Erin Gilmore Photography

I mentioned earlier this week that I love spring and one of those reasons is the little group of parrot tulips that seem to have taken root in my front garden. I am not a gardener. I repeat, I am not a gardener. It just so happens that the little piece of land in front of the house seems to be able to grow anything and for that matter, keep it coming back. Even the annuals seems to come back year after year. A friend gave me the pretty tulips a few years ago as a potted present and when they had run their course, I just dug a hole and threw them in figuring, worst case, they would compost. Sure enough the very next year, there they were. They are this little tiny cluster, standing all by themselves and they are my sign that spring is finally here.  Oh and then there is always that gorgeous cherry blossom tree that makes you smile just looking at it…..

For some time I have struggled with the question of whether or not to offer albums to my clients. It was not that I dreaded the work but rather I wanted to ensure that I was offering something that was better than a drag and drop photo album. With many online options being made available to the general public, it had to be something unique, something that screamed Erin Gilmore signature. Well, after months of brainstorming, sketching, design trials, and a whole day creating the first album….here it is. the first of the LOVE ETC…signature wedding biographies…

Spring.  My favorite time of year.  There is just something about it that gives you a renewed sense of hope and need to make changes for the better.  Well this year I have embarked on a very ambitious spring cleaning.  Not of my home, my office, or my closet, but of me.  A spring “life cleaning” so to speak.  I know this sounds sappy and I am ok with that.  I guess I believe that unless you say it out loud, it is easy to let it slip under the proverbial rug.  This spring I am taking the rug outside into the sunshine and banging out the dust.

For years I have been told that I take things too personally. “oh Erin….I don’t know why you have to take it so personal…it’s just business” “Don’t get so upset Erin….it’s just business”  “Erin…people are going to do what they need to do to get ahead…it’s not personal”. After years of having it drilled into my head that this is how it is, I had finally started to believe it.  Maybe this is what business is.  To succeed you have to put it first and put everything and everyone else further down the “to do list”.   Once I began to believe it, I found myself even more upset because to me it, just didn’t seem right.  How could I put something that is not supposed to define who I am ahead of all the people and things that in fact, play a huge part in defining WHO i am?  I didn’t understand.

I found myself  in a state of constant quandary.  Try as I might and try I did, I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t do things in the name of business that went against my philosophy of life.  I could not take the personal out of business.   If so many others could do it then something had to be wrong with me right?  Honestly, I started to believe that they were right and I was wrong and I was going to have to find a way to change how I viewed my business.

My business is a huge part of my life so imagine feeling like you are wrong about something that takes up such an enormous piece of your “life pie”.   It….I…was not in a good place. I found myself at a crossroads because I loved what I did but could no longer handle the personal anguish that I inflicted upon myself trying to change who I was.  Deep down I knew that something had to change.

People often say that their most life altering moments happen when they least expect it.  Something just happens that cleared away all the grime on the windshield and suddenly they could see the road in front of them.  Well, after years of trying to find my way looking through the dirty windshield, the wipers finally came on.   The moment wasn’t this big, epic event but rather a small tiny, personal moment.  I was cleaning my office and listening to a playlist when all of a sudden I found myself sitting on the floor with tears streaming from my eyes and a huge smile on my face.  Weird combination, I know.   Michael Jackson….you may have been wacko but that moment has changed my life.  Man in the Mirror…how about Erin in the mirror?    I sat there for over an hour.  Cried not because I felt lost but because I had wasted so much time trying to be someone that I could never be.

Here it is.  This is what I believe.  You don’t have to agree with me.  I am ok with that too.

IT IS PERSONAL.  IT IS PERSONAL.  IT IS PERSONAL.  There I said it!

Everything in your life is personal.  My business is a huge part of my life and therefore it is PERSONAL TO ME.  I don’t expect everyone to make my business personal to them but  people need to stop saying that business isn’t personal because for you and the person you are dealing with it is personal.  I am a photographer and what I put out there  is my very personal vision of the world that  I see.  When a client entrusts me to tell the story of an important moment in their life, it is personal to them.  See the trend here?   IT IS PERSONAL to all those involved.

The word business  has  turned into nothing but a label that people stick on an action so that it justifies doing things that would normally make them cringe.  It is a label that somehow makes it ok to say and behave in a way that in any other circumstance would be just plain wrong.  Well I say that it is wrong…No matter what label you put on it.   I want my business to represent who I am not how much money I make and how many business contacts “friend” me on facebook.   Replace your personal bio on your website or facebook page with your business practices and What does your  bio say about you? Hmmmm…it’s scary to think about.

