more to come.

The LAST MINUTE. kit. is almost ready.  We'll be releasing it next week instead of this week.

We've had a lot of people asking us if the GTKY. kit. includes questionnaires for High School Senior Shoots and Family Lifestyle Sessions.  It doesn't.  So...we've decided to add those questionnaires to the LAST MINUTE. kit.  That means that we'll be releasing a little later than originally planned.

This is a great kit!  I think you're going to love it!

fun. LIFE.

sweet.

I loved getting to hang out with Jessica and Caleb for a few minutes one evening and just grab a couple of images of Julia just before the long night ahead of them got started.

Having a baby changes so many things!  I had been to Jessica and Caleb's house before they had Julia and it was so much different this time around.  You could tell that there wasn't very much sleep happening and that days were spent changing diapers and walking the house and feeding Julia.  Here we caught Julia for a few quick moments before she got fussy for the evening...like I know all of my babies liked to do!

And even though life has become so different for Jessica and Caleb you can tell in the way that Caleb interacts with and holds Julia that he is totally in love with her and in the way that Jessica can't stop smiling when she looks at Julia.

new. FAMILY.

***All images in this post are copyright Tanja Lippert***

NEXT WEEK: Carrie Viohl

{To nominate women you'd like to see in this series please list them in the comments-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 }

What 5 things have you learned as a mother?

I have learned that I will never live up to my own ideals as the kind of mom I always thought I would be before I actually had kids and that my kids still love me despite all that.

I have learned that having a glass of wine (or three) in the evenings is a coping mechanism and has saved my sanity many times.

I have learned that my kids are amazing!

I have learned how NOT to feel guilty sleeping in when I really need it

I have learned that the secret to making it all work, is having a good husband.

What 5 things have you learned as a business woman?

I have learned that I am only one person and I truly cannot do it all by myself

I have learned that I feel successful not when I am making money, but when I am helping other people

I have learned to be more faithful and more grateful for the blessings

I have learned patience

I have learned to be true to myself in my work

How do you stay so inspired and fresh from wedding to wedding, session to session?

I must admit, sometimes I do struggle with this one, especially at the end of wedding season. However, I get inspired by the beauty surrounding each shoot. I get inspired by wardrobe, shooting locations and light. I love creating a fantasy for my clients.

I also get inspired when brides have taken the time to make their weddings personal and unique, I get inspired by unique details.

What do you think sets you apart from other photographers and business people?

I think there are many things that set me a part. I am my own unique person and I consider that fact a huge asset to my business. I know me. I know what I love and I trust that. I believe in having fun, being adventurous, spontaneous and creating an adventure for myself and my clients. I am really good at making people feel comfortable around me, which in return helps my photographs feel more natural. I also am a 100% film shooter, which sets my images apart from the masses who shoot digital. I think it has forced me to become a better photographer and artist. I also believe in giving back. Any way I can, I try to give back and be grateful. Another thing I practice is staying positive and looking at life and business in an encouraging way. Life is too short to be cranky or be around cranky people all day :0)

What is your workflow like? How do you keep from spending too much time working in your business?

I don't think I have mastered not spending too much time on my business. Sometimes I feel like that I all I do is work. Truthfully though, I LOVE my work. It does not feel like work to me when I get to do things that I love. I have learned however, that I cannot do it all by myself and so now, I delegate. I have learned to let things go and trust other people to help. My workflow is pretty crazy, but we have pretty much created a system for it. I spend the day creating gorgeous images on FILM for my clients. Then, I send the film to my AWESOME lab in Los Angeles, Richard Photo Lab. They develop my film and scan everything onto high res discs. When my film comes back from the lab, it's like Christmas for me. I have my assistant go through and put everything in chronological order. Then, I go through and delete the images that are not keepers. Because I shoot film and use a fantastic lab, there is VERY little if any Photoshop work needed. Once I have the images in order and editted, I create an online slideshow for my clients and then all their photos are uploaded to an online catalog (I use pickpic). Then, when my clients are ready, they will come into our gallery and order products. Or, they can order through our online catalog as well.

What has changed the most in the last year?

The biggest change in my business over the past year has been the creation of Tanja Lippert Photographers. Instead of taking on associate photographers, it really appealed to me to work with photographers who were already established in their business and understood what it took to run a successful photography studio. In order to be able to pay for all the things I wanted to do (like hire studio managers and have gorgeous storefront studios), I found it to be much more beneficial to work with other photographers in a team environment while keeping our own studio identity and branding. In a co-op situation, we are able to share the expense and operational overhead.

