Behind the Camera: Planning for the Year || Lynchburg, VA Wedding Photographer

I know, I'm a little bit weird (please tell me I’m not alone in this! ha!) because I LOVE the process of planning and especially love getting a new planner and starting to organize my year. I get out my pens (of course, you know I color-code my planner!)

When I’m first plugging in dates, it seems like I have tons of free time. Everything I’m writing in are big, important dates- like weddings I’ve booked, birthdays & anniversaries, school start dates, etc.  But I learned if I don’t plan days off ahead of time, I can so easily over-book myself and feel the burnout.

One of the most important things I do when I’m first planning out my year, or when I book a new wedding, is I will, of course, block out the actual wedding day, but I will also schedule a work day AND a day off.

With a new baby on the way, this year is going to be totally different and face a whole bunch of new challenges, so setting myself up for success is going to be so important! I have a whole list of my wedding and event workflow, and know how much time I need to block off for my workflow steps- from uploading cards, culling, editing for my blog, and outsourcing steps, which is so helpful when planning ahead. I know that I most likely won’t have super long stretches of time to get everything done in one day, at least at first, so having that time set aside is super helpful.

I also schedule a day off for each wedding that I shoot. I learned quickly that if I don’t go ahead and block it off on my calendar, I will try to squeeze some things in on that day & end up not getting the day off. This is especially important for months like June, September and October- the super busy wedding and engagement photo sessions.  Also, taking time off for important dates, like Birthdays, Anniversaries, and planning vacation and time away with my family. It can be SO difficult to take a day off when you work for yourself, but please, take it from me, the burn out you’ll feel if you don’t is not worth it!

So tell me, am I alone in LOVING the “school supplies” and fresh starts of new calendars, planners, and color coding.  Do you schedule your work days and off days ahead of time as well?

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Ashley Eiban is a Wedding & Portrait Photographer based in Central Virginia. Serving the Lynchburg, Charlottesville, Richmond, and surrounding areas. Available for travel world-wide.  Ashley is passionate about cultivating genuine relationships built on mutual understanding, trust and lasting friendship.  

Currently booking a limited number of wedding and portrait sessions for 2018.  Contact Ashley today for additional information! 

My January 2018 Goals & Planning || Lynchburg, VA Wedding Photographer

It's just the first week of January, but somehow I was already feeling behind. I had been planning on working on my power sheets all last month, but with getting sick, taking some intentional time off, and spending time celebrating the holidays with my family, it just didn't get done.  I just kept thinking HOW can you start out the new year without having this all set up and ready- but let me tell you a secret! You can start whenever! It does not have to be January 1st! ;) 

So, I've been plugging along on my power sheets this week- it's going to be a much different year for us, preparing for baby, welcoming a new baby and intentionally taking much less on with weddings and photoshoots this year.  It started with me really needing to re-evaluate our financial goals and needs for the year, and defining my definition of success based on what's best for me and my family. The last few years, that was shooting 20-25 weddings and multiple engagements and family sessions a month.  This year, it looks more like 12 weddings overall and scheduling all Sunday's off. Taking some time off to rest & recover after baby, and really just enjoy my family and learn these transitions.  

My word(s) for 2018 are NOURISH and NURTURE.  Yes, I know most people just choose one word, but these both really stood out to me for this stage in my life.  

Some of my big goals for the year are: 

-To Simplify. I want to simplify our home, my workflow, our day to day schedule. Things need to be clean, tidy, and simple when baby comes along! 

-Wellness. I know, this is on everyone's list in the new year... but it looks a little bit differently for me. I want to focus on being healthy mentally for this birth. To keep positive around birth, and be prepared as I can be with the exercises our amazing doula gave us to do! 

-Allowing myself grace. Trust me, I know that EVERYTHING is going to change in a few short months, so allowing myself grace is going to be so important. I need to allow myself grace to take a nap if I'm feeling so exhausted, if dinner doesn't always get done, etc.  I'm not very good at this one, so I have a feeling this is going to be quite the learning year! ;) 

So, now I want to know, what's your word of the year? What are your 2018 goals and what are you planning on working on first? 

Why I love PhotoMechanic || Lynchburg, Virginia Wedding & Portrait Photographer

Super quick post here today- but I've talked to SO MANY photographers lately that have never used PhotoMechanic! I rave and rave about this program and thought if I know so many here in Lynchburg locally, there must be so many other people too! 

PhotoMechanic has literally saved me hours of time back in my workflow. I used to just load and cull in Lightroom as I was editing, and really had no idea how much time it was taking me! It takes 7-12 seconds per image to load the RAW files in lightroom- which really adds up when you're talking about sorting through thousands of images from a wedding! 

