PUBLISHED WORK
Thanks so much for popping by the blog. You can find a ton of my most recent work here so poke around. If you really want to get to know me follow my instagram feed. Warning! Lots of images of my two greatest loves, Eloise Eve (3) and Tate Aaron (1) .... so wonderful to have you following along. I'll try my best to keep everything as lovely as possible. xoxo, Meg
Thought I would share something a little light-hearted after yesterdays post. These are a bunch of photobooth images from Melissa and Matt's Las Vegas wedding at The Bellagio last year. This crowd was a riot and were all definitely in the Vegas spirit ... ;) Enjoy!
Hutchie and Ben- two of my 2011 clients .. they are tying the knot in Kentucky later this year and I can't wait to photograph them properly !!!
Below you'll see three screen grabbed shots of three separate parts of the last blog post I wrote before heading to Hawaii last Thursday morning.
Fitting, no? I mean- there is a literal reference to a tsunami...The "I'm so thankful..." post I was talking about up there .... here it is. In a much different form than I expected.
Early Thursday morning I arrived at the San Jose Airport ready to board my 6:30AM flight to LAX where I would meet up with Heather and we'd fly to Kona together. I stepped up to the check in counter and gave the employee my ID.
"Going going to Seattle?" she said.
"Nope- Kona." Silence.
Then, "Well, the doors to that flight have closed."
Heart sinks to stomach, "What????"
"Yep, it departs at 5:55."
I had somehow never gotten an email that informed me of the change in take-off time and had completely missed my flight. I wanted to throw up - or cry- or go home and crawl under my covers and hit the button on the time machine that would take me back to sleep 4 hours earlier. Ctrl-Z my morning, if you will.
"Mam? The only option I can offer you is a flight into Denver, then to LAX, and then to Kona. You'll arrive tonight at 8:30pm. Will that work?"
Wait, to Denver? Then to LA? It's too early for this. Oh, what have I done? I am going to be flying all damn day. "Yes, that will work."
I gulped down the lump in my throat, called Heather to tell her of my flight change, thankful of her for making sure we arrived with plenty of time for screw ups, and succumbed to the travel Gods. I would spend the next 16 hours either 30,000ft in the air or sitting in an airport. Woo hoo. I figured- it can't get worse than this! Boy was I wrong... What seemed like days later, I stepped off the plane in Kona to a warm breeze and mildly humid air and into Heathers rented car to these words, "So....while you were in the air there was a 8.9 earthquake in Japan and now there's a tsunami warning here." As tired as I was from my travel day adrenaline started pumping through my body, tsunami's are one of my worst fears. I am not an ocean girl- its' vastness has always caused me anxiety and the unknown of what lies beneath has never made it easy for me to swim freely. I hate boats and am not a huge fan of sand. The idea of gallons and gallons of water rushing onto the land, knocking down everything in it's path and swallowing me whole is one that has literally caused me sweaty nightmares and now I was in the middle of it.
Having no idea of the devastation that had occurred in Japan hours before, Heather and I headed back to the hotel, had a quick glass of wine, then followed the hotels instructions to pack up our things and high-tale it out of there.
PREPARE FOR THE WORST, PRAY FOR THE BEST.
We grabbed the pillows and comforters off of the hotel beds and tried to convince ourselves that it would be "just like camping!" We stocked up on water and granola bars, waited in line to fill up our gas tank, and found a nice spot in a neighborhood miles from the coast and settled in with many other groups of people doing the exact same thing. The hours ticked by- we cracked jokes to pass the time: "What happens to the zoo animals? What if Hawaii turned into Jumanji with lions just roaming the island?" The radio news continued to report on Hawaii's situation and Heather and I drifted off into restless slumber.
We awoke in the morning, watched the sunrise, and found it safe to return to our hotel. We learned that there been minimal damage throughout the night: our beach was gone and there were lounge chairs and tree debris scattered all over but the structure was safe and sound. We retired to our hotel room to catch up on some sleep. We were awoken a few hours later and learned that the wedding we were there to photograph was no longer going to take place because there was too much damage done to the Four Seasons property. Both Heather and I were in complete shock and were both just devastated for the bride. We just couldn't believe what a mess this trip had become. Because the local media had been so focused on Hawaii we were absolutely shocked when we turned the TV on and saw the true damage and horror that had wreaked havoc across Japan. We were both wiping away tears as it became very clear that my missed flight, our fear-induced adrenaline rush, sleepless night in the back of a warm car, hotel damage, and even the wedding post-postponement was absolutely nothing compared to what we were seeing. We decided pretty quickly that we were going to cut our trip short and get on the next plane home.
So yes, this is an "I'm so thankful..." post. But I didn't know I'd be thankful for so much more than my career, or my clients, or my family and friends. I am thankful for that sleepless night, that warm jeep with that comfy hotel bedding, the ritz crackers we picked up at the gas station, and for having to face my fear of a tsunami and coming out 100% unharmed. I know that so many in Japan did not live to see the following day. I know that so many did survive; only to find that the sunrise brought a terror they could never have imagined possible. I know that my troubles and stresses are nothing compared to what the Japanese are facing. I'm so thankful to be safe and sound, in my little office, running my little business.
