I writing this post to let you all know that I am going on a sabbatical from photography.  I will be wrapping up lose-ends throughout the month of October and will start my sabbatical November 1st.

You are probably wondering: what’s going on?

Well, it is a complex scenario that has been unfolding for a while.  I know it’s part of God’s “big picture” plan.

First of all, I started my business in February 2006.  So 2013 will be my 7th year.  Historically speaking, farmers who rested their fields on the 7th year yielded MUCH more crop than those who worked straight through that year.  In other words, I believe that everyone needs to re-charge their batteries in order to be more productive.  Clients enjoy working with photographers who are creative and genuine. Not that I haven’t felt these qualities, but I feel like I just need to hit “refresh.”  Since I am in photography for the long-haul, I have no problem taking time off in order to make the bigger picture more successful.

Another reason is that I want to be a better wife & mom.  I have been feeling overwhelmed and stretched too thin, even in the midst of cutting back on bookings.  When my husband comes home from a long day of work, then has to continue working (from home) after dinner, I feel *horrible* that I can’t even prepare a nice dinner for the three of us to enjoy on a regular basis. Basic, right?  On days I want to be a better photographer, I feel like a disconnected mom.  On days I feel like Super Mom, I feel like the worlds worst business owner.  I realize the solution for this is childcare, but it simply isn’t where my heart is.  To gain some perspective on what I need to do to thrive as a wife and mom, I need some time to concentrate on this responsibility and privilege with greater focus.

Balance.  I want to be fair to my clients and my family.  And to myself.  I can truly understand and respect the need to put in extra hours to meet a big project deadline, then resume regular business hours past that deadline.  But burning the midnight oil (as regular business hours) after doing the mom-thing all day isn’t fair to me or my clients.  My creative juices are not flowing at that hour.  Just being honest.  Then the next day, I’m exhausted and the vicious cycle continues.  I read this post by another photographer who is claiming her life back – and I couldn’t be happier for her & her husband.  It is such a feat to draw healthy boundaries between work & business life while a) having your own business b) having social media constantly keep “tabs” on what you are doing.

If you haven’t followed what’s been going on with my personal life through Facebook and my personal blog, I was diagnosed with stage 1 melanoma in July.  They removed it, successfully and I am now ecstatic to be cancer-free. As you can imagine, this was a game-changer diagnosis – which the Lord really used to soften my heart and deem a self-audit.  I am thankful beyond measure to be alive.  I have experienced a new level of joy in the SIMPLE things.  As you can imagine, such a diagnosis is emotionally, um… exhausting. Needless to say, it’s time for me to step-back, get back to basics, and recharge.

So, some quick answers to some obvious questions:

Are you quitting photography? No. Just taking a break.  :)

Can you refer me to another photographer? Yes, just use the contact form here on my site and I’ll do my best to refer you to one of my awesome photographer friends who specialize in the type of photography you are looking for.  These are photographers I have used for our OWN pictures (we trade), so I’m certain you will enjoy them, too.

When are you coming back? I plan to be on sabbatical for one year. That’d be 365 days – which is exciting but also a long ways out.  If plans change, I will post here what the new plan is.

Are you selling any gear? I am not selling my gear, but I do have some photography backdrops I would like to unload. Send me an e-mail if you are interested.

Are you getting another job? Um, no. I’m not pursuing other business opportunities.  I taking this time to be a more present wife & mom and to gain perspective on the type of photography I will specialize in when I come back.

Did I finish my 30 Before 30 List?

In a word, no.

Before you are incredibly unimpressed, because *I* thought I would be if I didn’t finish, I feel fine about it.

By the grace of God, I accomplished some pretty heavy stuff on this list.

I was diagnosed with stage 1 melanoma in July, had it successfully removed and am going in for my first 3-month check next week.  Being diagnosed with cancer: a) wears you out b) makes you tougher c) makes you appreciate this gift called life like you didn’t know you could d) is a game-changer.   I am thankful to be cancer-free and am praying to stay that way.  My diagnosis did not happen in vain, I know many of you have gone in for your long-overdue or even first skin-check because of my story.  Thanks for listening to my journey.

