Last week I got the chance to talk to my high school photo class. It was such an awesome opportunity looking back on the last nine years and getting to tell people about my journey to becoming a wedding photographer. When I was 15, I had no idea that my experience with the dark room would later lead to falling in love with film and serving people on their wedding days.

I didn’t realize then that I would absolutely ADORE serving couples’ marriages by giving them a tangible heirloom for them and their future kids.

I had no idea that frequently telling other women that they were beautiful would be healing for my soul, and that this job would inevitably change me as a person.

So without further ado, here are some photos of my high school dark room!

This is the rotating door that keeps out any light:

And here are the enlargers we would use to pour light through a negative, that would show through to expose light onto a piece of photo paper:

I realized that I hadn’t been back to that room since I graduated from high school in 2011, which is so crazy! When talking to several photos classes, I told them that, “through the highs and lows of figuring out who I was throughout high school, this class was a place I could return to a feel a bit more like myself. Because of that experience, I really wanted to turn that around and help other people feel safe and heard, which I would later turn into offering wedding photography services.”

I got to talk about all the equipment I love and what I shoot, but more importantly I talked about how photography has allowed me to serve people in ways that have shaped how I treat people and express love to others.

On a different subject, I’ve made a goal of blogging at the beginning of each month to recap the previous month, and share the following months goals!

Here are all of my goals from August:

AUGUST GOALS: 

1. Networking – especially face to face over coffee (my fav). I got to do a product shoot with The Welcoming District which is always super fun, and I got talk to with Caia from Caia Grace over coffee at one of our favorite spots Trummer’s Coffee and Wine Bar. Caia actually does interviews and shoots of other creatives, so it was so fun to answer some of her questions!I also got to attend the Creative at Heart Conference, which could be a whole other post with how much information we learned! I got to stay in an Airbnb with these beautiful ladies, which made the experience so much fun!
   
2. Go peach picking with the fam. We went peach picking and figured out we definitely love yellow peaches more than white peaches. 
3. Read Dave Ramsey’s “EntreLeadership”. I’ve read the first chapter, which I actually consider I total win – but a new goal for September will be to finish it!
4. Exercise 4x per week. This goal is made much easier by going to Orangetheory – but September will be the month of reintroducing longer runs outside.
5. Schedule out each week on Monday mornings. I am still horrible at this. 🙁
6. Read one chapter of scripture every day. Whether it’s  on my phone or my paper Bible, this will be a recurring goal for forever (that I think I can always get better at).

Onto September Goals…

1. Efficiency: planning out the week on Mondays and recording time it takes for specific tasks (editing, file organization, blogging)
2. Finish Dave Ramsey’s “EntreLeadership”
3. Start meetings for Business Coaching with Idealust! (so excited for this one!)
4. Read one chapter of scripture a day
5. Have a for real bed time / wake up time that stays consistent

I would love it if you asked me about these! I’m glad to keep the list small for September to be more intentional about making them happen.