Let's intentionally love who we are, shall we?

Comparison is a dangerous area to dip your toes in, yet somehow we all fall prey to it's tight grip on us. As an individual in a creative industry, fighting to make myself "stand out" among the rest of them, I find that I constantly compare my work, and myself to everybody else. Those little comparisons creep in, ummmm...daily. "I need to blog more, I need to have better material, my website is lame, my instagram isn't always cohesive like hers, my time management blows sometimes, I need more photo shoots, I hate that I still have a day-job, HOW do I organize my book keeping better like all of them...bla bla bla," insecurities, and comparisons daily. I'm no stranger to the ball park of "Everybody else is better than me, I should step up my game."

But you know what? I'm working as hard as I can to be the best person I can, serve my clients as best I can, make a caramel latte the best that I can and serve my friends and family with all that I have. So while I may not be as great as "so and so" and have a cohesive instagram and flawless brand for my business, I need to remember that having it all together isn't actually a truth for anyone. I know it's probably silly to say that because obviously we all know there isn't a person on this planet that totally has their life or business together perfectly. But sometimes vocalizing that truth helps it to sink in a bit deeper.

I'm an imperfect person, striving to be a perfectionist...where's the logic in that? God has given me and you specialized talents. We help each other grow in these areas by being as awesome as we know how at our given talents. We aren't expected to be perfect because God is the perfect One. Our job is to work hard to the best of our abilities, give every bit of praise back to God [you may think you're the most awesome person around, but it was actually God who made you super awesome, so shoot it back to Him mmkay?], and most importantly [well, not as important as giving God your praises, but for the sake of making a point here] love yourself and be proud of yourself. Be totally and completely proud of where you're at in life, and what you've accomplished thus far. It's really okay if it's taken you longer than other people to round out a goal you've been working toward for months or even years.

How cool would it be if when God looked down here at all of His children playing in this big ol' world, He saw us playing together nicely, encouraging one another and loving who we are? Loving the different journeys that we're on to becoming the people He's designed us to be. I think He would smile a great big smile and sigh happy sighs of "My kids get it, they get just how beautiful and perfect they are to me, doing what they were designed to do with the best of their abilities."


Be the best you that you know how to be. And to quote a wise man, “Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.” -Dr. Suess

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florals by Thistle and Honey Floral 

my first try at in-home lifestyle sessions

This past weekend I had the privilege to take pictures inside these pretty homes. It was my first experience with in-home lifestyle sessions and I had SO much fun. The environment was super relaxed and homey...naturally ;)

I can't wait for more sessions like these!!

Hair Tutorial // Twist&Tuck by Nicole

As a photographer, people tend to ask me how they should prepare for a session. Women want to look their best in photos, and I'm always looking for new ways to help my clients feel more confident during their session. Hair and makeup play a large role in a woman's confidence, which is why I'm excited to introduce you to my dear friend, Nicole! 

We've decided to team up and create some fun tutorials for you here on Nicole Dianne. We're excited to bring you all things beauty...face masks, product reviews, hair/makeup tutorials [how to achieve a matte look so you aren't shiny in your photos :)] and we'd love to get feedback from you guys for anything else you'd like to see here! Nicole is a cosmetology student, passionate about helping other women find beauty in themselves & teaching practical solutions for everyday beauty hang-ups. I have learned so much from her personally, and I know she will bring fresh ideas to your beauty routines! 

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Hi guys, it's me Nicole... the other Nicole :]    

I'm so excited for this new feature & I hope you guys are too!

   

The great thing about hair products is there are so many! Don't feel like you need to get every single one of these, use what works best on YOUR hair...these are just my personal favorites. 

Here we have:

1. Thin, stretchy head band. 

(Use a color close to your hair color to conceal the band. My hair is dark so I used black.)

2. Thick Bristled Brush

3. Fine Tooth Comb

4. L'Oreal Elnett Hair Spray 

5. Big Sexy Dry Shampoo

6. Kenra Shine Spray

7. Hot Tools Curling Iron 1Inch Barrel 

8. Bobby Pins... Just In Case

9. Babies Breath... For A Wee Bit Of Romanticism

 I began this look with clean hair, but keep in mind this look is practically made for 2nd/3rd day unwashed hair. Nothing covers up dirty hair like a couple a curls and some dry shampoo.

Clip up the upper most layer of hair at the crown of your head and spray the dry shampoo directly onto the scalp. This will give your hair texture right where you need it and will keep all the teasing your about to do intact. Once you have reached optimum volume let down the layer of hair you had clipped up. Your teasing should be completely covered...because ladies never need to tease their hair, right? You were born with that volume weren'tcha girl?