Another biggie: reading the Bible cover to cover.  I realize there are lots of people out there that will stop reading this or skip over the Bible-stuff I mention here.  But I pray they don’t.  I really don’t have words eloquent enough to explain how actually DIGGING in and reading all 66 books of the Bible changed me. I grew up in a Christian home, read bits & pieces of the Bible over the last 30 years – but shame on ME, I never made time to read it cover to cover.  What did I learn?  Well, God is bigger than I expected/knew.  He never changes, but that understanding now is amplified for me. I learned that it truly is BEST to read the WHOLE story with an open mind & heart and not take little clips of the Bible out of context.  This is how people get confused about what God’s truth is (or isn’t).  Reading the whole Bible was like finally seeing an entire movie I’ve only seen previews for.  Loved the previews, but it wasn’t a cohesive story until all 66 segments would digested together & in order.  I feel bad that I was a Christian for SO long before I read the entire Bible… because now I see that I was telling people (back to my movie analogy) “that’s my FAVORITE movie” but never seeing it.  Well I’ve “seen it” now & I will continue to re-read it again & again.

I am looking forward to doing a couple of items on my list in the next month or two – like jogging a 5k (for the first time in a long-time) and going to Weekend to Remember with my husband.  Since I signed up for these things before my birthday, I am counting these items as “accomplished.”

As I think back to when I wrote my list, I was pretty focused on reclaiming my body (after 40 weeks of pregnancy and 18 months of nursing).  Who wouldn’t be?  But over the last 6 months, I have learned that my body is not mine.  First of all, it belongs to the Lord and second of all, because I’m married, Chris & I belong to each other.  Feeling valued by my muscle tone or ability to run without stopping is silly.  There’s nothing of eternal value there.

While I blame hypothyroidism, an inordinate amount of stress with having skin cancer and various personal-life happenings, for still have “baby weight” to lose, I am really starting to understand that I need to do things to honor the Lord and not glorify myself/my body.  I think being in shape and looking good should be a reflection of what’s going on in the inside.  The inside got a HUGE face-lift this year – so now I’m hoping it starts to show more on the outside.

I’m so thankful I made a 30 Before 30 List and am already thinking about a 35 before 35 List…  :)

THE list (copied from my original post):

1. Make photos albums for OUR family pictures.  Shame on me (the professional photographer) for not doing this for the past 10 years! (working on organizing pictures)  

2. Finish nursing our son.  I’m a HUGE breastfeeding advocate - but as of today (March 12th) he’s almost 18 months old & it’s time!! (DONE! 3/23/12)

3. Lose the rest of the baby weight.  (I hope this gets easier once we are done nursing). (ongoing, but doing P90X to reach my goal)

4. Lose a little extra weight, with the goal in mind of getting more lean muscle, so I can play & keep up with Little Dude! (see #3)

5. Whiten my teeth.  It’s been over 27 months since I’ve used a whitening toothpaste (avoided chemicals while pregnant & nursing)… yep, I notice a difference.  (using Whitening Mouthwash… this stuff BURNS! Not going to do it much longer 4/1/12)

6. Do a body cleanse. (in progress: 4/11/12)

7. do a 5k & jog the whole way (this will take extensive cross-training between water aerobics, pilates/yoga, elliptical, biking & yes, jogging).  Once upon a time, a 5k was easy for me.  (going to start running again now that I’m stronger from doing P90X)  Signed up for the Eerie Erie 5k, which is in October. 

8. Purge clothes that don’t fit right… not talking size here, I’m talking they made the shirt too short, or it’s cut weird, etc.  That means I have to make time to try everything on after the baby weight is gone… (DONE 6/27/12 – going to sell them at our garage sale, then donate the rest)

9. hire someone to paint our master bedroom & bathroom – it is SO sad to me that we have white walls in there. Sad. (doing a color consult tomorrow! 9/9/12)

10. revamp my personal blog  (DONE! 4/13/12) Check it out!

