Modern Photographers » News http://www.modernphotographers.net One Blog - Thousands of Stunning Images Fri, 10 Feb 2012 01:15:43 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.3 Big News for Studio Noveau Photography! http://www.studionoveau.com/blog/2012/02/07/big-news-for-studio-noveau-photography/ http://www.studionoveau.com/blog/2012/02/07/big-news-for-studio-noveau-photography/#comments Wed, 08 Feb 2012 02:12:56 +0000 Studio Noveau http://www.studionoveau.com/blog/?p=3675 If you’ve been following my Facebook page or visiting my website in the last few years, you may have noticed that photographing weddings has been the basis for my business.  I love them.  I love the emotion, the details, and the importance of such a big event, and knowing that my photographs will be treasured for generations.

 

Wedding photos make me happy.  My heart just sings when I see images like this one.

 

 

Well, if you’ve been following my Facebook page or visiting my website in the last few months, you may have noticed that I’ve been posting more children and family sessions… a few high school seniors, too!  After getting family and child portrait requests for years, it’s finally official.  :)  Studio Noveau now has a children’s portrait line.  Hooray!

 

As my wedding clients have started families, they have asked for the same casually posed, personalized sessions they’ve come to love from me over the past few years, I’ve also been getting requests from people in the community who enjoyed my wedding work and wondered if I’d photograph their family.  At first, I limited the sessions I offered; I was working full time plus shooting weddings.  Then I quit my full-time job to pursue photography, but wanted to devote all of my time to weddings.  But little by little, I  kept getting requests from local families.  It took a while for me to realize how much I enjoy this aspect of photography, too!  I’ve always loved children but never realized how much fun they would be to photograph.  Besides, I often travel several hours for one wedding, so it’s pretty nice to be able to photograph portraits in the Gays Mills, Prairie du Chien, Boscobel, and Viroqua areas.  :)

 

So, consider this my formal announcement.  Studio Noveau Kids is open for business!  Make sure to check out my new children’s site.  It’s a work in progress and will be updated quite a bit in the next few months.  But here it is!  www.studionoveau.com/kids.

 

And on that note, I’m thrilled to announce my second big news of the year:

 

Studio Noveau will be opening a storefront in the Gays Mills community beginning March 1st.

 

My new storefront and gallery will be located in the new Gays Mills Mercantile Building.  The building is in the final stages of construction and I am so excited to move in that I can barely contain myself!  I’m absolutely ecstatic to be moving out of my home office and into a space that can welcome clients and the community while displaying my work.  It has been a long journey to get to this point.  My first senior portraits were photographed in 2004.  My first wedding was photographed in 2006.  In 2010 I quit my job in the non-profit sector and made the leap to full-time photography.  It’s been a wild and crazy ride, and I never expected life to take me on this path.  But I’m so humbly grateful for the support of my clients, friends, and family.  YOU have all made this possible.  I’ll be planning a grand opening soon, so stay tuned for more details.  In the meantime, if you drive by and happen to see me in the gallery, make sure to pop your head in and say hi!

 

Grateful.  Happy.  Excited.

 

With love and gratitude,

Rebecca

 

P.S.  Even though I will have a gallery, I still plan on remaining an on-location photographer.  I firmly believe that unique locations and the ability to travel to you is part of the service I offer, and your session with Studio Noveau will remain a backdrop-free experience.  (Yay!)

P.P.S.  If you were a family that I photographed in 2011 and are interested in having a quote or mini-testimonial featured on my new children’s site, please email me so I can add your thoughts to the site!  Thanks!

]]> http://www.studionoveau.com/blog/2012/02/07/big-news-for-studio-noveau-photography/feed/ 0 Why Are You in Living in Australia? http://anneruthmann.blogspot.com/2012/02/why-are-you-in-living-in-australia.html http://anneruthmann.blogspot.com/2012/02/why-are-you-in-living-in-australia.html#comments Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:01:00 +0000 Anne Ruthmann Photography
The short & simple answer:
Because I feel like it.



The longer answer:
One of the reasons I became a photographer after having many other careers was to have the freedom of lifestyle to travel when and where I wanted. While I've had plenty of opportunities to travel for work as a photographer, I quickly learned that it's much more fun to travel for pleasure with people I love. In the last few years, I've missed opportunities to travel with my husband because I've had jobs that hired me too far in advance for me to block dates off my calendar, or I wasn't going to be able to take off enough time to make it worth traveling to the other side of the world. When an opportunity came up to spend nearly 8 months of the year traveling the world- I had a big decision to make.

While it seemed like an awesome opportunity, I had a lot of fears and reservations:

  • Can I afford to put my business on hold for that long?!
  • What if I run out of money?
  • Will I be able to save enough to make it financially possible?
  • Will I be able to pick up extra work or money while I'm traveling?
  • What will I DO with myself if I'm not spending my time doing a ton of things for my business?!
  • What will happen to my studio, house, car, etc?
  • What if something happens to family while I'm gone and I can't fly back to be there?
  • What if something happens to me and there's no way to let people know?


