In the spirit of unity + community here’s a round-up of all the things (that we know of) happening in the Documentary Family Photography Community in July 2018.
Note from our Founder:
Hiiii!
It’s always something.
I’ve started to feel like a broken record of excuses as to why I’m not as far as I’d like to be – my list of goals + to-dos aren’t checked off nearly as fast as I think they should be.
Last month, we moved. Last month, I had surgery. Last month, we had visitors + school breaks. Last month, I had more surgery. Last month, my internet crapped out on me. Last month, the kids were home back-to-back with stomach bugs + ear infections. Last month…
Always something.
Isn’t that life though? It’s always throwing curveballs at us?
It’s felt this way now for several years and I find myself always looking forward to the next imaginary point in time where we’re over the current challenge – as if there will ever be a time where there are never any new curveballs. Ha.
As we settle into summer, I’m about to take my first ever, 7 week {mostly} hiatus from my business. My wild child and my calm one will both me home. We’ll be traveling – just me and the kids. I have no idea what this will look like.
I LOVE Fearless and Framed® – it’s not “my baby,” but it is my place to be creative, to be + feel wholly ME, to express. For years now, I’ve felt like I haven’t been able to give F&F my all due to my parental, wife, friend, daughter (all the things) roles in my life. So, as you can imagine, having even less… not just time, but freedom to ACT when I get that creative wild hair… for 7 straight weeks has left me a bit uneasy.
Borderline powerless. Though that’s not the truth, it kind of feels that way.
So, most of June, I’ve been working my ass off. My hours are WAY up as I’ve tried to fit working in in every nook + cranny I can find. I’ve even gained about 5 pounds! (probably from being at the computer more than usual + eating junky foods late at night when I should be winding down)
I’m anxious for what’s to come. So, my way of dealing with that has been to seal over the summer with pre-scheduled content on the front-end and next rounds of revenue + lead pushes ready to go, so that when I get back to work, I don’t feel crazy behind before I begin.
The latest development has been that my internet access has been terrible the past few days. I’ve found myself at McDonald’s (the closest free wifi) at 10 p.m. eating cookies + milk just to get my fix of “control” + moving the needle forward in my business.
It’s been hard. It’s been hard for my family.
It’s also been my choice. I see the bigger picture and am about to have SEVEN WEEKS to purely play.
This is me reminding you that you can get through each and every curveball. They aren’t means for an excuse, but they’re also means for grace. You get full power to decide where you wanna fall in-between the two.
You’re a resourceful being, but you must choose seek out + use those resources if you want whatever it is you want bad enough. xo
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Living Memories to record this month:
- Independence Day
- Family Vacation/ Holiday
- Summer feels like _________________ (you fill in the blank)
- Water Play
- Bonfire’s and Firepit Details
For more ideas, follow #sessionsparks on Instagram! Follow F&F here to see our Session Sparks in your feed. For a guide of 160+ Session Sparks ideas with descriptions for yourself + to share with your clients, click here.
Fun Themespiration Calendar
So sorry, we’re a U.S. based company and simply cannot know the calendar of the entire world. We simple pick a few fun ideas from National Day Calendar. Something to add? Comment below!
• National Ice Cream Month (what a perfect time to cool off with a scoop of your favorite flavor. Show us your favorite ice cream captures + tell us the backstory)
Photo Credit: Katie Fischer Jennings
Photo Credit: Anna Thorson Mayer
• 7/04/18 Independence Day
• 7/15/18 National Give Something Away Day
• 7/17/18 National Tattoo Day
• 7/24/18 National Cousins Day
• 7/28/18 National Waterpark Day
Intentional Documentary™ Podcast
LATEST EPISODES:
- #012 – Connection Without an Agenda
- #013 – Freedom, Ease, Fulfillment & PLAY with Susan Ferraro
- #014 – Simple Marketing + Promos that Worked for Michelle McKay
- #015 – Learning from Life + Through Doing with Seshu
- #016 – Do Something GREAT with Your Phone Photos
Rapid Download all the {FREE} available Mini Mags here.
Loving the podcast?
If you’re loving what you’re hearing, head over to iTunes and leave a review! Tell me what resonates. Tell me what you think of the Mini Mags. Anything! I’m SO excited to hear from you! Just pull up the podcast in iTunes and scroll down to the review area.
Awesome Events, Workshops, & Mentoring
Learn the Art of Creating Birth Films Masterclass
with Kailee Riches • Enrollment Opens July 12, 2018 • Online • Register Here
Discover emotional storytelling strategies, the birth process, client communication, and how to capture + edit footage in difficult lighting situations.
Creating Deeper Documentary Imagery
with Chuck Anerino • Starting July 16, 2018 • Online • Register Here
Learn how to compose critical elements of chaotic scenes by infusing elements of composition and layers into your work.