11. allow myself 1-2 girls-nights-out a month (HAD 1 NIGHT OUT IN MARCH, the summer is a blur, but I had one night out in September… planning to get better about this!)

12. donate shoes that don’t fit post-pregnancy  (had garage sale & got rid of them there)

13. get a punching bag for the basement  (I guess this was just an “angry” phase, because I am pretty indifferent about having one now.  Right now I’m focusing on that 5k!

14. learn how to crochet a hat (done! August) 

15. finish the blanket I’m crocheting & give it to the recipients (done! & even made a little bonus baby blanket! thanks to my mom for helping when she went on a road trip! 6/15/12)

16. complete the outline for my book project  (working on it)

17. allow myself to take a nap when our son naps at least once a month (TOOK A NAP IN MARCH, APRIL, MAY, JUNE, definitely took a few in July having melanoma, August & September were catch-up months)

18. take 24 hours away for myself: just me & my camera.  - Well, I am a little sad about not completing this one but I have no regrets NOT doing it.  With my husband’s work schedule, it just wasn’t possible. I will do this sometime before I turn 40.

19. get at least 3 massages (GOT A MASSAGE IN MARCH, APRIL & JUNE!)

20. have a “fancy” dinner with hubby on our 8th wedding anniversary  6/26/12 DONE! We went to the Melting Pot

21. have a family picnic  (had one with Little Dude in our family room on my birthday for lunch: blanket, picnic basket, food & even a citronella candle; I would have preferred to have one with the 3 of us, but I made the best out of my circumstances) 

22. have our family portraits taken at least twice (Little Dude is growing like crazy!) (HAD FAMILY PORTRAITS IN MARCH, SEPTEMBER) 

23. have some friends over for tea & snacks at least twice  (note to self: I’m not good at inviting friends over for myself… we have had playdates but no mom-dates)

24. write my own personal mission statement (not business related, just for myself) (STILL WORKING ON THIS… IT’S A VERY COMPLEX THING TO WRAP MY MIND AROUND)

25. Go to the dermatologist & get the full-skin-check again (it’s been a few years). 6/26/12 DONE! *melanoma removal July 17th, 2012*  Praise Jesus, they removed all the cancer… my 3-month checkup is next week!

26. Try a bunch of different egg preparations & decide what my favorite is. Like Julia Roberts on Runaway Bride.  This was really fun to do. I tried: hard boiled, soft-boiled, poached, deviled, scrambled, eggs Benedict, casserole, quiche, omelette, fried, sunny side up – as many as I could think of.  I was pleasantly surprised & really enjoyed expanding my culinary horizons.  I don’t have a “favorite” – it really depends on my mood.

27. make at least one non-photographer new friend who lives nearby (DONE! August 2012)

28. paint some wall art for our dining room. I have the inspiration. I have the tools. I just need to work up the courage to do it! (and make time)  (I did not do this yet – partially because what I want to do will cost some money we spent some money on painting actual walls in the house… so this one will need to wait. Probably until the spring since it will be messy and I’d rather be able to open the windows to paint)

29. attend A Weekend to Remember with my husband & leave Little Dude in the care of my mom or sister (or both) (BOOKED for this winter on 4/14/12)

30. read the entire Bible, cover to cover  (finished the Old Testament 6/7/12, COMPLETE! 6/29/12… and I can’t wait to read it again! Why didn’t I do this sooner?!  I have such a thirst for going back and re-reading and digging deeper into His word now. Best decision ever!)

This sweet birthday girl just turned TWO!  She adores Elmo from Sesame Street, so her birthday party theme was planned around Elmo & Sesame Street.  Her parents had a mini jump house, water tables, kiddie pools, the swing set, and several tables for toddlers all throughout the yard.  They truly thought about the kids FIRST for this FUN backyard birthday party.  Here’s some of my favorite details… 

You’ve gotta love Pinterest!  This little girl’s birthday party was inspired by Elmo from Sesame Street and ideas found on Pinterest.