Whenever I'm faced with a big decision that is surrounded by fears, I ask myself:

What would you attempt if you knew you could not fail?


When I removed all of my fears about the what-ifs of leaving it all behind, the clearest answer was to take the opportunity to travel the world and worry about the rest later. If I only had a year to live, the answer was clear- I would do whatever it took (and no, I'm not planning on dying anytime soon- it's just another method to remove fear and doubt from a decision.) I decided to stop accepting clients in New England for 2012, I would slow down on my marketing and new projects that I wouldn't be around to follow-up on, I wouldn't renew my studio lease, I would save as much money as I could, I would sell my studio furnishings, we would sell a car we weren't really using, we would pay off as much of our debt as possible, we would eat out less, and we would prepare to live out of a carry-on suitcase and a backpack for 8 months. Alex would be on sabbatical from teaching at the university and still get his salary and some research reimbursements, and I would save up in advance and try to freelance wherever I could with a visiting visa that allows me to take on work in Australia.



We bought tickets to Australia for January until June, and a one way ticket to Europe for June until sometime in August. We knew we were going to stay with one of Alex's colleagues for the first two weeks, but knew we would need to find another place to live after that. We decided we'd figure out how to find a place after arriving and speaking to locals. We knew we'd fly to Spain after our time in Australia, with stops likely in Norway, Greece, England, and a few other places, but we have yet to nail those details down completely since there are still a few months to figure that out.

We decided to take this trip together because we know that chances like this don't come around often in life. If we had children, this probably wouldn't have been possible. If either one of us had been in a different career or even at different points in our current careers, this probably wouldn't have been possible. If several projects I was working on had turned out the way I'd planned, rather than the way the fates allowed, I wouldn't have wanted to take this much time away.

Everything came together to create the possibility- but it required us committing to taking the risks involved to make it happen for ourselves.




So, here I am, living in Brisbane, Australia for 5 months. A city that I came to visit two years ago and said, "What a great city this would be to live in!" It's idyllic. There's strong support for the arts, great cultural and economic diversity, amazing public resources, and we now have an awesome place to live in a great part of the city. I'm enjoying every minute of it. I've even picked up some freelance photography assignments already, and am using my skills to trade for some lifestyle extras I probably wouldn't splurge on if I had to pay Australian dollars for them. I'm getting a chance to read, exercise, write, relax, spend quality time with my husband, eat beautiful fresh fruits and veggies- which all seem like something I'd be able to do anywhere, but as many small business owners know, running the business is always on the mind because we can always do more for our clients or spend more time marketing and strategizing for our business. After 7 years of learning how to market and run a profitable business in three different states and very different demographic markets, I definitely feel like this is a much needed sabbatical for me and a nice reward for all the hard work I've done to get to this point.

Most small business owners don't get to take a sabbatical from their business, but freedom of lifestyle is why I wanted to be a small business owner in the first place- to do what I want, when I want.

I'm passionate about helping other people gain control over their business so their business doesn't control them. So, if you think I can help you in any way, please reach out to me and say hello. I'd love to hear from you and I'm happy to help. If you aren't ready for one-on-one business help, feel free to read lots of free business marketing and management articles I've written over on PhotoLovecat.com.

(Note: photos in this post are from my iPhone instagram feed)
http://www.anneruthmann.com
]]> http://anneruthmann.blogspot.com/2012/02/why-are-you-in-living-in-australia.html/feed/ 0 Why Are You in Living in Australia? http://anneruthmann.blogspot.com/2012/02/why-are-you-in-living-in-australia.html http://anneruthmann.blogspot.com/2012/02/why-are-you-in-living-in-australia.html#comments Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:01:00 +0000 Anne Ruthmann Photography
The short & simple answer:
Because I feel like it.



The longer answer:
One of the reasons I became a photographer after having many other careers was to have the freedom of lifestyle to travel when and where I wanted. While I've had plenty of opportunities to travel for work as a photographer, I quickly learned that it's much more fun to travel for pleasure with people I love. In the last few years, I've missed opportunities to travel with my husband because I've had jobs that hired me too far in advance for me to block dates off my calendar, or I wasn't going to be able to take off enough time to make it worth traveling to the other side of the world. When an opportunity came up to spend nearly 8 months of the year traveling the world- I had a big decision to make.

While it seemed like an awesome opportunity, I had a lot of fears and reservations:

  • Can I afford to put my business on hold for that long?!
  • What if I run out of money?
  • Will I be able to save enough to make it financially possible?
  • Will I be able to pick up extra work or money while I'm traveling?
  • What will I DO with myself if I'm not spending my time doing a ton of things for my business?!
  • What will happen to my studio, house, car, etc?
  • What if something happens to family while I'm gone and I can't fly back to be there?
  • What if something happens to me and there's no way to let people know?


