Good-bye Beautiful Fall

8 Reasons I love fall.
1. Layers. I love layering up in all my favorite fall fashions including:
2. Boots. I may have a slight obsession
3. Colors. Oh the colors of fall are gorgeous and I wish it stayed for more than 2 weeks! (Sometimes 2 days...)
4. Ladybugs. I hate bugs, but those little lady's I can handle. They are pretty cute, and I love capturing some macro shots of them. Which I did not do nearly enough this year!
5. Temperature. The days are always gorgeous. Not too hot, not too cold. Love it.
6. End of photography season. Bittersweet. But oh so fun because this is the time people really think they should probably get those portraits done before Mr. Winter comes along, so I am pretty busy in the fall season with photography and that makes me happy! So fun.
7.  This is when my creative juices start flowing more. Not sure why. I guess because I'm caught up in the business of it all during the summer that when fall comes around, it's just so beautiful that my mind begins reeling with ideas (but I never seem to get to them before we see snow and all the leaves are gone).
8. That yummy golden sun. Sun-kissed love.

 

 

Struggles

I have been struggling a bit lately on trying to discover where my true passion lies in the business of photography. I started out this love with macro photography. I am trying to get back into my love of macro photography as a source for inspiration for everything else I do! Then I went to portraits, then added weddings and now have recently added newborns. I would love to specialize in a specific area, but I honestly can't seem to decide where my passion lies. Lately I have been leaning towards Newborns and Portraits. This really only eliminates weddings... but I love doing these as well! Every area has pros and cons but every area has such satisfaction as well. I love portraits in the sun-kissed light of the evening sun. I love capturing a person as who they are in that moment in time and trying to let their personalities shine within every capture. I love capturing a young family together in play sharing a moment of joy and love for their children. I love newborns because it is really is such a precious (and very short) moment in time and to capture this for parents to enjoy for a lifetime fills my heart with joy. Weddings I love because I get to capture couples on such an important day in their lives that is filled with love and capturing that is such a joy.

Here are just a few of my absolute favorite photographs I took this year!

 

So much to be thankful for, happy thanksgiving!

So much to be thankful for!

The amazing support and love from my amazing clients, friends and family! I wouldn't be where I am without you! I am thankful for my beautiful son who makes me laugh everyday. My wonderful husband who works so hard and who is so supportive in everything I do. My parents and sister who are so supportive and are always there when I need them. My grandparents-in-law who are always available when I need them and who spoil my baby rotten! I am thankful for the cute little house I live in and clothes to wear. I am grateful for a friend to scrapbook with and make random trips to Lethbridge for cupcakes. The list goes on...

God has blessed me greatly. My heart is full.

 

Hi It's Me, Oh and I Made a New Friend

I don't get in front of the camera nearly enough. I used to LOVE being on both ends, but that eventually ended. (Plus self-portraits are tricky). I finally got a chance this summer to be in front of the camera thanks to the lovely Lorena of Frames and Feathers Photography who I had the chance of meeting this summer. Interesting story. We met on Facebook, the next day by chance met in person. At a Passion Party. Yup. That happened. Skip the awkward stage, BOOM we knew (maybe a little too much too fast) about each other! haha! Anyways, after that we had a coffee date. Or rather, photo date... Here are some of the photos of me and some of her :)

Frustration

I never did take a year off when Kash was born, but I limited my bookings around that time. Things are different when kids are in your life. They are SO incredibly important and take up so much of your time and energy. There has been so many things I've wanted to do these past two years and just never had the time (or enough energy to put into) these projects I so wish that I could do. I know that right now, as much as I wish to grow my business in a new way, that it can wait for now because my baby isn't going to be my baby for very long. I feel guilty sometimes too that I've worked too much on my business some days and ignored him or plopped him in front of the tv so I could get work done, but other days I make sure to spend more time with him doing activities. One day I can put more energy into my business, but right now a tiny someone is a little more important.

 

 

Day 1

So here it is. A personal blog. (I don't like mixing personal blogs with business, even though I see it a lot, it's just not for me. Although I will most likely be posting business stuff in my personal blog). My business blog is Justine Renee Photography (just by the way). Hi I'm Justine and I am a photographer.

We will see how this goes. I've never really been good with keeping up on diaries or blogging. I'm not even sure what possessed me to start a personal blog but I've been inspired and intrigued reading through others blogs that I've decided why not. I am also very random when blogging (if you haven't noticed in just a few sentences)!
This is day 1.