Most fun on a photoshoot thus far!

This was great fun.

Take one lopsided (on purpose) cake, decorated by yours truly.


Clearly cake making should be left to the professionals.

Then take a charming little girl who is just about to turn one year old.



Add girl to cake and allow things to unfold naturally.



Thank you to my friend and her daughter for their great sense of humor today. I really appreciate the help to expand my body of work. I hope you enjoy your images!

Leap!

I have just had a life changing weekend and I needed to share my pure joy and enthusiasm right this moment. I have been inspired. I have a whirlwind of thoughts and clarity at the same time. I have a goal. I have passion.

Alright, so I've always had all these things, I WILL give myself that credit. But never in this amount. Or this saturation of being all these things. All at once.

I have a big dream to become a professional photographer. I have always been something of a shutterbug and this hobby has manifested itself to much more than just another one of my creative outlets. I find myself actually living to get that amazing shot. I want to just go out and find faces for the other side of the lens. When I can't find a face, I use my own. Usually the frames are filled by my adorable 3 1/2 year old twins.

So to say that I want this would be an understatement. A big one.

Enter Jasmine Star, wedding photographer extraordinaire. A powerhouse of a woman, she is a wedding photography specialist in Southern California. More recently, she was the creative talent for a 5 day long live course offered by creativelive.

This course changed everything for me.

I will admit it- I was afraid. Pure and simple. I was afraid to put my talents out there. Fearful of the new and unknown. Jasmine Star has shown me (and few other 100,000 people who were watching) that it's okay to put yourself out there. Be yourself. Be REAL. Allow your talents to attract those they were destined to attract and repel those that were not meant to be. Don't be all things to all people. Be you.

Well, even I can do that!

She told us to allow our branding to be an extension of ourselves. This is key to marketing ourselves effectively. This spoke so loudly to me. I don't fit the "girly" aspect that many female photographers may be comfortable with. (I don't mean girly in a bad way, I just don't know how else to convey it) It simply isn't me.

I need to be authentic. I need to be me, through and through.

So what am I, exactly? Well, we have already established that I am not a morning person and require at least 3 calls to get out of bed and a large cup of coffee before I can function. I will never be a "spring out of bed to watch the sun rise and do yoga" kinda girl. I am great with numbers but bad with names. I love to cook but have troubles straying from the recipes at hand. I simply can't read fiction, especially before going to sleep. I don't know why I find it frustrating but I do. Give me a non-fiction read of any kind and I am happy. I am someone who sees the big picture but finds joy in photographing the smallest details. Maybe that's because I can't remember them. ;) I am a Mumma to beautiful twins and love that role in m life! I am a wife of 6 years. I love being at home with my family and I love being a stay at home (and working!) Mum.

I am a sum of so many parts. And without a single one of them, I wouldn't be me. And the addition of any one thing, like yoga at dawn, would dramatically change that makeup. And I am at a place in my life where I like me. Heck, there are even days when I love me. Room for improvement? Sure. But no yoga, thank you.

And I will now take what I learned this weekend with this amazing course and apply it to my life, on my terms. I want to legitimately call myself a photographer. it's time to put it out there. It's time to hang a sign that says open for business.

And so, after much contemplation, dreaming, stalling, procrastinating and pure laziness... I officially open my brand, my store. Sarah Silver Photography.

Slower pace

Part of being in a smaller town and the part that I am truly looking forward to is taking things just a bit slower. It is sometimes joked about as being "Island Time" but really- it's just a reduced stress level and taking things as they come. How much more to you really accomplish by tackling 4 tasks at once?

Things I am working on this week in an effort to slow down my own frenzied pace:
1. scheduling one night a week for something truly my own after the kids have gone to bed
2. speaking in a calmer voice whenever possible (it gets really loud here some days to be heard over two 3 year olds!)

I'll sign off with this; nothing quiets the mind like pulling weeds in an overgrown garden.

H.O.M.E.

I am finally, without a doubt, home.

This has been three years in the making and happened so quickly. After all that planning- we did not move where we had intended. Careful consideration was given to each and every neighborhood of Nanaimo. We knew what schools we wanted to live near and where we wanted to shop. We knew what lake we wanted to spend our spare time at. We planned it all out.

Then we moved to Parksville.

We found a house, fell in love and took it- sight unseen. An adventure. Well worth the risk. We love our new home. The smaller town life. The slower pace.

It's bliss.

I'll share more and photos on flickr to match over the coming weeks.

Today...

Today was a really great day. I feel like I actually accomplished something. I feel like it was a well rounded day.

I have been spinning my wheels for quite some time, since probably before the holidays. Being sick for so long just took my spirit away. I got a little... lost. I still don't feel 100% and really need some inspiration to look after myself better. Today was that inspiration. To be able to see the things I can accomplish when I have that energy, that drive- can give me that push in the backside I so desperately needed.

So what started out as a pretty hum-drum Monday, ended up being a brand new day for me. And I think the self portrait session (can find on my Flickr) was the outward evaluation of what was sitting just below the surface and ready to come out. A little corny- but authentic. Trust me.

Some cuteness here too

This is posted on the blog about my kiddos but I wanted to post it here as well. Mostly to show off my cuties but also to show off my new skills! I have been dying to learn how to do these photo groupings!

My husband is great with Photoshop but it frustrates me. So in turn, any time I have the program open... it frustrates him too! LOL!

Thanks for teaching me some new tricks, Honey!

Where is my subject?

I have been really starting to pay attention to the photographs I like and dislike. I'm trying to find some aim in my still point and shoot attitude towards photography. I have a million or more photos of my little darlings which are great for what they are but they are not the direction I want my skills to take. At least not more than half let's say for arguments sake. I want to document these fleeting times with my young kids but I also wanted to take up photography as a hobby because I needed an outlet.

So far my subjects have bored me. Both in real life and in photos. I have to admit that winter has not been offering me very many opportunities or good subjects!

So I am up for a few challenges, should you extend them. I know to look at an old item a new way- but our house is so small and so taken over toys that it makes it very hard to take a picture of anything without showing my mess too! There are a few signs of life in the gardens around our home and I am hoping they offer me some new perspectives but until it warms up outside I am not inspired! LOL!

I need to figure out what it is that I like to photograph. What and where is my favorite subject?