Whenever I'm faced with a big decision that is surrounded by fears, I ask myself:

What would you attempt if you knew you could not fail?


When I removed all of my fears about the what-ifs of leaving it all behind, the clearest answer was to take the opportunity to travel the world and worry about the rest later. If I only had a year to live, the answer was clear- I would do whatever it took (and no, I'm not planning on dying anytime soon- it's just another method to remove fear and doubt from a decision.) I decided to stop accepting clients in New England for 2012, I would slow down on my marketing and new projects that I wouldn't be around to follow-up on, I wouldn't renew my studio lease, I would save as much money as I could, I would sell my studio furnishings, we would sell a car we weren't really using, we would pay off as much of our debt as possible, we would eat out less, and we would prepare to live out of a carry-on suitcase and a backpack for 8 months. Alex would be on sabbatical from teaching at the university and still get his salary and some research reimbursements, and I would save up in advance and try to freelance wherever I could with a visiting visa that allows me to take on work in Australia.



We bought tickets to Australia for January until June, and a one way ticket to Europe for June until sometime in August. We knew we were going to stay with one of Alex's colleagues for the first two weeks, but knew we would need to find another place to live after that. We decided we'd figure out how to find a place after arriving and speaking to locals. We knew we'd fly to Spain after our time in Australia, with stops likely in Norway, Greece, England, and a few other places, but we have yet to nail those details down completely since there are still a few months to figure that out.

We decided to take this trip together because we know that chances like this don't come around often in life. If we had children, this probably wouldn't have been possible. If either one of us had been in a different career or even at different points in our current careers, this probably wouldn't have been possible. If several projects I was working on had turned out the way I'd planned, rather than the way the fates allowed, I wouldn't have wanted to take this much time away.

Everything came together to create the possibility- but it required us committing to taking the risks involved to make it happen for ourselves.




So, here I am, living in Brisbane, Australia for 5 months. A city that I came to visit two years ago and said, "What a great city this would be to live in!" It's idyllic. There's strong support for the arts, great cultural and economic diversity, amazing public resources, and we now have an awesome place to live in a great part of the city. I'm enjoying every minute of it. I've even picked up some freelance photography assignments already, and am using my skills to trade for some lifestyle extras I probably wouldn't splurge on if I had to pay Australian dollars for them. I'm getting a chance to read, exercise, write, relax, spend quality time with my husband, eat beautiful fresh fruits and veggies- which all seem like something I'd be able to do anywhere, but as many small business owners know, running the business is always on the mind because we can always do more for our clients or spend more time marketing and strategizing for our business. After 7 years of learning how to market and run a profitable business in three different states and very different demographic markets, I definitely feel like this is a much needed sabbatical for me and a nice reward for all the hard work I've done to get to this point.

Most small business owners don't get to take a sabbatical from their business, but freedom of lifestyle is why I wanted to be a small business owner in the first place- to do what I want, when I want.

I'm passionate about helping other people gain control over their business so their business doesn't control them. So, if you think I can help you in any way, please reach out to me and say hello. I'd love to hear from you and I'm happy to help. If you aren't ready for one-on-one business help, feel free to read lots of free business marketing and management articles I've written over on PhotoLovecat.com.

(Note: photos in this post are from my iPhone instagram feed)
http://www.anneruthmann.com
]]> http://anneruthmann.blogspot.com/2012/02/why-are-you-in-living-in-australia.html/feed/ 0 Why Are You in Living in Australia? http://anneruthmann.blogspot.com/2012/02/why-are-you-in-living-in-australia.html http://anneruthmann.blogspot.com/2012/02/why-are-you-in-living-in-australia.html#comments Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:01:00 +0000 Anne Ruthmann Photography
The short & simple answer:
Because I feel like it.



The longer answer:
One of the reasons I became a photographer after having many other careers was to have the freedom of lifestyle to travel when and where I wanted. While I've had plenty of opportunities to travel for work as a photographer, I quickly learned that it's much more fun to travel for pleasure with people I love. In the last few years, I've missed opportunities to travel with my husband because I've had jobs that hired me too far in advance for me to block dates off my calendar, or I wasn't going to be able to take off enough time to make it worth traveling to the other side of the world. When an opportunity came up to spend nearly 8 months of the year traveling the world- I had a big decision to make.

While it seemed like an awesome opportunity, I had a lot of fears and reservations:

  • Can I afford to put my business on hold for that long?!
  • What if I run out of money?
  • Will I be able to save enough to make it financially possible?
  • Will I be able to pick up extra work or money while I'm traveling?
  • What will I DO with myself if I'm not spending my time doing a ton of things for my business?!
  • What will happen to my studio, house, car, etc?
  • What if something happens to family while I'm gone and I can't fly back to be there?
  • What if something happens to me and there's no way to let people know?


