Dear Abby.... I Need Advice | Hampton Roads Personal Blog

Hi!

A couple of weeks ago I made an announcement over on the facebook page that my Summer schedule is going to be a bit compressed this year as my husband is going to deploy {hopefully you saw it!}. I didn't plan on making that announcement quite so early but since I have received a number of bookings for May and into June I thought it was best to give as much of a heads up as possible.

Sooooo in case you didn't see the announcement: heads up! ;)

Since I have a number of followers who are military members and spouses I thought I'd bare a bit of my soul in hopes of maybe getting some feedback.

You see, this is going to be our very FIRST deployment as a couple and well... I'm not sure how I feel!

I'm definitely a mixture of "we have a REALLY long time before he's gone, this ain't no thang" and "oh my gosh I am SUPER not looking forward to this" mashed together with "......{tight knot in my stomach}..... {blank face}." And all of those are really dependent upon what day it is. There's no telling how I'll feel each day of the week or even each time someone asks me about it!

Like I said: I'm not really sure how I feel right now.


When we first got married my husband ended up having to leave for some training just THREE WEEKS after our wedding and we ended up 900 miles apart for the first eight months of our marriage. {Lucky ducks we were that we had chosen the wedding date we did, right?! haha Little did we know the Air Force would be yanking him away so soon after!} So thus far we've pretty much been resting on the mentality that "hey we've been apart for long periods of time before- easy peasy lemon squeezy, right?!"

But it's totally not the same thing.
I know that.
And he knows that.

So if I've learned ANYTHING from my military spouse friends it's the following:

1. I'll be fine. I won't die. My life won't crumble.

2. Things. WILL. Break.
Or stop working. Or fall out of my ceiling. Or move into my attic. or or or. But in short everything decides to stop working almost as soon as your active duty spouse has boots on the ground. (amiright?!)

3. I should stay busy. 

Busyness helps the time pass and keeps me feeling productive and positive.

4. I will have lonely and sad days {and that's ok!}.

 5. Keep communication open and don't be surprised when some days I have nothing to talk about with my husband.

6. Surround myself with goodness and positive people

{that's YOU guys!! No pressure ;) }

7. Don't watch the news.
I will- without fail- think every story is really about my husband and where he is located. So just don't watch the news.

OK soooo that's all I've got.

Any other advice or suggestions any of my seasoned Sarah Elle Photography family members have for me??? And on top of that I'd LOVE to hear advice from the active duty member on what you need from your spouse while you're gone! I could totally use any and all suggestions- so lay 'em on me!

With love and thanks,

Sarah

This is us last year at the Zac Brown Band show for our anniversary. Heeeey!

Married & Phobic | 9 Goals for a Hampton Roads Portrait Photographer

Hi!

I'm married and I couldn't be happier- but the truth? I'm a commitment phobe!

It's true. When it comes to really setting things down in stone and deciding "hey this is what I'm going to do" and truly OWNING that decision: I am a total scare-d-cat! I hem. I haw. I ramble. I avoid at ALL COSTS and then finally...I JUMP!

So here I go. I am officially going to outline my goals for Sarah Elle Photography for 2014. (I avoided this last year and again avoided it this year until I was faced by a fellow tog friend who said JUST DO IT- thanks Tianna. Plus I have a good friend I meet with via skype every 2-3 weeks who forces me to set goals for the business and be held accountable for them- I officially dubbed her my accountabilibuddy :) So I kind of sort of owe it to our time together to actually make 2014 goals. See...here I go rambling and avoiding again...)

JUMP:

1. Get 3 Senior Agents for the Class of 2015
- I have found over this past year of business that I am absolutely over the moon in love with working with High School Juniors/Seniors. L-O-V-E it! So I really want to focus that love and energy and get 3 Agents this coming year (I had one this past year). 

2. Book 6 "I Love You" Sessions

- These are the "just because I love you" sessions that are such an incredible treat that very few people give themselves. They go hand in hand with my "Life: As it is" sessions where couples book a session just because they want updated pictures or it's their 6th anniversary-- no huge milestone, simply love that needs to be captured :)

3. Styled Senior

- I have this huge vision for a styled Senior shoot and believe it or not it's already in the works-- adding it the list means now I have to make sure it happens!

 

4. Streamline My Workflow

- Basically this means I want to keep things consistent. I plan to have a "start to finish" process I follow for each session and each client with whom I work. This *should* (aka WILL) help me be more efficient and in turn be able to spend more time with my family (Charlie Dog has been complaining to my husband as of late...)

