If someone had told me in high school that one day I would start a photography business, I would have told them they were crazy. I never even owned a camera until I got pregnant with our first child (unless you count those super cool disposable cameras that we all used in college :) But after I had Addison my whole view of photography changed. I wanted to take quality pictures that captured those special moments and told the story of her life. I looked into photographers and at the time could not afford taking her to a professional, so I decided to learn to do it myself. I had a good point and shoot camera and I learned how to use it for the next three years. If you look at pictures of Addison as a baby you can definitely tell that I was in my learning phase :) In 2009, my sweet husband upgraded my camera and I found a real passion for photography. I often used my own kids as guinea pigs and would spend time setting up photoshoots with them to learn a new aspect of my camera, a new skill, or how to do something else in photoshop. My sweet friends Jennifer, Amy, and Christy (who are all great photographers), would let me ask them questions and helped me so much the past few years learn the art of photography.
Fast forward two years and here I am starting a business. Last summer, I started asking people if I could practice with them...my kids were getting tired of being my models :) Then in October I started doing pictures for family Christmas cards and Santa parties. At the time David was out of work so I started charging a little money, which ended up being a huge blessing at that time. I was able to build up my portfolio, learn from my mistakes, and learn how to take pictures of people from all different ages and stages of life. The other thing I learned though is how much time and money goes into photography... and I now understood why professional photographers prices are much higher than say WalMart or JcPennys. I learned that the work for a photographer is not really spent in the hour or so taking the pictures, but it is spent in the hours upon hours afterwards editing those pictures and making them beautiful. I also learned that photography equipment (lenses, props, backdrops, cameras, etc.) are really expensive, and like with any business you have to upgrade your equipment every few years. If a photographer is going to make any money for their time and equipment they have to charge more. I also learned that I love taking pictures...I love spending time with the families and the children capturing their expressions that are uniquely them.
I am so grateful for all the people and friends that have let me practice and take pictures of them over the past year while I have built my portfolio. It has truly been such a joy for me and I have learned so much about photography, from how to get a cranky two year old to smile to how to try and make the experience of taking pictures a fun and relaxed time for a family. I am happy to say that after one year of taking pictures of others I feel confident in my abilities as a photographer, and that is thanks to all of the people that have allowed me the priviledge of capturing those moments in their lives.
Some of the new changes for Carra Jane Photography are...
I am taking the month of June off from business, and am working on my new pricing for the upcoming year as well as working on some stuff for my website, and mostly just spending a month focusing on my family.
I am working with a new printing company (White House Custom Color). They are wonderful and one of the best printing companies around, so I am very excited about that change to the business.
Now that my portfolio building is over (I have done newborns, families, engagement, maternity, and a wedding) all of my prices are going up, sitting fees and print prices. I have researched prices in the Fayetteville/PTC/Senioa area and still strive to be one of the most affordable on location photographers around, while still being a business that helps my family financially.
I will only be taking 2-3 photoshoots per month. My family is precious to me, and the time I spend with them I cannot get back, so we have prayed about how many photoshoots I can handle in a month and still be the wife and mother God wants me to be to them. Once my slots are filled for the month I will not be taking other photos, so the key will be to schedule early.
I will be starting a facebook page in the next couple of weeks to checkout and send messages through.
Again I am so grateful for the people that have prayed for me and encouraged me as we have started this business. My main goal is to bring glory to God through the talents that He has given me and to show the love of Jesus to those that I meet. Thank you all again!
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
A Physician for the Sick
Okay so it has been a really long time since I have blogged...honestly so much has happened in our lives over the past 3 months that has proven God's faithfulness to me and our family. I will try to spend a few posts writing about David's new job and where God has us and our family later this week or next week, but right now I feel like God has placed something else on my heart to share.
