FIrst, let me say what a blast Paul + Melissa were to photograph! Melissa and I were in the ........
I know that we are blessed in many ways, and recently I found a new way, a way I didn't expect. Most of you know that we're raising support to document missionary work in Vanuatu. We've done trips like this one a couple times now, so we had a good idea where a majority of our support would come from.
It's funny when we think we know how God works....
Support raising is humbling. It is faith building. It is not the favorite part of my job.
I think much of it depends on how you view support...
I know a lot of people say that they have the best clients in the world. But seriously, we have the best clients in the world.
How many clients bring you a cupcake on your birthday? That's what I thought. Claire and Drew are two of the nicest and most thoughtful people we've met. Not to mention they are a ridiculously good looking together :)
Here are a few photos from our fabulous time last Wednesday.
It's 9:56 and we just got home after seven hours of driving, $800 in car repairs, and less than 3 hours of sleep. I'm not telling you this to elicit sympathy, rather to get these thoughts out of my head. Some times I think blogging is more for the writer than for the reader.
Yesterday my grandpa turned 98. My parents asked us to come over and celebrate this past weekend. AKA they really wanted me to come do yard work for them. We don't always get to make it to family birthday parties, but when your grandpa is turning 98 you definitely don't miss it. So we gladly obliged, yard work and all.
Grandpa says he wants to be the first Phillips to break 100. His dad died at 99. I think he'll make it though. he's too stubborn to give up. This month is actually the first time he’s ever used a walker. He's always had a cane, more so for tripping us grandkids and goosing people than for walking. But if when I’m 98 and all I need is a walker I'll be a happy man. Here's to you grandpa.
I'm changing the definition of entrepreneur to: "One who often looses sleep because he can't stop his brain from thinking of new business ideas." Look out Miriam-Webste, I'm writing my own dictionary.
I love road trips. There is something about driving across the country starbucks in hand with your best friend. I did this in college quite a bit, and still love it. Of course you know about my propensity for travel from my last post.
We have a habit. When we get bored or cold we take a vacation. This weekend I was cold and bored, a combination that all but warrants a trip to the beach. I was tired of the rain and nearly freezing temperatures and in all honestly a little depressed. Indiana winters tends to have that effect on me.
Luckily I married someone who is slightly more pragmatic than myself. Jackie encourages me and anchors me. She reminds me that I don't need to go to Florida and California every other weekend, nor could we likely afford it. She reminded me that we were in vegas a week ago, leaving for Nashville TN in a few days, and then to Florida in less than a month, and then Vanuatu a week after that. It took quite a bit of convincing, but eventually I closed out of travelocity and orbitz.
I've been asked a few times to start blogging a little more about advice for other photographers, and I've been hesitant to do so. I supposed it's my own insecurities that have held me back. We are our own worst critics. I realize that I'm not the best photographer in the world, and there are a lot of people better than we are. I never wanted to be looked at as sophomoric for thinking that I could educate others when I still had so much to learn.
But Jackie and I had the opportunity to talk with Jasmine Star & JD (they are truly wonderful people who we consider ourselves so blessed to have met) and they really encouraged us in this aspect. We are all in different stages of our career and there are always people who can learn from us, as there are so many we can learn from.
So insecurities aside, I wanted to answer some questions about our business. When we go to a wedding we usually have about $15,000 worth of equipment with us, and I'm going to be completely honest here. We don't own all of it. We decided a couple years ago we wanted our business to be debt free, so we're actually renting some of our gear while we save up for it. The lenses are incredibly expensive so we only bought the ones that we knew we wanted for every wedding. The rest we rent until we can afford to buy them with cash. It may seem second rate to some, but it's so much better than having debt looming over our us.
Some of the amazing companies that we use to rent our gear from: Borrow Lenses and if you're an indianapolis photographer you should check our Roberts Imaging downtown or Jack's Camera Shop up in Muncie.
Here's Jackie + Jasmine at WPPI
I feel as though I'm going through some sort of photographer's withdrawal. It's that same type of feeling you get when you go without Starbucks for a whole week or if you miss a day of devotions. Perhaps equating time with God to caffeinated beverages is not the best choice, but you know what I mean.
On a happier note. We did pick out the paper we'll be using for our new business cards. Our friend & designer Kylie came over last night and we spent a couple hours feeling different papers. This may sound odd, and you can probably picture us sitting in our living room passing around hundreds of samples of paper rubbing each and going "hmm...this one's nice." Yes, it's winter, and these are the things we get excited about.
This is Jackie + Kylie when we were all in South Africa two years ago:
