As I mentioned a while back, in early April, I attended a workshop for wedding photography. I have admired Katelyn‘s work forever and I just wanted to start the year fresh. I have felt my heart moving more and more towards weddings in the last year. So when the workshop dates for 2015 went live back in November, I grabbed a spot. I didn’t go to the workshop with any expectations really, but I knew that I would walk away with so much that I never expected…and I was right. I have been to a few workshops in my day and some are great, some are just not. Katelyn’s workshop is by far the best around. She is so open and I found myself tearing up right along with her on so many occasions. She shares her WHY of this business and as her words hit my heart, I finally KNEW why I was there.

Over the years in business, I have learned a lot about lighting, posing, editing, and handling the accounting, taxes, orders and album designs. I feel confident in my business, yet something has always been missing. And I never knew WHAT.

This is going to be a bit of a vulnerable post for me. But the last few years of my life have been a complete roller coaster. Personally we have been through a lot. And my business has been riding right along with me. In 2013, my life took a pretty big change. My husband suddenly lost most of his hearing due to an auto-immune reaction to an ear infection. For weeks we didn’t know what had happened. We sat through bloodwork, tests, steroid and harsh antibiotic treatments, and even a MRI. We prayed it wasn’t a tumor, we feared so much. The fear of losing him sent me into a complete panic. I had spent my entire adult life being his wife and I wasn’t going to be able to do it on my own. Shortly after, we found out we were expecting our fifth child. It was such an emotional time in my life. My husband’s passion is music. And he put that passion on hold for years to take a safe job to support our family. And now his passion was completely ripped from him. I watched him battle for months with depression and I saw him feel defeated. We had no answers as to WHY it happened and no help in the recovery of hearing loss. His steroids made him a rollercoaster of emotions on top of his depression. He didn’t sleep hardly any, he was upset all the time. I couldn’t fix this. After missing 4 months of work an accumulating a huge pile of medical bills, we made the hard decision for him to leave his job permanently. It was the scariest thing we have ever faced. We have five kids to support and his job was the secure income. We battled months of paperwork getting him officially on disability and blew through our savings in the process. My job that was once for fun, was now the main source of income for our family.

That season in my life changed me. During it, I couldn’t focus on work. I couldn’t leave my husband’s side. We began our “couch dates” during this time. We would watch an entire season of a show in one night. Mostly because the steroids kept him hopped up and he couldn’t sleep. So I powered through the night with him. During the days when he finally crashed, I was up caring for our children and fitting in work when I could. I started to resent my work somewhat because it took me away from him. I wanted to spend every waking moment by his side because he needed me and I just needed to be near him. But the reality is, I couldn’t do that. I prayed so many nights for a clear path for us to follow. I knew God had to have some greater plan in all of this.

As 2014 started, we adjusted to our new normal. We got a semi-normal sleep routine back and Travis took a secondary job doing landscape. I found myself  being more and more drawn to weddings. My passion for this business was back and stronger than ever. I started to fall in love with work all over again. And until the workshop, I didn’t know why. But my marriage went through one of the biggest challenges we have ever faced. And we came out stronger. Marriage is by far the most important thing I hold in my life. My husband is my complete support system. Our marriage has defined our lives. Naturally, my heart follows a career that holds marriage so high as well.

I told Travis after I got home from this workshop that I knew what God has planned. I finally know my WHY to this business. Why I do this. Why this career means so much to me. Marriage is everything to me. And Weddings are the place where it all begins. It is such an honor to be a part of that beginning. To bear witness to two people pledging their lives to one another. I believe with all my heart that marriage is worth it. I believe in love. I hope that in my journey of wedding photography that I can not only earn the honor of documenting the most important day of two people’s lives but that I can also give them hope that marriage is the best investment you can make.

Not only does this career enable me to follow my passion for photographing LOVE, it also provides for my family and allows me to let my husband find a piece of his happiness again. We believe that teamwork is the only approach to our life together. We work toward ONE common goal- happiness together. And my job makes me so completely happy and allows him to chase a dream he didn’t even know he had until God opened this door for us. I am thankful for this challenge we have faced. I am grateful for the way God used Katelyn’s workshop to put my heart in the right place. And I am forever indebted to all of my clients for allowing me into the best day of your life. I am truly honored.

Here are a few behind the scene shots of the workshop. I will be sharing the beautiful styled shoot in the future! 🙂

photo courtesy of Katelyn James

photo courtesy of Katelyn James 

And my headshots courtesy of Katelyn!

 

Thank you Katelyn, Michael and Bokeh for opening your home and your heart to all of us!