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.

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?

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 :)

Friday Confessions - Vacation Edition

1. I waited until the last minute to pack today because I truthfully am not a fan of a lot of my clothes right now. I packed my favorite trusty outfits and pray that they fit the vacation needs :) I mean really, it's a beach vacation so I will spend 90% of the time in my bathing suit (another dreadful thought :)

2. My husband is the man - got the car all packed. I really should've taken a picture of all the stuff he got in the back of the highlander!

3. My poor dog used to be like my baby, now he left the house to go on his own vacation at my in-laws and I didn't even say goodbye, sorry Doz.

4. I love traveling and getting to eat whatever I want on the road (remember that I think McD's is awesome). Vacation calories are free :)

5. Got some good books packed and I am hoping I will actually get to read them!

6. Swore I wouldn't let my kids get addicted to the tv in the car.....thank goodness for the DVD Player :) I am sure it's going to be our life saver during this ride!

7. Although I love what I do, I will be happy to put my photo business on hold for a week. I know there are a couple of you waiting on me from your sessions, you will just have to be held over with your sneak peeks & trust that it's worth the wait!!

8. My husband and I disagree in driving styles and directions...18 hour car ride what?!! pray for us :)

9. I have a coupon for a free starbucks drink that I can wait to hit up before we leave tonight :) not sure which delightful drink I will choose!


Have a happy week friends and we will be back in action the first week of August! August!?? WHen did you get here?? :)

Friday Confessions...

I think that weekly confessions are sort of cathartic so I will try to keep them up. Here goes for today!

1. I have eaten a chick fila twice this week for lunch, love that place! And I just learned that kids meal toy can be traded for ice cream, fabulous!

2. I really want to run a marathon in my life but I am a scardy cat. I should really face the fact that I am getting older though and should do this sooner as opposed to later.

3. My to- do list has grown instead of shrinking this week with the prospect of going on vacation next Friday! I have never packed a family for a week long trip before, good times here we come :)

4. I secretly dream of being an interior designer and daily dream of ways to update my house. If time and money were no object, there would be lots of projects going on around here. Just read an awesome book on this front, check out Downtown Chic if you need some inspiration.

5. I am re- reading Sense and Sensibility, gotta love some nineteenth century love quests and excellently spoken English.

6. I am also reading Dave Ramsey and letting him kick my financial butt. Why is managing money so tough sometimes? I think Jesus said it well, "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

7. My first real concert was New Kids on the Block, circa 1988. Yes friends, I am sure I was rocking neon, keds, and lace bottomed leggings to rock out to Jordan, John, Danny, Donnie and Joey :) Did I mention I was a second grader?? Bless my parents.

8. Love my hubby for bringing me home a costco frozen yogurt in the 104 degree heat - seriously can't be beat :)

9. Even photographers can have horrible photos...I took my kids to a park by myself last friday like an idiot to try to take some pictures. I keep saying I am pretty sure I have better pictures of my clients kids than my own! It was hot, they were distracted and it wasn't a success but here are two pics that made it worth it :)



Happy Friday!

Money I never regret spending...

Every bride has ideas about what she wants for her wedding day. Some girls have dreamed about it since childhood and others just start to dream about it when they fall in love. I fell into the latter category, once I knew I found the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, I started hiding bridal magazines under my bed. No joke! I didn't want to be all out in the open with it, it was my little way of dreaming about being married to Matt without wanting to jinx it. I know...who can jinx what God wants?! Anyhow, I digress. Once we were engaged (I can share that story another time) and the wedding planning got in full swing, tons of decisions were being made.

I remember very clearly researching photographers and feeling a little lost. I started narrowing it down to people who could give a personal reference for their work. My mom reminded me that her friend from work's son, John, graduated a few years ahead of me from UD with a similar degree to myself and that he was shooting commercial work as well as weddings. At the same time, the lady I was interning for had a part time assistant that also shot weddings. I started tracking down both leads. The one guy was just so sweet and was willing to do the day for an UNREAL price (I am ashamed now for even asking someone to do a wedding for that price :) I met with him and saw his body of work, which was solid but it just wasn't ME. I would not have gotten images that were my style or how I wanted to remember my wedding forever.

I just kept going back to John's work...it was ME! It was how I wanted to remember the day and his price was TRIPLE the other guy (but it still was EXTREMELY fairly priced for the going rates and the work entailed). I finally made the decision to move forward with John because I knew I wouldn't regret it. And I don't regret it one bit to this very day almost 4 years later! John was great to be around all day, did a fabulous job and is someone now we call a friend. We happily referred him all over the place and he happily got lots of work. I still happily refer a bride to him if I am unable to do their day.