It may not change how anyone else behaves or speaks, but these thoughts keep coming to mind and I know that God is using it to change me and the way that I look at people, so I felt compelled to blog about it :)
Over the past few weeks I have heard or read more on Facebook and in the news about homosexuality than ever before...and I have been so upset by it because honestly there have been so many Christians that are doing more harm than good by the things that they are saying and the way that they are acting about homosexuality. First let me say that I agree homosexuality is a sin, just like lying, cheating, adultery, stealing, gossiping, etc. and I am in no way condoning it or saying that we should not address the sin as a church. But as I keep looking through the Bible I keep running across all these stories of Jesus associating with "sinners" or "unclean" people, and I keep wondering what would Jesus do if he encountered a gay man. In John 4, Jesus meets the woman at the well...first of all he talks to her, which was a big no no for a "good" Jewish man. Talking to a woman would have been bad enough, but a Samaritan woman was worse, and because he later tells that he knows of her adultery it would have been even worse. But the first thing he tells her is not "you are abhorrent...look at how sinful you are!" The first thing He offers her is Living Water! He offers Himself, His love, His grace, and the freedom from the sin that she is so entangled in. He then addresses her sin, he doesn't sweep it to the side but calls her to repentance. But I think that because she saw in Him that day how much He loved her and how He was different it changed her life...she wanted to change because He spoke to her in a way that no one else did...he didn't care that she was a woman, or a Samaritan, or a sinner...he took the time to offer her Himself first before he ever judged her for her sin. Then I have thought about the adulterous woman in John 8...here she is obviously caught in sin and thrown at Jesus feet, and He doesn't throw a stone. Instead he sees the hearts of the Pharisees and puts them in their place by saying "He who is without sin can cast the first stone." Then he goes and offers her grace and her life back. He asks her when all the others have left (Jn. 8:10-11) Jesus stood up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?' she said, 'No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you: go and from now on sin no more." He definitely still adresses her sin but after she knows His love for her and the life He can give. I keep thinking about how mad the Pharisees were that Jesus kept hanging out with those "sinners" and I can honestly say that I don't think that all of those "sinners" would have invited Jesus to their homes or parties if all he did was rant and rave about how "disgusting" and "perverse" their lives were. When Jesus went to Zacheus's house people were mad because Zacheus was taking their money and being dishonest. But after spending time with Jesus, he repented and changed his ways. Jesus continually tell the Pharisees that He came to "seek and save that which was lost" Lk. 19:10 and that "those who are well have no need of a physician but those who are sick." Lk 5:31 When people genuinely encounter Jesus they walk away changed...they want to change because of his love and grace in their lives.
I keep thinking of it in terms of marriage...there are things about me that I am sure David would love to change...one being the fact that I lose everything (keys, phone, etc.) on a weekly basis :) Well lately I have been making an effort to be more responsible of that stuff and change that about myself because I love David and I know it aggravates him at times and I desire to be a better wife. I do that because David loves me unconditionally and I want to change for him. If I didn't know David, I wouldn't care about losing my stuff daily and would be making no effort to change that part of my life. (as all of my past roommates can tell you :) Same with Jesus...when you truly know Him and His deep love for you, you want to change and live a more holy life. I don't expect the lost to act as anything but that...lost. I don't expect them to follow God's laws or have any sense of morality...why would they? They don't know Jesus. It is our job as Christians to get to know them, not just knock on their door and say "do you go to church?", but really genuinely get to know them and show them Jesus and His love.
I keep thinking about the people that I have met or know that are homosexuals.... Many suffered abuse as children some physical, some emotional, and some sexual. (Not all, but a good many) You don't go through something that horrible as a child without it having some impact on your life and the way you view the world. Knowing that, I can look at them with compassion because they are "like sheep without a shepherd"....many lost and hurting. My prayer this week has been that I will see all people as Jesus saw them...as people in desperate need of a Savior. I pray that I will see them as His creation and love them as such....that I will treat all people with the same love that Christ showed the woman at the well. I pray that I won't look down on people as the Pharisees did (because at one time in my life I was just as sick and lost as they are!) It is only by the saving grace of Jesus that I am redeemed! I pray that Christians will take the time to offer Jesus first, to offer the Living Water and the stone not cast before they come at people's sin all hellfire and brimstone. My prayer is that the church will not be Pharisees, but will be like Jesus and follow His example of being a Physician for the sick, showing them their only Remedy instead of just focusing on their disease.