I have chosen to go against the crowd and view my business not as an identity but as an extension of who I am.  ME.   My business is ME.  It is how people view ME, the PERSON. Likewise, the businesses and client events that I deal with are extensions of them…personally.  Before I act I ask myself these questions….

Am I…ME…am I ok with this? How does what I am about to do say about ME?  Do I want them to think of  ME this way?  Does it make them want to invest in ME?

I am refusing to do something in the name of business that I would never do personally.  End of Story.

It is scary to go against a commonly accepted principle for sure.  We all want to succeed and for years this has been the way to do it.  Check your personal feelings at the door and do what you need to get ahead.  We’ve bought into it…hook…line.. and sinker…  But if you are like me, something about it just never felt right.  Like a bad aftertaste.

Some of the best changes came about because someone decided to go against the crowd and stand up and say there is another way.

I am not saying there is another way

All I am saying is that for me…it’s the ONLY way.

I’m walking the road less traveled…company would be great!

I love the Worsley’s for keeping it in the family! I have known Ryan’s sister Holly for years. I shot her wedding…and her baby photos a while back. When me phone rang and Ryan asked if I would be willing to shoot him and his wife Alana’s maternity photos, I was super honored. Maternity is definitely not my specialty but for them I was willing to give it my best effort…. We set up the shoot around those magical cherry blossoms that seem to be the choice du jour and when they arrived I knew that this was going to be special.

Alana is my new hero. The fact that someone can look that good pregnant still amazes me. Can you say cover model? Yup these two have style to spare and when Alana asked if fishnet stockings were too much for maternity photos I knew she was someone after my own heart. Did I mention that Ryan has the brooding musician look down pat????

Thank you guys for trusting me to document this special time and for ROCKING IT BIG TIME!

After waiting patiently for schedules to match, me to actually be in the country, and those unpredictable cherry blossoms to arrive, we finally got a date that worked and so Saturday marked the day for the engagement session for Kathy and Stephane. We started at on of my fav spots Swaneset Bay and then headed down the way to one of my secret spots full of romantic fields and gorgeous backdrops.

These two know what they want and knew exactly how to give it to me. It took almost no prompting at all to get the true and naturally comfortable interaction between the two. I have this thing for red hair so Kathy quickly took on the role as my muse and Stephane just had this gentle strength that radiated from him. I always look to find that special thing that makes each of my clients story uniquely theirs and I had to look no further than the backpack that they carried into the fields. It contained the exact bottle of champagne that Stephane had proposed with over a year ago. How cute is that? Did it make it into a few pics? You Bet!

Last week I got to spend an awesome day at one of my favorite venues the Terminal City Club in Vancouver. I had got the call from Andrea Miller the catering manager that they were in some serious need of some shots of the gorgeous new rooms at the the hotel and she wondered if I could spare a few hours to come down and snap some quick pics. Ummmmm…could I do some quick pics of just the rooms? sure…but that if just not how I do stuff so we arranged to add in some create food shots of some of the culinary creations from the extraordinary executive chef as well as some detail shots of just what makes Terminal City the place to stay.

I had such a blast hanging out with Kate and Janet from the day and I have to say that Executive Chef Jason Lloyd is perhaps one of the most talented and genuine chefs I have ever had the pleasure of dealing with. Now I know why the food at the weddings is just so darn good!

Thanks for such a great day you guys. You really made my job easy and so much fun! I didn’t even mind the long drive home and my man says a huge thanks for the yummy desert…anything with chocolate is a winner in his books.

After the craziness of vegas, i needed a few days to decompress and what better way than to to head down the oregon coast to catch some sites and visit some amazing wedding vendors along the way to find fabulous new stuff to feature in aislewalk…here are some of the snapshots of the journey

As promised here is some of the pics from photowalk 2 in vegas. This one was a little different. Libby from Studio 32 photography and Barbara Casey from I Do Wedding Photography and I headed out into old Vegas. We were going to just shoot the sights but it quickly turned into our own photo sessions…each of us taking turns being in front and behind the lens. Here are some of my favs….

it has been a crazy busy few weeks and so be prepared for a bunch of posts over the next few days….

first up…i headed down to vegas with sister in crime Libby from Studio 32 photography. We were there for a conference but no trip would be complete without a few photowalks. Here is the some of my fav pics from the first photowalk….