Next, we curl! Before I begin I like to run each section of hair through my iron to heat up the hair. 

Then begin your curl at the mid-shaft slowly feeding the hair through the clamp to make sure each part gets in contact with the heat. I also leave the ends out and uncurled since we are going with the whole I-didn't-even-try-hard-look. Spray your hairspray in sections to keep the curl holding strong. I left my bangs untouched because they will eventually be completely tucked into the headband. Also, I'm lazy.

Take your brush and brush through your entire head. This makes ringlets into waves and gives you a much softer "un-done" look. Add in a little shine spray to complete the look. 

Now the fun begins!

Place your headband on the crown of your head almost touching your forehead and taking small sections of hair begin twisting and tucking them into your headband. I know, it looks a little intimidating but once you start it's almost relieving how easy it becomes!

Once you're comfortable with your Twist&Tuck look go ahead and spray and play!

To take this look a little further,  add small pieces of babys breath into the twist. 

Wedding hair anyone?

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and in case you thought we were totally normal...

photography by yours truly
;]

// a few things that make the list of my happies //

starbucks // family night watching the oscars // my little guy cozied up on mounds of blankets // my favorite books // clippings from our yard // warm march days with blue skies // my little guy soaking up some sun // coffee date in a garden courtyard with a great photographer friend

+ stay tuned for another installment of conversations :)

To say I feel blessed today would be an understatement.

Over the last few weeks I've been in a serious rut [I won't say I've made a complete turn around but we're getting there]. Admitting this rut feels somewhat weak, but I feel like it's part of the process and it's worth sharing.

I won't go into too much detail because it may bore you dead...but photography is slow this time of year, and discouragement leaked in at one point or another.

Rewind a few years.

I have been photographing friends and family since the Spring of 2010. It started out as a small hobby charging $25 for a session and editing with iPhoto. After some time I realized I might be able to go somewhere with this new found hobby of mine. I slowly started purchasing software, upgrading my equipment, creating business cards, buying hard drives and charging a bit more for sessions. It wasn't until I met our wedding photographers that I thought maybe I could actually take this hobby of mine to the next level. They saw something in me and invested their hearts, knowledge, and time into me..I am forever grateful to them because of this. They believed in me, more than I believed in myself.  I hope someday to take a newbie with mountain top dreams, and bring her under my wing...just the way they did for me. So, little by little I gained more confidence in this expensive hobby, and decided to make all things official.

I have come a long way since 2010, through trial and error...a LOT of practice, constant research, some self doubt, and major financial investment. I went to college for a degree in Communication Studies and struggled to find purpose through that major, all the while knowing I had this blossoming career as a photographer just waiting to explode.

You see, I had this grand plan that I would be graduating from college in the Spring of 2012, apply for my photography business license, create a website, order newly branded business cards, shoot copious amounts of sessions, establish myself in the photography industry, and finally quit my job at Starbucks come December.  I figured 6 months post graduation was enough time to establish myself in the surrounding areas, and bid farewell to the green apron.

Well God had other plans. Which by the way, His are always better than ours. It's January and I'm still tying up that apron Monday-Thursday. I've always prayed for my business, and specifically that God would direct me where to go, opening and closing doors as He saw fit. Seven months post-grad and my plans didn't go as I had hoped...but that's okay. The six month plan was a tad ambitious and I somewhat anticipated that.

Over the last few months I've been dedicating my time to online photo forums, endless blog reading, meeting with other local photogs, revamping my website, praying continually over my business, and just soaking in God's direction for me. I've learned a lot. Like, I've only brushed the surface on what I need to know. There's an entire world of photography that's unknown to me still...but I'm getting there. One of the biggest things I've learned these last few months is the importance of building relationships with other local photographers.

I've now entered this twisted, amazing world of creative artists who not only encourage one another, but enjoy working together. It's not like other career fields...yes, we are all essentially "competing" for local business. But at the same time not every person is fit for the same photographer. There are enough jobs and a diverse amount of people looking for different things when it comes to photography in general. I love that about this business. I have established some amazing friendships over the last few weeks with both local and out of state photographers. These people have encouraged me to no end...and that's awesome. It's really great to be accepted in this industry of creative, talented artists who have a heart for capturing lasting memories.

Well fast forward to today. Times are slow in the winter for obvious reasons, the weather, post Christmas expenses, bills are higher because of cold weather, and everybody wants to be summer tan in their pictures. So I've had to remind myself and pray over my business even more, that God will bless it the way He sees fit.

