Well, Hey There.....

Been a little while. A good little while, in fact.

I'll be honest and admit that not only do I not blog 

anymore, but I don't read or follow any blogs anymore, either. 

Nothing big or major or catastrophic happened, 

I just, well....sort of outgrew it. 

And by "it", I mean I outgrew the need to 

see and be seen. To prove to myself that I had the goods 

to be a pro photographer. To be published, to be hired to do 

fantastic dream shoots for the likes of 

the divine and dear Carol Hicks Bolton. 

To work with the simply grand ladies of 

the Where Women Create family of magazines 

a number of times. 

It was a blast and a joy, and such a fun ride. 

But when the time came to get off the ride, 

to exit the merry-go-round, it was abundantly clear to me 

what needed to happen. 

I simply needed to stop. 

Stop chasing opportunities. 

Stop over-extending myself. 

Stop working for far less than I knew I deserved. 

Once the joy left, once I no longer derived any real measure 

of satisfaction from doing my pro shoots, I backed away. 

Slowly at first, though. 

I still held on to a handful of long-time clients 

for sentimental reasons and because I love them. 

But now, on the cusp of 2018, 

I can say with pretty much absolute certainty 

that I'm done. 

I'll still hold on to the cameras and the ridiculously expensive lenses 

and all the other stuff that goes along with it. 

Just in case, because I will never say never. 

I might return to do what I once loved, 

but only if the pull to do so is stronger than 

the overwhelming peace I've acquired from letting it go. 

In a similar vein, we are also looking 

to sell our farmhouse, leave Fredericksburg, 

and move a bit closer to my 

"real" job as a full-time respiratory therapist at an area hospital. 

So...Happy New Year!

I still see a lot of you on Facebook and on Instagram, 

so just because this old blog has become a ghost town 

doesn't mean we can't still say "hey" 

every now and again. 

For the New Year, 

I wish each of you your own special brand 

of peace and joy and fulfillment, 

wherever it may take you. 

With love,

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Published, Spring 2017 Where Women Create

Well finally!

It's high time that I shared my contribution to 

 the Spring 2017 issue 

of Where Women Create Magazine...

more specifically, the feature story on oh-so-lovely 

and oooooh-so-talented artist, Carol Darilek. 

We collaborated on another Where Women Create 

feature in 2016, where I had a blast shooting Carol's adorable little studio. 

 But when Carol completely redid her creative space, 

Jo gave us an enthusiastic thumb's-up 

to document the magical transformation. 

Enjoy!

As always, many thanks to Jo Packham, Brandy Shay, 

and the top-notch crew at Where Women Create

for the honor of contributing.

And most of all, a huge debt of gratitude to 

Carol Darilek, for allowing me entrance into your 

world of wonder and amazement!

Happy Spring, my friends!

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Published in Where Women Create-Llano Earth Art Festival

Hello Friends!I'm thrilled to share something a little bit different, a little bit magical, and a whole lot of awesome with all of you. 
This past April, it was my pleasure to photograph the second annual Llano Earth Art Festival in beautiful Llano, Texas exclusively for Where Women Create Magazine.

So....what is LEAF, you might be asking right about now? 
Well, like I said, it's pure magic, but a bit of exposition is in order. 

 Festival organizer Binky Morgan,  

(the beautiful lady above ),

and the entire LEAF team of visionaries 

worked tirelessly to make this joyous, 

multi-sensory experience happen 

on the banks of the Llano River. 

It's all about Earth, and Art ( and Earth Art! ),

workshops, land art installations, music, fashion, and so, so much more. 

But above all else, it's home to the National Rock Stacking Championship, which is a gravity-defying form of creative expression which astonishes and confounds in equal measure.

You can read all about LEAF 

in the Nov/Dec/Jan 2017 issue of 

Where Women Create Magazine,

on newsstands now. 

And to learn more about LEAF, 

be sure to click 

HERE.

Thank you to Where Women Create Magazine, 

and Binky Morgan for the privilege 
of collaborating on this project, 

And a great big thank you 

to my expert photographer buddies 

Cynthia Lively and Lou Quallenberg 

for contributing their own stellar photos to this piece. 

Happy Holidays, 

and the best to each of you! 

Best,

Anne

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That Someone

Inspiration.

It's not always a what, 

sometimes it's a who.

The lady above is Jill Thompson Elliott.

