Hey!  Long time, no blog!  You may remember waaaay back to the first part of this year when I did so well with my “iPhone Photo of the Day” using the Photo365 app.  Remember!?!? (PROOF: January, February, March, April) and then….well…  Four out of twelve months ain’t bad, right?  Well, I have an excuse.  Sort of.  My iPhone freaked out and erased my life phone guts, including A.L.L. my daily photos and captions.  BUMMER.  And of course I hadn’t gotten around to setting up iCloud or any sort of backup for at least 6 months.  Totally my fault and totally not the end of the world but still made me annoyed enough to stop my diligent “Photo of the Day” taking.

Anyway, in case you haven’t heard…We moved to Maine!  And the pain of losing my photo data has subsided so I may jump back on the bandwagon.  At least here’s a start along with a quick video update about life at the Griffith’s in Maine!

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO:  Greetings from Portland

It’s finally the week that I thought would never get here.  Moving week.  By Thursday of this week both my studio and our house will be packed up and all our material possessions will be on their way to Maine.  I won’t lie, it’s been a busy, chaotic and stressful last couple weeks dealing with the logistics of moving as well as trying to keep up with wedding/busy season.  And as much as I don’t want to leave family, friends, my clients, studio space, and comfortable life behind, it’s time to go.  I’m excited to be in the same town with my husband again after living apart for nearly 9 months!  I’m excited to move into and decorate a different house.  I’m excited to explore a new town and meet new people.  I’m excited to experience a new part of the county and be pushed out of my comfort zone.  I am excited about a lot of things.  But this week I’m sad.  And that’s OK.

I have lots of weddings and portraits to share here soon and I’ll be posting updates about life in Maine too!  I appreciate your extra patience during these upcoming weeks through this transition as I may be a little slower to respond than normal.  And yes, I will still be taking weddings and portrait clients in MN so if you are interested in scheduling a shoot, watch for dates when I’ll be back!

Taken at Acadia National Park this summer on a trip to visit Justin.  Many more adventures like this to come!

I moved to Rochester almost 6 years ago.  Newly married, excited about life and new beginnings but kinda lost as far as a career goes.  I knew I loved photography and I was shooting for fun, as a hobby.  I was on a quest to find “a real job” and simply happy to shoot for family and friends and occasionally the friend of a friend.  As it turns out, I could not find/get hired for “a real job” which was discouraging, disappointing, and frustrating.  Determined to stay positive, my answer to the standard question at age 24 of “What are you doing with your life?” was “I’m looking for a ‘real’ job and doing photography in the meantime.”  Fair enough.  Soon, my answer was “I don’t have time to look for a ‘real’ job.  I’m too busy doing photography stuff and I’m going full speed ahead with it!”  Looking back I am SO SO SO thankful no one hired me.  Throughout the uncertainty of figuring out what to do with my life, throughout the days of shooting every night and weekend possible and never ending hours in Photoshop, throughout the times of making no money, throughout the times of self doubt and throughout the sacrifices that starting and maintaining a small business and chasing a dream require, I had an incredible cheering section.  Most specifically from a great guy named Justin.

So fast forward to now.  I am so happy with life in Rochester.  I love the work I do.  I love our friends.  I love being a part of this community.  I love our little house.  I love my studio space.  (The only part I don’t like is being 5 hours away from my family and 2 hours from Justin’s family.)  So that’s why it’s really hard to write this and why I’ve been putting it off for as long as possible:  We’re moving.

Justin started working for McNeilus last summer and now has a great opportunity with them on the East Coast.  So while he has already started his position out East, I’ll be making the transition a little slower, traveling back and forth throughout the summer and eventually staying out there in the fall.  I’ll be making fairly regular trips back to visit and packing in a bunch of shoots in while I’m here.  Ideally, we’ll be back in the Midwest after a couple years but we are making decisions one day at a time right now.  🙂

This has not been an easy decision.  And it’s been even harder telling people and talking about it because then it’s really real.  But it’s my turn to support my husband.  I believe in him and if I can be even half as encouraging to him as he was to me, that will be a success.  It’s time to open my heart and my mind to new possibilities and time to throw off old ways of thinking (and time cling to Facetime, email, phone calls and plane tickets too…. 🙂

Sooooo.  Logistics.  1.  Any weddings or other shoots that have already been scheduled will not change.  Pricing will not change and your experience with me will not change.  I highly value the people that I work with and will do everything I can to continue to provide high quality service.  I plan on making fairly regular trips back and will be scheduling shoots and scheduling weddings during these times.  2.  Anyone interested in an amazing studio space with fantastic landlords?  I’m so so so sad to give up this beautiful space.  Email me if you are interested in it and I will gladly put you in touch with my landlords.  3.  At this point, I’m booking these dates in Rochester, MN/Minneapolis, MN: June 11-20, June 26-July 2, July 25-August 3. and these dates in Portland, ME/Boston, MA:  July 11-18.  Email me for more specific details.

