Wednesday, October 26, 2016

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, 
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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and chat with me here...



Tuesday, October 11, 2016

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. 
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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Friday, October 7, 2016

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. 




























































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


This is a comment-free blog
but please come visit 
and chat with me here...



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