Albany Child Photographer

Spirit Session | Dana & Louise

Friday, January 27, 2012

Some of you may know that I taught high school Biology for five years. Not only do I love understanding how living things work and feel completely inspired when teaching concepts to others, but I adore working with teenagers.

Teenagers are at the stage in life where venturing into new territory is unavoidable. There are those who face this opportunity with courage and determination, and witnessing their excitement for life and possibility is infectious. I am young at heart and have such a fascination with individuals coming into knowing themselves on a deeper level and stepping into who they are, making photographing teens a fully enjoyable adventure for me.

Dana has been one of my favorite teens to work with. When Dana emailed me about getting photographs for a new EP she was doing with her partner Louise, I was so excited. I had recently heard a song that Dana and Louise had posted on Facebook and loved what I heard. I instantly accepted the job and we started making plans for our session in Boston.

Dana and Louise had a clear vision of what they wanted. We emailed thoughts back and forth and had a SKYPE meeting to be sure we were ready for our shoot.

Here are the first four photos I have edited from our session.

You can visit their Facebook Page HERE and hear their songs on Youtube HERE

Dana Hom (New York, 1994) and Louise Rademakers (Antwerp, 1993) first met one another when they both started their study at the Berklee College of Music in September of 2011. Within a matter of days, Dana and Louise formed a strong friendship and discovered that they shared a passion for music and songwriting. Their first song “Again” launched the idea to release a five song EP in the spring of 2012.

Posted in Spirit Sessions

by Thea

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The Business | Setting boundaries when you are your own boss

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

In this video I share about a struggle I am having with setting boundaries around my work and personal time while working from home and being my own boss.

*Please forgive me, the top of my head is cut off in this video. I am still getting used to using my mac book for shooting video, and was so wrapped up in what I would say that I neglected to notice the cropping issue.

Summary:

I have struggled accepting I have done enough when it is time to stop working. As a result I have often found myself squeezing in just one more thing, ..taking up many more minutes-sometimes hours in the evenings.The past year or so, I have worked hard to set boundaries around my work hours, doing my best to wrap up work right before Trey gets home from school, even though I don’t feel I have done “enough”. In general I would say I have made great progress in setting and respecting these boundaries, yet I still find times when I fall back into this pattern and need to pull myself out of it. The past month I found myself on the computer night after night, and it just hasn’t felt good.

So, the past week or so I have been working on not getting on the computer at night. I feel more balanced but also a bit more driven to get a lot done during the time I am working. I regularly hit the ground running each day, and love my work.

Every once in a blue moon, I find myself needing to rest during the day, and instead of seeing it for what it is, a fear sets in that I have suddenly become lazy.

The past two days I have felt wiped out and a burning need to rest. This past week I was out of town from early Wed morning until Thursday evening. Friday was unpack and repacking. Saturday I was out of the house at 6am and then Sunday I was out of the house by 7am- for a full day shoot in Boston-arriving home at 8pm.

I have the time to rest, yet I can’t seem to let go of the long to-do list of projects I have in my head. .Yesterday I felt like a sloth, because I took 3 hours to lay in bed, take a nap and read with Trey, despite working from 9-noon getting a slideshow up for my clients I photographed Sunday, going to the gym, grocery shopping, making dinner, cleaning up around the house . I feel guilty because I didn’t get “enough” work done.

Looking at it-rarely do I feel get “enough” done. Maybe if I learn to define what is enough, I will have the ability to feel satisfied.

I woke up today still feeling exhausted, with the start of a sore throat, and an ache to rest. I am fighting rest, and it is counterproductive. I am not functioning at 100% so it makes sense that resting will help me rejuvenate. Where does this fear come from that if I rest, I won’t ever want to work again?

Doing this video and writing this post has helped me see this is a bit ridiculous. I am going to force myself to take a nap, heck I may even watch an episode of Downtown Abby on demand. I know my body needs it. My to do list is just going to have to wait.

I would love to hear your experience with setting work boundaries. Do you have a good gauge on what is enough?