I use PhotoMechanic strictly for culling my images. Culling is just the basic process of looking over all of the photos that you take during a session or a wedding and choosing which ones to keep, and which ones to get rid of if someone is blinking, sneezing, my flash didn't go off, etc.  

PhotoMechanic loads the photos super fast and in a JPEG format so you can see the photos in focus quickly, and they aren't quite as flat, which can help! It's a one-time fee, but worth every penny! Hope this saves you tons of time!! 

Turn off the notifications || A working at home series

Y'all. I don't know if you're anything like me, but working from home is FULL of distractions. Between the laundry basket I have to step over to get to my office, to the pile of breakfast dishes in the sink, it's so hard to turn that all off in my brain and just sit down and work.  One of the best things I did to avoid those distractions are having set office hours and being super strict about them.  But, even when I'm in the office and working, it's so easy to get distracted by other things! 

One of the most productive things I did was turn off all notifications on my computer for my office hours.  Between iMessage, facebook, and messenger, and emails, and instagram, I could be distracted for seriously hours- and not actually get anything done. 

When I get a notification pop up in the corner of my screen, even if I try to to ignore it, is on my mind until I check it. My brain sees that notification as something important and urgent and demands my attention until I check it. Getting notifications that someone commented on a facebook photo is not worth wasting my work hours away for.  

This is not me complaining about social media, or trying to brag that I get sooo many notifications or anything.  I love social media- especially considering I'm here working by myself- I need that social outlet! But, more importantly, I need to get my work done! These notifications cannot rule my life.  

So, I just want to encourage you to take a few minutes and turn off the notifications for the things that distract you without you even knowing it! It will make such a huge difference! 

Motherhood Moments: The little things are what matters

Today's post is something that I really struggle with, and the more Moms I talk to, the more I find out that I'm not alone. It seems in this day and age where we are bombarded with everyone's 'best of' moments through social media, I feel the constant need to be THE best Mom ever.  You know, to constantly be doing fun things, making everything a teaching moment, and for her to always be having fun.  Let's be real here- this isn't possible. If we were sitting and chatting over some wine and you were telling me you were struggling with these things, I would tell you the very same thing. You're going to make yourself crazy.  

We all have our own strengths and weaknesses, and this is especially true in Motherhood. I have a friend that looooooves baking, and almost every day makes something healthy and fun with her kids.  I see her doing that and instantly feel guilty... do slice and bake cookies count as a baking project with her, cuz that's about the extent of baking I'm capable of... and even then, there's a good chance they're going to be burnt.  I have another friend that is so good at getting down on the floor and playing with her kids. She sits there and plays doctor, or barbies with her kids. I've tried doing this too, (yall, it's so boring!!!). I'm no good at it!!  Basically, I want to be able to take Em on family trips and bake, and play, and do all the fun things, all the time, every single day. 

Being a working Mom (yes, especially Moms that are  working at home!!) means that I have to prioritize my time, that I can't always be there, available and ready to play and do the most amazing things all the time.  I start to feel so guilty because I'm not giving her my undivided attention some days.

Can we be honest here for a second- kids don't need our complete attention all the time. They need to learn how to play on their own, use their imaginations, and not rely on us so much all the time. I need to be okay with not always being in "Mom mode."  

I was talking this out with someone the other day and she made such a great point.  There are some seasons where we will spend so much time together- in the summer, we will go to the pool multiple times a week, we will get ice cream, and go on adventures, and that is all so great and so fun. But there are also seasons where I need to get work done, and that's okay too. As long as I'm being purposeful about spending some quality time with my family, that's okay.  All Emmie needs is a little one-on-one time with me for it to make her day. I don't need to have this 'all or nothing' mentality.  If I can spend 15-20 minutes creating with play dough with her, that little block of time is the quality time that she needs for the day. But, those 15 minutes need to be completely focused on her. Put the phone away, turn off the email notifications, and sit and talk and play with her. It's the little moments, where we can be fully present that are going to make the biggest difference.  

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Ashley Eiban is a wedding and portrait photographer based in Central Virginia. Serving Lynchburg, Charlottesville, Farmville, Richmond, Roanoke, and surrounding areas. Currently booking a limited number of weddings and portrait sessions for 2017.  Available for travel world-wide.  

Ashley is Mom to 5 year old, Emerson and is passionate about balancing Motherhood and your chasing your dreams and providing for your family.   Contact me today for additional information!