Category: Happy

  • hi from denver!

    hi from denver!

    Hi from new site hosting! I spent the past four days, while I am holed up in a hotel room in Denver, re-building my WordPress site. I converted back to self-hosted WordPress from Showit. Showit is phenomenal and I would highly recommend it for anyone looking for a business site, but honestly it became out of my price range. It wasn’t ever really in my price range to begin with probably, but now I am trying to be more responsible in my expenses.

    I’ve decided to continue with Caroline Price Photography; I am open for bookings! With the decision to stay in business has come a new pricing structure. It is outlined on my “Photography” page, but weddings will be $600 for up to ten hours of coverage, and portrait sessions will be $99. This decision and pricing structure will allow me to continue to serve clients best.

    Some photos from Colorado! These were taken at Arapaho National Forest:

    Arapaho National Forest
    Arapaho National Forest
    Arapaho National Forest

    It has been a good break away from the boys and I am so grateful to both sets of their grandparents for taking good care of them for us.

    I haven’t taken a tremendous amount of photos, but it felt good to have my camera out in the mountains on Saturday.

    It’s also felt good to have some forced alone time to think. Think about life in general, think about the photography business, think about the future. And also time to just sit and not think, and just be.

    I’d forgotten how much I enjoy tinkering with a website. I couldn’t really do that in the same way with the Showit site since it was drag and drop. I was afraid when I started out the process on Friday night that maybe I’d forgotten, but I only had to look up how to do a couple of things. There’s even a dedicated subdomain just for the photography page of the site. Jared suggested the subdomain but I figured out how to do it and did it all by myself while he was at his conference, today.

    Now, the challenge will be to actually post content here. That will come. Occasionally, I am feeling like opening up, like I did with the “Making Peace with the Past” post. It took a lot to draft that post, and even more to leave it up.

    I’m not quite sure what has led me to be so guarded in recent years. Sure, there is a photography business to consider now, but I used to write with such abandon. I didn’t really care what people thought. Or maybe I did care, and I just wanted to say what I had to say anyway.

    Being guarded isn’t just an in-writing thing. I am guarded in person around most people who aren’t Jared. Jared is my safe person.

    I am working to change the being guarded thing. I want to let people in. It will just need to be a process. Baby steps.

    Love,
    Caroline

  • my 40th wedding

    my 40th wedding

    My 40th Wedding — I shot my 40th wedding on Sunday, seven years and six days after my first solo wedding.

    Prior to that first solo wedding, I had shadowed/ second shot precisely one wedding. And at that wedding, I mostly learned exactly what I didn’t want to do/ how I didn’t want to treat my brides and their families.

    Sunday’s wedding was hectic, but very well organized and a morning wedding, just like my own wedding to Jared was. My arrival time was 6:45 am, but the exit ended up being around 1:30 pm and I was free to go.

    Those of you who have known me for any length of time know that I go through phases with shooting weddings and the photography business. I am not shutting down the photography business, but I am re-thinking my relationship to weddings. It might be awfully nice to go out on a high note.

    The dream was only to ever shoot a single wedding, just to say I had done it. But I refused to do it at all without being a legitimate business, with the LLC, and the business license, and the insurance, etc. I knew enough from my legal issues in photography class at Emory Continuing Ed to know better than to do it any other way.

    And here I am, seven years and six days after that first wedding, and that dream of wanting to shoot a single wedding has turned into 40 weddings under my belt. I know to a lot of my photog friends 40 weddings is not a lot at all in that time span, but to this girl it has been plenty.

    My 40th Wedding and a Full Heart

    40 weddings, and I’ve only missed a single kiss and that was because the kiss literally didn’t happen at all. And there have been some really, really fast kisses.

    I’ve only given one refund and that was to someone who really didn’t deserve one, probably the wedding I worked the hardest at, but I was too afraid of a frivolous bad review and figured if they needed the money badly enough to raise complaints that weren’t even really legitimate, then they needed the money more badly than I did. They even got their USB drive of their pictures anyway.

