I could go on and on about all of the things this book has opened me up to, but I wanted to share just one section with you today. It truly encouraged me in my business, but the thing I love about most things I learn in regards to my business — they can usually be applied to other areas of life. So if you are out there starting your own business like us and often find yourself discouraged, I hope you find this inspiring. However, if you are reading and you wouldn’t even think of putting yourself through the torture of starting your own business, I hope you will find some area of your life to apply this great message.

Side note: The copyright in this book reads 1900, 1901. That makes all of this even more incredible. This is what Mr. Washington said that sincerely lifted me up.

The following passage was in regards to Booker T. Washington building a school from scratch.

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As I look back now over that part of our struggle, I am glad that we had it. I am glad that we endured all those discomforts and inconveniences. I am glad that our students had to dig out the place for their kitchen and dining room. I am glad that our first boarding-place was in that dismal, ill-lighted, and damp basement. Had we started in a fine, attractive, convenient room, I fear we would have “lost our heads” and become “stuck up.” It means a great deal, I think, to start off on a foundation which one has made for one’s self.

When our students return to Tuskegee now, as they often do, and go into our large, beautiful, well-ventilated, and well-lighted dining room, and see tempting, well-cooked food — largely grown by the students themselves — and see the tables, neat tablecloths and napkins, and vases of flowers upon the tables, and hear singing birds, and note that each meal is served exactly upon the minute, with no disorder, and with almost no complaint coming from the hundreds that now fill our dining room, they, too, often say to me that they are glad that we started as we did, and built ourselves up year by year, by a slow and natural process of growth.

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Even though it was a great idea and a good argument, the winning image by number of votes was Option One: Best Replica. It seems the majority loved how similar the two were. It is pretty neat to see the similarities between the generations. One of my favorite comments from the contest was from Joanna who said, “I vote for #1 because they look so shock­ingly sim­i­lar! Go genes go!” Vitaliy and I are still cracking up at the thought of her cheering on genes.

And since I love saving the best for last. No really, I love saving the best for last. You can ask Vitaliy, I have a whole routine about how amazing the last bite on my plate has to be. He thinks it’s absolutely ridiculous. I find it to be absolutely crucial! Back to my point — it’s time to announce the winner of the Starbucks gift card.

In a random drawing, the winner is AMANDA MUELLER!!! She said, “The first pic­ture, being so close to the orig­i­nal and the sweet face. It’s great.” Thanks so much, Amanda, for coming to hang out with us and sharing your opinion. We loved hearing from you.

Thank you all again for participating and for sharing so much love with baby Charlotte and her family. I bet they have absolutely adored reading all of your kind words. I look forward to the next contest. Have a great weekend!

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We were hanging out on my mom’s porch while I played with my nieces and nephews. We could see the blue skies begin to turn darker and darker as the clouds began to roll in. Everything got quiet and there was a deep calm that filled the air. As quickly as the silence came over the land, the skies broke open and the rain began to fall. The lightening flashed and you could feel the vibration of the rumbling thunder that followed. I love the power of a thunderstorm, the beauty of it’s strength and might. The great thing about the thunderstorms is that they leave a coolness to the air which is refreshing on a hot summer day and they are often followed up with a beautiful burst of sun and if you’re lucky a nice rainbow.

I got to thinking about this today because I’ve been watching the rain fall all day. The skies in California, at least in my part of California, are a bit calmer. We are currently in our rainy season and the clouds are a cool gray tone and there is a slow and steady flow to the rain drops. The rain storms here typically linger; they tend to come and hang out for days.

As I thought about the differences between these two storms — quick and powerful vs. slow and steady — it made me think how similar they are to the storms of life. Some storms in life come through powerfully wreaking havoc on anything that comes within it’s path. At the same time, there are those storms in life that keep a slow and steady presence in your life. I’m currently in one of the slow and steady storms. It’s not strong enough to knock down any trees or disable any electricity, but it is just enough to keep me uncomfortable when I step outside my door. What gives me hope is what lies on the other side of any storm, and that, my friends, is new growth.

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After the outdoor part of the session was over, we came back to our place to recreate a picture of Megan wearing the dress when she was 2. It was short, it was simple, but it was oh so special! As you can see, little Charlotte has a lot of hair to grow within the next year to match her Momma at the age of 2. But we’re rooting her on! (no pun intended) I couldn’t decide on my favorite between the two. The first is the best replica, but the second is just so Charlotte. I thought it’d be fun to have a little voting match here on the blog.

Vote for your favorite in the comments section. At the end of the week, I’ll pick one random winner who voted on the winning image. Winner gets a $15 gift card to Starbucks! Go vote!

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Option One: Best Replica

Option Two: Totally Charlotte!

We could have just done a typical session for Charlotte’s 12 month portraits, but we wanted something more. That’s what story telling is all about! Adding props to your pictures is the easiest way to better tell your story. Megan wanted a more vintage feel for this session. If you knew my love for all things old, you would easily have known how thrilled I was to hear this. I knew from my own nieces’ and nephew’s birthdays that it’s a big tradition on the 1st birthday to put a small cake in front of the baby and let them go at it. We decided to go with that idea in order to accentuate the fact that she was turning 1 year old. However, Megan topped it all with the most adorable cupcake that went perfect with the surroundings. We had to have a spot for her to eat and that’s when we came up with the idea for the antique high chair. We did some asking around and Megan was offered the high chair of a friend which has been in the family since their 82 year old grandpa was a baby. Amazing!