Whenever I'm faced with a big decision that is surrounded by fears, I ask myself:

What would you attempt if you knew you could not fail?


When I removed all of my fears about the what-ifs of leaving it all behind, the clearest answer was to take the opportunity to travel the world and worry about the rest later. If I only had a year to live, the answer was clear- I would do whatever it took (and no, I'm not planning on dying anytime soon- it's just another method to remove fear and doubt from a decision.) I decided to stop accepting clients in New England for 2012, I would slow down on my marketing and new projects that I wouldn't be around to follow-up on, I wouldn't renew my studio lease, I would save as much money as I could, I would sell my studio furnishings, we would sell a car we weren't really using, we would pay off as much of our debt as possible, we would eat out less, and we would prepare to live out of a carry-on suitcase and a backpack for 8 months. Alex would be on sabbatical from teaching at the university and still get his salary and some research reimbursements, and I would save up in advance and try to freelance wherever I could with a visiting visa that allows me to take on work in Australia.



We bought tickets to Australia for January until June, and a one way ticket to Europe for June until sometime in August. We knew we were going to stay with one of Alex's colleagues for the first two weeks, but knew we would need to find another place to live after that. We decided we'd figure out how to find a place after arriving and speaking to locals. We knew we'd fly to Spain after our time in Australia, with stops likely in Norway, Greece, England, and a few other places, but we have yet to nail those details down completely since there are still a few months to figure that out.

We decided to take this trip together because we know that chances like this don't come around often in life. If we had children, this probably wouldn't have been possible. If either one of us had been in a different career or even at different points in our current careers, this probably wouldn't have been possible. If several projects I was working on had turned out the way I'd planned, rather than the way the fates allowed, I wouldn't have wanted to take this much time away.

Everything came together to create the possibility- but it required us committing to taking the risks involved to make it happen for ourselves.




So, here I am, living in Brisbane, Australia for 5 months. A city that I came to visit two years ago and said, "What a great city this would be to live in!" It's idyllic. There's strong support for the arts, great cultural and economic diversity, amazing public resources, and we now have an awesome place to live in a great part of the city. I'm enjoying every minute of it. I've even picked up some freelance photography assignments already, and am using my skills to trade for some lifestyle extras I probably wouldn't splurge on if I had to pay Australian dollars for them. I'm getting a chance to read, exercise, write, relax, spend quality time with my husband, eat beautiful fresh fruits and veggies- which all seem like something I'd be able to do anywhere, but as many small business owners know, running the business is always on the mind because we can always do more for our clients or spend more time marketing and strategizing for our business. After 7 years of learning how to market and run a profitable business in three different states and very different demographic markets, I definitely feel like this is a much needed sabbatical for me and a nice reward for all the hard work I've done to get to this point.

Most small business owners don't get to take a sabbatical from their business, but freedom of lifestyle is why I wanted to be a small business owner in the first place- to do what I want, when I want.

I'm passionate about helping other people gain control over their business so their business doesn't control them. So, if you think I can help you in any way, please reach out to me and say hello. I'd love to hear from you and I'm happy to help. If you aren't ready for one-on-one business help, feel free to read lots of free business marketing and management articles I've written over on PhotoLovecat.com.

(Note: photos in this post are from my iPhone instagram feed)
http://www.anneruthmann.com
]]> http://anneruthmann.blogspot.com/2012/02/why-are-you-in-living-in-australia.html/feed/ 0 Why Are You in Living in Australia? http://anneruthmann.blogspot.com/2012/02/why-are-you-in-living-in-australia.html http://anneruthmann.blogspot.com/2012/02/why-are-you-in-living-in-australia.html#comments Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:01:00 +0000 Anne Ruthmann Photography
The short & simple answer:
Because I feel like it.



The longer answer:
One of the reasons I became a photographer after having many other careers was to have the freedom of lifestyle to travel when and where I wanted. While I've had plenty of opportunities to travel for work as a photographer, I quickly learned that it's much more fun to travel for pleasure with people I love. In the last few years, I've missed opportunities to travel with my husband because I've had jobs that hired me too far in advance for me to block dates off my calendar, or I wasn't going to be able to take off enough time to make it worth traveling to the other side of the world. When an opportunity came up to spend nearly 8 months of the year traveling the world- I had a big decision to make.

While it seemed like an awesome opportunity, I had a lot of fears and reservations:

  • Can I afford to put my business on hold for that long?!
  • What if I run out of money?
  • Will I be able to save enough to make it financially possible?
  • Will I be able to pick up extra work or money while I'm traveling?
  • What will I DO with myself if I'm not spending my time doing a ton of things for my business?!
  • What will happen to my studio, house, car, etc?
  • What if something happens to family while I'm gone and I can't fly back to be there?
  • What if something happens to me and there's no way to let people know?


Whenever I'm faced with a big decision that is surrounded by fears, I ask myself:

What would you attempt if you knew you could not fail?