    My 40th Wedding

    I’ve steamed dresses, served as coordinator and photographer, shot weddings as far as over 125 miles away, shot at Big Canoe and Lake Lanier (Lake Lanier was my third wedding!), shot at countless small barn venues. I’ve calmed down brides, I’ve calmed down mother-of-the-brides. Just Sunday I climbed the tiniest but fairly tall metal spiral staircase not meant to be climbed by anybody but maintenance, to get a stained glass window shot of the bride in her dress, and told Shelley as I was climbing down it was definitely something my orthopedic surgeon would have advised against doing. I’ve shlepped it across hot fields in the middle of summer to get between a brides’ getting ready room and a groom’s getting ready room. I’ve shot in the pouring down rain. I’ve driven 3 hours to a wedding, shot a ten-hour wedding day, and then driven the 3 hours home again.

    40 weddings, and my heart is full. Back when I started dreaming of photographing a wedding, I thought I could only be really good at photographing inanimate, sentimental objects around my house, or landscape shots around town. And to think, the dream was only ever to shoot a single wedding just to say I had done it. And here I am, 40 weddings and quite a few five-star reviews later.

  • porter is graduating!

    porter is graduating!

    Porter is Graduating — We have a Senior!

    It is hard to believe in some ways that this little 4 lb 7 oz being that we brought home after 30 days in the University of Iowa Hospital NICU is almost ready to graduate from high school, and is well over 6 feet tall at this point.

    Porter is brilliant, and funny, and insightful, and wise beyond his years. I cannot tell you how proud I am to be Porter’s mother. Porter is Graduating!

    Porter plans to go to Georgia State University as a philosophy major. Though the religious studies department is a separate department at this point, religious studies was under the philosophy department in my time at GSU, so that philosophy department is sentimental to me. I took many philosophy classes in my time there as part of my religious major studies. I would never have dreamed that my child would consider my alma mater, much less the department of my major, in younger years.

    Porter will be a better philosopher than I was. He has the brain for it. I muddled through okay, but he will excel if he chooses to stick with philosophy permanently.

    Porter is Graduating — It is somehow fitting that the firstborn of a religious studies major and a philosophy and religion/ elementary education major should choose to major in philosophy. I am thrilled.

  • spring break and reining in

    spring break and reining in

    It’s been some time since I wrote, aiming to adjust that pattern.

    My website remains unchanged, but I’m shifting away from promoting myself solely as a wedding photographer.

    I am, at my core, a photographer, always with a camera nearby.

    I halted all forms of social media advertising in January and won’t be investing in more. I’ll focus on growing my client base naturally.

    There’s a Senior in the House!

    Life has been a whirlwind lately, particularly with a senior in the family! Porter has been accepted into four colleges, waitlisted for two, and after considering his options, he’s decided to attend Georgia State University, my alma mater. I’m incredibly proud of him regardless of his choice.

    Liam has applied to join the IB program at his high school, which is another achievement I’m proud of.

    Oliver’s teacher recently called to commend his excellent behavior throughout the year, aside from occasional chattiness, which is typical of Oliver. I’m proud of his academic achievements as well.

    We had an enjoyable Spring Break, visiting family in Kansas City. Although I didn’t take many photos other than with my phone, the boys had a blast indoor skydiving. Oliver is already eager to try it again, so we might visit the iFly in Atlanta soon.

    I’m striving to strike a balance between respecting the privacy of my older children and sharing family updates.

    Spring Break and Reining In

    Writing has become a struggle for me lately. This post may seem self-indulgent, as much of my writing tends to be.

    It’s not that my life has become less interesting; for some reason, I’ve grown more guarded as I’ve gotten older.

    February was challenging, but March was better, and now I’m gradually settling into a daily routine after a couple of turbulent years.

    Two Years of Depression

    I’ve been emerging from a dark period of depression over the past two years, gradually reclaiming fragments of myself.

