July Goals + Creative Juices

The fourth of July always meant summer's halfway point when I was little and on summer break. I'm not sure that's really accurate, but in my mind we were on the downhill slide back to school once July 5 showed up. I remember it was always a little shocking to realize that we had to go to school the next month. I hope, hope, hope that summer's sticking around a little longer this year because a) I feel like we haven't had a lot of it with this weird weather and b) I think I blinked away June. Where did it go? That's the thing about being a wedding photographer. Your busy season is right, smack dab in the middle of the (best) season and you tend to get consumed with all things photography until the weather cools down and you wonder what just happened. :)

For the rest of July, I'm really going to attempt to shut down my computer earlier and soak up some of summer with Nathan. We finally got our outdoor furniture and eating outside more often is high on my list of things to do! For the rest of my July goals:

Professional

  1. Shoot four fabulous July weddings (two down already!) and stick to a three-week turnaround on each (whew, that two-week turnaround is HARD with double headers!).
  2. Start designing albums for my June couples.
  3. Submit at least two weddings for feature.
  4. Blog every weekday.

Personal

  1. Read two books (Wild, 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess).
  2. Eat outside at least two nights a week.
  3. Enjoy two more Indians games.
  4. RELAX at the lake house (i.e., no more than a couple hours of work a day).
  5. Work out four times a week.
  6. Finish planning our August vacation (whoo!).

And because there just aren't enough weekdays in a month to blog everything that I want to blog this time of year, I'm sharing my July Creative Juices in my goals post! If you've seen Pitch Perfect, you know this song: Cups, sung by Anna Kendrick (who knew she could sing??). I am currently obsessed. It's so fun and reminds me of that movie. If you haven't seen it yet, you must! So good!

June Goals

Cleveland Summer Yesterday really felt like the start of summer around the Baldwin house. I had just come off a two-wedding weekend and we lazied around all day, the weather was perfect, and we broke out our fire pit with some friends. As I was standing on our upstairs balcony taking the picture above, I felt so thankful to have had a day like that. When I hit busy season, I tend to go into all-or-nothing mode, get really stressed and and forget to take time to just enjoy the days. And it's summer, people! My favorite season. :) This year I'm truly going to enjoy it!

Without further ado, my June goals*:

Professional

  1. Shoot four fabulous June weddings and stick to a two-week turnaround on each.
  2. Update my photography budget (just a little bit every day!).
  3. Blog every weekday.

Personal

  1. Read two books  (Eight Girls Taking PicturesWild). (For real this time!)
  2. Officially put our DirecTV on HOLD for the summer.
  3. Pick out patio furniture and spend our evenings outside.
  4. Attend our first Indians (or Windians, right?!) game of the summer.
  5. Start coaching gymnastics again.
  6. Work out 4/week.
  7. FINISH OUR GUEST BEDROOM!
  8. Turn 28 (what?!) in style. :)

*I've decided not to keep recapping old goals on the blog. So sad, I know. ;) I figure you probably don't really care what I actually accomplished and what I didn't.

May Goals

May Photography Goals Ohhh May! Our street is in full bloom. All the flowers are out and the trees are green. I love it!

This month marks the start of my really busy season and I'm hoping to be a little bit more productive than last month before I get crazy busy. You know those days where you feel like you did a ton but you didn't get anything crossed off your to do list? Yeah, that's how April was for me. I felt busy, but I'm not sure what I was doing. :) All in all it was a good month, but my goal is to be more focused with my time in May. I want to make sure I get out from behind my computer screen and enjoy spring!

April goals recap:

Professional

  1. Get completely caught up with all March and April weddings so I can go into May with a clean plate! (the last April wedding will be on the blog tomorrow!)
  2. Research the markiii a little more (i.e., figure out why low-light focusing was such a problem). (I'll be renting it again this month! :) )
  3. Clean up my office each day after office hours are over. (Total fail on this one. How can I be more organized??)
  4. Research Two Bright Lights and potentially join. (Still haven't decided. ;) Any advice from people that are members?)
  5. Blog every weekday. (Close enough, right?)

Personal

  1. Read two books (The Scent of Rain and Lightening, Eight Girls Taking Pictures).
  2. Finish the guest bedroom (and hopefully blog it)! (Just waiting on a couple pieces!)
  3. Get OUR pictures taken!
  4. Cook organic, natural food at least 2/week.
  5. Clean two more boxes out of our junk room.
  6. Work out 5/week.
  7. Stretch each night before bed.

And, of course, my May goals:

Professional

  1. Shoot, edit and submit a fabulous styled shoot. :)
  2. Clean up my office each day after office hours are over (here we go again ... ).
  3. Shoot three May weddings and stick to my new two-week turnaround on each.
  4. Update my portfolios before busy season kicks off.
  5. Clean computer before busy season kicks off.
  6. Update my photography budget.
  7. Blog every weekday.

Personal

  1. Read two books (Eight Girls Taking Pictures, Wild).
  2. Finish our guest bedroom.
  3. Play with Rosie at least twice a day. :)
  4. Spend Mother's Day with my family.
  5. Have friends over for dinner at least once.
  6. Clean three boxes out of our junk room.
  7. Work out 5/week.
  8. Stretch each night before bed.

April Goals

Lexington Virginia Wedding Photographer_0001 Well, March wasn't my favorite month, but I loved the way it ended. Nathan and I traveled to Lexington, Va., for an amazing wedding this last weekend. The whole experience was SO wonderful—from the bride and groom and their families to the weather to the reception details to the B&B we stayed in. That picture up there is the view from Brierley Hill Bed & Breakfast. If you're ever in the Lexington area or passing through to D.C., you absolutely need to check it out. I can't believe how beautiful it is out there! Nathan and I started contemplating whether or not we should move. ;)

So, after an awesome weekend in Lexington and a quick but fulfilling Easter dinner with my family, I'm ready to tackle April. Here's to hoping I do better with my goals than I did in March:

Professional

  1. Finish editing February wedding and send vendor discs.
  2. Shoot all March weddings and stick to my new two-week turnaround on each. (So far, so good!)
  3. Submit at least one March wedding for publication. (Excited about this!)
  4. Clean up my office each day after office hours are over. (Hahaha ... really epic fail.)
  5. Rent the markiii to see if it’s worth the buy (Eeeee!). (Rented it, loved it. EXCEPT for the focusing in low-light situations. Those of you that have rented the markiii or own it, do you experience this?! It makes me nervous ... )
  6. Blog every weekday. (All but one!)

Personal

  1. Read three books (Fine Art Wedding PhotographyBread & Wine, The Scent of Rain and Lightening).
  2. Finish my office and blog it! (Come on office chair that I’m waiting on!)
  3. Clean two more boxes out of our junk room.
  4. Cook at least 2/week.
  5. Work out 4/week. (Being sick for two weeks kinda set me back on a lot of stuff. Hopefully April will be better!)
  6. Stretch each night before bed. 

And my April goals:

Professional

  1. Get completely caught up with all March and April weddings so I can go into May with a clean plate!
  2. Research the markiii a little more (i.e., figure out why low-light focusing was such a problem).
  3. Clean up my office each day after office hours are over.
  4. Research Two Bright Lights and potentially join.
  5. Blog every weekday.

Personal

  1. Read two books (The Scent of Rain and Lightening, Eight Girls Taking Pictures)
  2. Finish the guest bedroom (and hopefully blog it)!
  3. Get OUR pictures taken!
  4. Cook organic, natural food at least 2/week.
  5. Clean two more boxes out of our junk room.
  6. Work out 5/week.
  7. Stretch each night before bed.