Photography by Ford

🤩 Today is , where I post advertising for local small businesses, as well as offer a place to help promote each other! 🎉

☔️The rain didn't stop us from taking pictures of these sweet grandbabies! Just a few sneak peeks from yesterdays mini session 🥰

My BEAUTIFUL babies! I am so grateful to be their momma. They are the by far the best thing about me and I am so thankful they still enjoy being models for me!

📣 I had to put on a JACKET this morning!! 🤩

Mid setup for my Fall minis, I had to stop and take a SNEAK PEEEEEKKKK as a reminder...

FALL MINIS this weekenddd

🍂 $125 🍁 15 images 🍂 30 minutes

Message me for remaining spots on Saturday and Sunday ♥️📣

🖐️ Lets talk about the Importance of calibration>>>>

When your computer is not calibrated correctly, it can show inaccurate values, colors, and results. I have been struggling with this for months...

☝️The first image is SOOC (straight out of camera)
✌️The second image is how I edited another image while my computer wasn't calibrated. (I don't even know how to reedit it to look this way) 🤭
🫶The third image is my final edit.

✨ I will ALWAYS be your local, overly honest and transparent photographer.
.. I'm backkkkkk 🤌

🤍 VULNERABLE POST 🤍

I don’t share things like this often, but today I feel like I need to.

Almost four years ago, I stepped away from photography after my one of my best friends passed away unexpectedly.

I thought I was doing what was best. I needed to refocus. I poured myself into school, then work, and into the things I thought needed my attention.

But somewhere along the way, I lost a little bit of myself.

One day I finally opened my eyes and realized that my spark had faded.

The camera that had once been such a huge part of my life was put away and never came out.. the things I had always done stopped happening.

My family stopped getting those yearly pictures I always took. The pictures I took of my friends and their families every year to freeze time for just a moment… stopped.

And honestly? I missed out.

When I decided to come back to photography, I expected to come back to open arms. I thought my previous clients would all come running back.

But life happened.

People moved. Families changed. Clients found other photographers. Other businesses had grown while I was away.

And if I’m being completely honest, I started comparing myself.

Business is HARD.

Then, just when I started getting clients again, my son jumped on my laptop and crushed it.

Since the beginning of this year, my new laptop has refused to calibrate correctly, and getting my colors back to looking the way I want has been an ongoing battle.

I’ve tried the tips. I’ve googled the specs. I’ve always adjusted my own settings. I create my own colors and developed my own style.
But what I see on my screen hasn’t always been what shows up when I post to social media.

And for the last few months, I haven’t been happy with my work.

I bought a new camera. It’s AMAZING… but transitioning to mirrorless after 15 years behind a camera is an adjustment.

15 years in, and I’m still learning.

I sold a lot of my props while I was away, so I’ve had to rebuild.

I bought a new backdrop stand… and then broke it. 🤦🏼‍♀️ So I had to buy something heavier and more durable.

It feels like every time I pushed myself back up this year, something knocks me back down.

BUT GOD. 🙏🏼

God has carried me through every single setback.

And through all of this, I’ve realized something:

I LOVE MY BUSINESS.

I love that it keeps me taking pictures.

I love that I get to photograph my best friends’ kids.

I love seeing families I went to high school with and getting to freeze these seasons of their lives.

Sometimes I wonder if they even realize that when I see their families behind this lens, I’m cheering them on.

I stayed up all night last night working on my monitor calibration, trying to get what I see on my screen to match what other monitors see because I want my images to look the way I intended it to look when it leaves my computer and reaches your hands. I finally fixed it! After months of looking for an answer, I figured it out myself.

This week, I photographed posed school pictures for the first time; something I had never done before.

Soon, I am starting a modeling program for seniors that will offer free sessions to a few local kids and give discounts to their friends.

I am giving my website a makeover.. new business cards.. you name it, let’s do it!

And while there have been SO many moments where I’ve wanted to throw my hands up this year and say, “Maybe this just isn’t working…”

I didn’t.

Because every setback has taught me something.

I could have given up when my backdrop stand broke.

I could have given up when my son broke my laptop.

I could have given up when my camera didn’t focus every image as quick like the way It used to.

I could have given up when I compared myself to photographers who kept growing while I was gone.

But I didn’t.

I’m still here.

Still learning.

Still growing.

Still figuring things out.

Still taking pictures.

And still chasing that spark that I thought I had lost.

I want EVERYONE to win. I genuinely do.

My competition isn’t another photographer.

My competition is me.

The me from yesterday.

The me who was afraid to start again.

The me who thought taking a break meant I had failed.

The me who forgot how much I loved this!

So if you’re still reading this and you’re struggling with your own business, your own dream, or even just yourself…

Stay positive. Stay motivated. Keep going.

You can do this.

You might get knocked down.

You might have to start over.

You might have to learn something you thought you already knew.

And sometimes you might look around and feel like everyone else is ahead of you.

But look at how far YOU have come.

Nobody can run your business the way you can.

Nobody can tell your story the way you can.

And nobody can create exactly what you create.

So here’s to rebuilding.

Here’s to learning.

Here’s to setbacks that turn into lessons.

Here’s to finding the spark again.

And here’s to 15 years behind the camera… and still learning every single day. 📸🤍

Thank you to every person who has supported me, booked me, shared my work, encouraged me, trusted me with your memories, or simply cheered me on from the sidelines.

You mean more to me than you know.

I’m still here. And I’m not giving up. 🤍📸

🍁There is something special about Fall-- the warm colors, cooler evenings, cozy moments and families that deserve to be captured! 📷

😍I am excited to share that Fall Mini Sessions are officially open for booking! 🙌🏻

🍂Book this week & SAVE! There are limited sessions available, so secure your spot today 🍁

$125-- 30 minute session
15 professionally edited images
Springtown, TX
October 9th, 10th & 11th

☀️ The hardest part of posting a sneak peek is choosing which of my favorites to edit first! 🤩

❤️ This little family didn’t disappoint! Bonus?.. They added an “extra” to their session that happens to call me, Aunt Ford 🥹

📷 It’s bittersweet that some of the first pictures Ive taken were of him on my 35 mm film. 🎞️

💕One of my favorite parts of taking family sessions over the years has been that as the children get older, they remember me! I get to hear from their perspective what they enjoyed the most from the previous session. 🤟🏻

🫶🏻Thank you for trusting me another year! I cannot wait to send out your gallery 😍🥰

to 2020 when Fall minis looked like THIS 👀 🤩

🌾🍂🌻✨Bringing back the couch for this year‘s fall mini sessions! Cannot wait to give you a sneak peek of this year‘s minis.. this coming MONDAY 🍁🍂✨🌻