    Two years ago, we spent the last of our proceeds from selling our previous home on repairs to our current one, including the chimney. I also tried my hand at a traveling daycare photography job, which was physically demanding and not a good fit for me. Despite the challenges, I enjoyed traveling solo during that time, visiting places like Idaho, Utah, Oregon, and Florida.

    My visit to Florida, particularly Tampa, likely contributed to my depression. It was only my second visit to Tampa, unrelated to seeing someone from my past.

    Spring Break and Reining In

    Despite the challenges, there’s been significant personal growth, and many positive changes have occurred. Our marriage is stronger, and my photography skills have improved. We’ve also found a church community we love.

    I continue to photograph weddings on a part-time basis and accept other sessions by request. While I experimented with newborn photography, I realized it’s not my forte.

    Oliver Turned Ten!

    The week leading up to Oliver’s birthday was particularly enjoyable. According to Jared, it was because I reclaimed some control over my life. I established a cleaning routine, and our home remained tidy all week. Additionally, I had the opportunity to take photos at my friend Johnny’s studio; one of the pictures in this post is from that visit. Johnny played a significant role in my photography journey, and his business, Rough Cut Designs, produces exceptional work.

    I’m feeling a strong urge to streamline various aspects of my life, including my photography. Although I’ve found a camera setup I love, I struggle with the temptation to downsize. The need for two cameras for weddings prevents me from selling any gear.

    However, I’m uncertain about expanding our garage into a photography studio. My desire for it has waned, but my love for wedding photography remains strong. I am still in love with poring over Haley and Larry’s wedding photos!

    I yearn for opportunities to photograph flowers in our yard or to purchase flowers specifically for photography. I crave routine and simply holding my camera at times.

    Oliver’s tenth birthday weekend was enjoyable but challenging due to the abundance of junk food. Despite sending some food home with his friends after the party, there were leftovers. Fortunately, the boys consumed most of the cookies during our Kansas City trip, leaving none to bring back home. Spring break and the process of reining in various aspects of my life continue to be a journey.

  • i love ynab!

    i love ynab!

    I love YNAB! You Need a Budget is the budgeting software Jared and I have been using since early 2013.

    YNAB uses a zero-based budget which means you budget every dollar you have. You can set up custom categories, and track all of your financial accounts. The software is made to link to your accounts, though I do not have it set up this way because I like to put in every transaction manually, like an old-school check register.

    Our categories are pretty basic and haven’t changed much over the years, since we started. There is a Giving section, subdivided into Charitable Giving (my favorites are Atlanta Habitat and the Atlanta Ronald McDonald House) and Offerings for church. Next is a section for credit card payments, subdivided by each card. Credit cards are debt, but there is a separate Debt section subdivided into our Car Payment and Mortgage.

    Next is Savings, subdivided into Emergency Savings, Home Maintenance, Auto Maintenance, Vacation, and Boy Allowance. After that is Monthly Bills, which includes Electric and Gas, Water and Trash, Insurance, Phone, Internet, Entertainment (which includes all our streaming services), and Web Hosting.

    Then comes Every Day Expenses, which includes Groceries, Restaurants, Gas for the car, Medical, Clothing, Personal Grooming (Haircuts), Pet Care, Date Night, School Expenses, and Surprises. Interest on the credit cards gets lumped into Surprises.

    Next is a section for Business Expenses— Jared’s work expenses,and my photography business expenses.

    Finally, comes Annual Expenses. This includes Gifts, Safe Deposit Box Fee, Car Registration, Christmas, Taxes (this mostly refers to my estimated taxes), memberships (this includes the recreation center when our membership is current, along with Amazon Prime), and Family Photos.

    As you put in transactions and categorize them, YNAB automatically adjusts category amounts accordingly.

    You can set target amounts, both by total amount and by the monthly amount needed, which is supposed to help those who want to forecast. Sometimes I cheat and forecast a month or two anyway, though, based on anticipated income and any goals we may have.

    Anyway, this is our budgeting software and how I have it set up! I love YNAB!

    You can read more about why I write about what I write about here, especially when I write about my budgeting strategies.