Posted in The Business

by Thea

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I circle too. Maya H has said many times to embrace this…it is our job as women to forage and collect berry’s so to speak-to keep our eye on the surroundings watching for danger, preparing food, gathering. I too can feel like I just don’t get as much done because of it but I think we do, I just need to give myself credit for it all xo

Thea

You are so wise Amber. I am learning much from you. It is so true, yet my mind still has a hard time believing it! xo

Thea

Thanks Kelly! It has really hit me lately-as my son just had a growth spurt that he will only be a little boy up for snuggles and playing for so long. I really do want to enjoy it! And isn’t it amazing how fast the school day goes by!

Thea

I am actively working on releasing this notion. Writing about it has really helped. I am starting to feel better and back to myself after taking it easy…and you know what? Nothing spontaneously combusted from my lack of attention. Ha. xoxo

elizabeth

fascinating.

I feel the same thing– and it makes no sense at all. It simply defies logic– where does this kooky illusion come from? I don’t know the answer but there is comfort in knowing I have such a gorgeous cousin with the same disease . .. let’s hope we get cured and FREE of this kookiness in 2012!!!

Kelly Shallo

Hi Thea. Rest assured, you are not alone. What’s so funny to me is that I am in the same exact boat right now. In fact, at this moment I am researching new marketing strategies as I force myself to sit so as to not feel guilty about it.

It is very easy to get wrapped up in editing and fixing your website, blog, etc. I would say to myself, ok I’ll give myself 1 hour and then get up and balance things out and take care of the laundry, etc., but before I know it, it’s 3:20 and I have to meet the bus. It’s hard to do it all, but like you said, boundaries are the answer.

Don’t feel guilty about resting when you need it- sometimes that’s when the best ideas come to mind. And the kids are only kids for so long. Enjoy them.

Kelly

Amber

Yes, I know where you’re coming from. This is something I’ve struggled with as well, however I have little trouble listening to my body when it needs a break. I love my work and will only be of better service when I’m at full capacity and I’m typically eager to get back to it. Besides certain constitution/dosha types gain clarity and creativity with rest and relaxation. Listen.

maya

I love that you mentioned that videos are easier for you than writing a post, because half way through I started thinking… go take your nap! But now knowing that you were taking care of yourself by choosing the mode of most ease, I think you’ve already begun to set up a few boundaries. I think learning to shut down and turn off work is the challenge of this new age of technology. Thank you for opening the discussion. One of my biggest problems is trying to stay focused. Being at home for work means that there are constant distraction,s and I seem to circle from laundry, dishes, computer, etc. without fully completing anything on the first go around. I’m working on it. xx

52 Photos Project | Color with Emotion

Saturday, January 21, 2012

I used to dislike purple-now I love it
I also am loving gray and shades of sea glass

I took this on a visit to the beach in Cohasset, M.A. when we went to celebrate my 40th on New Years Weekend just a few weeks ago.

Posted in 52 Photos Project

by Thea

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Across The Room | Exploration in Self Portraiture | Reflection on the project

Friday, January 20, 2012

My thoughts on my Across The Room | Exploration in Self Portraiture Project.

I tried my best to keep it short. The video lasts about as long as it takes to enjoy a cup of tea (almost 8 minutes) , so if you are up for it, pour yourself a cup and join me…

Posted in Across the room | Exploration in Self Portraiture

by Thea

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Across The Room | Exploration in Self Portraiture | What does your love look like?

Thursday, January 19, 2012

This photograph was taken in our playroom after school. Trey often does a lot of rolling around and wet noodle moves when he gets home from school. I think it is his response to having to sit most of the day doing school work. When we have to rush off somewhere I can find it a bit frustrating, but in general I find it to be pretty sweet.

Love is shown in so many ways. My mother was a very affectionate person and I am as well. When I look at this photo I can feel the love I felt in that moment, and I hope when Trey looks at this picture when he is older, he does as well.

Across The Room Exploration in Self Portraiture by Thea Coughlin

The Across The Room challenge this week is to take a self portrait from across the room, that captures a loving moment between you and someone special to you.

The goal is to have a photograph that will illicit a feeling of overflowing love.

Please share a link to your photo or a post with your photo in the comments or join the flickr group by clicking on the photo in the sidebar.

*This could also be a pet

Posted in Across the room | Exploration in Self Portraiture

by Thea

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