September was a jam-packed month!
And I’m going to be honest: As I write this blog, it’s nearing the end of the first week of November.
But it’s the first month I’ve missed and I am determined to NOT leave one month behind! So although I may not remember the specific details of September I would still like to record the stories and feelings and events that took place that I have so intentionally kept via photos.
There is a reason I take so many photos!! Even of the seemingly mundane things. So, let’s travel back to September 2020…
I spent a good deal of time training myself and practicing real estate photography- which, if I’m being honest, was rather terrifying! A family friend and real estate agent had her photographer quit unexpectedly and photos for homes are more important than ever with Covid, so she asked if I was up for learning the ways of the industry.
Intrigued, and always up for learning something new, I threw myself into about as many YouTube videos I could handle and brought out my flash gear from my wedding photography days (I very rarely use flash nowadays for branding since there is a lot more control over the location/light and time of day we shoot!)
Learning a setup with not one, but two off-camera flashes was intimidating and I spent hours practicing in my own house (and on Shadow) and got to practice on an actual house for sale too! I have to say, I was rather impressed with myself and the quality I achieved. I admitted to my dad that I thought I’d gotten lucky and he told me that “Luck is when preparation meets opportunity.” I loved that!
I spent September gobbling up the Alex Rider books again after first reading them in elementary school with my little brother in preparation for the TV show that would be releasing in November! (Once that actually looked incredible! Let’s not mention the horridness of the movie despite Alex Pettyfer being in it…)
I played a lot of Rocket League (an online cars-playing-soccer video game my boyfriend is obsessed with) until the trolls got too awful for me to handle and I resorted back to The Witcher.
I also spent an evening doing a headshot swap with the talented Britney of Your Creative Counterpart! We checked out the park in Zinfandel village in Rancho Cordova and got an absolute killer sunset for our shots!
Speaking of Britney, she inspired me to do a “Country-themed” dinner night! One night every month her and her family have food from a different country for dinner, so to shamelessly steal her idea, Damon and I spent an evening home-making pasta! (My first time since learning from the professionals in Florence two years ago). It was a delicious disaster that we will attempt again another time should we ever wish to pursue perfection!
As far as work went, I photographed Alexis and Chris, who needed some clean and modern branding photos for their new lifestyle YouTube channel (sooo fun!) and then also some gorgeous succulent gift boxes for a client starting out on Etsy.
I also got to photograph my friend Hannah of Blue Egg Adventures for her branding photos!! I met Hannah through cosplay and attending anime conventions and she is a fabulous nerdy friend I was excited to chat with again! (I have very few nerdy friends who are on the same level as me).
I got to participate in a Closet Detox makeover thanks to Missy of Simplified Wardrobe and tried on every single piece of clothing in my closet in order to figure out what to get rid of and what I needed to buy to complete my closet. It literally took 8 hours and I nearly died after, but I now have a clear catalogue of clothes that I love! Thanks, Missy!
And to top September off, I finally finished up shooting the very last of my #smallbizproject shoots! I photographed Samia, Just and Julia, Katelyn Bradley Photography, Hillside Blooms Floristry, Acorn Photography annnnd Allexa and Jami were the last two contenders and we had a great morning photographing at Temple Coffee on K Street in Sacramento (only with a little leftover smoke from all the fires!).
(And don’t worry, I’ll be doing a big ol’ blog on ALL of the participants to spill all about the experience!)
And that was September, my friends! I was a busy busy bee and I’m glad to be moving into the spooky month (and hopefully cooler month- I’m SO over these 110+ days!!)
In Summary
BOOK OF THE MONTH: The Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz
TV SHOW OF THE MONTH: Good Trouble (sequel to The Fosters!!)
FAVORITE PART OF SEPTEMBER: Meeting and photographing so many awesome ladies for the #smallbizproject!
BIGGEST BUSINESS ACHIEVEMENT: #smallbizproject, for sure :D
MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO NEXT MONTH: Halloween!! And cooler weather!!
