At the end of the day, I am still a mom with a camera...

I have seen a lot of successes over the past year with my career in photography. For that, I am truly blessed. My husband and family has been ever supportive of and patient with my continuous growth over the past 5 years of being in business and that is a blessing, too. Probably more than they realize.

I have been so lucky to get to know my clients at milestones in their lives and capturing those moments for them continues to bring me more joy than it probably should. Needless to say, I love what I do but it was not come by easily. I have had to work very hard to maintain the balance between work and life, as we all must. I am no expert in this arena and I continue to learn what it takes to remain level-headed.

When it all boils down to it, I am still a devoted mom with a really nice camera and sometimes I must force myself to lug it about to capture my own children's milestones. This time of year brings so many. I am emotional today for many reasons. I saw my oldest child off to her first day of first grade today. I sang happy birthday to my youngest, who turns 4 today. Even as I write this post, my eyes are welling with tears.

We all get caught up in the chaos of parenthood, work and maintaining our personal and business relationships and it can be easy to forget to stop and take time to be in the present. Especially when you have clients waiting on you, kids asking for you, dinner to be cooked, groceries to be bought, school to prepare for. It seems it never ends. It can be overwhelming. At least for me.

So, this post is really a release for me. It is important for me to show all of you that I am still a human being. I love being a person other photographers come to to ask questions. I am just like you. A parent, a teacher, an artist. And it is often a battle to maintain the balance.

This post is also a dedication to my two beautiful children and my awesome husband, whom I adore more than life itself. I am so proud of all of you and feel fortunate to have you in my life! You are the reasons I get up in the morning and do all that I do!

Happy first day of first grade, Anja! 

Being 4 means being still very small...but also a perpetually cool dude.