So brides,what's the lesson here? Find a photographer that you love and as long as their price and products are within reasonable limits for yourself, make the sacrifice. Cut corners in other places, I mean lets be honest flowers are gorgeous but they die. Pictures are forever. What kind of images do you want your grandkids to flip through and say "this was you all young and pretty and skinny grandma?" :) Shoot I say that to myself already!! haha...Happy Thursday!

Sometimes bigger is better....

So I remember in the college days when I used to spend HOURS in the darkroom...yes friends, darkroom. I mastered using scissors, a can opener and film reel all in pitch dark..that was a big day when I could crack that film canister open, get it wound on the wheel and perfectly stash it in the black canister hoping to expose some hidden treasure on the role. Then I would spend hours with my film cut into little strips, slipping them into the enlarger and doing even more experiments printing my own film. So many great memories in that basement in Taylor Hall at UD.
I share all this because I got a little reminiscent working on this week's wedding. I blogged the small collages and I realized some things are just definitely better big! I remember the first time I went from printing 8 x 10 sheets in the darkroom to 11 x 14 .... oohhh things got prettier and made more of a visual impact. My instructor said "once you go bigger, you don't want to go back" but if you ever have purchased photographic paper - you know why us college kids went small! I used to have to work for the price of paper..I digress. Yesterday's blog collages were like "oh those are nice little snapshots" but when I look at them I don't feel the weight of the emotion and beauty that I see in the larger images. I wish every bride could come to my house after the images are done and watch them go by on my big purdy computer screen. Bigger is definitely better!!

So thanks for going through the growing pains with me as I work it out in life, photography and business! Here are some bigger versions of the beauty of Lauren & Adam's day!

(I just realized that I used the word "so" to start at least 3 sentences, bear with me while I work it out with my writing. I tend to write like I talk, so I guess I say "so" a a lot :)

Don't take yourself too seriously :)

Just in case you ever wonder what a photographer does at a wedding besides photos...I have done it all from helping to get spots out of a brides dress, to helping to fix messed up bouquets or haridos that have come undone, to anything else a spare hand is needed in if I am not busy capturing a moment. When you are frequently around weddings, you get good at these little things and I especially don't mind helping in the small things that help ease a bride's mind.
My husband stole my camera at a wedding a couple weeks ago of a good friend to get a shot of me jumping on the dance floor to do the cha-cha slide. And yes, I look like the only one out there because I was starting the trend :)

Hey..if you know me, I definitely don't take myself too seriously! My advice to all the other photogs out there, yes you are a professional but please enjoy life...don't take yourself too seriously either or you just might miss out on the cha-cha slide ;) Happy monday everyone and I hope to post more later on this beautiful wedding!

Embracing New Style, Chapter 2

So today I thought I was going to go crazy with another day of 100+ degree heat outside and the prospect of not leaving the house. So where do I turn for fun and climate control?? You guessed it, the MALL :) The kiddos and I went to the mall mostly for me - to see humanity, drink a starbucks and take in a stroll. Of course these meanderings led me right to the sale rack in J. Crew, you know "just looking" and I scored big (or so i think). I took some jeans into the dressing room with trepidation, not having worn a tapered type leg jean since 9th grade (in the 90's :). Much to my elation, they not only fit (amen) but they actually looked good (hallelujah). And better yet - I scored this great pair of jeans in an acceptable size (I've been running a lot more lately, trying to lose the rest of the baby weight)....and the price tag... $15.99!!! They were original $98, then slashed down to $19.99 and then an additional 20% off clearance. SO ladies, keep on embracing new options for your wardrobe and keep an eye out for those bargains. I definitely walked a little taller out of the store with my great purchase in that pretty little gray J.Crew bag!

Monday Confesssions

Whew, have I been living at a break neck speed! I knew that wedding season would keep me on my toes and it sure has, along with my babies first birthday and a national holiday to boot all in the last week :) I thought tonight I would sit down for a moment to just share a few more things about myself...like a little confessional booth! I am definitely a wear your heart on your sleeve type person and sometimes it's probably a bit too much. So here goes for today...

1. I love McDonalds, I don't care what people say - if it didn't taste so good those fools wouldn't be making billions!

2. Yes, I love the word "fools"

3. I love Jane Austen and just decided tonight to reread Sense and Sensibility, we shall see how it goes. Lizzy & Darcy were Jacob and Bella back in the day...minus the bloodsucking and werewolf issues! A girl can't get enough of a good love story and really...that has to be the best opening line to a novel ever, "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."

