Yesterday, I celebrated my 33rd birthday and I had my dream dessert…pizookie topped with gelato!!! Every year around this time, I try to reflect on my La Brisa goals and my personal realizations (2010, 2011 and 2014) as a reminder to keep looking forward. The La Brisa team is more talented than ever. Autumn, Emma and Sarah constantly challenge me to grow and improve as a photographer and a business owner. Without them, the success of La Brisa would be non-existent. We thrive as a team and I am super excited to see where our adventures take us this year. A huge thank you to everyone who continues to support, encourage and love us!
For La Brisa
- GROWTH. After
67 years into my La Brisa journey, Ifinally realizedknow what I want to do. In the next54 years, my goal is to create a team of La Brisa photographers that span across the country. 5-7 photographers across the various regions of the US and 2-3 photographers in theTucson/PhoenixDallas/Fort Worth area. I want to offer the La Brisa experience to as many potential clients as possible without sacrificing what makes us successful: engaging personalities, a unique client experience and stunning images. Each photographer would serve their local market, but, more importantly, have a heart for travel and adventure. What I love about adding photographers is that it feels like I have to relaunch the business every time. It’s a new challenge and that keeps me constantly thinking of how to utilize our previous experience, success and failures with a new perspective. - FREEDOM. Freedom to explore new opportunities. Freedom in our schedules. Freedom to maintain past relationships and to build new ones. Freedom to live a more balanced life. Freedom to say no. Freedom to take chances. Freedom to make choices without regrets. Oftentimes expectations from ourselves and from others can be overwhelming so we are striving to free ourselves from the negativity of those burdens in order to live life better. We hope our newfound freedoms will allow us to be much better with our creativity, our work ethic and our dedication to doing what we love.
- GIVE BACK. Many photographers view the flood of DSLRs to the market as a threat to their livelihood and market share. More and more people are taking up the beauty and awesomeness of photography and it is an amazing time for growth for the photography industry. By hosting Aspiring Photographer Workshops (APW), we show photographers of all skill levels the how and why of our shooting style. In 2014, we only hosted 6 APWs and we need to be better this year. With each and every new photographer, established photographers are being challenged to be more creative, push conventional notions of composition, exposure and focus in order to continue the development of our industry.
For me
- I am fallible. Since October 2007, I have been blessed with photographing 140 weddings. Over that time, I made over 400,000 wedding photographs. Unfortunately, due to technology or human error, I lost approximately 600 total images (less than 1%) from various points of 3 different weddings. After each instance, my heart dropped and I went into full panic mode. Thankfully, my wedding clients have been incredibly understanding and gracious, but I know I need to be better. Nobody and no technology is ever perfect, but as a team, we implemented several changes in our shooting/workflow process to minimize the potential of losing images. The benefit of working with a team of photographers is that everyone benefits from new ideas and our individual experiences become our collective strengths.
- Accomplish my 50 States by 2015 goal. Unfortunately it looks like it won’t happen in 2015, but my pursuit of 50 states continues! Only 25 more states to go! Can you help me? More info HERE.
- Give Back. I want Photography For a Cause and the APW Group to keep growing, developing and being awesome for others.
- I want to build a network of Christian photographers. Obviously, there is not a legitimate way to ensure that photographer X has a relationship with Christ, but I would love to see a community where potential clients/fellow photographers can find a Christian photographer in their local area for business, networking, bible studies, mentorships, etc. The thought of sharing our own testimonials about how our faith is defining our work…humbles and excites me.
We are building something phenomenal. Thank YOU for encouraging us to be better tomorrow than we were today.
~ Chris
Nathan, the awesome brother of our own Autumn Shoemaker was recently diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma. As a small way to help Nathan and the Shoemakers, Autumn, B, Emma, Sarah and I are hosting a 3 day print sale of our fine art photographs where we will donate 100% of the profits to the Shoemaker Family for their medical/travel expenses. You can preview our fine art photographs at Photography For a Cause and they will be available for purchase starting on Thursday, January 29th!
Interested in scheduling your Wedding or Portrait Session with Chris? Fill out our Contact Us form by clicking HERE!