If you like these ideas, make sure to Pin them & also “like” my fanpage: www.Facebook.com/HeatherLillyPhotography

 Hello Big Bird!Cookie Monster!Grover!Ernie!Elmo!Elmo was everywhere!2nd birthday party ribbon
Fruit & Veggie trays were Sesame Street characters! Brilliant!  (and healthy-delicious!)
Goldfish  (a staple for any toddler gathering: birthday party OR playdate, really)everything was red, orange & yellow – Elmo’s request 123 Sesame Street: Tea123 Sesame Street: Water123 Sesame Street: Lemonade (I really love how well these drink labels blended in with the coolers)Elmo cupcakes!  (it LOOKS like a cake, but from the side, you’ll see they are cupcakes clustered together)Party Favors for L’s little friends Elmo cookies!hide that basket from Cookie Monster, please….
Little Tikes Jump ‘n Slide Bouncer was a HUGE hit!  Everybody singing “Happy Birthday to YOU!!!”  Yay!!!
Her daddy telling her to blow out the candle. Good job!mmmmmm, Sugar!
I think she’s in love!Happy Birthday girl!

Congratulations to Jaime & Geoff!  They got married at Brookside Gardens in Berthoud, Colorado on July 7th.

It was a beautiful, warm day and we had ideal overcast for their entire ceremony.  Just as we finished up some bridal party pictures, it started to pour buckets – which lasted the rest of the evening.  If rain is truly good luck to have on your wedding day, I’d say Jaime & Geoff are covered for life.

I’ve been narrowing down my favorites to share with you here.  A special thank-you to Melissa who joined me in photographing Jaime & Geoff’s wedding.

Jaime’s birdcage veil Such a fun contrast between the bride’s shoes…and the groom & groomsmen’s shoes…I think the thought process here is something along the lines of “hold still, or else.” While I was taking pictures of the gals getting ready, Melissa took care of the guy’s pictures.  I love what she shot!

Geoff: the handsome, happy groom
groom & groomsmenJaime – she’s sooo stunning!bride & bridesmaids
I love that Jaime gave her bridesmaids the “green light” on wearing whatever shoes they wanted with their navy blue bridesmaids’ dresses!  So fun!beautiful boutiquesSomething tells me this might have been a Pinterst find!Jaime & Geoff had a lot of pretty orange & navy blue detailsdid you notice the table numbers were house-address numbers? cleaver! cookie bar!  (can’t go wrong here!)

they also had a table of couples in their family who led up to their marriage… so sentimental and beautiful!
the beautiful mason jars filled with flowers for their ceremonystring quartet happy groom sees his bride for the first time!
the kiss!there’s lots of kissing right after you say your vows & exchange rings! We snuck in a few bride & groom portraits while rotating family members in & out for the “big group portraits.”  I am SO thankful we… you’ll see why below.check out that DARK, stormy (un-photoshopped sky):The storm was picking up, so Melissa grabbed Geoff & the bridesmaids for this quick, super-cute picture by the big red barn:And I finished up with Jaime & the groomsmen by the archway, then the rain came!We hurried inside and did some impromptu bride & groom portraits:What do you do when it rains on your wedding day?  Grab your Signature Wedding Cocktail and toast to each other… while sitting in a salon’s hair-washing room.  I love Jaime & Geoff’s attitude: they were totally fine with whatever I suggested. Their Speechless in Seattle signature wedding cocktail… recipe by their bartender friend!first danceAgain, Jaime & Geoff were SUCH good sports: Melissa & I took them out in the rain with a clear umbrella… I have to say, these are some of my very favorites from the entire day! Rain is romantic.

If you have been shopping lately, you’ve noticed the stores are rolling in the Back-to-School items ALREADY!

So it is time to start planning your back-to-school portraits with me!

These are a great alternative to traditional school portraits & are available in August & September.

