***All images in this post are copyright Jesse of Our Labor of Love.***

TOMORROW:  Christine Hall

{To nominate women you'd like to see in this series please list them in the comments-or if you have a question you'd like to see in the interviews--make sure to include your info in the comment fields so that I can get in touch with you- or write to me at: davina at davinafear dot com }

As always make sure to leave comments for the women who are featured. They like comments as much as I do I'm sure...let them know if you have questions or just to say thanks! for their insight and wisdom...

You can check out the rest of the series by clicking here. Tell a friend!

Jesse, you have had some really fantastic and exciting last few years within the industry.  Labor of Love is one of the hottest photography studios in the South.  You've made conscious decisions about being a wife, mother, and business woman.  I love that you and Whitney are so matter-of-fact about the way you run your life and business.  You go with the flow so easily, it seems everyone you meet is immediately enamoured with you both.  You have such great sense of style, confidence, and artistry.  You've had one success after another and you are beloved by all kinds of wedding vendors.  This year at WPPI you have joined forces with Southern Weddings and created Airhorns and Lasers.  You are doing so many things that make sense and you make it sound doable for other women.  Thanks for being on Women and Business!

How long have you been a photographer and what led you to hone in on wedding photography?

I feel like I've been a photographer all of my life but to be exact I started spending time in the dark when I was 11. I didn't have any intentions on becoming a wedding photographer... It just kept calling me. With every friends wedding I shot I put a portfolio together and before I meant for it to happen it was a full time, around the clock thing. It turns out I love the spontaneity, intimacy and story of people professing their love.

You are married, how do you divide the work that comes with having a photography business and working together? That is a work in progress. It always has been. We each try to do what we are best at. For example- Whitney is a talker and I'm a typer. When at a wedding he orchestrates and I like to be behind the scenes as much as possible.

You also have a little boy...how do you make sure that he gets time with mom and dad?

That's a hard one because I never feel like I have enough time with him. We do send him to a cooperative preschool which allows parents to be more involved and present during the school day.

When we travel for weddings we try to bring him with us when possible so we will take little mini family vacas.

What does a typical day in your life look like?

I love my cuddle time with my 3 year old, my coffee time with my husband and then it's off to work. Our office is a separate house on our property so it's a short stroll to computer land. I try to get through my mountain of emails so I don't have that weighing on me. Then by mid afternoon my husband will be begging me for a blog post. I respond to his request once or twice a week (when possible). We have an office manager that I work with most days to get allllll of that other "stuff" done. Somewhere in-between all of this I will try to ground myself with a little yoga. Then to the bank and groceries. I love to cook but we eat out way to often just because of the lack of time.

You've opted to keep your studio in your home, why did you decide that was the best option for you?

It's kinda of in my home, kinda not. We did have it actually in our house at one point and that was a disaster. We would find our compact flash cards hidden under our claw foot tub after days of searching thanks to our son. I would find myself writing emails at 11pm just because my computer was looking at me. Between  the office in it's own home and hiring someone who comes in every day at 10am I find myself more on a schedule. Home feels like home and the office feels like an office.

What does your workflow look like?  Do you outsource or keep everything in house?

We have our own editor in OLOL who has been with us for about 4 years. We have 4 teams of photographers so she stays busy to say the least.
The general workflow looks like this:
We shoot a wedding
Office manager, amber, downloads all cards and backs them up on two drives.
Whitney will pick the first round of edits.
I come in and label/rate the images. Our editor knows what all of these ratings mean in terms of what type of edit and how long to spend on the image.
Our editor, Shelli, picks up the hardrive with all of the RAW images. She has a sign in sheet at the office of pick up and drop off.
A few weeks later she brings them back beautiful and amber will upload and I will blog it.

What do you do to help your clients be so comfortable with you during a photo shoot?

I think just being present and personal on our blogs gives them a sense that they know us. Whitney and I have very different personalities so they are bound to like one of us ;). I like having some communication before the wedding so we have some footing with each other.
I also make sure we spend some alone time with client on wedding day. We photograph at this time but we also talk, walk, play... This is a time I feel like most clients really appreciate after the wedding because it's quiet, real, with each other and with us. It is sometimes the only time the clients has some time together before all of the kaos.


What do you recommend women do who are just getting started in the industry?

Know who your ideal client is. List your priorities. Don't take it all on. Find people you like to spend time with and work with them.

What do you do for fun...that has nothing to do with photography?

Yoga, I am really into automatic drawing but I have a hard time finding time for it because it's so messy.   Family time and good food makes me happy- always. A good conversation with a friend.

