The fall is a busy time for photographers. Everyone wants a session in the beautiful changing leaves. It can get overwhelming. It can suck the passion right out of you if you let it.
This year I set boundaries for myself. I mapped out my calendar and only booked a certain number of sessions. I said ‘no’ when those sessions were full. I didn’t do mini sessions this year. They sound good in theory, but in the end, they create hours of more work and stress. I have three little ones at home who need me. They need a happy mommy. I needed better work-life boundaries.
I think I found that balance this fall. I have also found such great communities of fellow photographers that help keep me inspired. They remind me of my “why.” They remind me that I set out to capture real life and real moments for people. It has helped keep my business goals in better alignment with my passion.
One such group is The Documentray Movement. A group of like-minded photographers who also live for the everyday moments. Not the perfect portraits, but rather real life. Since we were all hitting the end of busy season burnout we decided to come together on a personal photography project. The goal was to shoot at the exact same time, every night for a week with a high ISO {for non-photogs this just means in a setting that doesn’t have a lot of light, such as around the house after dark}.
I may have tweaked the “rules” of the challenge a little bit, but rules are made to be broken, especially in photography. I decided I was going to document my hubby and our littlest man at bedtime each night for a week.
I normally do bedtime. It’s been our thing. I’ve sung him the same song everynight since he was born. We snuggle and he goes to sleep. I started to realize that our time with him being little is fleeting. He’s growing really fast. Hubby needed to have a turn; to have some special time each night with him. And I was there to document it, of course.
Courtney MaCaire 