Today is Domino’s 6th birthday; how time flies!
We had a pretty low key day today as the weather here hasn’t been the greatest for the past week. As is customary Dom got his birthday picture taken. I just shot it about an hour ago on our front steps as we weren’t able to get him to the park. Hopefully we can bring him out on Sunday as the weather forecast is finally starting to look better.
Happy birthday little buddy; hopefully the new addition won’t drive you too batty.
First off I apologize because this will more than likely be long winded.
Today marks the beginning of a new chapter for this little photography business and for my life in general. Yesterday was the last day for me working at my “day job” which lines the business up as my one and only full time gig. Bringing the business to this point happened a lot quicker than Jes and I could ever imagine and I thank all of you for that. The decision to do this was one of the hardest ones I’ve had to make as I truly loved what I was doing in my other line of work and the people I worked with there were some of the best people I’ve ever worked with. The job and the people will definitely be missed. It’s not often you get the opportunity to work in a field you are deeply passionate about and you look forward to doing the work daily; for the past couple of years I’ve been lucky enough to be double dipping in that area. Mixing the photography business with my day job at times was tough but worth it. To the Sport Guys and anyone else I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and knowing over the past few years, thank you for the great time and for the laughs.
Looking toward the future now is both exciting and scary at the same time. I honestly can’t imagine where this ride will lead but I look forward to the journey. Starting photography as a passion, moving it slowly into providing some shots to others to actually having it be a full time business was something I never imagined when I first picked up a camera. There’s clearly way too many people to thank who helped me get to where I am. I will try to name a few but I know I’ll forget some names for sure so if you think you should be thanked, you are.
First and foremost Jes has helped me all along the way, she does a lot of work that you don’t see, keeps me on my toes and pushes me to keep moving forward. Without her help I definitely wouldn’t be anywhere. Thanks to both of our families for the encouragement along the way. And to my boys (Domino, Fozzie and Harvey); even though they drive me insane at times they brighten my day and provide comfort any time I want.
I’ve made some great friends in photography over the past years who I without their help, confidence and friendship I simply wouldn’t be the photographer I am today. At first with our only connection being photography we’ve moved on from there and I truly see a lot of these people as some of my closest friends even though we are kilometers (miles for those US folk), countries and continents apart. Allison and Rich, Mark and Chantal, Jordan, Mike, Cody, Suzy (and the rest of the TriCoast crew), James and Gareth thanks for being my friend; thanks for the conversations about any random thing; thanks for laughs and memories; thanks for the inspiration. To all the other photographers who I’ve met, hung out with, talked to etc, you have all helped me get to this point in one way or another, thank you for that.
To my couples, my families, the bands and anyone else I’ve ever shot; you have truly made this business. Without you there would be no me. I can’t thank you enough. To my future couples, families and anyone else; thanks for the opportunity. To those of you who check the site out daily, leave comments and tell your friends, thank you for promoting me and enjoying what I do.
Moving forward I hope to keep improving and bringing some awesome to everything I do. I have a number of plans and projects that I want to work on and some new things to bring your way. The future should be fun.
But first, I’m going to Disney World!
And to just add some photo goodness, here’s a shot you’ve more than likely have seen before, but it’s what truly made me love what I’m doing and gave me the confidence to keep doing it.
So here is probably the biggest announcement I’ll make on my site (besides shaving off my beard) and one that has been under wraps for a little while. Jes and I are expecting our own little mini-person. The first thing that we thought of (and you’re probably wondering too) is the one question that you always wonder: alien or superhero? Based off the ultrasound pic below I can confidently say we’re having a superhero, you’ll notice the cape has already fully developed and bears the Beards logo. What a good little superhero.
So with all that said the remainder of the year looks to be very exciting. For my couples with weddings around the due date – don’t worry – I’ll be there. If anyone asked if we were expecting and I said no, sorry for lying. Looking forward to an interesting summer!