What are you most proud of as a business woman?

Clearly finding people with whom we have a deep connection anywhere in the world just by our photos. I am always amazed that most of our clients I would have been good friends with if our paths crossed before.

What do you do to keep your marriage fun?

we plan new projects together. we set goals and try to achieve them. i remind my husband to surprise me ;)

What are the top three things you did when you were first getting started in business to bring in clients?

we came up with a logo first. once we agreed on the design it was easy to stay with the look. them we created a website that only showcased the moments at a wedding that we personally cherish. the only thing we did that didn't pan out is that we paid for a very expensive full page ad and i don't think it was worth it for us at that time.

How do you keep your marriage safe from the stresses of your business?

can someone else answer this for me ;) just kidding. we try. its not easy. sometimes i feel like i would rather not work together but i know we are supposed to. i couldn't do it without him and he couldn't do it without me. so when i get into the space of gratitude the stresses seem to slip away.

What is the best thing you've done to make your business successful?

we’ve developed real relationships with our clients, others in the business, and just in general. i think people KNOW who is taking their picture they are much more at ease.

What are you most proud of as a photographer?

 these relationships.

What are you most proud of as a business woman?

i set goals and reached many. i am proud to be so rich- rich in family, rich in work, rich in friends. and i still have a lot of life ahead of me.

What do you do to keep your family strong?

i think routine is so important. coffee time. reading time. bath time. i also think adventure is really important.

You travel quite a bit.  How do you make this easier on your son?  

How does he feel about how often you travel? i know he likes to come with us. from the airplane to the taxis- he is all about it. we visit friends and families when we travel and i think he looks forward to the familiar faces.

What do you do to keep from feeling overwhelmed?

yoga. routine. i am also part of a group called upward spiral. we meet often and experiment often which keeps me in the present.

What three products or things help you stay organized?

internal hard drives, our bookkeeper and our office manager who has a better memory than me.

You've created some great relationships with other vendors, what have you done to make this happen?

just like any friendship...it just kind of happens naturally.

What five suggestions do you have for women who are trying to have a more whole, content, and blissful life?
find something that opens your spirit- whether its a religion or a good cup of tea or a walk in the park. make time for that no matter how busy you are.
gratitude. staying in the present. setting goals. be very clear as to what you want.

To see more of Jesse's work:

Website

Blog

***All images in this post are copyright Jesse of Our Labor of Love.***

getting a healthy start.

I'm so excited that there are so many women wanting to get healthy!  There are so many aspects to having a healthy life that reach beyond getting on the scale.  For me though, getting on the scale everyday gives me a goal and something to measure each morning.  A little reminder that what I'm doing is worth the trouble.  I love seeing a 1/4 pound come off here and one pound come off there.  It also helps me to recognize that I'm feeling better, more fit, more positive, more aware of what I'm doing to be healthy.

Here are 10 steps to better health that I found here.

Look through these and see how you're doing.  Take one of these steps and incorporate it into your life this week.  Better yet...pick two! (Kind of like you can at Panera...ummm...I may have good food on the brain too much...)

1.  Eat a healthy breakfast (that may or may not be a bowl of Golden Grahams...)

2.  Drink at least eight 8 ounce glasses of water everyday.

3.  Take a good quality mulitvitamin/mineral supplement.

4.  Connect with other people everyday...many times a day.  For good health give and receive plenty 'o hugs and kisses.  Talk to the people  you love.  Laugh.

5.  Express your emotions appropriately.

6.  Eat fruits and veggies.  Eat the rainbow.

7.  Spend at least 30 minutes outdoors.

8.  Do something physically active.

9.  Take some quiet time for yourself.

10.  Keep regular sleep hours.

bonus:  Establish a relationship with a doctor you can trust.

So what's the contest this month, you ask?

Here it is:

1.  Post here every day this month.  Tell us what you weigh.  Yes.  You read that right.  Tell us what you weigh and what you'd like to weigh by the end of the year.

2.  Tell us what you're doing every day from the list above to be healthy.

3.  The person who is the most consistent poster here everyday in March will be the prize winner this month.

Prize:

1.  A $25 gift certificate to your fave place to shop!

(I'd like to have some really great prizes that inspire you to get healthy...so send me an email or tell me in the comments what kinds of prizes will motivate you!)

healthy. LIFE.

Over the last few months we've had some fantastic features from business women who have put time into growing their business, spending time with the people they love, and are ultra creative.

