A few years ago, I met the ever-lovely Jamie Delaine when she attended a workshop.  Since then, she’s grown her photography business and helps others grow theirs (she also organized fund raising campaign to build a school in Haiti!).  She’s learned a lot over the years and today she’s contributing a blog post to ensure […]

I started my photography business a decade ago.  For the past 10 years, I’ve had ups and downs, made poor decisions, and endured the pain of negativity.  And yet each year I show up ready and willing to grow my business because I love it.  I love my clients.  I love the stress of the […]

I received an email from Katie. She explained she wanted to write more personal blog posts, “in hopes to share personal stories, things I’m learning, insights, etc. My hope is that it wouldn’t be just something people skim … but that it would be written with intentionality AND read-worthy … to be someone people can connect […]

Last night I had a conversation with a sweet friend, X. We scheduled our day to ensure the time difference between California and Adelaide, Australia would be manageable for us both. As I prepared for bed, she prepared to start her morning, but not without a explaining her frustration. As we FaceTimed, X let out […]

Make no mistake: wedding photography is hard work. Every job we show up to requires us to produce beautiful work, regardless if the day is running late, if the light is horrible, and/or if the odds are stacked against us. And through it all, we still manage to show up to each wedding with a […]

The 21st century definition of success isn’t concrete, but often times people are considered successful if they drive a luxury car, live in a multi-million dollar home, have a lot of social media followers, and/or travel the world. But let me be honest: it is very easy to get caught up with notions of success, […]

Dear Jasmine, I really, really struggle with the formal portrait sessions at weddings. Yesterday I had an hour to get 14 groupings done. Right after the ceremony all the girls disappeared to touch up their makeup. The event coordinator didn’t help one bit he just said, “I think everyone is looking for direction from you.” […]

When you love creating, you… …make time… …find time… …acknowledge the potential to fail… …acknowledge the potential to succeed… …find yourself drinking extra coffee as needed… …easily cry… …easily laugh… …hustle when the odds are stacked against you… …believe when others doubt… …work, even when you’re on vacation…because it isn’t “work” when you love what […]

Hello Pals! I’m currently in Seattle to shoot a wedding, then I’m headed to Sweden to speak at the Way Up North Conference, and I’ll be making my way through Italy before settling in Tuscany to shoot a wedding. This marks the start of an amazing journey, but I wanted to ensure my blog was […]

Dear Jasmine, This week I had my first unsatisfied customer email. What it boiled down to was that she wasn’t happy with the portraits of her and her husband. I responded calmly and graciously to both her and to myself, and to my relief, I wasn’t as wrecked about it as I thought I’d be. […]