I’ve been so busy updating and creating an awesome new website, I’ve not updated the blog and let you know what is happening. Forgive me!

So I’ll start off with this blog about my son, who is a fantastic ball player and he LOVES baseball. Last year was a rough year for him getting adjusted to a new area, school and team but, this year he seems to have gotten it all back and then some!

Luke is my youngest and I’ve got three amazing kids each one is awesome in what they do and have found their passions and are doing so well. I’m blessed!

They had tournaments at his school and the scouts are out and it’s always a fun time, especially when the weather is 71 and the sun is shining like it’s supposed to!

Luke plays outfield, 2nd base and pitcher. I’m thrilled to be able to challenge my abilities. I shot these through a metal fence and really enjoy capturing the “mood” of the game!

So with that… ENJOY

So, I’m leaving early in the morning and I hope to be blogging while I am there and sharing images, but, sometimes you never know. So… if I don’t post for the next couple weeks, just so you know..

I’m in Arizona with an amazing group of people called Mid West Movement. We’ll be ministering at an Indian Reservation and then down to a Pastors school in Phoenix.

I have no idea what to expect and I purposely did not ask a lot of questions because I wanted to experience it all first hand for myself. Sure, I’ve heard a few things… but I’m anxious to see what is going to happen in me and through me and also through the amazing people I’m blessed to be going with.

So, keep us in your prayers. See you all soon!

It’s last years image, I know….but for now it will have to do! Be well everyone!!!

Okay so who needs to read another blog post about branding..been there done that, right?

So, why are we here? Obviously you love me

Or your still searching for what will make you stand out.

I’ve been shooting pro for 8 years now and up until now I’ve struggled with branding, who am I, what do I stand for and how can I convey that to my clients!

One thing branding is not is copying someone else. I’ve got a few examples, ready?

Jasmine Star – Lifestyle photographer! I love Jasmine and she’s amazing, if you get a chance to hear her speak, do it! She’s creative and full of energy and when her name got out there and people started to go to her website and amazing blog….all of a sudden something happened….everyone became “Lifestyle Photographers”

Then there is this line:“I capture your event with emotion and passion!” I feel sorry for the person who first coined the phrase, because I don’t know a photographer who does not use it. Hello! I’m guilty of using it too. But I seriously do feel that way, but again, it’s not my tag line!

What I’m trying to point out is… Sure you can be a lifestyle photographer and yes you’ve got emotion and passion but what sets you out to make you YOU?

Who are you and what do YOU have to offer your client? What’s so special about YOU?
you take pretty pictures?
They are all in focus?
You’re cute?
You have a way cool camera?

Seriously? What is it about you that would make someone want to hire you?

They say our market is being flooded with “Uncle Bobs” (an amateur photographer who goes pro, without knowledge or education) because of the tough times, someone says I can take pretty pictures with my Nikon CoolPix’s I can be a pro!

So now we have all these “photographers” charging 500 dollars and saying they are pro, they can capture your day in emotion and passion. What makes them different then you? Price? You better find a new profession!

Okay, now we need to take a deep breath, look into the mirror and stand there for a while and look, then think, what is it about me that makes me special in what I do? Who am I? Why do I love what I do? What makes me great?

Now, get to some quiet place… inside and out, get some paper out and let’s think about YOU! Write what comes to mind. Keep writing till nothing else comes to your mind, or you get silly

Take that paper and put it on your desk and look at it, often. I promise you, it will come. Maybe not in the time you feel you need it, it will come.

Some of us are more capable of discerning who we are faster then others…for me, I’m the others! Takes a while. Till now….

and after a year of thinking, trying, writing, re-writing, asking friends for help, borrowing others quotes… it hit me. I saw a word in a magazine and it just fell into place. Laying on the floor flipping through a magazine and BAM. I found me!

“It’s all about relationships, yours with your family and friends and ours with you”

I hope you all find your own individual branding or sentence for yourself and I hope it brings you all the prosperity but more then that, I hope you are happy with what you are doing. If not, talk to me…I’m sure we can work that out!

