two things.

One of the very first things I read on the day I started my business, was that there are only so many different types of cameras. There are only so many lenses, or places to order your business cards from, or ways to pose two people in love.

I learned early on that you can't base your business off what type of gear you use and how much you paid for it. Nor can you base your business off the award winning photos you've submitted, or the workshops you've attended. 

It has to be something bigger than that...

It has to come down to the reason WHY you do what you do, and for me, this comes down to two things.

My brother's wedding, and my Beans.

I'm going to flash back to seven years ago...June 25th, 2005. It was the hottest day I think I've ever encountered (yes, even after last week!), but also one of the happiest. My brother was FINALLY getting married to his perfect match, after something like NINE YEARS of dating. 

I was just a little nugget at the time, but I remember their wedding like it was yesterday. It was a loooong day filled with amazing memories, from the time we woke up, until the very last dance. 

The only downer, was that their photographer had us doing formal shots for close to 2 hours, in the bright sun, in the scorching heat. It was painful. It was very "Okay now let's add so-and-so. Smile! Now let's remove so-and-so. Smile! Okay now let's have you and so-and-so switch sides. SMILE!"

Those two hours were the least enjoyable two hours of the wedding day, and yet...those formal photos were close to 75% of what Scott and Rebecca received after their wedding day.

When I close my eyes and think of what their wedding day looked like, it looks absolutely nothing like their photos. 

Oh yeah, and did I mention they received their photos in 4x6 PRINTS?!?! Which means anytime they wanted to share a photo they had to scan it, further reducing its quality... Just stop me before this turns into a full on rant about 4x6 prints.

Now, onto my second thing. My Beans.

He's a very happy person as long as he's well-fed, and no one is pointing a camera at him. 

During our six years together, I became quite skilled at the art of candid photographs because, well...I needed to:

This deep-rooted-photo-hatred became the norm. My default. Unless otherwise told, I believed that every male hated having his photo taken, and would rather be doing ANYTHING else, even if the alternative was something gross or painful.

Now, if you combine my experience at Scott and Rebecca's wedding with my life with Mr. Don't-Take-My-Picture, you'll get a pretty good idea of what the foundation of my business is:

Beautiful photographs, 100% pain free.

And so, I created a business that centres around happy brides and grooms, who actually get to EAT their hors d'oeuvres and DRINK the cocktails at their cocktail hour. Brides and grooms who end up with photographs that reflect what actually went down on their wedding day, from beginning to end.

And because this day marks Scott and Rebecca's 7th wedding anniversary and Beans' 23rd birthday, I figured it was only fair to thank them for their contributions to my business (since they already know how much they have contributed to my life in every other way).  

Happy Anniversary you crazy kids <3 

And happy Birthday, Beans. There are simply no words to say 

how much I truly love you. And your camera faces.