my poor camera is going through withdrawals.

i can't even remember the last time i had a legitimate photo shoot.

lucky for my camera, and for me, i'm heading down to san diego this weekend for 6 family photo sessions. yes, 6. and i am oh so excited.

i've been going through a photography drought the past little while and it hurts my heart just a little bit. 

when i first got my 'big girl' camera, as i like to call it, i took photos of everything. and i mean everything. my brother sitting on the couch, half of a pomegranate on the counter, 'vote yes on prop 8' signs in our front yard, you name it. somewhere in the past 10 months that enthusiasm for documenting through photographs has waned. i sometimes even find myself bringing my camera to certain events, only to leave and realize i didn't even pull it out of the camera bag.

does anyone else have this problem?

i am quite frequently the queen of designating myself as photographer for family events and what not, but i never manage to be in any of the photos myself. and to be honest, there are still lots of photo opportunities that i miss out on. especially since i've moved to utah and i spend a majority of my time with friends and/or people i date.

thanks to this little problem of mine, i couldn't really find any new photos to post. so i went digging through the archives. 

and i found this one.

i'm pretty sure i snapped it during the first week with my new camera, and it is still one of my favorites. no set up, no posing, no reflectors. just my darling little niece in her birthday suit.

i also decided to brush the dust off of my photography watermark. [actually that's a lie, because i changed it a little bit. so technically it's new - no dust.]

how do we feel about it?

watermarks bring on this internal struggle for me. i know it sounds very dramatic, but it's partially true. i sometimes feel like it makes me seem a little too confident in my photography abilities. other times, i feel like it looks much more professional. but then i think, 'am i even a professional?' i don't want to trick anyone into thinking that i am, if i'm not...

but a little while ago, my dad told me this:

'jana, you became a professional photographer the minute someone first paid you to take their picture.'

and you know what? he is right.

people want to pay me to take their pictures, that means i must be kind of good at what i do, right?

no, i am good at what i do. i feel good about what i do. and maybe that means i shouldn't be so self-conscious about putting my name on my work.

:)

xoxo.

jana

ps. california here i come!