When I removed all of my fears about the what-ifs of leaving it all behind, the clearest answer was to take the opportunity to travel the world and worry about the rest later. If I only had a year to live, the answer was clear- I would do whatever it took (and no, I'm not planning on dying anytime soon- it's just another method to remove fear and doubt from a decision.) I decided to stop accepting clients in New England for 2012, I would slow down on my marketing and new projects that I wouldn't be around to follow-up on, I wouldn't renew my studio lease, I would save as much money as I could, I would sell my studio furnishings, we would sell a car we weren't really using, we would pay off as much of our debt as possible, we would eat out less, and we would prepare to live out of a carry-on suitcase and a backpack for 8 months. Alex would be on sabbatical from teaching at the university and still get his salary and some research reimbursements, and I would save up in advance and try to freelance wherever I could with a visiting visa that allows me to take on work in Australia.



We bought tickets to Australia for January until June, and a one way ticket to Europe for June until sometime in August. We knew we were going to stay with one of Alex's colleagues for the first two weeks, but knew we would need to find another place to live after that. We decided we'd figure out how to find a place after arriving and speaking to locals. We knew we'd fly to Spain after our time in Australia, with stops likely in Norway, Greece, England, and a few other places, but we have yet to nail those details down completely since there are still a few months to figure that out.

We decided to take this trip together because we know that chances like this don't come around often in life. If we had children, this probably wouldn't have been possible. If either one of us had been in a different career or even at different points in our current careers, this probably wouldn't have been possible. If several projects I was working on had turned out the way I'd planned, rather than the way the fates allowed, I wouldn't have wanted to take this much time away.

Everything came together to create the possibility- but it required us committing to taking the risks involved to make it happen for ourselves.




So, here I am, living in Brisbane, Australia for 5 months. A city that I came to visit two years ago and said, "What a great city this would be to live in!" It's idyllic. There's strong support for the arts, great cultural and economic diversity, amazing public resources, and we now have an awesome place to live in a great part of the city. I'm enjoying every minute of it. I've even picked up some freelance photography assignments already, and am using my skills to trade for some lifestyle extras I probably wouldn't splurge on if I had to pay Australian dollars for them. I'm getting a chance to read, exercise, write, relax, spend quality time with my husband, eat beautiful fresh fruits and veggies- which all seem like something I'd be able to do anywhere, but as many small business owners know, running the business is always on the mind because we can always do more for our clients or spend more time marketing and strategizing for our business. After 7 years of learning how to market and run a profitable business in three different states and very different demographic markets, I definitely feel like this is a much needed sabbatical for me and a nice reward for all the hard work I've done to get to this point.

Most small business owners don't get to take a sabbatical from their business, but freedom of lifestyle is why I wanted to be a small business owner in the first place- to do what I want, when I want.

I'm passionate about helping other people gain control over their business so their business doesn't control them. So, if you think I can help you in any way, please reach out to me and say hello. I'd love to hear from you and I'm happy to help. If you aren't ready for one-on-one business help, feel free to read lots of free business marketing and management articles I've written over on PhotoLovecat.com.

(Note: photos in this post are from my iPhone instagram feed)
http://www.anneruthmann.com
]]> http://anneruthmann.blogspot.com/2012/02/why-are-you-in-living-in-australia.html/feed/ 0 Why Are You in Living in Australia? http://anneruthmann.blogspot.com/2012/02/why-are-you-in-living-in-australia.html http://anneruthmann.blogspot.com/2012/02/why-are-you-in-living-in-australia.html#comments Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:01:00 +0000 Anne Ruthmann Photography
The short & simple answer:
Because I feel like it.



The longer answer:
One of the reasons I became a photographer after having many other careers was to have the freedom of lifestyle to travel when and where I wanted. While I've had plenty of opportunities to travel for work as a photographer, I quickly learned that it's much more fun to travel for pleasure with people I love. In the last few years, I've missed opportunities to travel with my husband because I've had jobs that hired me too far in advance for me to block dates off my calendar, or I wasn't going to be able to take off enough time to make it worth traveling to the other side of the world. When an opportunity came up to spend nearly 8 months of the year traveling the world- I had a big decision to make.

While it seemed like an awesome opportunity, I had a lot of fears and reservations:

  • Can I afford to put my business on hold for that long?!
  • What if I run out of money?
  • Will I be able to save enough to make it financially possible?
  • Will I be able to pick up extra work or money while I'm traveling?
  • What will I DO with myself if I'm not spending my time doing a ton of things for my business?!
  • What will happen to my studio, house, car, etc?
  • What if something happens to family while I'm gone and I can't fly back to be there?
  • What if something happens to me and there's no way to let people know?


Whenever I'm faced with a big decision that is surrounded by fears, I ask myself:

What would you attempt if you knew you could not fail?


