Lightbulb Moments | Chicago Photographer

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to not only attend, but also speak at the 20-Something Blogger’s Inaugural Summit in downtown Chicago.

Words cannot describe how grateful and floored I am that I was there because this weekend? Was all about learning and connecting and cultivating. I gleaned some knowledge, spoke to other bloggers about my passion for photography, and, most of all, felt inspired and invigorated by everything I heard. I cannot express to y’all how many lightbulb moments occurred because I had one in pretty much every session I attended. Literally.

Lately, I have felt this little photoblog of mine has been lacking a certain spark, but I had no idea what to do about it. After this weekend, I’m making the leap and plowing forward with these updates, even though they are going to shake things up a lot and are a little scary.

And I’d love to know what y’all think about them I have because I want you involved with these plans.

After all, more than ever, I believe that we are a community and that we can lift one another up if we so choose. And since I work as a full-time freelance photographer and basically eat-sleep-breathe photography, I want this blog to become a forum that is more than just about me and my work.

So, thanks to the genius of my pizza-eating, champagne-drinking, creative, beautiful and fabulous blogger friends (cough cough, Jenn, Ben, Doni, Jenny, Renee and Jamie), I’ve got two ideas to throw out at y’all (and about three more potentials to hang onto in my pocket for the time being.)

1. Friday Favorites. This is one of my favorite features, but it’s been a little lacking and a little inconsistent. To jazz it up, I want you – yes, YOU – to send me some of your favorite links weekly from all over the internet for the feature. What are you interested in seeing on this feature? What aren’t you interested in seeing? I’d love to know what you think.
2. Tips and tricks of the trade. I want to help you learn about photography. And while I might not be the most knowledge-savvy/book-smart photographer, I do know some about this chosen profession of mine. So I need some feedback from y’all – what do you want to know about the profession? Do you want to learn how to shoot on manual controls? Would you rather hear about how a certain image was selected over another? Or do you want to discuss post-processing actions used in Photoshop? Would you like to know about gear or choosing gear when you’re ready to make the leap and get a new camera? Or is there something else about photography you’d like to learn more about? Let me know because I want to help you learn about the artform that I am fortunate enough to work in daily.

This weekend, I was reminded that a blog is more than a place where you can write about your life or share your work. A blog can be a community if you allow it to be one, and that is what I want for Life As It Is.

What do y’all think?