The Documentary Department
with Natasha Kelly and Erika Roa • March 14 – 17, 2019 • Melbourne, Australia • Learn More
The Documentary Department is a retreat for women photographers interested in documentary photography. A weekend to make photos, critique photos, connect with others & reconnect with yourself.
Storytellers Photo Conference
with Blimie Tee and Rowena Meadows • May 2019 • Miami, FL • Learn More
It’s finally time for the International Community of Documentary Family Photographers to be united for learning, inspiration, connection and good times. A taste of the speaker line up includes: Kirsten Lewis-Bethmann, Ryan Christopher Jones and Niki Boon.
Daring to be Different: Creating Images with an Edge
with Laura Froese • Online, Self-paced • Learn More
This course helps you find and develop your own unique voice as a photographer to attract the clients YOU want. It explores 5 key elements of photography that you can use to cultivate that voice and to set your photos apart from the crowd.
Intentional Documentary™ Client Prep Workflow Class
with Marie Masse, Fearless and Framed • Online, Self-Paced • Learn more.
Upgrade your client shooting prep workflow + fine-tune your inner-message (or photography voice) as a photographer, so your marketing message identifies with aligning clients. This is a self-paced program.
Recommended Tools to Use in 2018
ConvertKit
Our email service provider of choice. What makes them different than the rest is their powerful segmentation + automation features without the price tag of the other industry leaders. We moved from Mailchimp to ConvertKit in 2016 and haven’t looked back! Learn more here.
Don’t miss this Deal!
Get $10 off your next order of $27.99 or more. Click here to claim your reward.
FREE Zone
Your Minimalist Marketing Plan: This is from one of my own business mentors, Kyla Roma, who’s been so gracious to allow our community to join Your Minimalist Marketing Plan for FREE for the entire month of July. Use code: fearlessandframed to checkout FREE!
Start your “To-Remember List” Playbook: Record your living memories in one, central place to help trigger your anticipation skills when the opportunity to #preserve one of them arises. Get started here.
The Marketing Makeover Bundle: Navigate who / where to market + what to say to forge relationships and stay connected with the ones you’ve already established. This is so packed, it shouldn’t be free. Grab your Marketing Bundle here.
15 Great Additions to Your Phone Photo Books: I’ve made a checklist for you so that you’ll REMEMBER to grab these treasures for your next phone photo book. Grab your list here.
Community Spotlight
Kaleen Enke
Photo Credit: Kaleen Enke
We’ve spotted community member Kaleen Enke‘s images over on Shootproof’s article by Anne Simone about documenting Fearless Family Photos. Way to go!!!
A Quote that hit our hearts
(ya might wanna pin this one!)
Check out our Quotes for Documentary Family Photographers Pinterest Board for more inspiration! It’s new, so bare with us while we grow this baby.
Stories We Love
- Oak Bay Flower Shop: Small Business Documentary Photography
- A Baby Gender Reveal with a Documentary Approach
- First Clients in a Small Town at the Cherry County Fair
- The End of an Iconic Toy Store Generation: Farewell Toys “R” Us
- A Photographer + Her Husband’s Adventure to Naomi’s Village in Kenya, Africa
COMMUNITIES FOR UNITY + GROWTH THAT WE LOVE
Fearless and Framed welcomes the opportunity to feature other photographers and industry leaders. Join us in the documentary movement. Share your story, your photos, your thoughts, & more.
Available to all fans of Beyond the Wanderlust. The Daily Story is a collection of images that capture the emotion of storytelling.
Unposed, un-styled, documentary images from your personal archives or from client sessions. Interesting images that tell a story and celebrate life in it’s most raw and honest form.
My Name is Mama is a collaborative project that’s willing to tell the truth and embrace the joyous, painful, inspiring, authentic, boring, beautiful stories of mothers around the world.
Monthly themes with a goal of capturing all the amazing dads out there and their relationships with their family + children!
For photographers transitioning from posed sessions to documentary sessions (or those already shooting documentary style)
>> Documentary Family Photographers
Worldwide community, website & blog aimed at getting real family life pictures out into the mainstream, so that we can forget about perfect and all enjoy the ups and downs of parenthood & family life.
>> Modern Storytelling Family Photography
>> In The Now
>> Breaking the Glass Ceiling – A place to share your personal photo projects
>> Emotional Storytelling with Twyla Jones
Get published on our elite site
Fearless and Framed® welcomes the opportunity to publish work + writing of photographers and industry leaders. Our growth and success are not one-sided or one-minded, it’s from all of our voices coming together to help others understand, believe, and fall in love with the {mostly} documentary approach.
How can we sign up to Kyla’s class for free? Is there a discount code or a different link to follow?
use code: fearlessandframed through August 30th! 🙂
Thank you!