It’s what I do, I help people find their passion. Not everyone is a photographer, writer or author. We just need to find where our passion lies, not just our ability to make money, but our ability to soar!

I want you to soar!

Credit for this image goes to Preston Monoc visit his Facebook
oh yeah and I did a little bit of editing to it, too

This past weekend I had the pleasure to photography a gymnastics event in Saint Louis. I’ll be blogging about it in a few days but, while I was there something happened that really caused me to think.

I was there this past Saturday and Sunday. During those two days there were 7 different sessions the national anthem was to be played at the beginning of all 7. It was played five times.

I asked one of the people why? The fiddle player (who was amazing) was there and ready, why did we not have it played? She responded…well… different matches were going to start at different times so we did not want to do it? I looked around the gym.. no one had started to compete and just said that and she said well, “we just need to be flexible”! WE need to be flexible and WE did not want to do it…I wonder who WE were? As far as I could tell, the only people that noticed were a few other photographers gathered around me and WE did not think it was cool!

So the day ended with two sessions not having the anthem played.

The next day I spent those 3 sessions during the anthem being played watching. As the lady played an amazing tune on her electric fiddle, I noticed many of the gymnasts did not put their hand right hand over their chest. The judge standing next to me did not either. Two woman in charge of the event, and ironically one of the WE people who decided not to play the anthem the night before fidgeted and fixed her hair during the song. Another woman pledged her allegiance to the fiddler with the flag behind her. I noticed a muslim woman in the crowd who stood to acknowledge the flag and a military man standing a few feet away saluting. I saw bikers standing at attention with right hands over their heart and I watched a group of about 10 boys with a coach stand directly in front of me with no hand over their heart.

So, is it optional? I tried to recall at the last baseball game did we honor the flag in the same way? or did we just stand. I wondered that once this young generation before me grew up would they even see a need for the national anthem? I wondered how many of them even know what it was or why we put our hand over our heart.

I came home and asked my husband “So, they play the national anthem, where do you put your hand?” He replied “at my side”. I wanted to kick him off the couch!

So, it began, I went to the internet and found this: Wikipedia: The Star Spangled Banner

Included in that article is this:

Custom
United States Code, 36 U.S.C. § 301, states that during a rendition of the national anthem, when the flag is displayed, all present except those in uniform should stand at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart; men not in uniform should remove their headdress with their right hand and hold the headdress at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart; and individuals in uniform should give the military salute at the first note of the anthem and maintain that position until the last note; and when the flag is not displayed, all present should face toward the music and act in the same manner they would if the flag were displayed. Recently enacted law in 2008 allows military veterans to salute out of uniform, as well.[15][16]
However, this statutory suggestion does not have any penalty associated with violations. 36 U.S.C. § 301 Moreover, generations of students who were introduced to flag etiquette prior to its enactment in 1998 were taught that the hand over the heart gesture was exclusively for the Pledge of Allegiance which has had the statutory requirement for much longer.(4 U.S.C. § 4)[citation needed] This behavioral requirement for the national anthem is subject to the same First Amendment controversies that surround the Pledge.[17] For example, Jehovah’s Witnesses are not allowed to stand for or sing the national anthem.[18][19][20]

Here is the link to USC 36

Now my husband made a good point and highlighted for me the papers I left him that I found on the internet and it states:

Moreover, generations of students who were introduced to flag etiquette prior to its enactment in 1998 were taught that the hand over the heart gesture was exclusively for the Pledge of Allegiance which has had the statutory requirement for much longer.(4 U.S.C. § 4)[citation needed] This behavioral requirement for the national anthem is subject to the same First Amendment controversies that surround the Pledge.

I remember being in school and saying the pledge and listening to the anthem over the scratch muffled loudspeaker every morning. I remember placing my right hand over my heart, which I still do to this day. My husband never had to, just to the Pledge.

So, here’s my question to you. Where does your hand go during the singing of the National Anthem?