What I’m Doing

Senior Session at the beach!  Not to toot my own horn but I am thrilled with how these pictures have turned out!

Wedding Planning! Date set, venue chosen, photographer hired – a lot has happened in this first week. We are excited! 

Celebrating another birthday! Happy birthday to my Mom! She is the last of the September birthdays in our immediate family! 

What I’m Photographing

Beach Session- Oh my goodness!!! One of my biggest stresses as a photographer is the weather! I feel responsible for it which is ridiculous! However, that is the way I’m wired. Jaimee’s beach session had perfect weather in-spite of a forecast that told otherwise. I am so thankful Jaimee’s mom Davina was willing to go forward with hauling the horse all the way to the beach even when the forecast said 100% rain. 

As soon as they arrived the weather calmed down and the light was perfect!!! We quickly began the shoot and I kept squealing with delight because I could not believe after driving through a monsoon this was happening!!! 

Jaimee has such a sweet spirit and was also unconcerned with the weather. She said she believes in just taking life as it comes. I love that! Her gorgeous Arabian, named Mouse, was also a rock star! So well behaved ! This was his first trip to the beach and he handled it like the champion he is! He just became the Canadian National Champion in Manitoba and has won a bunch of other awards. 

I fell in love with this location! The mossy trees, sandy paths leading up to bluffs over looking the sea and the beautiful beaches! A dream come true!

Lewisville Park – Last night I met Trey. He is a Senior at BG High School. His Grandmother told me he wasn’t excited about having his pictures taken and that he was shy. My goal for each session is to keep it relaxed and fun! Trey did such a good job! We did have a fun time and were blessed with perfect weather. The only disappointment was that because of all of our recent rain we weren’t able to shoot out on the river as usual. The river was as full as it is in May!

My {current} Favorite.

Staying organized! 

Life is coming at me fast a furious and I know the only way I can handle it without making those around me miserable is if I stay on top of my to-dos. Having a flexible schedule can make it tough to stay organized. Yesterday I woke up with plenty of time on my schedule for editing and writing this blog. By 10am I had added making apples juice from our apples, a client meeting, a toilet overflowing at the studio (clean up, calling and waiting for landlord to come fix it) which quickly pushed out the editing and blogging time. So the blogging and editing didn’t start until 8pm. 

What I’m Reading

The Matriarch
———-
Barbara Bush and The Making of an American Dynasty

I love to read Autobiographies or Biographies. My earliest memories of checking out books in the library fell into this category.
I finished this book last weekend FINALLY. It was a challenge and I plowed my way through it. I gave it 2 stars on Goodreads. Why? I found the author to be so repetitive. Countless times I read about how Barbra was devoted to her husband, a trusted adviser of his, sensitive to being labeled as a grandmotherly type and not contributing to the world in any real way. That she was blunt and unforgiving and fiercely protective of those she loved. 

While I enjoyed reading the examples of all these things I just didn’t need the author to state them over and over and over again. Give me some credit for reading between the lines as the story is told. Also, the book jumped all over the place. I prefer when reading a story about someone’s life for it to be chronological. 

So while I do admire Barbara and I think it’s a fascinating life I did not enjoy this author’s telling of it. 

I have just started on this months book club choice Eagle & Crane by Suzanne Rindell

Goal Check

Newsletters – September was my 6th newsletter. I have kept up with my monthly commitment and I’m getting some nice feedback. I love having the opportunity to reach out to those who aren’t on social media. However, even for those of you who show up here each week SFP News always have unique content and special offers shared only there. So if you’re interested and not on the list here is a link to sign up.

Booking more seniors – I said out loud and on this blog https://shellyfryphotography.com/my-everyday/northwest-adventure-awaits-shelly-fry-photography that I had a goal of booking more seniors this year and hooray it is happening! We are just rolling into the super busy months and I’m ready. Bring them on!

weekly blog – So since I began this weekly commitment I have only missed one week. There have been a few others where they were written in a rushed panic out of shear determination to not miss my goal. I need to get better at starting each week’s blog earlier in the week. I have found that even when I just jot down a rough outline it goes so much better!

Showing up – Staying on a schedule is super important to me. My schedule changes wildly from week to week because I need to be flexible for when my clients are available but I also need time to work on writing blogs and newsletters, editing, emailing with clients, paying bills and all that comes with running a business by yourself. 

I make my schedule as it comes at me but at the beginning of each week I sit down and make sure I know what is on my calendar and add to my calendar my must dos. …which of course include all that comes with taking care of a home, family members and yourself. Now we add some wedding to do’s on top of it! 

Thanks for reading this weeks blog friends. I always welcome any feedback, comments, jokes, inspiration you have!

Shelly