This week is basically just photos of all the places I’m going to take photos. Plus Caroline.

Sunday:

Super happy to be swinging.

I GUESS this spot was OK for family photos. (This spot was amazing.)

Monday:

Eyeing the last apple fritter at Chowder Days.

Nicely done, Connecticut

Free boat rides are the best boat rides

Tuesday:

This is not my baby, but I kind of want to hang it up in my house anyways.

75% off wings at the craft store!

Pixie Girl

Wednesday:

Practicing his long jump skills

A pond…

…a cove…

…a park. I LOVE CONNECTICUT.

Wrinkly toes

Thursday:

Ready for school! It’s been 65 here all week, so she refuses to wear a coat.

I found the steps where we did my maternity photos! I love this park.

What does the fox say? BUY ME, I’M ADORABLE.

Someone had a bagel with cream cheese for breakfast.

That chalkboard was the train station schedule for Evan’s birthday. Repurposing!!

Editing editing editing…I really loved this session!

Saturday:

I did NOT buy this, even though I really really really really love it. I did end up buying a dresser. And a table. And a couch. And…another couch. It was an expensive weekend.

I love you, soda machine.

Project RECLAIM THIS DISASTER is underway. I’m so excited about it, especially now that it’s getting darker and colder and we’re going to be stuck inside more.

I had no photo sessions this weekend but I’m making up for it with 4 in the next 6 days and I’m crossing my fingers SO HARD that the weather stays nice. I’m hoping to get some of our personal photos sorted and (minorly) edited and shared too, since my family starts to get mad if there aren’t enough gingers on the blog. MOAR GINGERS SOON, I promise.

I have a feeling this will be a reoccurring problem in my life now, so let’s just call this Volume 1. These are from the super fun summer music series at Jonathan Edwards Winery. I love places that involve both wine and playdates.

My excuse for being so late is “The Holiday Weekend Confuses Me Every Time”. Just ask the poor cashier and Big Y who wasn’t quite sure how to handle me falling to my knees and shouting “Noooooooooooooooooooooooooo!” when I asked why the beer curtain was down on a Saturday (it was Sunday).

Do I need to explain “beer curtain”? Is that a thing anywhere else?

Sunday:

Faaaaaalllll! Leaves!!!!!

Applessssssss!

Tank tops and snow boooooooots!!!!

Monday:

More fall. That’s really all I’ve got right now.

We both needed a nap on Monday.

I’m really excited to finish editing these.

Tuesday:

Cool fish sculpture that fills with water when it rains so the fake fish have somewhere to fake swim.

Every curb.

It was a really good way to spend the afternoon.

Wednesday:

Who can pass up a deal like that?!?!

Ready for a terrible storm…in the children’s museum.

MY PRECIOUSSSSSSS.

Thursday:

My only photo: Caroline staring out the door for Daddy. I FEEL YOU, GIRL.

Friday:

Pre-school selfies

Aquarium date

Twins?

Fall leaves & 80 degrees

Last farmer’s market of the season (so they BURNED IT DOWN!!!)(kidding)

AND a grown up date with some of my favorite people and a mountain of food

Saturday:

GORGEOUS lakefront property for my morning photo session

Basically everywhere in Connecticut is gorgeous right now.

Despite his face, he was very happy to be there.

And now I chain myself to the couch for the next week to catch up on my work. I might stay up way past my bedtime to get some personal editing done too, since I FINALLY dressed up my family and tried for some Christmas card shots of our own but owe photos to 6 other families first. Once again, NOT COMPLAINING, being busy is the best thing ever. I just need to get faster…and maybe turn off my internet connection so I can’t get distracted while I work. Stupid Candy Crush.

I am officially 2 months into this crazy photography business idea and I am busier and happier than I’ve been in years. Convincing people to pay you to do what you love is old, cliched advice…but it’s repeated so often because it’s true. Never do I think “Oh no, I have a photo session today.” I always, always think “Yes! New people! New location! New light! I am so lucky!”

It’s been a long road to discover what I wanted to be when I grew up. Until I showed up to my first day of Biology 111 in college I was convinced I was going to be a marine biologist. Then I wanted to be a journalist, a tv anchor, a Pilates instructor, a human resources manager, a house flipper, a real estate agent, a thrift shop owner, and some sort of unnamed, unspecific job that involved being semi-famous and doing glamorous stuff all day. I was somewhat successful at a few of those, incredibly unsuccessful at others and never got past the just-dreaming-about-it stage of most. But once the idea to start Ginger Snaps Pictures took over a tiny piece of my brain, I couldn’t let it go.

Am I still terrified on almost a daily basis? Totally. What if the day gets crazy and I flake out on an appointment? What if I drop my camera and it breaks in the middle of a session? What if my client hates every single picture? What if my computer and my back up and my back up back up all fail? What if I’m charging too much? What if I’m charging too little? What if I am the worst photographer ever and everyone is just too nice to tell me?

Believing in myself might be my biggest challenge. It’s hard not to compare myself constantly to other businesses. There is always going to be someone better than I am. Always. My goals are just to work hard, constantly improve and make my clients happy. It’s really not that different from parenting – except the clients are a lot LESS demanding and easier to please! It’s super cheesy to say that because I believe in myself I’m making my dreams come true, but it’s the truth.

Working hard to make your dreams come true no matter what stands in your way is also the lesson in Monsters University.

This is the face I make every time someone wants to hire me.

We’re big Monsters fans in our house – we own the first one and I took the kids to see the second in the theater this summer. We watch a lot of happily-ever-after-type movies, so learning that hard work, determination and doing your best are worthy endeavors too is something I’d like to emphasize. Of course the message is cleverly hidden in an adorable, hilarious movie that my 2 year old, 4 year old and myself all liked equally. Plus I hope the kids can see that lesson in real life as my business grows. Fingers crossed!

You can pre-order your copy of Monsters University here! And to celebrate the release, Disney is going to give one of my readers their very own Monsters University Blu-ray Combo Pack PLUS a $50 Visa gift card. To enter, leave a comment telling me about a time you believed in yourself to achieve your dream.   

Rules:
No duplicate comments.
You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
b) Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: “”#SweepstakesEntry””; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post”
c) Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.
This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
The Official Rules are available here.
This sweepstakes runs from 10/3/13 – 11/3/13.
Be sure to visit the Monsters University Page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ reviews and find more chances to win!