There is more to the story, but you’ll have to check back tomorrow. For now, please just enjoy.

I’ve gotta send a shout out to John Meyer for sending us the details for this great location. Thanks John!

The light and the location were just spectacular! We could have shot here all day.

I’m pretty sure that Charlotte has mommy’s big smile. You can’t look at her smile and not smile yourself.

She has so many more teeth at 12 months than at 9 months. And she loves showing them off.

Megan and Brad, we just love you too. Thank you so much for giving us the opportunity to take a peek into your life with our camera.

I totally get you, Charlotte. I know these are the same facial expressions I have when Vitaliy puts a cupcake in front of my face.

I’m just so in love with this image. There’s just something so sweet and innocent about it.

The joy of parenthood.

She blew into his path the way a tornado rips across the plains of Kansas. He hadn’t expected it for a moment. She had on sweatpants, her hair pulled back in a ponytail, a slight hint of makeup on her face, and of all things, she had braces. The girl had braces in college. But there was a spark. Her passion for life ignited an area of Vitaliy’s heart that had been put on a shelf and was likely collecting dust at this point. He was a senior, disappointed with life, and ready to move on without a clue where that meant. And along came the fan that would ignite his flame.

The two quickly fell in love and soon enough became husband and wife. They quickly found that their passions for photography and people were the perfect combination to embark on the journey of building their very own photography business. However, they soon realized that they wanted their business to be about something much more than just pretty pictures. They wanted to tell stories, real people’s stories. You see, the little love story I shared above is only a glimpse into the real story of Vitaliy and the Mid-West Blondy, whose name is Candace. Their story runs much deeper then unibrows and braces or the clash of cultures. Their story is filled with tragedy, pain, redemption and joy. They have a dream today. They have a dream to not only share their own stories through words and pictures, but they want to share your story through words and pictures. They have a firm belief that each one of us has a story worth telling. A story that will not only change your life by sharing it, but it will change the life of others by hearing it.

If you have a passion for photography, for people, for storytelling, for life, then come join us in our journey. We can’t take this journey without you. A story is only a story if there is someone out their to hear it. Be the fan that keeps our flame going and burning brighter and brighter as the years go on.

Click here to join the journey!

A few days later as I opened up the card and began to read, my emotions began to stir and I continued reading in a shiny blur of tears. This is how it read.

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Do you know how thankful I feel to be a part of your life, or how my heart fills with love when I think of that little girl I used to hold on my lap or tuck into bed with a kiss?

Do you know how lucky I feel to have shared in the joys and the adventures of watching you become the person you are today?

Do you know how proud I am to have you as my daughter?

You’re the woman I truly admire, a friend I love to spend time with, and the daughter I love so much. Happy Valentine’s Day.

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Inside were two rose petals and his own words, “I had just hung up the phone with you when all these thoughts came and then I found this card. Unbelievable. Love ya, Dad.”

I needed to hear these words from him. He’ll never understand what this card means to me. And because I never want to forget, I’m writing it hear in this online journal. I will one day get to look back over all of the memories we’ve documented on our blog and this is one I want to always remember. I love you so much, Dad.

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This is my dad, always wanting to show us a good time. Yes, that’s me in midair.

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Here’s the little girl he was talking about. And…my big bro!

Today, however, I’d like to share about creative clients. Creative clients are one of my favorite things. I love when a client wants to take their pictures to the next level, to add things that will better tell their story. The more creative and focused your session is the more unique and authentic it will be. It does take time and some extra effort to be a creative client. But oh, does it pay off! If you allow us, we love to go all out for our clients.

This client chose two things to tell their story. It hardly took that much effort, but it completely transformed the session. Come back to see what a little extra planning can do for your pictures.

This year he caved and we decided to celebrate Valentine’s Day. We were in need of a night away so we used Valentine’s Day as the perfect excuse and decided  to take an over night trip to San Francisco. Vitaliy spoiled me so much that I am now going to spend the next year convincing him that we should ALWAYS celebrate Valentine’s Day because this weekend couldn’t have been more perfect.

I was recently talking with Vitaliy and my mom about places that have sentimental value. Places that you feel a part of you has actually been melded into the very concrete. For me, all of these places seem to be back in the Mid-West. I asked Vitaliy when will places here start to have sentimental value for me. His answer to me was, “When you no longer have them.” And he is absolutely right. After this weekend, I know that one day, if God calls us to a new city, a piece of my heart will definitely stay in San Francisco.

As Grandma made her way closer to the door, she stopped by Grandpa’s chair to say goodbye and give me a kiss. I took her face and held it in my hands. I stared intently at her beautiful face, with my eyes grazing over every inch of it, my young childhood mind proceeded to innocently say, “Grandma, what are all those lines all over your face?” I could tell by the reactions of everyone in the room that I had said something hurtful. But, Grandma, being the woman of strength and beauty that I remember her to be, smiled at me and most likely said something along the lines of, “My dear, those are all my lines of wisdom.”

I had no idea what wisdom was at the time. And after Grandma left, I was notified that those were in fact wrinkles and you never talk about them. But today, I have come to admire the “lines” on people’s faces. I hope to be a woman who embraces the “lines” that will inevitably be my fate. They are lines that represent all of the years of experience, all of the difficulties endured, and all of the wisdom acquired.

Below are a couple pictures of Vitaliy’s maternal grandfather that we took on a recent trip to Sacramento (a.k.a. Little Ukraine). He wears his wrinkles well.

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