4. I like free stuff, especially good trash. No, I am not joking. I am pretty sure that every room in our house (minus our kids room) has something I have "rescued" from doom. I love old things and also love re-purposing things so this is an old habit that dies hard. I seriously used to take bike rides early in the morning on trash day to see if anything good was out. And I am usually talking furniture or decorative items people...not gross stuff!

5. I am like a human GPS - great sense of direction and I remember almost everywhere I've ever been. I am good to travel with for this reason but I can be obnoxious about it so smack me if I am.

6. I still have 13 lbs of baby weight to lose.

7. I am itching to travel somewhere where I can't speak the language and the money looks like a toy. I haven't been out of the country since my honeymoon almost 4 years ago!!

8. I appreciate people's small gestures in life...like tonight when my neighbor rang the doorbell and handed me a tray of gorgeous & delicious baked treats "just because" or when my other neighbor came over last week to fix something in our house that had been undone for almost 2 years. (yes, you are wishing you had neighbors like that! I have FABULOUS neighbors :)

9. In 11th grade, we went on a field trip to NYC around Christmas time and I made it onto MTV's new year's countdown show requesting a song by 98 degrees (seriously...I ain't ashamed :)

10. I am BEYOND BLESSED to have two healthy children, I try never to take this for granted.

Ok that's enough for tonight, hope you at least got a chuckle out of me or maybe I made you think of a few funny things about yourself. Take a minute now & then to consider your life, both serious and trivial -I think it's good for the soul.

Blog posts from photo shoots coming up this week :) Goodnight internet!

Hydrangea Obession and a few other things

Happy Tuesday friends! I wanted to take a moment to post on one of my latest obsessions, the fabulous hydrangeas in our yard. When we moved into our house almost 4 years ago, there was a sad looking bush in the back yard. I had no idea what it even was and it never flowered or anything. Last year, upon closer inspection, I realized that it was a hydrangea that just wasn't flowering. I thought that this was sad, since hydrangeas are one of my absolute favorites! Especially for decorating, they are a great flower for around the house. Any-who, I had the stroke of genius to "feed" the plant this year in spring with some of that plant stuff you see at Home Depot... I am no gardener by any means, I kill lots of plants inside and out but that sad little bush has blossomed into a gorgeous, bloom-filled plant! Here are a few quick shots I took today, straight out of the camera in the afternoon sun. (And yes, it's like 100 degrees in the shade here today!)

I also have been doing lots of praying and thinking, I heard Francis Chan call this "prinking" - I like it :) LOTS going on in my life this week with teaching VBS, gearing up to shoot a wedding on Saturday, and celebrating the twins first birthday on Sunday! So much swirling in my head in regards to my business...many things have gone slower than I wanted in the launching process but these things take time. I keep telling myself Rome definitely wasn't built in a day! I want to wave a magic wand and have everything magically appear but I am having to take it one step at a time with hopefully some exciting things to come.

And those of you reading this blog - I would love for you to start giving some feedback (aka "comments")! Lets hear it!

Confessional

I always think crazy things so I decided that I can be fo' real and share those crazy things about myself. I mean all of you 3 readers out there might get a chuckle. So here's a few confessions from today.

1. I like watching muscles work, not in a creepy way like checking people out, but just watching how the body works always amazes me! Especially with my kids, I like seeing them learning how to make their little bodies do what they want it to do.

2. I have a thing for Jeeps and almost always have...it fits that I married a boy with a big jacked up one :) He's just glad that he has two babies and still gets to keep the Jeep!

3. I like shallow tv sometimes & my DVR would totally rat me out.... think the Hills & Bachelorette.... I rip the show apart the whole time I watch it, but yet I am watching it

4. I give myself pep talks when I go running....everything from statistics on heart disease to "just run to the next corner"....

That's enough soul bearing for today, more confessions to come another day! Here's to getting to know each other internet friends!

