Fun at Your I.T.

Local business. That term makes me proud and excited. Maybe because I am one, or maybe because of all the awesome ones we have here in the OKC area. But, the chance to photograph one, Your I.T.  had me even more excited! 

I primarily shoot family and kid portraits, so maybe it was the prospect of only shooting adults, or maybe it was the Asteroids wall that greeted me when I walked in the door. Either way, I was happy to be there and giving this small business some head shots, action shots, and team shots for them to use to promote their business. 

 I got a message from Kari, the owner with her husband Chris, the night before asking if I could come and do some head shots for Chris. He was going to have an article published in OKC BIZ magazine and he needed a headshot to go along with his article. I said: So you are offering me a job and to kinda get published all in one swoop? I am in! I don't know if the above shot will make it in the magazine, but it did make Chris's profile pic, so that's fun. :)

Being a small business myself, there was something just so wonderful about visiting these 3 people that were making a dream happen. They are on their 4th year as a growing small business, and if I could have even half of the success that they are having I would be a happy girl. Such applause to you guys for making this dream of a small business happen, so seriously inspiring. Hats off to you! 

There was snow on the ground this day, and the sky was a beautiful soft box. Kari asked if I would do a few of just her and Chris and I was MORE than happen to take advantage of the beautiful light outside to give them a few wonderful couple photos. These are the advantages of owning your own small business, you can squeeze in a mini couple session into your business session! Love it!

Thank you Your I.T. for having me out. I enjoyed this so much, and cannot wait to be hired by more small business to give them quality photography that they can use to promote and succeed. Exciting stuff. :) 

Bethany First Church Recreation: Basketball

It was time again to help make some memories for some young basketball players at Bethany First Church's Recreation. I have been blessed with this opportunity to do these sports photos for almost a year now. It is a long morning, a marathon session. I shoot 17 teams in a 4 hour period. It gets pretty crazy. But, somehow we make it all work. 

I have my wonderful assistant (my hubs) with me during these sports shoots to help with taking order forms and dealing with all the monies, so that I can focus on just taking the photos. I started doing these photos for this organization last spring. There are a handful of kids that have played every sport I have shot, and for some reason this time they all looked like they had grown up and changed so much! I enjoy getting to see that. 

Thanks to Scott Regester and the rest of the BFC rec team for being so supportive of me, and especially thanks to the parents for being patient with me as we get your kiddos through the lines and on their way. So grateful. 

... Heather

New Logo and Deep Thoughts...

So, here it is my revamped, simplified logo!
I love it.
It reminds me of how Starbucks de-cluttered and simplified their logo a few years ago.

I am a part of an online photography community called: ReStart. It is a community of photographers that are committed to making the most of their photography business. Jasmine Star, a photographer and overall awesome person, is the leader of this "movement." She teaches a series of online classes called ReStart that help photographers look at their businesses with a critical eye and make the changes needed for them to be successful.

I recently posted in ReStart's Facebook group, my old logo:

I was asking for feedback about what people thought about it. The first couple of responses were a bit depressing. I was told that I looked like I only do real estate photography. Yea, that is not what I am going for. So, I turned Facebook off and tried not to slip into complete defeat. 

Later that night I turned it back on, and noticed I had received a post about my logo from the Web Designer that helped teach the last installment of ReStart. My heart stopped, she is about to really rip a part my logo, I just know it. This was her post:

I literally (you can ask my husband) jumped up off of the couch and pumped my arms in the air, and then went in the bathroom and cried. Happy tears. I just felt like I had been given this incredible gift. I critique from an AMAZING web designer, and then a REVAMPED version of my logo! I was speechless for a good 30 minutes as I finished my Scrabble game on the iPad with my hubs. 

I finally calmed down enough to respond to the post and thank this woman for the generous gift of her encouraging words and help. 

This business is so personal. My logo was hand drawn by me. The 3 windows on the front of the house represent my 3 kiddos. The 2 windows on the side rep me and my hubs. And the door is drawn after this awesome red door on a little chapel in the Paseo district that I LOVE. My logo is personal, every photo that I take is personal. It is my art, a part of me. 

It is hard for me to not take the negative as a personal attack. It is really hard. I try to keep perspective, but somedays it is hard. This day was hard for me after putting myself out there with my logo for the critique of over 8,000 people. But, at the end of the day I was given the only critique that mattered. A trusted voice supported me and I was over the moon. 

