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.

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!

Mia Rose

My good friend Chantel had a baby a couple weeks ago and her sweet baby girl is Mia Rose. (I like her middle name, it's my middle name too :) Mia is so little and cute, it's hard to think that she will ever tell a lie or hit her brother...but we know these things will come in time! But for today, I just ate up her cuteness and I want to share some of that cuteness with all of you! Of course we had to squeeze in some shot with big brother Josh too!!

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

Fun in the Snow

So these pics of my kiddos are actually from last weekend's snow storm. This one was too ridiculous to even take them outside :) Don't worry - we sat them on a towel (which you can see in some shots) but hey, it was just for the fun of it. Dean even took a bite of snow to see what it was all about. Enjoy!

Logo Reveal

My logo is here and I am very pleased with it. I think it's a playful and literal at the same time, mostly it's a good representation of the brand I am beginning to build. I am looking forward to plastering it onto paperwork, images and all sorts of fun stuff. The hubs is now moving on to creating the website, a large but exciting undertaking. Sweet dreams for now...

In the works

In the midst of cleaning things, changing diapers, cooking food & all the other glorious duties of a mommy - I have lots of photo related things in the works. One which I am very excited about is my own new logo. This probably seems small and most of you (that know me) are thinking - "her husband is a graphic designer, why is a logo a big deal?" Well it's a big deal because this logo is a long time coming - my husband had a hard time trying to capture me in a logo. Probably because I kept giving him ideas I liked but in the end he said it was really hard to encompass me into a symbol. I will take that as a sweet compliment that all he has come to love about me was hard to squeeze down into an image (& I will pretend he wasn't calling me a crazy, complex lady :)

As some of you also know, my husband, Matt, is working two jobs so that I am able to stay at home with our kids. This leaves little time for his designing that he's so passionate about. In his "spare" time he is also building me a website to display my work. I am doing lots of behind the scenes business type stuff as well. Starting up a business is never easy, especially when squeezing it in between diaper changes and naps but I am realizing every day the blessing it is to have a passion that can also help support my family. I am excited to see where God is leading with my business endeavors.

And if you are looking to book a shoot, I am now booking for spring lifestyle sessions. If you want more info and pricing, shoot me an email - emtroutman@hotmail.com. I also am getting booked up on weddings for this year but would love to chat with you if you are a bride to be!

Oh to be two again...

Last weekend I got invited to do a shoot for a friend of her two year old nephew, Christian. What a stinkin' cutie! I mean he was dressed perfectly and could work up tears that would break your heart at the drop of a hat! He even already has a strategy for how to eat an oreo, he just eats the cream and he loves choo-choo trains (lucky for us there was one where we met). What's not to love about this adorable boy?! Enjoy him as much as I did!

Stale blog like stale bread

The definition to stale is "no longer fresh or pleasant to eat; hard, musty or dry" - that pretty much sums up my blog :) Stale! As many of you (my 2 readers) know though, I have almost 5 month old twins, so that has consumed my every waking (& sleeping) moment! I have recently been able to start doing official shoots again and have been having so much fun doing it. In the next few days I will post some images from recent shoots. I have been posting recent shoots in my "notes" section on facebook so some of these images will be repeats for you facebook stalkers.

In recent weeks I know that I have been growing in my photographic ability and desire to keep pushing it. I have always had a vision, since I held my first camera in my hand at 5 (it was free from buster brown's with my pair of shoes!) I actually still have the pictures from that first camera and although the skill is much improved (as well as the equipment) the vision is the same, snapping moments in time in our lives. I am daily contemplating what it would be to go into business for myself on a larger scale. I am a small operation (me) & love what I do but fear sometimes holds me back. You know all those "what ifs" that keep you stuck.....hoping to get unstuck & keep pursuing my passion (in between diaper changes, naptimes and never-ending laundry) :)

So long for today!