They are all done outdoors and are available for students in pre-k to high school.

Here’s the scoop of this year’s back-to-school portraits:

If you have any questions about Back to School Portraits or would like to book your session, please contact me directly on my contact link.

Happy July!

It’s been a while since I’ve offered a portrait special… I thought in order to “beat the heat” I would offer a Sunset Portrait Special.

So, for the month of July if you book your own Sunset Session, you will get this offer:

Jaime & Geoff are getting married in just a few weeks, so I wanted to share some of their favorite poses from their engagement portraits.

They knew they wanted their pictures at the Tattered Cover Bookstore in Denver.

I don’t blame them – in a digital age, there is truly something to be said for a bookstore.  As I walked in, it felt charming, nostalgic & traditional – an opportunity for escape into my favorite genre.  :)

After exploring the bookstore, we ventured outside.

It was such a fun time and I’m really looking forward to capturing their wedding day in July!

I wanted to share a couple of the Day family’s favorite pictures from their recent portrait session.

They are excited to hang these in their chiropractic office, Great Day Chiropractic!

This rebrand has been on my mind for a long time… as an artist, I feel that my work is a reflection of myself.  I’ve been through SO many logos, colors, and decisions since February 2006 (when I first started HL Concepts, LLC). I’ve even renamed myself to HL Concepts, LLC DBA Heather Lilly Photography.

I wanted a brand that represents hand-crafted and approachable, yet boutique-style photography….

In the end, I got so much more: organic, slightly feminine but not too girly. Strong, sincere, fun, non-traditional . I love the balance between the strong & soft shapes & rustic colors.  I absolutely adore the burnt tangerine orange, yellow, brown, and cream my designer picked out…

So this is the “digital” version of my rebrand – as I get press printed products made, I’ll be sure to share them here.  Oooooh, they’re going to be PRETTY!

Von put together a Brand Guide for me. You can click over to her work & see what else she has designed. With my Brand Guide, anything I decide to create in the future will be consistent with what she’s already designed for me:

New Facebook Fanpage Timeline Cover:

A simplified business card…. (front on left, back on right):

A lovely FAQ to send to my clients to help them prepare for their portraits or wedding:

5×7 postcards to send for a variety of occasions…

She designed gift tags, referral cards, bookmark templates, and 5×7 postcard templates for all of the different types of photography niches I’m marketing to:

Sunday night I stayed up late watching SNL on my laptop & thinking how great it will be to sleep in the next day: Memorial Day.

A couple hours after I nodded off, our son woke up crying & so I went in his room to check on him and calm him down.

About two hours after that, at approximately 3:30 a.m. my husband and I jerked – no JUMPED – out of bed to a horribly loud siren.

Occasionally one of our doors blows open on windy nights, which triggers our house alarm. So I went to punch in the code – and after the noise didn’t disarm the alerting noise, my husband said it:

“there’s a fire!”

Then all eight of our smoke detectors chanted in unison: “FIRE!” *beep*beep* “FIRE!”

I whipped around the corner, glancing at what seemed to be a light haze in our entry-way & staircase – into our son’s room, grabbed him and his blanket.  It was dark in his room & I didn’t want to suddenly turn on his bedroom light, so I quickly gave up on finding his sippy cup of water.

At that point, I realized I didn’t have my glasses on.

Chris said something about the haze & said “take him & put him in the truck… I’ll get the dogs.”

I ran downstairs with him and fastened our sweet 20 month old into his carseat with his blanket.  I wanted to get there & out of the scary loud house as soon as possible.

His innocent face mirrored back at me: no signs of worrying, he had his momma & his blanket.  For all he knew, we were going “bye-bye.”

I ran back inside, jetted up the stairs & found my glasses. Ran back downstairs to put on my shoes & reached for my phone.  It wasn’t there… I left it on the charger upstairs.

Back upstairs I leaped, grabbed my phone & returned to the garage to help Chris get the dogs loaded up in the truck.

I asked “did you call?”

“No.”