A little perspective can go a long way. I was periodically posting photos to my tumblr if you are interested check it out here. If you can help Japan- help. If you are a blogger, some friends in the industry are having a day of silence and are taking donations.
Donate directly here: Shelter Box
Read about it here: For Japan with Love
xoxo
I often talk on this blog about how running your own business can sometimes feel like constantly existing in the eye of a storm. The expectations we put on ourselves and the expectations others put upon us can sometimes be stop-dead-in-your-tracks-out-of-breath-overwhelming. It's a constant balancing act between what is real-life and what is work-life and it's easy to get caught up in things that seem important but have no lasting positive effects. After 3 full years of running this business 100% of my time, in January of 2011 I finally vowed to really get my time and life management under control. It was a big step for me- to admit that aspects of my personal life were running around in circles while my business life was sprinting past them. It was time for me to finally take a look at unnecessary commitments/relationships and simplify my life so that I am able to make time for things that really matter. So far this year, every commitment and decision I make about my business is more or less made from a place that will only benefit my personal life- not swallow it whole.
At WPPI this year I had the chance to hang out in the Colorati booth and chat with photographers from all over who are looking to simplify their life a little. In my inbox there are about 10-15 emails from people asking about how I handle my work-flow and on the trade-show floor, so many people had questions about how to manage shooting, culling, color correction, print orders, gallery releasing, twittering, blogging, face-booking, meetings, marketing, designing promo material, pricing, album design, e-mailing- oh god, EMAILING... I mean, guys, we are crazy, right?!? There is so much more to what we do than show up to a wedding and shoot it and we can't possibly be expected to do it all on our own. It seemed to be a reoccurring theme, "I quit my day-job to have more time with my kids and now I have less time with them!" Now, let me be honest with you all- I am a control freak when it comes to my business. (And if I'm really being honest with myself, I am a control freak when it comes to my life as well.) So, one of the hardest things and one of the most helpful things I've done- is out-source my processing. In hopes to help you all a little bit and to be honest about how I manage to shoot 30+ weddings a year and not drown I will tell you- I outsource! Colorati is right for me- I love their business model and find their whole team to be lovely to work with... there are plenty of other companies that do what they do and you have to find one that speaks to you ... but to everyone struggling with balance- join me this year in taking our lives back from our businesses?
We own businesses because at some point we realized that working from a cubical was not for us. We want the freedom to schedule afternoon trips to Target or week-long vacations without having to put in a vacation request. We want to be able to be home with our kids and work in our pajamas and create. Starting your own business is risky and you have to be pretty Type A to be successful but if everything goes as planned the benefits are well worth the expense. The goal is to own our business, not have it own us! If you guys are interested and would like some help and advice on business related things- shoot me an e-mail. I've started compiling all your questions and will start answering them here every once and awhile. I learn something by experience almost every day and am happy to share. I know how it feels to be in the eye of the storm and would love to share some things that I do to slowly crawl my way out! I honestly get too many e-mails to answer them all in detail (taking back my life, remember?? :) ) but having this blog makes it easy to share answers with everyone at the same time!
I came across this post on the Harvard Business Review blog and it really refreshed my mind and made me get back to the basics of what is worth spending time and energy on and what is not. 30 Things We Need and 30 Things We Don't
Off to Hawaii early in the AM - can't wait to feel the warm breeze!!! Be ready for a "I'm so thankful..." post upon my return. ;) xoxo
Oh my ... In case you've been wondering- I've seriously fell of the face of the earth for two weeks. I was in Las Vegas for WPPI and then flew to LA for an engagement party and some baby-time with my dear friend Kristen's little Nico... and then promptly got smacked in the face with the flu and was stuck to our couch for a WEEK. Being your own boss makes getting sick very difficult to deal with. The first three days I was too sick to even care but by day four all I could think about was the massive amount of e-mail and work piling up on my desk. Meetings had to be rescheduled, lunches canceled, I was supposed to move into my new office and had a bunch of trips to Home Goods that I needed to make. The list just kept getting longer and longer and my body didn't seem to be cooperating.
BUT the body is a miraculous thing and has almost healed itself completely with just two days before I hop on another plane and head to Hawaii for a wedding in Kona with Heather.
Can't wait to share some of the projects Tim and I have been working on to "Meg-ify" the new office in downtown Campbell. It's so shabby-chic I might die!
Here's a wedding to remind you all that I do, in fact, shoot weddings. ;) Jessica and Brett tied the knot way way way back in October of 2010 at UC Irvine and things got a little crazy and I never got around to sharing some of my favorite images.
Off to Vegas tomorrow for the annual WPPI convention - are you going? So excited to see old friends and meet new ones- come say hi if you see me! I'll be trying to update my whereabouts via twitter so follow me and lets get together!