When I removed all of my fears about the what-ifs of leaving it all behind, the clearest answer was to take the opportunity to travel the world and worry about the rest later. If I only had a year to live, the answer was clear- I would do whatever it took (and no, I'm not planning on dying anytime soon- it's just another method to remove fear and doubt from a decision.) I decided to stop accepting clients in New England for 2012, I would slow down on my marketing and new projects that I wouldn't be around to follow-up on, I wouldn't renew my studio lease, I would save as much money as I could, I would sell my studio furnishings, we would sell a car we weren't really using, we would pay off as much of our debt as possible, we would eat out less, and we would prepare to live out of a carry-on suitcase and a backpack for 8 months. Alex would be on sabbatical from teaching at the university and still get his salary and some research reimbursements, and I would save up in advance and try to freelance wherever I could with a visiting visa that allows me to take on work in Australia.



We bought tickets to Australia for January until June, and a one way ticket to Europe for June until sometime in August. We knew we were going to stay with one of Alex's colleagues for the first two weeks, but knew we would need to find another place to live after that. We decided we'd figure out how to find a place after arriving and speaking to locals. We knew we'd fly to Spain after our time in Australia, with stops likely in Norway, Greece, England, and a few other places, but we have yet to nail those details down completely since there are still a few months to figure that out.

We decided to take this trip together because we know that chances like this don't come around often in life. If we had children, this probably wouldn't have been possible. If either one of us had been in a different career or even at different points in our current careers, this probably wouldn't have been possible. If several projects I was working on had turned out the way I'd planned, rather than the way the fates allowed, I wouldn't have wanted to take this much time away.

Everything came together to create the possibility- but it required us committing to taking the risks involved to make it happen for ourselves.




So, here I am, living in Brisbane, Australia for 5 months. A city that I came to visit two years ago and said, "What a great city this would be to live in!" It's idyllic. There's strong support for the arts, great cultural and economic diversity, amazing public resources, and we now have an awesome place to live in a great part of the city. I'm enjoying every minute of it. I've even picked up some freelance photography assignments already, and am using my skills to trade for some lifestyle extras I probably wouldn't splurge on if I had to pay Australian dollars for them. I'm getting a chance to read, exercise, write, relax, spend quality time with my husband, eat beautiful fresh fruits and veggies- which all seem like something I'd be able to do anywhere, but as many small business owners know, running the business is always on the mind because we can always do more for our clients or spend more time marketing and strategizing for our business. After 7 years of learning how to market and run a profitable business in three different states and very different demographic markets, I definitely feel like this is a much needed sabbatical for me and a nice reward for all the hard work I've done to get to this point.

Most small business owners don't get to take a sabbatical from their business, but freedom of lifestyle is why I wanted to be a small business owner in the first place- to do what I want, when I want.

I'm passionate about helping other people gain control over their business so their business doesn't control them. So, if you think I can help you in any way, please reach out to me and say hello. I'd love to hear from you and I'm happy to help. If you aren't ready for one-on-one business help, feel free to read lots of free business marketing and management articles I've written over on PhotoLovecat.com.

(Note: photos in this post are from my iPhone instagram feed)
http://www.anneruthmann.com
]]> http://anneruthmann.blogspot.com/2012/02/why-are-you-in-living-in-australia.html/feed/ 0 Why Are You in Living in Australia? http://anneruthmann.blogspot.com/2012/02/why-are-you-in-living-in-australia.html http://anneruthmann.blogspot.com/2012/02/why-are-you-in-living-in-australia.html#comments Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:01:00 +0000 Anne Ruthmann Photography
The short & simple answer:
Because I feel like it.



The longer answer:
One of the reasons I became a photographer after having many other careers was to have the freedom of lifestyle to travel when and where I wanted. While I've had plenty of opportunities to travel for work as a photographer, I quickly learned that it's much more fun to travel for pleasure with people I love. In the last few years, I've missed opportunities to travel with my husband because I've had jobs that hired me too far in advance for me to block dates off my calendar, or I wasn't going to be able to take off enough time to make it worth traveling to the other side of the world. When an opportunity came up to spend nearly 8 months of the year traveling the world- I had a big decision to make.

While it seemed like an awesome opportunity, I had a lot of fears and reservations:

  • Can I afford to put my business on hold for that long?!
  • What if I run out of money?
  • Will I be able to save enough to make it financially possible?
  • Will I be able to pick up extra work or money while I'm traveling?
  • What will I DO with myself if I'm not spending my time doing a ton of things for my business?!
  • What will happen to my studio, house, car, etc?
  • What if something happens to family while I'm gone and I can't fly back to be there?
  • What if something happens to me and there's no way to let people know?


Whenever I'm faced with a big decision that is surrounded by fears, I ask myself:

What would you attempt if you knew you could not fail?


