I’m not gonna lie; I was a little star-struck to be in the same city, let alone the same coffee shop, restaurant, and hotel room with Kelsey Anderson. I have admired her work for some time now, but one of the reasons I was so excited to meet her and work with her is because she is very much a real person – a hysterical, no-holds-barred kind of person, and I loved her from the beginning. We had such a wonderful group of girls for the workshop, and it was so much fun to spend the day with other women who had similar interests and goals. I’m not sure I can imagine a more perfect day – walking the city with our cameras, shooting gorgeous models, getting instant feedback from a generous, hands-on teacher…

A big thank you to Sarah of Sarah-Beth Photography for twisting Kelsey’s arm and getting her to come to Indy and for calling me last year to let me know she was coming and inviting me to join her – and also for hooking us up with such gorgeous models!

A big thank you to Kelsey for being real, for being an inspiration, for instilling confidence, for answering questions, for making me laugh. She honestly changed the way I think about my camera – forcing us to try something we’d never even thought of – and I truly believe that is how you get better and grow as a photographer and as a person, by stepping outside of the box and breaking a few rules.

Okay, I will quit rambling and get on with the pictures already. The workshop did include a segment on post-processing, but honestly, these images needed very little work. One of my personal goals as of late has been to perfect my SOOC (straight out of camera) images as much as I can so that A) I can spend less time editing and more time with my kids and B) I can avoid over-processing. I could do a whole blog post on the awful things I’ve done to my pictures in the past, and as I am growing more confident in my composition and execution of the basics, I find that I don’t want to edit my images very much. Having said all that, I do love the subtle changes I can make in Lightroom and Photoshop, and Kelsey definitely showed me a few new tricks. I have loved looking at the other girls’ images from the day to see how each of them added their own touch.

We started the day by walking around the city, in full sun, photographing each other. I would never have chosen to shoot at time of the day, so it was awesome to see everything through Kelsey’s eyes. It was so interesting to be on the other side of the camera for a bit! Now I know how my clients feel, only I had 6 cameras looking at me, not just 1! Here’s Kelsey taking her turn…yes, she walked all over in those heels, looking killer, I might add. Intimidating photographing other photographers? Yeah, just a bit.Then we headed to Sarah’s studio, of which I am whole-heartedly, deeply, madly jealous. Oh, the light! Here’s our other Kelsey…I could have photographed her all day. She has a genuine, kind-hearted spirit and a contagious laugh Here’s a little peek at Brittney’s belly! She’s due in 6 weeks and was such a trooper. I never could have done all that walking!Our first model of the afternoon was GORGEOUS.Our second shoot of the afternoon was supposed to be timed to coincide with the sunset, but unfortunately, it was COMPLETELY overcast. We climbed a million stairs to the top of some monument (if I lived in Indy, I think I would shoot here all the time – it was SO cool!), and Kelsey worked her magic. Tell me if this looks like a cloudy night to you!!!Sarah & Kent were so sweet and such perfect models. If you had asked my husband to climb all those steps and kiss me like this in front of a bunch of other women with cameras, I *promise* you our pictures would NOT look like these:

Thanks again to Kelsey for an eye-opening experience ♥ I’m even more excited for my sessions this summer!

I don’t share personal images of my children too often, but wanted to take a minute to say a few things! It’s funny how I work because of these boys – to provide things for them that, without my income, wouldn’t be possible – and yet because I work, I am spending more and more hours away from them as my business continues to grow. It’s a delicate balance, and I absolutely haven’t learned how to even out those scales. I try to do most of my work when they are asleep and/or when they can be with my husband, and thankfully, I have an amazing network of friends who help us out, too. But I find myself, more and more, asking them to wait, saying “just one more minute,” and letting those minutes lapse into 5, 15, 30 minutes. It’s something I’m working on, and I’m pretty sure that any parent, whether we work at home, away from home, or a combination of both, struggle with the same issues, too.

So I just wanted to say thank you – thank you for YMCA soccer, Art Camp, and a year of preschool – just a few of the cool things we were able to do recently because of my business. I love what I do; photography is a joy and a passion, but it is still very much my job and my business, so that I can provide for these boys you see here. They are where it all begins and ends for me, and being a part of your family’s memories allows me to make more with mine. I am grateful – for all of it – every day.

evoking beauty through light : kelsey anderson workshop

where it begins & ends

alaina : 3 months