The dreaded three digits seemed liked a puzzle – I was so nervous & scared.

9-1-1

Within one ring, they picked up.

“9-1-1 what’s your emergency?”

“Our fire alarm is going off & there’s a haze in our house. Can’t smell smoke or see fire..”

The dispatcher collected our address & said to wait in our vehicle in front of our house. He confirmed & reassured that someone would be there shortly.

We struggled to get the dogs loaded up because they were so nervous with all of the noise, but within a couple minutes, we were all in the SUV, parked on the street in front of our house.

Within minutes the Erie Police were there and they examined the outside parameter of the house.

They didn’t see anything. A good sign.

I got increasingly nervous and PRAYED.

I don’t remember exactly what, but I said something along the lines of:

“Dear God, thank you for protecting us and getting us out of there. I’m so scared. Please let it be the dumbest, smallest thing you could think of and not a fire or Co2.”

Within seconds, I saw the fire engine roll down the main street and turn at our intersection.  Little Dude calls them “truckies.”  They were flashing their lights sans siren. Good – I didn’t want them to scare our son.

We stayed in the car as they went in our house to investigate.

As I stared at our beautiful home, memories of the last five years living there flooded my mind.  Even the five years of being together before we built this house came back.  In an instant, I didn’t care about the color of the walls in our bedroom, the kind of TV & stereo we had, the toys we’ve accumulated.

My heart immediately swelled thinking of ALL our of personal pictures.

I’m a photographer, so maybe pictures have a *very* special place in my heart, but I think any parent could relate to what I’m about to say:

I did not have Little Dude’s pictures backed up OFF-SITE.  They were backed up in at least two places IN OUR HOUSE. That’s right – my clients get extra TLC, but I neglected my own family.

At that moment, I felt like a horrible mom, photographer and human-being.

I quickly stopped myself from thinking more about the “what if our house explodes right now?” and “I’m just waiting to see a orange flame swallow our memories.”

I vowed to myself to get it together in these ways going forward:

1. I will spend the time it takes to convert the THOUSANDS of RAW files to JPGS… which means I will cull (sort) through and pick out my favorites, edit them and export them as printable files from Lightroom.

2. I will back them up onto 3 dics. One for us, one for my parents & one for Chris’ parents. My parents said they’d even put copies on their NAS (harddrive).

3. Once I’m all caught up on this, I will stay caught up on a monthly basis.  If I can’t, that means I need to take fewer pictures.

Just as I was making my mental proclamation, the firefighters came out of our house & chatted with the police officers.

I turned to my husband and said “they don’t look too concerned. that’s good.”

And then the head fire fighter walked over to our truck.

You know the part in movies, when someone is talking and the character is trying so hard to focus to HEAR the one speaking?  It’s like slow-motion with fast words swallowed by white noise.  You really have to tune in to gather & retain all of the info.

It was that kind of moment.

Happily, thankfully & miraculously he said there was no fire & that one (of eight) of our smoke detectors malfunctioned.

He went on to explain that most last 10 years and ours is only 5 years old… to go ahead and replace it… in the mean time blow it out with compressed air & replace the battery.

Thank you Lord!  I was so relieved. Sooo thankful!

So the moral of the story?  Please back up your personal pictures.  Make off-site copies, so you have something to fall back on in case of an emergency: fire, computer crash, hard-drive failure, corrupt disc, etc.

If you don’t have people to give discs to, upload your pictures to www.MPix.com.  Get a DropBox.  Or a safe deposit box. Find a solution that works for you.  Don’t put it off. Carve out 30 minutes a week to stay on top of it. An hour if you are super-snap-happy. Once you are caught up, maintain!

I’ve been waiting for the perfect window or opportunity to make our son’s pictures & albums perfect… wondering how I would do this turned into obsessing & waiting… which led to major procrastination.  But I was wrong to wait. SO wrong.

I know. It’s is SO cliche: back up. Just do it.

The next time you don’t want to take the time, just remember the Lilly’s Fire Drill. I know I will.