I never expected to be a wedding photographer. It always seemed so stressful by every angle of the industry. However, rewind back to my amazing mentors...they practically set a wedding in my lap back in September. Once again, they believed I could do it and set me out to fly on my own. I doubted myself a little...but knew God could hold me through it. After that experience I knew my heart was in wedding photography. Who wouldn't want to be part of the most special day in a couple's life?

By the grace of God I have received FOUR wedding inquiries for 2013. This may not sound like much in the land of wedding photography...if that's where you reside ;)...but for this small business of mine, it's HUGE. I can't begin to explain the amount of reassurance these 4 wedding inquiries have given me. I feel like it's God pushing me further, it's Him reminding me that my work is of value to Him and the people I know. All I have to do is trust Him and follow what He tells me.

Psalm 37:4 "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart"

I know that if I engage with my God daily, He'll continue to show me where He wants my business to go. He isn't a God of confusion...and I take such great comfort in knowing that to be true.

So there's that, a little bit behind the scenes of my blossoming photography business. I am so excited to see where God takes this journey of mine and forever grateful He has given me amazing friends and family to encourage me along the way.

Photography Updates

Well guys, it's 2013. This is the year I plan to be a full-time photographer {Lord willing}. I have been praying that God would open doors for this business of mine, it's scary and exciting all at once. I'm pretty much over the whole barista thing, but I just don't have the means to lay that aside yet. But, I have a feeling that I'll just know when I'm supposed to make this full-time. You know? I feel like it's getting close, and praying with everything in me that it arrives SOON.

I need your help though, I need you to pray for me...I also need you to book sessions with me!

Come on... I had to throw a plug in there somewhere ;)

That bottom left location...super Twilight-esque, right? Which, by the way, I STILL need to see Breaking Dawn Pt. 2.

little bitty photographer

a little bit of happy to start your week off with a bang :)
this makes my photographer heart happy on SO many levels.

oh, and more to come on events that happened this weekend.... some awesome and some not so awesome...but update worthy none the less. Jesus has come through in some amazing ways this weekend and I can't help but share it all.

so much to blog about i can hardly handle the excitement... just a quick preview, we almost got in an awful car accident, i've had photography related sessions every day since Thursday, we were surrounded by all things Christmas, and my car got towed. YIKES.

that was a lot. come back for more later? I promise it's good. and if I let you down with my stories, at least I'll have pretty pictures for you to look at.

what i'm doing today

editing through these sweet family photos :) and loving every minute. 

i can now call myself a wedding photographer

and that's pretty darn cool.

pictures from this weekend's wedding. my first OFFICIAL wedding. let's take a moment to let that sink in.

God has blessed me and my photography business beyond what I could have imagined. I'm still floored that this all happened yesterday.

thank you Jesus, over and over again.

Confessions

This is me, being serious with me...and all of you I suppose.

As an artist I'm my own worst critic. Duh, I'm positive that's true of every artist. I constantly compare my work to other photographers and web designers. I took one photography class in college... and the professor loved selective coloring... *crickets*... in other words, I didn't learn a thing in her class. So basically everything I know is self-taught and graciously shared with me by some fantastic local photographers.

I'm in the process of designing my website, cue comparisons! I'm trying to find a healthy balance between "That photographers website looks awesome, good for them" and "I like what I saw there, how can I tweak it to my own style?" and "Why won't this line disappear and why does my logo look like a 3rd grader designed it and why does my font look fuzzy and what the heck is the difference between html bla bla bla and why won't my comments show up and..."....you get the picture. My brain hurts and sometimes I think my creativity just blows.

Bad attitude to have? Absolutely. Realistic? I sure hope so. There has to be a fine line between drawing inspiration from others and downright criticizing yourself because it looks nothing like the pros. I want to define my own style but sometimes I get stuck in these cycles....

"Oh her processing is awesome, let me grab my SOOC and try that! Saturate the blue tones okay, raise the exposure..wait no..that blows her face out..maybe she meant use the brightness slider..ah no, that can't be. Let's move the curves tool...yep that did it. Shoot no, that looks nothing like her image. Well maybe I can start my own processing trend...why is the sun disappearing when I move that slider? I liked the flare! Wait now the grass is white...how does that even happen? Maybe I'll try again tomorrow. Close"

That happens...like daily. I constantly criticize my own work, I constantly change my website design because I can't seem to make it look "professional" enough for my own liking. I've spent SO much money on equipment and host websites, design templates...you name it. The hard part is, I know I haven't even made a dent in the world of photography equipment. I have like the most basic pieces of equipment needed to start up. How do I progress from here though? My computer is slow because I have two million raw files on it, and it's just a laptop...my external hard drive is about to fill up, I have 2 CF cards that are filled after 1 session and sometimes I can't get all the images I need because the cards fill up so fast. I don't have a flash, I have one lens. *end rant

I feel the pressures of starting a business. I knew they would come and I knew they would be hard, but now I'm stuck in the process of it all and trying to find my way out.