What has stayed the same in the last year?

My passion for creating the best images possible for my clients. I absolutely LOVE my job.

What does a day in your life look like between family and shooting and business and husband and everything else in between?

I get up early and help the kids get ready for school. Crawl back in bed for a 15 minute moment of "oh how nice it is to be in this big bed alone in a quiet house." Have my coffee while checking a few emails....quickly dress and get out the door to meet my personal trainer for an hour and a half of working out! This helps me keep my sanity throughout the day. Get home and quickly shower and do my best to make myself cute! Head out the door to my studio, which is more like a boutique gallery in downtown, Los Gatos. I usually arrive to the studio around 11:30. Some days, like today, I have a photo shoot scheduled. On other days, I work at the studio just trying to get my list of "to do's" done or I have client meetings that I schedule during this time. At about 2:30, my hubby heads out the door to pick up our kids from school. When he gets back with the kids, I usually wrap up my projects and head home with the kids (I have two btw- 9 yrs and 7 yrs old)...I usually give my kids a snack and have them start on their homework, while I get some more computer work or emails done. At this point, my husband is usually getting home from closing our gallery and ready to make dinner. We either grab dinner on the run, or one of us (okay, usually him) will make dinner....I sit down to dinner with my family and then, we usually have family time after....sometimes American Idol...sometimes....hang out with friends. Once the kids go to bed at night (usually by 9pm)...then, I am free to jump back on my computer and work until I get too sleepy....usually about 1am....that's a pretty typical day in Tanja Land!!!

How do you keep up with the constant change of the photography industry?

I don't. I am a dinosaur and I love it!!! I just keep pumping out the best images I can and thank GOD the phone just keeps ringing. I do, however, blog more regularly now....I can't keep up with the whole online twitter thing, it just boggles my mind!!!

What do you do outside of being a mother and photographer/business owner to have fun?

I love hanging out with my family and friends....dinner parties....BBQ's.....beach trips...all that good stuff....oh, yeah, rollerblading and thrift store shopping are awesome too!!

What are five things you would recommend to other women in the industry?

Build a strong team. You do not want to go at this alone, running a business is too much work for one person. Also, follow your heart and pour yourself into your work. Be patient and most of all, have FUN!!!

You have a wonderful sense of fun, playfulness, and humor? How do you keep that up when you’re feeling stressed out?

I assign all the stressful parts of my business to other people, so that I get to do all the fun stuff. My husband is like my manager and my muscle. He fights all my battles for me too. I know, I am blessed!!! When I do feel the sting of stress start to come my way, I do a lot of praying...I release all the negative things to God, he's the only one who knows how to sort them all out....I fight for staying positive and looking on the bright side of things. Last week, on a photo shoot, my stylist and I got our car stuck in the mud. We were not just run of the mill stuck, we were REALLY REALLY stuck. So stuck that we had to call the shoot and a tow truck. Instead of getting stressed out though, we decided our energy would be much better spent MODELING for each other in the rain on the side of the road while waiting for our tow truck...yep, we just hung out and waited....first, I modeled for her, then she modeled for me....we modeled ourselves silly on the side of the road with our iphone....it was pretty darn funny. When the tow truck arrived and decided that he could not pull us out....instead of freaking out about it...we just took pictures with the tow truck man, our stuck car, the rain, the street lights....made friends with the tow truck guy. He gave us a ride back to town, where we made friends with a sweet man in an Italian restaurant who let us taste his pasta while waiting for a friend to come pick us up. Turns out that we got to pray with the tow truck man, since he revealed to us that he had not gotten to see his 4 kids in 3 years since his wife took them and left him. Then, the really nice man in the Italian restaurant turned out to have a really big interest in film photography and even has some of the same cameras as me. Two days ago, he emailed me and said he would LOVE to assist me on some photo shoots. See, how cool God works. Also, the other cool thing about our car getting stuck in the mud that day was that we had to reschedule our photo shoot that we were working on. Which was a huge blessing as well. You see, we were shooting sexy pictures on one of my brides and we were able to get 2 really cool shots done in the rain BEFORE we got stuck. Because we had to reschedule, we also got to do some AMAZING sunny skies pictures pictures as well, the following Friday which turned out to be our favorites......you see, BLESSINGS GALORE!!!!!