Thank you all for your continued support.  Cheers to new adventures!

Photo by Sarah Field Photography.

The first ever Food Revolution Day took place last Saturday, a day dedicated to standing up for, and celebrating, real food.  My friend Amy Sapola organized the Food Revolution Rochester MN group and I tagged along with her as we explored the Rochester Farmer’s Market, interviewing vendors and photographing the goods.  First, we met Kelly from Prosper Valley Farm in Wykoff, MN. She is easy to find at the market because she brings a school bus full of plants, eggs, veggies, and even goat to the market!  Next, we talked with the folks from Easy Yoke Farm, Hannah, Daniel, and baby Paul.  Hannah said what she likes best about selling produce at the market is that it connects them with people and is rewarding to see people excited about what they have been working so hard to grow.  Hannah said, “we couldn’t do what we do if it wasn’t for such a supportive community in Rochester.”  Finally, we talked with Joe from Earthen Path Organic Farm.  He said without hesitation that his favorite vegetable to grow is heirloom tomatoes.  He explained there are so many nuances of flavors and different varieties of the plants that he really enjoys trying them and talking with customers about the different options. I asked Joe what he enjoyed most about the Downtown Rochester Farmers market and he said he enjoys the customer interaction and how gratifying it is to see people excited about your hard work!  A special thanks to Dave, the Rochester Farmer’s Market Manager who was so welcoming and helpful in showing us around!  Be sure to check out their Facebook page and Twitter too!

Later Saturday evening, we enjoyed an amazing Chef’s Tasting Menu at Sontes.  During dinner, we were able to visit with Jamie Oliver live via Google+ Hangout (you can watch the full conversation here!)  These events in Rochester were a small part of the greater movement…there were 664 cities and 62 countries that organized over 1,000 real food events!

If you’d like to learn more about the Rochester Food Revolution, you can email Amy, check out the movement on Facebook or Twitter: @FoodRevRochMN.

This Saturday, May 19 is Global Food Revolution Day.  This day is about bringing people who love food together to share information, talents and resources; to pass on their knowledge and highlight the world’s food issues.  Food Revolution Day is about connecting with your community through events at schools, restaurants, local businesses, dinner parties and farmers’ markets. We want to inspire change in people’s food habits and to promote the mission for better food and education for everyone.  We need to get back to the basics and start thinking about where our food comes from.  We need to become a conscious community and understand the food choices we make on a daily basis. We can do this by improving food education.

My friend Amy Sapola is organizing the Food Revolution Rochester MN group and wrote a fantastic guest blog post on Sontes blog.  Saturday morning, you can find me tagging along with her as we explore the Rochester Farmer’s Market, interviewing vendors and photographing the goods.  Then on Saturday evening, Sontes is offering a Chef’s Tasting Menu.  They’ve put together an exclusive tasting menu for the evening, full of local, sustainable, organic, or biodynamic ingredients.  Please join us in the conversation about real food as we take steps towards a healthier lifestyle.  Watch for a recap with lots of photos following this weekend!

If you’d like to learn more about the Rochester Food Revolution, you can email Amy, or check out the movement on Twitter: @FoodRevRochMN.

Seriously…April is over?

It’s a special day today, it’s this guy’s birthday.  Happy Birthday, Grandpa!

Hello poor, neglected blog!  Remember me?!  March was BUSY and here’s an iPhone recap.  I’ve been diligently taking a photo a day with my phone (MOST of the time) and my big camera has been pretty busy too so I have lots of posts coming up!  In the meantime, HAPPY EASTER!  

Because I’m obsessed with Instagram and iphoneography lately, here’s a bunch of iPhone photos from my Colorado trip.  And if you want to read a MUCH more entertaining version of my trip, head on over to The Candace’s blog!

Hello Dad.  It’s your birthday today.  I know you’re not much for blogs but I couldn’t let the day go by without doing something special.  So lucky you, you get your very own blog post AND you get your birthday announced to the internet AND you get to look at these  fabulous photos of you!  If that doesn’t scream “Happy Birthday”, I don’t know what will.  Hope your day is great.  Love you.

p.s.  Thanks for helping me with my studio sign way back last summer!