The first session in my new studio.
This session was a dream come true for me in many ways. This was the first session in my studio. The Studio was a long, worked for dream of mine. I had planned and pursued it for well over a year. Every time, that plan had fallen through. I had plans to build at one point in 2019 and once those plans were shattered the third time, it nothing less than broke my heart. I would not let it break my spirit.
I was on the hunt in early 2020. A colleague of mine and I had been browsing with big dreams. Then, I got the itch again. I can do this. My little business had grown so much. My birth photography was booming. Wild Clementine was soaring. Why on earth would I not pursue it? I found two places that I was hopelessly in love with. One was safe and the other was more of a gamble.
I decided to play it safe and put all my efforts into a precious little house. Then, COVID-19 happened. In one ill-fated swoop, my business stopped immediately. Everything crashed, as we are all aware. My nest egg was depleted quickly with monthly business expenses. I’ll be very honest. This crippled me. Where I had not let my spirit break the year before, it was shattered completely this go around. I don’t know that I will ever, nor will I ever feel comfortable to explain it, tell how dark those few months were after, but it was completely soul shattering. Not only was my dream killed, but I also now was unable to work. It was one of the darkest times in my adult life.
… But then came the sunshine.
When I didn’t think I could keep pushing through, when every door had been slammed shut, and when all my pennies were snatched away due to bills that kept coming despite my work stopping, the Lord provided. Connections were made that brought me back to my feet with some of the money I had lost. The studio found me when I wasn’t even looking anymore. I took a leap of faith to pursue it expecting to house only one piece of furniture. The night I signed my lease, I received word that funding I had applied for months earlier had been approved. After receiving wise financial counsel, I accepted the offer.
AND POOF. The Studio was on the way. Every ounce of strength and energy my husband and I had was poured into this place. The amount of blessings I had poured over my little business and my life are too many to count. I don’t know that words will every fully explain it.
The Studio was ready. I wanted to photograph someone so I knew I felt comfortable for clients when they asked to shoot indoors. While most of my clients ask for outdoors, there are many that prefer the privacy of indoors. I wanted to make sure that I knew the best of the best this studio could give them.
Lacy applied for this promotional shoot. I don’t know how it happens, but I usually manage to work out details with the first person applying, and that is what happened here. Lacy was fully of life. I knew her measurements. I had one outfit in particular that I wanted to shoot. The rest, I designed around the vision I had based on her questionnaire.
She showed came to the studio, and she truly felt like a person I had known my whole life. All the nuances I had picked up from her translated so beautifully in the clothing I had chosen for the day. Everything worked seamlessly and beautifully to create this boho dreamland of a shoot. It was nothing short of magical.
I don’t know if Lacy knows how special this shoot was for me. It wasn’t just a way to to “try out the studio”. This was a victory shoot of gratitude that I felt that the Lord would bless me so fully. It wasn’t just the studio. It was the countless blessings when I was at my weakest coming to life. This was a beautiful display of the dream making I would be making within the walls of this space. It was cherry on top of a delicious dream-filled sundae that for whatever reason I am blessed to indulge in.
Thank you for being a part of my very personal journey, Lacy. You made the day something I will never forget.
