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Southwest Louisiana Wedding Photographer
I’m re-reading that headline still not really believing that it’s true. But it is! I’m about to be a Southwest Louisiana wedding photographer. Stephen accepted a job as an associate pastor at a church, and we will be moving in the middle of October!! Friends, that is SO fast. It’s only been official for 2.5 weeks and we move 5 weeks from today! But we think we found a place to live, and I am SO excited about it! There are a ton of other details to work out, but housing was a big one for us, and it’s a little easier to start picturing our lives there with a home in mind.
One of the things that makes this so crazy is that we’re also expecting our first child in December. If you missed my announcement on Facebook and Instagram, it’s a boy!! The journey to this point has been a long one for us, and we could not be more thrilled. But it certainly adds a lot of details to consider in the middle of a big move!
What does all this mean for Maria Estes Photography? It’s going to be a huge change, to be sure. I’ll have to work hard to meet people and vendors and build up a client base in our new home, while also figuring out how to be a mom and taking some maternity leave. I will SO miss my many amazing North Carolina clients; however, I will be back in the triangle area several times a year to visit family and will be able to offer a limited number of sessions during those trips. Also, keep asking about NC weddings, because if I can travel back to work with you, I will! I actually already have one trip back planned for January 2020!
So what are my September goals? Well, really goals for the next 5 weeks before we move. There are a lot of them.
- Deliver August weddings and current portrait sessions – I have a wedding and a portrait session to finish up before I shoot again this weekend (depending on the weather), and I’d love to have them finished by the end of the day Friday. The more on top of editing I can stay, the more sane I will stay.
- Shoot September weddings – I’ve got three weddings back to back this month, starting Saturday. I’m so excited to be working with these three great couples and we’re ready to go on all of them! The trick will be keeping up with editing while I’m shooting that much.
- Schedule and shoot final portrait sessions – I do have mini sessions coming up on October 6th and they are filling up! I’ve also been in touch a few long-time clients about scheduling a final fall session before I leave. If you want to schedule a session before October 7th, let me know!!
- Be okay with being behind on photography education – I have a lot of videos to catch up on, but the reality of this season is that I just can’t do that right now. Once these fall weddings are edited and we’re in our new home waiting for baby boy to get here, I’ll have a lot more time to catch up.
- Reach out to other photographers/vendors in Louisiana – If I’ve learned anything after being a part of the Rising Tide Society for a few years it’s that community is better than competition, and I think one of the best ways to make friends and get going in LA (not to be confused with Los Angeles) will be to meet other wedding professionals in the area. I hate cold emails, but I’m about to have to get good at it!
- Pack – You might be thinking, duh, but I want to get a serious head start on packing so we’re not doing it all the weekend before we leave. My goal is to do a little bit everyday and to be as done as possible a few days BEFORE we load the truck so we can spend our last few days here with friends and family. Hopefully I can stick to it! There’s already a pile of boxes in the corner of our bedroom and it’s only going to get bigger!
- Keep reading Anne of Green Gables – I was doing a really good job of reading the first few months of the year, but I’ve fallen a little out of the habit. It might seem impossible to read right now with everything else going on, but I can’t possibly work 24/7, so I’d like to keep doing it a little bit here and there.
Whew!! That’s quite a list! It really is going to be a CRAZY 5 weeks, but somehow it will all get done. I just keep telling myself that 😉
