Being Thankful (and a blast from the past)

Being Thankful

No, it’s not Thanksgiving, but we just wanted to take a moment to say “Thank you” to everyone who has been such a big part of inspiring us to create “Michael and Carina Photography.”

It was back in Munich, almost two years ago around this time of year, that we decided this was something we wanted to pursue together.

Back then, we didn’t know whether we’d be in Germany or the US. My (Mike’s) work as an English teacher was undergoing a lot of changes, Carina was trying to hold off on entering university to see whether or not she’d get her greencard, her family was going through a lot of difficulties… Our relationship was strong but a lot of things were uncertain. You guys probably know the feeling of going to sleep and waking up and all the time in between, feeling like a rock is on your chest.

The idea of pursuing this and working together came almost naturally, but the idea that we could succeed at making this our full time profession didn’t. I had a good job, and although it wasn’t my favorite thing in the world, I loved working with children and I’d developed a good relationship with my co-workers.

I loved helping out my photographer friends and learning from them, and liked the idea of doing it on “our own.”

But full time?

In 2012 we moved to the USA and I left my full time job as a teacher, and Carina her part time job as a reporter/photojournalist, to work as photographers in Virginia…

We decided to work doing what we loved and to make a living off of it as well.

It was literally a flight of faith over the Atlantic Ocean.

I remember somewhere over Iceland I was begging God for answers, asking Him if this was the right way.

But we were on our way ; too late to ask if this was the right one..

Sometimes when I have a moment to myself I like to think about the “butterfly effect” and how one thing leads to another..

When I was growing up I had a lot of people in my life who believed in me – but I didn’t.

When I met Carina, that changed.. mostly.

I learned that if you really want something, you could achieve it if you work hard for it.

Loving her wasn’t just an emotion, and it certainly wasn’t always easy, (saying goodbye for a year is never easy) but an action.

There were people who ridiculed our relationship then… and there were people who encouraged us, strengthened us.Both of them got us to where we are today and I’m thankful for what I learned from both.

When we began our photography team, there were people at the beginning, a couple of years ago, who wrote us lengthy emails telling us to “keep our day jobs.”But there were also people who supported us and believed in us more than we thought they had reason to.

Michael and Carina Photography needed both of those sorts of people, because they both drove us, pushed us on. For that we’re thankful.

To the nameless French photographer who showed us in Paris how to take a picture in the dark (and lit up our entire lives in the process), thank you.

To Sonia and Cavell, who first told me what an aperture was and why I should just buy a cheap DSLR and a cheap 50mm to teach myself photography.

To “AG,” who stole thousands of euros from us when we were trying to invest in our equipment, thanks for teaching us a good lesson about the darker sides of human nature (we invested in several thousand dollars’ worth of equipment which never came; unfortunately, an Amazon scam artist who was never arrested is probably still out there doing this to other people).

To Marion, for answering my questions, giving me advice, for showing up at the door of the kindergarten and shoving a bag of your own gear in my hands to shoot “our” first wedding… thank you for believing in us and teaching us a lesson about the better sides of human nature.

To Carmen and Ingo for inspiring us to be a successful husband-wife team, thank you.

To Getty for buying our images…thanks!

To our families in Germany and in America for believing in us and praising us when no one else did, thank you. Dad, Oma, Opa were always especially there for us in Germany. Thank you. Mom(s), for encouraging us, believing in us, thank you.

To that photographer who wrote us that really long, mean, nasty email at the beginning of our photography journey, telling us to “keep our day jobs”, and that photography for people so lacking in talent was a waste of time… thanks for the encouragement

To the first couples, models, brides & grooms we photographed who believed in us… thank you.

To Kibiku, my old work, for pushing me, teaching me to be (slightly more) organized, and for allowing me to be the unofficial photographer. To Frank for teaching me to find more humor in life, to Avril for inspiring me to be more positive, to Gil for just being purely awesome, to Steffi for being Steffi… to Herr Kurzlechner who gave me a chance.. and everyone else… Andrea, Sarah, Judith, Ivana… Susi, Jan & Charlotte thanks!

(special place for) Katrin, for never for a second doubting that we could follow our dream; who told us over and over again to do it, to be photographers, and for always looking out for us like a sister. And for telling me to straighten up, iron out my shirt, and to keep my locker clean.

To the people who lost sleep over us when we moved to America and gave up our lives in Germany to live out the adventure that is immigrating to the New World, thanks for thinking of us..

To the Kim the Canon Man at Saturn for letting us play with “toys”…

To the editors of the Munich Mercury for hiring Carina as a photographer… Thank you!

To Jonas for carrying our stuff around, posing for us, practicing with us, learning with us, living with us, and being our trusty assistant in return for FIFA games, thank YOU! And thanks for all the fun times spending hours on the floor with Playmobile, legos and dinosaurs making time lapses!

To Chris & Lea for being friends and encouraging us AND critiquing us.. thank you.

Kirstie, for being a friend and giving us a chance! Sara, for being a friend… for giving us a chance! Angela, thanks for supporting us one business to another, always being there… Spring, Rachel, Rachel, Rachel (you read that correctly), Tori, Isabel, Kristina, Brandon, thank you guys! Megan for taking our pics! Crystal, Alice, Ivory, where would our images be without you? So many people I probably didn’t name, but thank you!

To the heroes I looked up to who turned out to be just really talented awesome nice people… Kristine, Sharon (you took our pics!!!!!!!!!), Will… thanks for giving us the time of day and supporting us, believing in us. Thanks to the HR Wedding Planner community for being amazing.

And now we’re coming to a close… from the bottom of our hearts, thank you, SO much, to the brides and grooms who invested in us as we’d just arrived from Germany. You believing in us made us believe in ourselves. It’s not only us, but because of you that after 2 years from dreaming it into existence Michael and Carina Photography exists, even if we are just REALLY getting started, and we will never stop being thankful for it. Thank you to all of our clients who have invested not only in us, but in our style and the value of what we provide. So many people I didn’t name but yea… already way too long… Anyways, I don’t know what the next two years will bring but the rock is off our chests and we are both very excited to see… God bless and thank you guys.. :*humbled & blessed*

Here are some old pics from our first year where we teamed up as photographers and did just about everything we could do, from weddings to model ports; from attempts at art and playing in Photoshop to jobs for newspapers.

^us joking around^