To see more of Tanja's work:

website

blog

***All images in this post are copyright Tanja Lippert***

comparing and other disastrous things.

Artists in general seem to always be looking for a way to perfect their craft.  There always seems to be something just beyond the horizon that is constantly just out of reach.  Photographers suffer in large part from the same terrible yet beautiful elusiveness as well.

Combine that with being a woman and it seems to have a double trouble affect.

So often it's easy to start comparing ourselves against someone else's best, someone else's life, their art, their travels, their bank account, their home, their kids, their photo shoots.  The amount of things to compare are just endless.

We start to measure our worth based on how many bookings we have this year, how good our last photo shoot was, if our kids or theirs are more well behaved or less well behaved, how many comments we get on a certain post, or what we weigh.

If we let it, all of these things can outshine all of the good we are doing.  Comparing ourselves to others and finding ways to measure our worth based on the things we do will never manage to bring us any kind of joy or happiness.

Some days I have to consciously remind myself that I am on a different journey than friends..friends who are doing the newest trends in photography, home schooling their kids, giving their time to the community, and turning out cool lighting in photo shoot after photo shoot.

For me, this year is not about all of the external things that I can do to change the way I shoot... lighting, a new camera, the new couch, the new blog.  It's about an internal search for a more intimate, meaningful  family, business life, and eventually, photo shoots and weddings.

What I am doing is loving my life just as it is...loving this crazy journey that I'm on.  No comparing.  No measuring. No silliness like that.

There are days when I wonder if I've made the right choice to wait on my business for a while.  I wonder if I'm missing too much in the industry and if it's going to pass by without me...

And then I remember that what I really want are butterfly moments. Moments when I'm around to see my children transform, grow up, change, and start to spread their wings.  Over the past few months I've read with my kids, been available for my kids when they get home from school, played Strawberry Shortcake and friends, Polly Pockets (these days will not last much longer), heard about lego competition, been the home room party mom, spent many mornings and afternoons with Miss Grace, heard burping competitions, laughed more, taken more walks in the evenings, taken more walks in the mornings, and spent more Saturdays working with my sweet little family, and so much more.  The pace of my life has slowed down.  And I'm happy with that.  I know it won't last.  Fall will come and things will change.  Grace will go to school all day...and for me, I want the butterfly moments to stay.

At that point there will be another butterfly moment...when everything changes.  I'll be getting my business to be full time again, Grace will spread her wings, my life will be very different.  There will not be my sweet girl at home with me all day...just the two of us.  I will not get to hear her in a quiet house talking to herself about what fun it is to go to Strawberry Shortcake's house or 'reading' a book that she makes up the entire plot for and as she reads having her say her favorite line from Clarice Bean, "Not naming any names.  i.e. Grace Grapello ".  Those times are reserved for the hours when it is just she and I alone at home.  There will be less hugs, less spontaneous shows of affection, less blurted out "I love yous".  Things will change.  A milestone will pass.

And I know what I really want is:

for my kids not to pass by without me.

for my kids to remember when they are grown that I laughed a lot with them

for my kids to remember that I played in the woods and threw a frisbee in the road with them

for my kids to have moments all around them that remind them that I like to be with them

for my kids to know that they bring me joy everyday

for my kids to know that I love them more than my business and my computer

for my kids to have summer vacations that include me

to be in pictures with my kids

to see the simple beauty in my life as it is

to have time for homework after school and not seem distracted by my email box

to sit on the couch at night with my husband and not worry about what needs to be done

to have a calm heart and a quiet mind

There is a lot to compare my life and my business up against.  People are doing all kinds of cool things.  The photography industry is moving at a mind-boggling speed.

We all want to know that we're doing the right thing.  Of course, when we make choices those choices don't just affect us...they affect everyone around us...we hope they affect those people for the best.

I have a lot of butterfly days these days.  And I really love them...

even if everything else just passes me by for now...

happy. LIFE.

If you are planning to join us at Love Affair Workshop 2009 in Atlanta this July then you will be excited to know that our website is now live!!!

CLICK HERE to check it out.

Registration will open to the public tomorrow, on Tuesday, March 17th at 10AM (Eastern Time). Friday, we launched a secret registration to those on our "First To Know List" and sold over half the workshop during those few hours. This means there are limited seats for those of you who are just finiding out or didn't get our most recent email in time.

BE QUICK ON TUESDAY and go to the site now for more information!