It may not change how anyone else behaves or speaks, but these thoughts keep coming to mind and I know that God is using it to change me and the way that I look at people, so I felt compelled to blog about it :)
Over the past few weeks I have heard or read more on Facebook and in the news about homosexuality than ever before...and I have been so upset by it because honestly there have been so many Christians that are doing more harm than good by the things that they are saying and the way that they are acting about homosexuality. First let me say that I agree homosexuality is a sin, just like lying, cheating, adultery, stealing, gossiping, etc. and I am in no way condoning it or saying that we should not address the sin as a church. But as I keep looking through the Bible I keep running across all these stories of Jesus associating with "sinners" or "unclean" people, and I keep wondering what would Jesus do if he encountered a gay man. In John 4, Jesus meets the woman at the well...first of all he talks to her, which was a big no no for a "good" Jewish man. Talking to a woman would have been bad enough, but a Samaritan woman was worse, and because he later tells that he knows of her adultery it would have been even worse. But the first thing he tells her is not "you are abhorrent...look at how sinful you are!" The first thing He offers her is Living Water! He offers Himself, His love, His grace, and the freedom from the sin that she is so entangled in. He then addresses her sin, he doesn't sweep it to the side but calls her to repentance. But I think that because she saw in Him that day how much He loved her and how He was different it changed her life...she wanted to change because He spoke to her in a way that no one else did...he didn't care that she was a woman, or a Samaritan, or a sinner...he took the time to offer her Himself first before he ever judged her for her sin. Then I have thought about the adulterous woman in John 8...here she is obviously caught in sin and thrown at Jesus feet, and He doesn't throw a stone. Instead he sees the hearts of the Pharisees and puts them in their place by saying "He who is without sin can cast the first stone." Then he goes and offers her grace and her life back. He asks her when all the others have left (Jn. 8:10-11) Jesus stood up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?' she said, 'No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you: go and from now on sin no more." He definitely still adresses her sin but after she knows His love for her and the life He can give. I keep thinking about how mad the Pharisees were that Jesus kept hanging out with those "sinners" and I can honestly say that I don't think that all of those "sinners" would have invited Jesus to their homes or parties if all he did was rant and rave about how "disgusting" and "perverse" their lives were. When Jesus went to Zacheus's house people were mad because Zacheus was taking their money and being dishonest. But after spending time with Jesus, he repented and changed his ways. Jesus continually tell the Pharisees that He came to "seek and save that which was lost" Lk. 19:10 and that "those who are well have no need of a physician but those who are sick." Lk 5:31 When people genuinely encounter Jesus they walk away changed...they want to change because of his love and grace in their lives.
I keep thinking of it in terms of marriage...there are things about me that I am sure David would love to change...one being the fact that I lose everything (keys, phone, etc.) on a weekly basis :) Well lately I have been making an effort to be more responsible of that stuff and change that about myself because I love David and I know it aggravates him at times and I desire to be a better wife. I do that because David loves me unconditionally and I want to change for him. If I didn't know David, I wouldn't care about losing my stuff daily and would be making no effort to change that part of my life. (as all of my past roommates can tell you :) Same with Jesus...when you truly know Him and His deep love for you, you want to change and live a more holy life. I don't expect the lost to act as anything but that...lost. I don't expect them to follow God's laws or have any sense of morality...why would they? They don't know Jesus. It is our job as Christians to get to know them, not just knock on their door and say "do you go to church?", but really genuinely get to know them and show them Jesus and His love.
I keep thinking about the people that I have met or know that are homosexuals.... Many suffered abuse as children some physical, some emotional, and some sexual. (Not all, but a good many) You don't go through something that horrible as a child without it having some impact on your life and the way you view the world. Knowing that, I can look at them with compassion because they are "like sheep without a shepherd"....many lost and hurting. My prayer this week has been that I will see all people as Jesus saw them...as people in desperate need of a Savior. I pray that I will see them as His creation and love them as such....that I will treat all people with the same love that Christ showed the woman at the well. I pray that I won't look down on people as the Pharisees did (because at one time in my life I was just as sick and lost as they are!) It is only by the saving grace of Jesus that I am redeemed! I pray that Christians will take the time to offer Jesus first, to offer the Living Water and the stone not cast before they come at people's sin all hellfire and brimstone. My prayer is that the church will not be Pharisees, but will be like Jesus and follow His example of being a Physician for the sick, showing them their only Remedy instead of just focusing on their disease.
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