I’m not sure exactly when it happened, but it seems that a little while back, I lost something very precious.

I lost that firy passion and energy I’d had for photography since I got my first DSLR.

A few Saturdays ago, I was feeling downright exhausted. All I wanted to do was relax. Like normal people do on Saturdays. I had two shoots that day, and found myself being just.not.in.the.mood. I found myself wondering, “How did this happen? When did this sneak up on me?”

Now don’t get me wrong – It is not a feeling that lasted! I somehow made my way to my second shoot of the day, and absolutely loved it. The moment I got to interact with the people, and capture their love, I remembered how blessed I am. And I left the shoot feeling energized and positive.

But from this experience of starting to feel like photography had become a JOB to me (which it IS, but it’s never felt like it) I am learning to start saying NO. The truth is, I don’t have an unlimited amount of time. It is NOT okay that I have been sitting up till late into the night on such a regular basis editing. And as much as I LOVE what I do, there also comes that point when it just gets too much. Apparently there IS such a thing as too much of a good thing.

So I’ve been doing the hardest thing. Saying “no”. Saying those difficult words, “Unfortunately I am fully booked at the moment”.

And contrary to what one would think, I’m doing this because I LOVE WHAT I DO. And that is a feeling I want to protect.

Why am I writing all of this on a post with pictures of a beautiful girl? Well, because when you learn to say no, it makes room to say YES to other important things. Room to learn, room to give, room to be creative, room to explore.

It scares me that I was getting to a point where I stopped learning because I was too busy shooting and editing. I don’t want to be a machine that spits out 2-3 finished products a week. I want to be a person, and I want to bring light through what I do. And a machine will never be capable of that.

Soooooo… A few weeks ago, I practiced posing (lots to learn there) on the dearest Charmaine. She is no stranger to my camera and I love that she’s always up for a challenge. I experimented with various editing styles on the pics (explaining the inconsistency in the pictures below) but that doesn’t matter, because there are no prescriptions when you are learning. And I love the results.

Here’s to saying YES more often.