Evolving Personal Style

I am currently in a place in life that I think a lot of women find themselves in. I have been a mommy for almost a year and was prego for nine months before that. These last 20 months have been a major style challenge to say the least! It is hard to try to stay stylish while pregnant, especially when you are ginormous with twins like I was. By the end of pregnancy I could only wear two pairs of shoes, both stretchy top flip flops because my feet and ankles were so swollen. Even once my sweet babies were born, all that baby weight did not leave with them unfortunately! This past year had been a lot of hard work on trying to get back to a healthy weight to maintain an active lifestyle. During all of these body changes I have had to have a mish-mosh of a wardrobe and I have found it a challenge. I don't think I ever realized how much I cared about how much I presented myself through clothing until I didn't really have a lot to choose from. I know, I know, some of you that know me might be thinking "it's not like she had anything special going on to begin with in the style department" but I like to think that I at least looked put together in my past life :) And yes, my husband and I refer to it now as "LBK" - "life before kids" - it's a term frequently used in our house.
So where does all this leave me now? I mostly have a closet full of things I wish I could fit into. I am slowly getting back into my LBK clothes that were bigger on me then, but pretty much I still feel like a frump or like I am wearing someone else's clothes. What is my point to all this chatter? Well I have been giving it thought and decided that my personal style has some evolving to do. I need to embrace my new life, body shape, and other such things about life as a mommy.

Being short on cash and time, shopping can be tough but if you know me at all...you know I can do things well on a tight budget. Part of letting your style evolve is allowing yourself to do things differently, challenge yourself to go to a new place to shop. I did this very thing today. I went against my instincts and strolled through the door of forever 21. I know, I know..."that store is for 12 year olds with no hips" but something that I said a lot in ministry is that "you can't keep doing something the same way and expect a different result." Low and behold today in forever 21 I found 3 totally different, fabulous and flattering tops for each less than $23. God also sent a wardrobe fairy god-mother in the form of my friend Dorothy to just so happen to be in the dressing room with her daughter when I got there :)

I need to try new things and not be afraid! This is a motto in my life with a lot of things right now. I have to say I have a new style inspiration too, it's Cortney Novogratz of Sixx Design and Bravo's 9 By Design show. She is a mother of 7, including 2 sets of twins, amen! She has fabulous personal style and a great eye for design. I might talk more about her in another post..I have gone on long enough. SOOOO who are your style inspirations? What life changes have spurred you on to make style changes? What are your best tips for updating your style?

And because everything is better with a picture, here's a little piece of my heart...and Macy is not worried about her style yet because being nakie is the cutest!

New Pricing Structure

Dear friends & clients,
I want to let you know that Emily Troutman Photography will be going through a pricing structure change. As many of you know, it's hard when starting up a small business. Borrowing from another photographer's quote "You go from being a photographer to also being a photographer AND a business owner, secretary, book keeper, accountant, marketing executive, etc." This is a wonderful but huge transition in my life that I have been working on, all while surviving the first year as a mommy of twins! So what I am saying is that as of July 1, 2010 we will have a new pricing structure and my official website will be launched. There's lots going on here at the Troutman house as always and by God's grace he is allowing me to pursue my dreams. Thank you to all of you who hire me and believe in me to capture your families lives!

**And I am still booking for summer lifestyle sessions on weekdays, weddings have me booked on weekends. Shoot me an email if you want to book now, emilytroutmanphoto@gmail.com**

With Love,
Emily

Our Family Portraits

Just wanted to share with you that we had our family portraits taken this past weekend by a photographer that I have loved and followed for a while, Rae Barnes. We met at the Tyler Arboretum and it certainly helped that it was a beautiful day with everything in bloom. We had so much fun at the shoot! Check out the sneak peek at her blog.

Happy Easter!

I had fun the other day taking some shots of the kids with a few Easter props, I figured why not - it's their first Easter! They also met the bunny at the mall while we were there on some errands & they loved it by the expressions on their faces!
I know that Easter is so much more about the risen Christ and the fact that he came to give us life. We did read the Easter story throughout the week with the children's Bible. They reached for the pages and looked at the pictures although the concepts are beyond them at this point. We pray though that Easter will come to mean something very special to them as well someday! Enjoy :)

New Pastime

Our kids turn nine months old this week! I know, I know, I say it with every month that passes but it's true, time is flying! Here's a look at their favorite new pastime where they have little ride on cars that they cruise around the house in. Of course they need a push to do that but they're good little riders! This afternoon we went to Grandma's because there's more cruisin' space :)

STILL in the works..

No I have not fallen off the face of the planet! The twins have both been taking turns being sick for the past month, add that to all the bad weather and life in general...it's has put a literal damper on my blogging! The exciting news is that Matt (my cute hubby & graphic designer) has made major headway on my custom website. I really can't wait for others to get to see it...his skills in design and just a little piece of my heart in my photos! In the meantime here are a couple shots from a short weekend trip to Florida that Matt & went on a couple weekends ago. These were all taken in St. Augustine, it's a really rad town if you've never been!

I am also now booking for Spring sessions! Contact me if you are interested, emtroutman@hotmail.com