When I removed all of my fears about the what-ifs of leaving it all behind, the clearest answer was to take the opportunity to travel the world and worry about the rest later. If I only had a year to live, the answer was clear- I would do whatever it took (and no, I'm not planning on dying anytime soon- it's just another method to remove fear and doubt from a decision.) I decided to stop accepting clients in New England for 2012, I would slow down on my marketing and new projects that I wouldn't be around to follow-up on, I wouldn't renew my studio lease, I would save as much money as I could, I would sell my studio furnishings, we would sell a car we weren't really using, we would pay off as much of our debt as possible, we would eat out less, and we would prepare to live out of a carry-on suitcase and a backpack for 8 months. Alex would be on sabbatical from teaching at the university and still get his salary and some research reimbursements, and I would save up in advance and try to freelance wherever I could with a visiting visa that allows me to take on work in Australia.



We bought tickets to Australia for January until June, and a one way ticket to Europe for June until sometime in August. We knew we were going to stay with one of Alex's colleagues for the first two weeks, but knew we would need to find another place to live after that. We decided we'd figure out how to find a place after arriving and speaking to locals. We knew we'd fly to Spain after our time in Australia, with stops likely in Norway, Greece, England, and a few other places, but we have yet to nail those details down completely since there are still a few months to figure that out.

We decided to take this trip together because we know that chances like this don't come around often in life. If we had children, this probably wouldn't have been possible. If either one of us had been in a different career or even at different points in our current careers, this probably wouldn't have been possible. If several projects I was working on had turned out the way I'd planned, rather than the way the fates allowed, I wouldn't have wanted to take this much time away.

Everything came together to create the possibility- but it required us committing to taking the risks involved to make it happen for ourselves.




So, here I am, living in Brisbane, Australia for 5 months. A city that I came to visit two years ago and said, "What a great city this would be to live in!" It's idyllic. There's strong support for the arts, great cultural and economic diversity, amazing public resources, and we now have an awesome place to live in a great part of the city. I'm enjoying every minute of it. I've even picked up some freelance photography assignments already, and am using my skills to trade for some lifestyle extras I probably wouldn't splurge on if I had to pay Australian dollars for them. I'm getting a chance to read, exercise, write, relax, spend quality time with my husband, eat beautiful fresh fruits and veggies- which all seem like something I'd be able to do anywhere, but as many small business owners know, running the business is always on the mind because we can always do more for our clients or spend more time marketing and strategizing for our business. After 7 years of learning how to market and run a profitable business in three different states and very different demographic markets, I definitely feel like this is a much needed sabbatical for me and a nice reward for all the hard work I've done to get to this point.

Most small business owners don't get to take a sabbatical from their business, but freedom of lifestyle is why I wanted to be a small business owner in the first place- to do what I want, when I want.

I'm passionate about helping other people gain control over their business so their business doesn't control them. So, if you think I can help you in any way, please reach out to me and say hello. I'd love to hear from you and I'm happy to help. If you aren't ready for one-on-one business help, feel free to read lots of free business marketing and management articles I've written over on PhotoLovecat.com.

(Note: photos in this post are from my iPhone instagram feed)
http://www.anneruthmann.com
]]> http://anneruthmann.blogspot.com/2012/02/why-are-you-in-living-in-australia.html/feed/ 0 Why Are You in Living in Australia? http://anneruthmann.blogspot.com/2012/02/why-are-you-in-living-in-australia.html http://anneruthmann.blogspot.com/2012/02/why-are-you-in-living-in-australia.html#comments Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:01:00 +0000 Anne Ruthmann Photography
The short & simple answer:
Because I feel like it.



The longer answer:
One of the reasons I became a photographer after having many other careers was to have the freedom of lifestyle to travel when and where I wanted. While I've had plenty of opportunities to travel for work as a photographer, I quickly learned that it's much more fun to travel for pleasure with people I love. In the last few years, I've missed opportunities to travel with my husband because I've had jobs that hired me too far in advance for me to block dates off my calendar, or I wasn't going to be able to take off enough time to make it worth traveling to the other side of the world. When an opportunity came up to spend nearly 8 months of the year traveling the world- I had a big decision to make.

While it seemed like an awesome opportunity, I had a lot of fears and reservations:

  • Can I afford to put my business on hold for that long?!
  • What if I run out of money?
  • Will I be able to save enough to make it financially possible?
  • Will I be able to pick up extra work or money while I'm traveling?
  • What will I DO with myself if I'm not spending my time doing a ton of things for my business?!
  • What will happen to my studio, house, car, etc?
  • What if something happens to family while I'm gone and I can't fly back to be there?
  • What if something happens to me and there's no way to let people know?


Whenever I'm faced with a big decision that is surrounded by fears, I ask myself:

What would you attempt if you knew you could not fail?