(The women listed below were featured in the last 3 months or so.  The Women and Business series has been going for over a year!  So make sure you catch other women too...all of the way back to January 2009.  I should have had a party or something at the year mark!)

Did you miss anyone's interview?

Check them out here:

Dawn Davis

Ulrica Wihlborg

Melanie Nashan

Millie Holloman

Storey Wilkins

Liz Banfield

Chenin Boutwell

Jasmine Star

Lauren Clark

Bobbi of bobbi + mike

Sandy Puc

Emilie Sommer

Mary Marantz

Jenn Bebb

Here it is! The post you’ve all been waiting for… an official announcement on where Love Affair Workshop will be held in 2010!

We are coming to Dallas, Texas!!!!!!

Mark your calendars for September 14th-16th.  Of course you’ll want to plan to arrive a day early for our welcome social and fly out on Friday, so just go ahead and block the 13th through the 17th to be sure you don’t miss a thing!

More info coming soon on when we’ll begin accepting registration so stay tuned!  We want you to be there!



left to right.

Tristan. Megan. Tim.

Sherrie. Lauren. Jim.

Angela. David. Misty.

100 faces.

I've started the 365 day project about 10 times...as you know...

I do pretty well for a week or so and then something happens and a day goes by without me picking up my camera...and suddenly, without realizing it, I've not done my 365 project for a week.  I've shot images but not with my project in mind.

So...I decided I needed a project that didn't need my undivided attention for a certain amount of time every day...one that felt more like me and more real for what I love and one that I would be less apt to let fall through the cracks of my 4 children day.  I'm sure there are women out there with four children that can remember to do a 365 day project...I'm not one of them.  I tried to be...

many times...

again...

and again.

Not happening.

When I first got my SLR camera as a Christmas gift from my husband the year my sweet twin missies were born I took some community art center photography classes.  I was intrigued with the street photography of Henri Cartier Bresson and Doisneau.  I had been thinking to myself, "someday, I'm going to go to Paris and Italy and take some images like those."  

And then one day...probably when I was changing a poopy diaper...I realized..."What am I waiting for?! There is a downtown street here in my town.  I could just go down there and see what I see.  My life is at my own back door.  I don't have to travel 1/2 way around the world for my life to start."

That's when it happened...I fell in love with photography.  

That's when I realized that I could say something, I could see something.

Something that hadn't been said before...with my eyes.

I was nervous.  I didn't know what people would say or how they would react.  I just started walking around with my camera.  Some hoped they would be in the newspaper and were a little disappointed when I would say I was just doing a personal project.

Eventually, people saw my work.  I had multiple exhibitions and requests for my work to hang on the walls of shops on that street.

It became something that I didn't know it would become.  I met people I would have never met.  I learned things I would have never learned.  Things like:

Rail riders are a whole culture of people who want to see the world.  And they are interesting and I wish I could spend a year of my life seeing what they see, being who they are.

The street used to be the hub of the railroads back in the day.  It was bustling with activity and filled with entertainment.

There are underground tunnels from the days of prohibition.

There's nothing like a spring day with romance in the air on 25th street.

The downfall of one small business can change the entire feel of the street.

There's a farmers market every Saturday.

In the summer there's a Movie in the park every Monday night.

Old men who have lost their wives walk in a lonely haze down the same path everyday.

A bird lives on the top of a fence near Bistro 258.  One of her little babies fell out of the nest one day.  I saw a dad and his daughter gently return the sweet little bird to it's nest.

I saw couples who are in love walk down the street together...and couples who aren't in love anymore.

...I met friends because I got brave enough one day to walk downtown with my camera.

After moving here to Clover, I realized I'd not been downtown to see what's it's like where I live...I don't know the heart and soul of main street and so, I decided, it's time to change that...

And my project was born.

100 Faces of Clover.

In my last project in Ogden I didn't approach people very often.  I just saw and documented.  I used my 70-200mm most of the time.  It was safe.  I miss that and I think I'll still do some of that. 

For this project, though, I use my 50/1.2 or my 85/1.4 and ask people if I can take their picture.  Oh baby!  Every time I go out I'm so nervous until I get that first person under my belt!

My project is to get 100 faces of Clover.  Learn some of their stories and post them here.

I'm not sure where this is going to take me but I love the stories I've heard and the people I've met so far.

For some of my posts, I'll just show faces.  Other posts will be a face of Clover and a story to go with it.

This project doesn't require me to do something every day but its a project that incorporates some fun, some getting out of the house, people (my favorite part), and a plan.

What project are you working on?

daring. LIFE.