I’ve blogged Monday-Friday for as long as I can remember! This past week has been a bit of a whirlwind so excuse my absence. My best friend gave birth to a beautiful baby boy named Noah Jackson! It was amazing experiencing all this over the past few days with her. Tons of photos have been snapped! Sometimes its nice to slow down a bit and enjoy the beauty going on around me. Thank you to all my clients who’ve been patient with pictures…. it’s been a really busy past two weeks of photographing portrait sessions. I’ll finally get back to editing, blogging and releasing online galleries today. These next couple of months are going to be fun with the Holidays, my Birthday and we have a ton of Showers & Weddings coming up for friends. Looking forward to seeing all my clients for their Nov/Dec sessions :) Just know that I’m working as fast as possible to get things back to you all in a timely manor. Thanks again for all the love and support.. more pics coming soon!

It’s probably been over year that I’ve taken a full week off from blogging – maybe even longer. Those of you who follow my work are most likely wondering where I’ve been! Well here in New Orleans, we’ve had a bit of a pause in our usual routine. Hurricane Issac has been the only thing on our minds this past week. Monday I photographed a twins newborn shoot in the morning and afterwards went straight to stock up on the necessities: food, water, gas, candles, etc.  Tuesday morning was spend picking up the yard, loading my children’s portrait chairs into the garage and then unloading my car from all the newborn props. Tuesday was a waiting game, the wind and rain began to pick up in the afternoon. Tuesday night we lost power – slept at home all night with no power and AC. I say slept… it was soo hot! Woke up Wednesday morning to a flooded street, some trees down, etc. We were kind of back and forth between my in-laws house and my parents house. It’s truly been a joy to spend time with our families over this past week. As terrible and destructive as storms can be, I’m grateful for the break. Finally back at home now with power and working air. Our A/C also went out due to the storm, thankful that the parts were changed out yesterday and we have cool air again :)

Bummed that I had to reschedule 4 out of 5 of my sessions last week :( Tomorrow I’ll get back to emails and editing, then probably blogging again on Tuesday. Looking forward to my upcoming sessions. A big thank you to my clients for being patient while we get back to normal here in NOLA! I know there are soo many of you still left without power.

Today I enjoyed a lovely day with my friends at a Bridal Shower for my friend Noelle. We were not letting Issac ruin out plans! Happy to be in her upcoming Wedding this December. We had lots of fun planning for her shower, it turned out so cute! Next up, is my friend Dana’s Baby Shower which is this coming Saturday.

I can’t tell you all how much I am enjoying my weekends again with family and friends. I love spending time with them, planning upcoming parties, going to dinner and lunch, cooking, shopping, dreaming and just having more me time. I feel like I’m able to be a better wife, friend and daughter now. Who wants to go through life with their attention being focused on 8,000 different things. That’s how I felt when I was working all week and just about every weekend. Simplicity is freeing. It’s a nice feeling when you don’t have to worry anymore about missing out on things. Life is short… cherish it :) I read something the other day that really hit home…. “Follow your dreams, not someone else’s.” For so long I always felt like I needed to be a certain type of photographer to be “successful” – you really do find so much happiness when you just live your own life and stop feeling like you need to be just like someone else. I am in a good place in my life – happy with my career and thankful for the opportunities I am given. Photographing children brings me so much joy. It takes all different kinds of people to make the world go around. If you are smart  – thank God for that. If you cook well – thank God. If you are a good speaker – give thanks. We all have our own special things that make us who we are. Been thinking about starting a personal blog lately to separate my life from my business. I would love to hear some feedback – do readers like a mix of myself along with my photography? Do you enjoy getting to know me as a person behind the photos? Do you ever relate? Should I separate the two … does it really matter? I have so many personal journals that I keep because I truly love writing when I have the time. Some stuff I want to share but don’t know if it’s the right place. However, personally as a blogger – I love reading about other people’s lives through their posts.

As crazy as the past week has been, I feel refreshed. It’s nice when you can give yourself time to collect your thoughts. Mother Nature gave us a little break in our normal routine last week. Thank you Jesus for keeping us safe.

I haven’t done my hair or worn makeup in a week. It was actually nice to get presentable today, haha! This past week, we’ve laughed, shed a few tears, grew closer with family, drank wine, cooked, cooked more, baked, watched the rain, listened to the wind, dressed up the dog, picked up leaves and broken tree limbs, watched movies, snuggled our puppies, laughed some more until we couldn’t breathe, and loved….. but most importantly made memories! Here just a couple of iphone photos from the past week.

Just wanted to say thank you to all of the people who check in to see what’s new on the blog. I keep saying one day I’m not going to work so much so that I’ll have the time to post more personal things about my life, my family, etc. I always put client editing first before posting anything about ME! I just can’t seem to find the time. As most of you can tell, the blog has been nothing but kids, family, maternity, and engagement pictures popping up! Where have the Weddings been? I photographed my last Wedding about 3 months back. About a year ago I realized that it was time for me to get my weekends back. It took me over a year to work through all my contracts. After 5 years of being a Wedding photographer, I realized it was time to start spending time with my loved ones and giving myself a break. You only live once! I’m not saying that I’ll never go back to shooting Weddings, but right now my heart is leading me in another direction. I get so much enjoyment from photographing portrait sessions and working Monday-Friday. As I’m sure most of my clients can attest….. getting to spend time with them is like spending time with an old friend. These days I’m more relaxed, more easy going and truly enjoy each day to the fullest. I really am addicted to my career. I am so thankful for all the people that call and email looking for me to be their photographer. Although some days I can get overwhelmed, when I stop and smell the roses….. these people have molded me into who I’ve become today.

So here I sit, after a long, tiring day and I’m content. I am living out my dream and I thank God for giving me this life. I am blessed to have such a wonderful family and support system. My friends, my husband, my inlaws… I am lucky. I can’t wait until the day I’ll be photographing my own children. What will they look like? How will life change? There are so many questions that run through my mind, but I am happy to be where I am now. It’s funny how I think back on certain times in my life and I can remember what I was praying about during that time frame…. Guidance, Family, Business, Marriage, Strength, etc…!

It’s so easy to get caught up in the midst of day in and day out routine. I’m really looking forward to our beach vacation with friends next month! I know many of you feel the same way about needing a break. Sometimes I just go sit outside and let the sun hit my face. I hear the birds chirp and I just soak it all in. That’s how I feel at the beach…. just calm and collected.

So these are my thoughts… August 7th, 2012. Where has the time gone? I’m sad that 2012 is vanishing so quickly!! Until next time… here’s a couple of photos of life lately over the past few months ;)

For Sale :

I am slowly making the switch over to Nikon. I’ve sold off a good bit of my gear already, but here is what I have left :) I have bags and boxes for everything listed below. All of this is in great condition! I know there are some local photogs that follow my blog, so please email me if you’d like to buy anything: jenamatophoto@gmail.com

Canon 5D … $600 – SOLD!!

Canon 5D Markii Extra Battery … $25 – SOLD!!

2- Canon 5D Extra Battery … $25 –  BOTH SOLD!!

Canon BG – E6 Battery Grip for 5D Markii … $100 – SOLD!!

Canon BG – E4 Battery Grip for 5D … $100 – SOLD!!

Canon CP – E4 Compact Battery Pack (like brand new) … $100

2- Canon 580ex ii Flash (like brand new) … $300 each – BOTH SOLD!!

Canon 50mm f/1.2 Lens (my baby!) … $1000

Canon 24-105 f/4.0 Lens … $800

Canon 100mm f/2.8 Macro Lens (like brand new) … $400 – SOLD!!

Canon 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye … $400 – SOLD!!