When I removed all of my fears about the what-ifs of leaving it all behind, the clearest answer was to take the opportunity to travel the world and worry about the rest later. If I only had a year to live, the answer was clear- I would do whatever it took (and no, I'm not planning on dying anytime soon- it's just another method to remove fear and doubt from a decision.) I decided to stop accepting clients in New England for 2012, I would slow down on my marketing and new projects that I wouldn't be around to follow-up on, I wouldn't renew my studio lease, I would save as much money as I could, I would sell my studio furnishings, we would sell a car we weren't really using, we would pay off as much of our debt as possible, we would eat out less, and we would prepare to live out of a carry-on suitcase and a backpack for 8 months. Alex would be on sabbatical from teaching at the university and still get his salary and some research reimbursements, and I would save up in advance and try to freelance wherever I could with a visiting visa that allows me to take on work in Australia.



We bought tickets to Australia for January until June, and a one way ticket to Europe for June until sometime in August. We knew we were going to stay with one of Alex's colleagues for the first two weeks, but knew we would need to find another place to live after that. We decided we'd figure out how to find a place after arriving and speaking to locals. We knew we'd fly to Spain after our time in Australia, with stops likely in Norway, Greece, England, and a few other places, but we have yet to nail those details down completely since there are still a few months to figure that out.

We decided to take this trip together because we know that chances like this don't come around often in life. If we had children, this probably wouldn't have been possible. If either one of us had been in a different career or even at different points in our current careers, this probably wouldn't have been possible. If several projects I was working on had turned out the way I'd planned, rather than the way the fates allowed, I wouldn't have wanted to take this much time away.

Everything came together to create the possibility- but it required us committing to taking the risks involved to make it happen for ourselves.




So, here I am, living in Brisbane, Australia for 5 months. A city that I came to visit two years ago and said, "What a great city this would be to live in!" It's idyllic. There's strong support for the arts, great cultural and economic diversity, amazing public resources, and we now have an awesome place to live in a great part of the city. I'm enjoying every minute of it. I've even picked up some freelance photography assignments already, and am using my skills to trade for some lifestyle extras I probably wouldn't splurge on if I had to pay Australian dollars for them. I'm getting a chance to read, exercise, write, relax, spend quality time with my husband, eat beautiful fresh fruits and veggies- which all seem like something I'd be able to do anywhere, but as many small business owners know, running the business is always on the mind because we can always do more for our clients or spend more time marketing and strategizing for our business. After 7 years of learning how to market and run a profitable business in three different states and very different demographic markets, I definitely feel like this is a much needed sabbatical for me and a nice reward for all the hard work I've done to get to this point.

Most small business owners don't get to take a sabbatical from their business, but freedom of lifestyle is why I wanted to be a small business owner in the first place- to do what I want, when I want.

I'm passionate about helping other people gain control over their business so their business doesn't control them. So, if you think I can help you in any way, please reach out to me and say hello. I'd love to hear from you and I'm happy to help. If you aren't ready for one-on-one business help, feel free to read lots of free business marketing and management articles I've written over on PhotoLovecat.com.

(Note: photos in this post are from my iPhone instagram feed)
http://www.anneruthmann.com
]]> http://anneruthmann.blogspot.com/2012/02/why-are-you-in-living-in-australia.html/feed/ 0 this blog address has changed! http://www.theryanestesblog.com/2012/01/25/blog-address-changed/ http://www.theryanestesblog.com/2012/01/25/blog-address-changed/#comments Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:56:03 +0000 Ryan Estes Photography http://www.theryanestesblog.com/?p=3166 Hi everyone,

This blog can now be found at the following address:

www.ryanestes.com/journal

Those of you who subscribe by RSS, please update your feed readers to:

feed://www.ryanestes.com/feed/

Thanks… I’m still posting lots of images, but it’s all happening under the ryanestes.com domain now.

]]> http://www.theryanestesblog.com/2012/01/25/blog-address-changed/feed/ 0 award received: Wedding Wire Bride’s Choice Awards ’12 http://oneperfectmoment.com/2012/01/18/wedding-wire-award-2012/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wedding-wire-award-2012 http://oneperfectmoment.com/2012/01/18/wedding-wire-award-2012/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wedding-wire-award-2012#comments Thu, 19 Jan 2012 03:09:39 +0000 photography by Neil van NIekerk http://oneperfectmoment.com/?p=1128

I’m in the top 5% of wedding photographers in New Jersey!

It’s quite thrilling to hear that I won the Bride’s Choice Awards 2012 from WeddingWire! This is the 3rd year in a row. This means I’m in the top 5 percent of Wedding Professionals nationwide. Well, actually, it means I am in the Top 5 percent of wedding photographers in New Jersey. But being a percentage, it still holds true for nation-wide.

Working as a wedding photographer has its own reward in how clients appreciate the photography. Even then, it’s a great pleasure to be recognized like this.

Swinging cameras around on the wedding day is pretty cool, but the hours and hours spent in the office in front of the computer … I’ll take this award as recognition of that as well.

]]> http://oneperfectmoment.com/2012/01/18/wedding-wire-award-2012/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wedding-wire-award-2012/feed/ 0