't that make you wake up in the morning all excited and reved up to do the job and do your best?"  Then she would say, "Isn't that how you want your photographer to feel when they come to your wedding, ready to go the extra mile to capture it all?"

It is an interesting thing to think about.  I had never thought of it that way before.  But I think it does have some truth to it although I like to think I give my best to all my clients.

That is all for today, tune in again and next time I am going to cover the subject of why wedding photography costs are rising more quickly than ever before.