5. NAIL DOWN BRANDING

- It's time to truly focus and begin confirming who SEP is and expressing that through my branding. I'm really looking forward to nailing this down in 2014 and implementing it throughout the Sarah Elle Photography experience.

which leads me to number 6:

6. Packaging

-My  next huge goal after I figure out my branding will be to express that through my packaging. I want nothing more than to be able to deliver your images and prints in the cutest most unique packaging anyone has ever seen-- figuring out what that is requires number 5 (above)--so this one is on serious hold for now. But since it's on the list it's official and I'm holding myself to it!

7. Get Published

- This is a very new one for me. It's easy for me to tell people "you won't win if you don't play" but when it comes to actually submitting my own stuff I'm all over the place. So there. It's on the list. Now I have to keep submitting sessions for publication-- no excuses!

8. Shoot 4 Installments of "Life: As it is"

I love this project of mine SO much. But I'm so sad because I feel like it has been pushed a little to the side after the first shoot this past Fall. Whether it's been because of other sessions and being "too booked" at the moment or weather pushing back a shoot and it end up having to be canceled or what have you-- it's been pushed aside for too long and I am going to make sure it continues.

9. One-on-One Mentoring

This past year I did a Q&A, a "Sounding Board Session," and a one-on-one mentoring session and I was floored at how rejuvenating and EYE-OPENING they each were! It is a serious investment in myself as a photographer and as a business owner that I feel shouldn't be overlooked- so I am going to book another one-on-one session in 2014!

So there are 9 HUGE goals for 2014 for SEP. Whenever I make concrete decisions like this I usually feel a little sick at first (and it really peaks when I hit that "OHMYGOSHWHATDIDIDO" moment) but then, almost immediately, joy and excitement and pride flood in to me with having truly owned who I am and what I want for me (and for finally making a decision)! And having actually written out my goals for 2014 and owned them? Well, now I'm  over the nerves and avoidance and ready to go!

Today is 12/5/2013. I'm officially ready to take Sarah Elle Photography and OWN 2014. 

Here goes nothing!

Best,
Sarah

That Time I Was a Bit Irrational... | Hampton Roads Client

Hi!

This past Saturday was one of the days I look forward to every single year: it was the day of my and John's anniversary photo shoot! We are about to celebrate our anniversary (this week!) and, simply because it makes me happy, John dresses up EVERY YEAR and puts on a smile for pictures (remember how much I've harped about documenting life as it is- this is one of those times!).

For whatever ridiculous reason I decided I simply HAD to wear a yellow cardigan for our pictures.

It gets worse.

I then randomly saw an emerald green shirt somewhere in the weeks leading up to our session and decided I HAD to wear an emerald green BLOUSE (not just a shirt, but a blouse).... and a yellow cardigan.

It gets even worse.

It couldn't just be a plain emerald green blouse. It had to have frills, or stripes, or bows, or a sash. It couldn't simply be a plain emerald green blouse (anyone think I'm crazy, yet?).

Oh hey, guess what? I DON'T OWN either of these things.

 John is a seriously patient man (oh my goodness did I luck out when I met that man) so he offered to go with me to help me find my crazy specific outfit. All men everywhere are going "noooo, man, get out now! danger! danger!" but John survived. I think. I mean, he's still here, so....

But of course, because my "needs" were so specific I did not find anything when we went shopping. So a few days later I went back by myself- and spent TWO hours in the same store scouring EVERYTHING. I came home with 7 options (none of which were emerald green in color) and by the morning had decided none of them were what I wanted. (Ok now I'M feeling like a crazy person putting this all out in words)

We are now 2 days from the session.

Clients, I am FEELING for you right now. I totally know what it's like to throw everything out of your closet on to your bed trying to decide exactly what you want to wear- even worse if you're bringing more than one outfit for an outfit change!

John at this point is still very patient (see how we have reached yet ANOTHER wedding anniversary? It's totally because I'm 90% crazy and he's only about 2%) and offers to take me to a different mall before we meet friends for dinner. At this point I've let go of my green and yellow combo requirements and simply was desperate to find something I would be excited to wear to the shoot.

When I woke up the next morning to get ready for our session I realized that letting go of my requirements enabled me to find exactly what I had been dreaming about- the perfect outfit.

 Yes, it is yellow and green. But it's not emerald green. And it isn't a blouse; in fact, it's 100% cotton t-shirt! And it doesn't have stripes, it has polka dots. But every single other thing I had purchased (and have to remember to return to the store) was not yellow or green or any other silly thing I thought I needed. What I found was that all I "needed" was to let go of "needs" and find something that I felt incredible wearing. And you know what? I did :)

Thank you to my friend, Ashley, of Luke&Ashley for our fantastic and oh so "us" anniversary photos.

Best,
Sarah