I'm really not fishing for complements on my work, or "you can do its!" I know this journey won't be a dead end. I know I'll be successful someday, it's just a matter of making it there...This is really more about being honest. I want to look back on my journey and see where I was at during these beginning stages. Today I am pretty stressed, extremely over critical, and hopeful for the future.

Sorry for the downer, this "build your own business stuff" isn't so easy...but like I said I'm hopeful for the future.

just keep'n it real.

Jason & Irene | Engaged

This was such a fun session with Jason and Irene! They were a photographer's dream couple...you'd never know there was a camera around them. Such naturals! 

I would love to do more romantic sessions like this one. Oh, and these two met at Starbucks so those last pictures resemble a lot more than just yummy drinks :)

Katherine | Portraits

I'm in the process of portfolio building again since I got my new camera and I'm having a ton of fun seeing improvement with each new session! So here's just a little preview of my latest session. We loved the color blue here if you couldn't tell... :) There's some seriously awesome blue walls in Old Town!

I'm gonna try and start blogging about normal life again, I hope to get back into the swing of things really soon. I've missed documenting my day to day. Things have definitely slowed down around this here bloggy since Mr came home from Iraq. But hopefully all these photo session sneak peeks can hold y'all over until I'm back in the swing of things.

<3

ummmm random

We saw this fallen down fence as we walked through the scenic parts of Sand Harbor {GO there if you ever venture to Lake Tahoe}...it reminded me of the shore back East. I'll be sharing the rest of vaca pictures sooner than later! 

It's been seriously non-stop the last week..since the Fourth of July to be exact. I've since had 3 photo shoots and a 27 hour week at Starbucks. I'd say that puts me somewhere around a 50 hour week when you consider the 12 hour wedding and editing time. Right?! Haven't been to bed before 2 in like four nights because I've been editing session after session. I hope this is what it feels like to be a pro because I wouldn't trade it for the world! Late night edit sessions..revamping my blog..nailing down a logo..so much fun to me. Probably sounds like homework to most, but it's kind of the coolest thing ever for me. 

Ummmm I have no clue where this post is going and highly doubt more than my eyes will read it so since it's 1:45 in the a.m. I best be getting some shut eye. 

I might regret this post in the morning :)

Photography Sneak Peeks

Here's a quick sneak peek of a few sessions I've been working on this weekend. I had the opportunity to second shoot at a wedding with a local photographer this past weekend and it was a great experience. I love seeing how different wedding photographers run the day and pose the wedding party! The other two sessions were amazingly fun and I can't wait to share the rest of the images here! Promise I'm still alive...just knee deep in editing and life :D

Happy Monday!

farmer's market

About a week ago, I heard a friend talking about a local farmer's market around the corner from our house. I was so excited because I've only been to one FM before! You see, I have zero motivation to be out and about in the early morning hours of the weekend, [when majority of the FM's around here happen]. So when I heard about this evening market, I couldn't wait to race over after work.

Mr was at work so I decided to venture with out him. I took Turbo, my camera, a handful of cash, and drove myself down the street to enjoy the evening. There was a perfect evening glow and the scent of fresh kettle corn wafting through the air when I arrived.

I loved being surrounded by the small town farming people, and all of the super cool people that frequent farmer's markets. The gentleman in charge of the kettle corn coaxed me over with his savory sample. Soon as I walked over, he asked about Turbo and informed me how this particular FM is a non-profit, helping young kids learn how to work hard and count money. He was genuine, sweet, and proud to be part of this weekly event. Everyone stopped us to pet Turbo and ask how old he was. His new haircut is a wee bit deceiving...yellow lab puppy anyone? Two curious girls couldn't help but ask question after question. "What does hims eat?" "What is this and why is it curly?" [his leash ha], "How many is hims?" :) I made small talk and wished I could have snapped a pic of their sweet, freckled faces to remember them by. Their curiosity was precious.

 I sampled more than one strawberry...there were like 4 strawberry stands so naturally I had to see which one was best! I may have sampled my favorite stand twice ;) The dude eventually figured me out and offered me a third sample, with a smile that said he knew I'd been back more than once. I couldn't leave his stand without purchasing a few things so I bought some fresh lettuce & cucumbers.

It was a short hour trip, but it was an hour squeezed in where I relaxed and enjoyed some good ol' fashion small town livin, in my suburban styled life.

As I was washing the fresh fruits and veggies I bought, I looked over to see this little party animal pooped out, frog legs and all. We had a good time together and I can't wait to go back with friends and Mr.