Week in Review
What a week! You know the ones that seem to speed right by you, and then you look back at Monday and it feels like so long ago? That’s my week right there. Crazy!
1. Now, granted, it’s March, but seeing as how I live in central New York, I’ve kinda gotten used to snow in April and blizzards on Mother’s Day. It’s normal, right? Well as bizarre as it may seem, we had some of our first spring-y rain showers this past week, and it was fantastic (if a little bit of a tease). Saturday night, alllll that white stuff just melted away. It was beautiful! for about 10 hours. Once the snow started falling again, it was no contest. Naturally, the leaky tire on my car decided to go at just that second…
2. Rob and I were stranded at a gas station waiting for roadside assistance, when all the sudden, the hurly-burliest of good Samaritans I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting pulled over and asked if we needed some assistance! We were having trouble putting on the spare because the rapidly falling snow had made the ground slippery and difficult to use the jack. In a flash, the gentleman in khakis and flannel had shoveled a bare patch on the pavement, cranked up the jack and set us on our way! It was one of those random acts of kindness that completely restores your faith in humanity.
3. Luckily for me, the blizzard had no effect on the little creatures living in my apartment’s basement (ewww!). Earlier this week I spent some quality time with some six-legged friends and a macro lens! Photos to follow :)
4. One of the highlights of my week was a meeting with my of my bff’s (best friend forever, obvi), the very talented designer, Carrie Perlet. She’s helping me with my branding, and we spent a couple of hours going over logo options. My takeaway from our time together? Death to Papyrus!!!
5. Wednesday brought dinner with my girlfriend Carissa and her boyfriend Joe–the sweetest couple you will ever meet not to mention, fabulous entertainers (lucky me!). While Carissa wow’ed us with her homemade eggplant parmigiana, Rob supplied desert: a chocolate cake that he baked himself. I’m sure all you ladies will agree: a guy that can bake delicious chocolate things is worth his weight in gold ;) Cakes aside though, dinners with girlfriends are a godsend in their own right, and I feel so lucky to be able to see the ones I love so often!
6. Thursday called for yet another celebratory get together. The reason? Carrie had just accepted an offer for a new job! While she’s happy to be moving closer to her family and friends, we’re all so sad she’s leaving! Syracuse just won’t be the same…
7. I love, love, love my new gym. Gold’s is SO AMAZING that I really don’t have an excuse not to go. While I’m there I can catch up on that episode of “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” I missed last week ;)
8. I could sum up the best part of my week in one word: networking! As much as I love photography, I’m starting to think I love talking about it even more! Luckily for me, I’ve found that wedding photographers are amazingly friendly people, and super supportive of those just starting out.
This week in particular, I’ve been emailing with Alyse French who works out of Houston, TX. I can’t say enough about how much I love her work! Not to mention how fab she is! From her engaging voice online (check out her blog here) to the snazzy website she designed to showcase her work–she’s even got the most adorable dog you’ve ever seen. The tips and hints she shared with me have been invaluable–but most of all, it’s just so wonderful to hear the success stories of women in this business!
Another super talented photographer I love is Megan Lange (check out her website and blog here). I can’t tell you how many times I’ve called her up with a random question, and she always has the answer! Megan and I met at Newhouse–but she now lives and makes beautiful photos in Charlotte, NC. I’ll be shooting a wedding with her this summer and can’t wait to work alongside her!
Despite this week being ridiculous busy, I’m constantly reminded of how lucky I am to be doing what I love! Every day brings me just a little bit closer to achieving my goals, and though it may be discouraging at times, it really is true what they say: getting there is half the fun ;)
Have a very happy St. Patty’s Day weekend, all! Slainte!
Martha
P.S. I absolutely can’t take any credit for this [very] fun collage. I saw one just like it on the lovely Alyse French’s website You can make one just like it at polyvore.com (it’s addicitve!)
Stephens Wedding Sneak Peak
A beautiful winter wedding in a castle— could a girl wish for more? Last weekend, I had the opportunity to photograph the Stephens wedding at Beardslee Castle in Little Falls, New York. After first meeting Mr. and Mrs. Stephens at Greenlakes State Park for their engagement photos in December, I was so happy to be able to finally witness their marriage and share in the celebration with their friends and family.
Congratulations to Beck, the beautiful bride, and her very lucky groom, Jake :) Here are a few of my favorite photos from the day–with more to follow soon!
All images are copyright Martha Swann Photography 2011 and may not be reproduced in print or digital format without written permission from the photographer.
Happy 2011!
Ok, so I am a tad late with this post, but it’s only because things have been sooo busy lately. In a good way of course! The beginning of 2011 meant the start of a new job for me! After nearly 2 years out in the “real world” I was offered a job at a local studio and am finally working (full time!) as a studio assistant. I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to finally have the opportunity to spend my days learning the ins and outs of the professional world of photography! Since I graduated in ’09, I’ve definitely missed being able to talk ad nauseum about Photoshop tricks and techniques, focal lengths, and lighting! I feel very blessed that I now have the opportunity to do what I love for a living!
Snowy Syracuse weather made for a postcard perfect white Christmas!
In other news, I refuse to make resolutions for the New Year, but I do have several goals, the first of which is to be more organized! I’ve already gone through several intimidating stacks of old school papers, bills, paper scraps etc. and contributed quite a bit to the weekly recycling bin! I also bought one of those handy dandy cloth A-Z file folders and have filed (what seems to be) my life away in that. No more stacks! I love the feeling of being completely organized–and I think everyone will agree, life is just so much nicer when your DVD collection is alphabetized.
Really though, what’s really driving this goal is my freelance work! I’ve had so many emails, letters etc. that I’m being forced to be business-like at home. No more scribbled-on scraps of paper acting as coasters for my tea mugs! I’m determined to organize my paperwork without reverting to my beloved “piling system.”
Another one of my goals is to try more new recipes (yum) so I can break out of my Kraft macaroni and cheese rut! Thus far I think I’m doing ok–I made bread from scratch last weekend, and I’ve been incorporating more fun grains in my diet (like quinoa) when I cook. My mission for this goal is to find a favorite tofu recipe and stop being lazy about my tofu prep (I usually just fry it in olive oil and salt). A very lofty goal, to be sure.
I’d say I’d like to stick to a regular workout routine, stop drinking so much coffee (read: coffee creamer with coffee), blog more often etc. but I know as soon as I write those down as legit goals they’ll immediately become much too intimidating. We’ll just categorize those things under “miscellaneous musings” and maybe that way they’ll actually get accomplished once in a while. ;)
Either way, resolutions or no, I do love the first few weeks of the new year–so full of potential and possibility! (But much too much snow).
So here’s looking at a beautiful 2011–full of file folders, studio chats, cookbooks (and those other things too!)
Martha Swann Photography 
