It’s been ages since I’ve blogged. For any of you curious, the number one rule of gaining traction on Google and other servers is; BLOGGING. Consistent blogging. Guess what I have always struggled to do; BLOGGING. Why? Well, to be honest, it’s because I truly struggle with writing from the heart while my heart is struggling. The love I have for clients and my photography deserves my best, and when I don’t feel my best, I truly struggle with fears that start to poke a bit at my confidence in a mighty way that most definitely creeps into administrative tasks like blogging and marketing in general for me, that is.

I get it. Erika, stop. No one is asking you to be fixated on blog connection! You’re correct. I acknowledge the world at large doesn’t really ache and pursue authentic and genuine connection least of all on a blog, but I very much do. So here we are with a very long introduction to a very late explanation.

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So what is this change? How did I get here?

I found love. Plain and simple, after decades of knowing I was missing something, authentic and genuine love found me. The lightening strike and cupid’s arrow have nothing on what truly transpired within me. I was not looking. I had no plans. My previous marriage was over and had been for quite a long time. I had decided I would live a single life and continue on. I didn’t know she would find me and challenge everything I had known and been taught of love, loyalty and dedication.

Yes, the love of my life is a woman. No, I didn’t truly grasp what that would mean in Deep South Louisiana. It meant far more to other people than I ever thought possible. Finding and embracing my love story also meant many people and support systems fell apart almost instantly. Every crack was exposed and things fell apart. Once they had, I wondered where I was going.

I surveyed my world and everything in my orbit. I saw things unraveling but one thing remained consistent: the love of my wife. Being loved and loving someone fully opened my eyes and heart to the one thing I have been fully reisitent to. Weddings, guys. Weddings. I never felt I could capture these because it was a language I didn’t understand. I knew how to love, but be loved? No. The mutual exchange of love and respect from my wife weaved a tapestry in me that loves love. I love romantic love for the first time in my life. I want to capture that for people. If there is a way for me to bottle that up for a couple to revisit in a tangible way year after year, then I want to do that.

What about births?

I love birth work. Truly. It has been my heartbeat for over a decade. I will always love birth work. Capturing a woman when she feels her weakest yet showing her the strength she has is passion for me. However, birth work is incredibly involved and time sensitive. I still shoot birth stories, but I am very much limited as my family’s needs have grown and shifted in the last few years. No, I have not abandoned birth photography, but I also have to realize limitations and my family’s needs are priority. A simple shift of making birth my focus to making weddings fill the books a bit more is where my heart is. It is what is best for my family and self currently.

What exactly does Wedding work look like for you?

I spent long days deciding how I fit into “wedding world”. I have been second/third shooters at very large weddings. They were spectacular and gorgeous, but I realized that the type of production was not the best place for me to showcase what I can offer. From the beginning of my business, I thrived in small groups and connections with people. That is quite the opposite of 300 attendee $100,000 weddings. So what did that look like for me? I had a previous client reach out to photograph a small, unplanned elopement. I left that elopement full of joy and hope. It made something click: small weddings and elopements would be such a seamless fit for me. I love the one on one of elopements. I love the pace of a micro wedding and carving out times for creative work at different times of the wedding day. Small weddings are usually understated and built on connection and not the spectacle. I love a spectacle (see my old Wild Clementine shoots), but I fit so perfectly in connection.

After flexing and growing my skills with workflow and the general rhythm of these gorgeous micro weddings and elopements, I have fallen so deeply in love with wedding work. I’d love to do this for as many years as I can.

Final Thoughts

This is my rebirth. This is my finding myself on the other side of the tunnel. This is me embracing all that is me in life and in work. All of this I want to thank Ainslee for. My wife has guided me and loved me into finding who and what I’m truly made of and that has flowed into my work to the fullest.

Thank you, Ainslee for loving me. Thank you for sharing your heart and soul with me day in and out. It’s been almost 5 years of loving you. I truly could not be more grateful and more in love with you. You have made me become even more of myself which I didn’t know was possible. I hope and pray I can love you better every day for all my days. Also, I’m so glad you kicking nursing school bootaaaayyyy! You’re almost done, my love! You’ve got this!