Taking my own advice.

As I was feeding my kids breakfast and shoving some bagel in my own mouth this morning, I did the usually twitter scan. I saw all these posts about a kid named Sterling Davis & major brain surgery so naturally I checked it out. Amazing story & they are still on a crazy ride with Sterling's surgery today - check out their blog. After already having wet eyes, I thought I should check in with libby ryder's story. I was bawling by 7:30 in the morning while watching my kids eat breakfast.

If I am honest, this was a great way to start my day - with prayer, perspective and humility. Prayer for these families, perspective on what I so often dwell upon, and humility to remember who God is and what he has done for me. Today in honor of Sterling and Libby, I choose to celebrate life.

I made it a point to video tape my kids playing this morning and I took my camera to the park! These days pass us quickly and I don't want to forget.

*On the website front..I sigh. My awesome designer hubby had a last minute design project come in over the weekend that was a pressing matter so the website will hopefully happen this week. But I will not obsess today...it will happen.

The shoemaker's son always goes barefoot

Ever hear that saying before? It pretty much means a skilled or knowledgeable person commonly neglects to give his own family the benefit of his expertise. GUILTY! It's super sad but I've realized that I have taken more and way better pictures of other people's children than my own this last year. That's terrible isn't it? Well there's a few reason that this has happened over the last year. Mostly it's because I am the mommy and not just the photographer! I am busy meeting my kids every needs and keeping our lives together. In all honesty, and this is HARD TO SAY, there isn't even a great picture of my two kids from their first birthday party. Their first birthday party for heaven sakes! Why? Because I was the party planner, hostess, mommy, etc & photographer fell way down on that list that day.

It's sad to me. I thought that I would just spend most of their first year of life smiling at them and taking pictures along the way. Instead I have been overwhelmed with what it means to be a mom, homemaker, and businesswoman. All of these are wonderful things that I cherish, but they can often be big shoes to fill. I am trying to make a commitment as we move forward to make time to photograph these sweet babies (who are more like kids now)! I need to schedule them in like any other photo shoot and be intentional about it - and hire an assistant to help me :) I also can't be so hard on myself, it's OK at times to grab the point and shoot to capture quick moments in our lives. Ahhh..feels good to confess this, get it out there, and hopefully move on into a future full of many more Troutman memories that I am intentional about capturing. Thanks for listening internet friends!

Behind the Scenes and Bookings

Hey reader friends! For those of you following me on twitter or facebook, you know I went to my 10 year high school reunion over the weekend & had SO MUCH FUN! Here's a pic of some of the gang...

I know that the blog has been a little slow, but it's August, everything is allowed to be slow! I kid, I kid. Anyhow, I have been working on putting finishing touches on my website which will hopefully be launched over the weekend. It's been a long time coming but I have been happy with this little blog but ready to take the leap into a more professional site. Ok more on that soon....

As for BOOKING A SESSION - are you interested in family photos this fall? Are you a senior entering high school and need a senior lifestyle photo shoot? I am now booking for fall since I am already filling up and busy with weddings through October. Email me if you want more info, emilytroutmanphoto@gmail.com.

Photo Tip - No Glossy!

One pet peeve I have.... glossy finish on photos. I think that this happens to everyone who goes through fine art school, glossy is a no no. Think about it, every finger print or crinkle shows right up! So friends today's photo tip is to please, always order luster finish on your prints. I think the only time glossy is OK is on a beautiful metallic paper. Of course, if you are ordering professional printing, there are lots of pretty options like linen finish or a matte paper. Please just no more run of the mill glossy finish - you will thank me.

Mommy Inspiration for Monday Morning

I woke up today and felt a bit like I was on a merry go 'round with another week beginning. Where do I start? Clean my house, go to the bank, go grocery shopping, attend to my photo business needs, look at the tedious to do list that includes dealing with insurance issues.....I wanted to pull the covers back up over my face! Of course as I heard the sweet giggles and squeals coming from the twins room, that was not an option. My feet hit the floor and I hit the ground running - right to the coffee pot. I was thankfully reminded though that I have "been given fullness in Christ" (Col 2: 10) and that it's going to be OK. One step at a time.

I am also pulling inspiration from a mother of 7 and an encouragement to me, Cortney Novogratz, "Whether it’s one child or ten, all of us as mothers are doing the same thing – it’s a balancing act. If my two daughters go on to become mothers, they’ll be the same: you have to have some kind of outlet. You have to have something to call your own. Because when the kids have all left home you still want to be living a full life. And it’s very exciting to have something that you love and you are able to earn money from. The satisfaction and rewards you get from that help to make the juggling act easier." It's good for me to be concerned with the matters of my household but also a great thing to pursue my own dreams of running a business. So mama's out there - what do you want to pursue today?

Sweet Shiloh

Oh the sweetness of a new little one! :) Shiloh is just over a week old and sweet as she can be. She didn't seem to be bothered by me taking pictures of her or moving her around or even the few wardrobe changes we did to her! It's always fun for me to get to do a newborn shoot, but especially for good friends it means all the more. As always, I am honored when a friend asks me to capture their life moments, especially a new addition. I bet you will just want to reach in these pictures and grab her little cheeks..I know I did! Congrats Curtis, Shawna, Caanan and Charis on the newest addition to your great family!

My Meghan (& Matt, of course)...

It's going to be hard to keep this one brief, both in words and pictures. Meghan blew into my life 3 years ago. I had met her in passing before that because we had friends in common but really started getting to know her a few years ago. I discovered she was sort of a mini- version of myself (sorry meg if that's not a good thing :). We got annoyed at the same types of things, laughed at the same ridiculous things and shared a deep affinity for starbucks...hey I think many a relationship has been built on less! We quickly became good friends. I always felt like we were on a peer level but I took on a big sister type role with meghan while she was at UD. There's lots I could say of course but for the sake of that brevity, I will just say that she is a "forever friend." A forever friend is the kind that you can always call a friend no matter where your lives take you. You will always be connected. You will always have a part of you that is joined with them.
Needless to say it was a great honor when she asked me to photograph her wedding and an even greater honor in actually doing so. It's an amazing thing, to be the one capturing the life moments, the little time capsules that people will look back on to remember. I always walk into a wedding day thinking "these are the pictures these people's grandchildren will look at" - it's a great dose of humility and a challenge for me. As with anything, it can feel routine for a photographer at times but reminding myself that for each couple this is THEIR moment...it never gets routine then. And then later I have my own moments as I first look at the images and start editing them. There was this one picture from this wedding that seemed to say it all to me, it literally took my breath away. It might not do that for others, but for me, knowing Matt & Meghan....it was the ONE. I love being able to do that for people, being a part of one of the biggest days of their life. So without more writing I will attempt the pictures that should be worth thousands of words :) Best wishes Mr. & MRs. KING!!!!!!!!!!!

Enjoy the epic post... I really struggled on this one to choose...I just about put up a slide show of all of 'em :)

Bowman!

Hey friends - vacation was great (more on that later) but it already seems long gone since getting home yesterday at 2am :) I am back in full swing and working on a session I did right before I left. Sweet Bowman is 6 months old and was SUCH a good sport doing an outside shoot in a billion degree weather. He laughed, smiled, wiggled and sat up like a big boy! You can definitely see why his parents are so smitten with him. Enjoy!