Moving Our Feet | Goals | Michael and Carina Photography

Michael and Carina Photography | Fine Art Wedding Photographers in Virginia

A cellphone pic from our beach. #nofilter

Wow. Almost half of 2014 has just flown by.

The past couple of months have been a whirlwind of weddings, engagement sessions, and other photo projects.

Some of you might already know, but Carina (she wouldn’t write this but she’s not writing this, so I can say it) recently finished almost 2 years of college wrapped up in one, in addition to being a full time photographer, all the while maintaining a 4.0 GPA.

You might say I’m a teeny bit proud of the woman I’m lucky enough to call my wife.

This past weekend, we had a chance to take a bit of a breather so we drove to “our secret beach.” It’s a beach near where I grew up, that’s all I’ll say. (The locals try and keep it a secret, so I wouldn’t want to spoil it for them).

We picnicked and sat out in the sun. We talked about a lot of things that had nothing to do with photography, such as the enigma that is a Japanese mochi.

Inevitably though, this isn’t just a job – it’s our passion. We sat down and looked back at where we were 6 months ago, and the goals we had then.

-To continue getting our work published. So far, so good!
– To do “more styled shoots.” Hmmm, this has definitely changed. I think we’re not as into doing “more,” we just want to do one or two really amazing ones!! And it’s happening!
– Our branding has gotten a little more ironed out, thanks to help from a designer!
– Do more things that cause us to get excited about our business. Does eating a whole box of Japanese mochi at the beach count? No? If not, maybe flying to California and doing a workshop with Erich McVey does? Or shooting like 90% of a wedding on film? #thathappened

These were our goals and so far, we can’t begin to express how thankful we are to be meeting them head on and accomplishing them. We’re living our dream and it’s not always easy, but it’s definitely worth it to us. Our biggest blessings have been our couples this year. You guys can’t imagine how thankful we are to know you.
It’s such an amazing feeling to meet someone and for them to say to you, in other words, “Yes, I’m going to trust you with the telling of the visual story of the most sacred, most important day of our lives to our children and grandchildren.” To the couples whose weddings we’ve photographed thus far in 2014- Xi and Wesley, Kim and Brian, Emily and Jason, Kelsi and Michael, and Joy and Brian – each of your weddings was such a joy to document and we can’t thank you enough for the opportunity.

That said, we have some mid-year goals we’d like to put out in the open for everyone to see. I guess putting it out there will give us less room to just “not” let it happen. We believe in prayer but love the old proverb, “Pray, but move your feet.” We’re putting it out there, too, because perhaps you might be just the one to help us achieve one of these goals! Okay, let’s be honest. None of our dreams would be possible without you guys. Every time someone asks us to take a photo of them, that’s them reaffirming our passion. We’ve limited this to “business goals,” just for the sake of keeping it short and sweet.

I have to thank Kat of Dear Sweetheart Events for putting her “DSE Bucket List” out for everyone to see, as it really inspired us to do the same.

1) We really want to shoot a wedding in Italy. Rome is the city where we honeymooned, and we loved it so much we went back the next year, and the year after that. Everything in the city practically glows; Roman photographers must not have an idea of what “bad light” is. Italy is the same way – it’s almost impossible to go wrong. Imagine a bride + groom being photographed in Italy… Now imagine a bride + groom on FILM in Italy… now we’re talking. Next year, we will be in Europe during the latter part of the summer. Like, it’s happening, no doubt about it. So if you’re planning a wedding in Rome or somewhere else in Italy for Summer 2015, please send us a message! Also places where we’d love to shoot a wedding: Germany (wir sprechen so wie so Deutsch, und ein bisschen Bayerisch auch), Greece, Austria, England, and France – we know with your help, we can make it happen! We actually just recently received an inquiry for Australia but were booked for another wedding. Still, what a great feeling just to be considered!!

2) There are still some amazing venues we’d love to shoot at in or near Virginia, too. We’d love to shoot a wedding at Pippin Hill, the Mill at Fine Creek, Keswick Hall, and the Clifton Inn. We’ve photographed at Keswick Vineyards, the Tide’s Inn, the Williamsburg Winery and the Inn at Warner Hall before, love all of these venues and would be absolutely thrilled to photograph more weddings there!

3) Get published in Southern Weddings. Hey, we can dream, right? We’d like to believe it’s going to happen someday.

4) Be featured on Style Me Pretty. This is happening!

5) Shoot more and more film. We love film so much that we don’t care that it costs an arm and a leg… it’s worth it. We’ve found it’s where our personalities, our style, and our photography skills just fit. Yes, it’s just a medium… but it’s our medium.

6) Attend a fine art wedding photography workshop. This is also happening!

7) Give back. We’d really like to be as much a blessing to others as so many are to us. Not only our clients, but other vendors, too. Almost every single person we’ve been blessed to work with leaves us feeling more blessed and better than before. We’d love to do and be the same way with other wedding professionals.
Also with photographers who might not be as far along in their journey – we love mentoring and offering opportunities for photographers to come learn whatever we can offer them. Their success becomes our success. We’ve been there before, ourselves, and know what it’s like… and we remember the people who helped us on our way.

We don’t expect all of these things to happen right away… or in 6 months… or even a year. Maybe some won’t happen at all. But none of these things are impossible. Now it’s out there for everyone to know and if it’s supposed to happen, it will. In the meantime, we will keep loving each other… keep living our dreams… and while we pray, we’ll move our feet.

xoxo Michael & Carina

PS. Thanks so much for reading. If you’re a photographer and this helped inspire you, please share one of your biggest goals or “the next big step” you’d like to take in your business in the comments below!