Wife and mom, owner/proprietor of 

Haberdashery Boutique in Fredericksburg, Texas, 

cover girl for Where Women Create Business Magazine, 

and a wonderfully intuitive photographer. 

If I told her that she does it all well, 

and with preternatural grace, 

she would just crinkle up that cute nose of hers 

and correct me, albeit graciously. 

She knows that what looks and seems effortless 

is usually anything but. 

And I know it, too. 

But don't we all sometimes 

look dolefully at "that someone" who seemingly 

has it all together? The one who has figured out 

the secret to having it all and doing it all,...

being that woman that we all aspire to be? 

What we see is superficially viewed through 

our own experiences, our own failings, 

and a huge, heaping pile of misconceptions. 

The woman who "has it all", that someone, 

is a woman who has laughed and cried, and sacrificed. 

She has suffered great joy and crushing losses, 

sometimes in equal measure. 

She has laid awake crying, silently working out 

in her sleepless mind the "how's and why's and when's",

and how to wisely navigate the curve-balls 

that life invariably hits us with. 

She is Jill Thompson Elliott, 

and a thousand other women I know 

and admire. 

And yeah, right here and right now, 

today, she is that someone who I want to 

acknowledge as making an impact on my life. 

This post will surprise her, no doubt, 

but that's kinda the point. 

It's nice when we are going about our everyday lives, 

just doing what we do without any fanfare, 

expecting no notice or recognition, 

someone sneaks up on you... 

kind of like I did in that photo I snapped of Jill,,,

and says, 

"pssssst....hey you...you're pretty okay, ya know?  

you made an impact, and you are an inspiration?"

Readers, keep being who you are, 

because chances are, 

YOU are that someone to someone else. 

Best,

Anne

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CPR

That's what I needed. 

A dose of epi, a little B12, hell, maybe even full-blown 

resuscitation. 

I was freaking burned out, 

and didn't give much of a flip 

whether I ever picked up the camera again. 

 I put it down for a spell, and let it rest. 

It wasn't the fault of my clients, 

far from it. It was due to my type-A, 

can't say no, gotta go, go, go, mindset 

that has sadly dictated the last 6 years of my photography 

business model. 

A conundrum of my own creation, 

and as usual, my own worst enemy. 

Being the all-or-nothing creature that I am, 

I did what felt natural to me... 

I pretty much said no to any and every job 

which came my way, save for a small group 

of long-time clients and one group of magazines. 

And then my best friend Tom coerced me into 

taking a photography workshop this past week. 

The Art of Intuitive Photography by Mindy Veissid, 

to be exact.

Wow. 

Mindy has done what I thought for sure 

what was impossible. 

She taught me to believe again. 

To trust in myself and my intuition again. 

To drum it into my head that there are no mistakes 

when you follow your heart and your calling. 

That CPR thing came by way of a beautifully 

gifted lady named Mindy, and she has rocked my world. 

Thank you Mindy, Lisa and Jill. 

Hope came in the package of two spitfire New Yorkers, 

and my own stubborn decison to get off my ass and say,

"oh okay, I'll give this workshop thing a shot...it'll only 

be a few hours outta my day regardless."

Sharing an image from the workshop. 

Just one for now. 

It's open for your own interpretation. 

I don't even feel compelled to share what it is,

or where I shot it. 

What matters most to me is that I stopped, 

took a breath, got out of my own way,

 and followed my intuition. 

I looked up, and whaddaya know? 

There it was.

So yeah... I reckon I'll be back to work 

with new eyes and a new purpose. 

To follow that voice inside of me that says 

"screw the rules, make up your own. tell fear to f off."

Message recieved, Mindy.

Message received.

Best,

Anne

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Summer-Fall 2016: Room No. 5, Carol Hicks Bolton

Bonjour!

As promised, here are more of the photos 

from our recent photo shoot at Carol Hicks Bolton's 

glorious shop, Room No. 5. 

Delights from their most recent shipment from France 

are the order of the day for this visit into Carol's world. 

This is only Part One, many more to come 

in the days ahead. 

Enjoy! 

And please pay a visit to Carol's 

beautifully revamped website to see 

more from our 4 years of collaborations. 

Click HERE to see all three of Carol Hicks Bolton's shops! 

Thank you for the visit to see what 

this very infrequent blogger has been up to!

Again, to see more, please visit Carol at 

http://www.carolhicksbolton.com/

Best,

Anne

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