This SO translates into real life for me. There are days when I feel like every voice is against me. And all I need is to listen to the One, True, trusted voice. The only One that really matters. Can I hear an AMEN? ;) 

Man, so this blog turned out to be WAY deeper than I expected when I started it. But, it is what it is. Thanks for reading and coming along with me...

...Heather

How I decided on this backdrop for Easter...

Happy Monday Everyone!

It can't be time to be thinking about Easter already can it? Well, as a photographer that has to plan her life at least a month out it is. I have to give myself enough time to dream up my backdrop, execute it, shoot some examples with my own kids in it, post those examples, get people booked for the mini sessions, shoot the mini sessions, edit the mini sessions, produce the mini sessions, deliver the mini sessions. ALL in enough time for you to make or order prints to give to your family and friends by Easter.
    Hmmmm, maybe a month and a half would be more like it. :)

So, this last weekend I put together my backdrop for Easter. First off, you must know this about me: If it is traditional or normal or expected, I don't do that. I like to have a unique perspective on life and things. So, when coming up with my backdrop, bunnies and pastels were not going to dominate.

I have recently really tried to hone in on what my esthetic is as a photographer. I was challenged in a photog community that I am a part of to create a collage of photos that I had taken that I feel represent the look and feel of photos I really love. Here is my collage:

This process was so interesting for me to see the things that really pull on my photog heart. Obviously yellows and blues are the most common hues. And then a lot of nature and life. And then there was coffee on my coffee table. I wanted to paint a real picture of what I love. ;)

So, I had this collage in the back of my mind when creating my backdrop for this year's Easter sessions.  I love trees, especially twiggy ones, especially ones that are painted one of my favorite colors. So, I went with those and hung the cutest little speckled yellow eggs from the branches. I chose a bold dark aqua with tiny white "egg" looking detail for my fabric backdrop. Here is what it looks like with my buddy modeling for me...

I love doing these mini sessions, I don't have to worry about the wind or weather, because they are done in my in home studio. But, I will be honest I am very eager for Spring and to get back outside in the natural backdrops that I REALLY love. So, come this spring if you see some photographer with blonde hair skipping through the Myriad gardens or Martin Nature Park or the Paseo, that is me I am just happy to be back in the great outdoors! 

...Heather

My Heart Day...

I got to choose my Valentine's Day night night. I chose the Tuesday before Valentine's Day. Can anyone recall what happened that Tuesday? Oh yes, we had the most random snow storm drop about 5 inches of snow here in OKC. In the midst of this spring like Winter, it sure did seem random. But, the roads were fine, and my sister in law's (aka the babysitters) are awesome and agreed to come anyways so that me and the hubs could have ourselves a V-day Date!

We chose Kaiser's (http://www.kaisersbistro.com/kaisersbistro/Home.html) in downtown OKC. Raise your hand if you have heard of this place? As soon as I walked in I got mad. Yea, MAD. I have live in OKC my whole life and I have rarely heard of this place, and this was my first time there! This place has been there since 1910! Yea! It opened 3 years after Oklahoma became a state! (You are welcome for that free Oklahoma History lesson) This place smelled like fresh ice cream, and something being fried. A beautiful stained glass adorned one side of the restaurant toward the ceiling. Oh yea, and the ceilings? They were something to look at as well. Beautiful. OH WAIT, the bragging continues! I had not gotten my food yet...

 

I reluctantly ordered the "Bison Burger" because I was looking forward to that Ice Cream and wanted to get a little bit of a healthier option. But, I did not want it to taste funky. ;) Funky it was NOT. It was awesome, I would have sworn they got our order mixed up and gave us beef, but we were like 2 of the whole 4 people in the place at the time. It was SO good, and the sweet potato fries? Dang. 

 

We topped it all off with this awesome sundae. Because, you have to. It is Valentine's and you are at Kaiser's. Our ice cream in our sundae was house made chocolate, red velvet, and salted caramel. Yep, enough said. 

I would LOVE to take photos in this place sometime soon. So, enjoyed my snowy evening with my honey in this fantastic place. 

You can follow me on Instagram and check out a few more photos... My Instagram name is: houseonahill27

...Heather

Flight Basketball Photos...

This is my second year to be able to "shoot" (haha, cheesy basketball/photog humor) the Yukon Flight Basketball team. I little girl used to play soccer with 3 of these boys, and it was fun just to see them and how big they had gotten in a year's time. So much energy these young boys have. My goodness. :)

Coach and Son. Gotta have this pose. Especially when you have an awesome red mohawk. 

Thank you Flight for having me out again to do your photos. I hope the rest of your season is fun, and that I can see you again next season! 

...Heather