I Want To... {MD, PA, WV, VA, Washington DC and Beyond Photographer}

I've been thinking a lot lately about the things I want to do. Things I want to do now, tomorrow, next week, next year. I figured if I wrote them down and proclaimed them to the world, it will help me actually do them.

I want to...

• Be more committed to my gym/exercise routine.
• Find nearby photographer friends who will go on random shoots with me when I feel like I need to push the shutter.
• Shoot another wedding SOON! It's been three months...way too long! Anyone need a wedding photographer for their January, February, March or April wedding this year?
• Relax at a coffee shop with a warm beverage and some photog work...often.
• Eat better. I already eat pretty healthily, but could be better at it.
• Go on random little roadtrips with Brian.
• Visit my sister at Penn State.
• Shoot a wedding around the holidays, either Christmas or New Year's, or both!
• Convince Brian that going to London for the 2012 Summer Olympics can and will happen.
• Keep reading my blogs. They inspire me!
• Have more girl time. Hanging out with girls is totally different than hanging out with boys.
• Do a portrait session in the snow, at a library, at a winery, and in an open field.
• Read a book.
• Go on a spectacular vacation with my Honey!
• Not fall asleep while watching movies at home.

And there are a few other things that I won't mention on here, but will consider blogging about when they happen. :) One more thing that I will mention, however...

I also want to photograph more cute babies like this one!

Nathaniel is the grandson of Toni, a woman I work with at Liberty. I would often see Nathaniel in the office or at company gatherings and I always told Toni how much I would love to take his picture. I finally got what I wanted this past December. Nathaniel's parents invited me into their home to take pictures of him for his first birthday. The cuteness meter was definitely at an all-time high this day...

Cutest picture ever...times 10!!

Nathaniel kinda looks like an old, grumpy man in this picture. Still cute, of course.

Bring out the Christmas lights!

Can anyone say, "Ilko family Christmas card"???


Steeler fans. We start 'em young.

Nathaniel and Daddy.

I love it when kids poke at my lens. Always makes for cute pictures. :)


Now it's Mommy's turn. I was told that Sarah tends to close her eyes a lot in pictures. Guess what? She didn't close her eyes in one picture for me. Not one. Go Sarah!

It snowed cats and dogs during Nathaniel's session. It was our first real snow of the season so we were excited. Don't you just love this mommy-son moment gazing out the window at the beautiful snow???


Oh wait...maybe this one should be the Ilko family Christmas card? Good thing there are another 11 months until that decision needs to be made. :)


Nathaniel just loves their cat Midnight. I couldn't believe how Midnight just sat and let him poke and pull at her. It was so funny, yet so precious.

Nathaniel is going in for the attack...



What a cute little baby. Kinda makes you want to have one, right?

Inspired {MD, PA, VA, WV, DC Photographer}

I read blogs on a daily basis. I think it's safe to say that I've got nearly 100 different blog links set up in my list of "Blogs I'm Following" on my Blogger dashboard. If every single one of those blogs had a new post every single day, I'd probably do nothing but read blog posts during my "free" time. Free time, HA! That's another story...

But reading lots of blogs is good. Very good. Since discovering blogs and the art of blogging this past summer, I've been constantly finding myself inspired. Of course the majority of the blogs I follow belong to photographers, some of them nationally and internationally known, so it's easy for me to relate and to leave the posts feeling motivated and "ready to go" as a photographer and business owner. The blogs have offered great business advice, shooting techniques, portrait location ideas, and editing suggestions. They just plain inspire me and I love it. I look forward to my blog reading every day.

One thing that I've been most inspired to do recently is to pay more attention to my own blogging (because there are so many rockin' blogs out there), for both the benefit of myself personally and for the benefit of my photography business. So far in my blogging experience, my posts have typically been about photography - my latest portrait sessions, my first wedding, my new lens - and have been far and few between. I think it's time for something different. I want to start blogging more about life, my personal thoughts, and what inspires me. And I want to blog more often. If I just take five minutes to put a few quick thoughts together with one picture (instead of 25) for a post, even when I am super duper busy, I think it will be good, again for both me and my business. So I think I am considering this new campaign for better blogging practices as an early new year resolution that's affective immediately. No waiting until January 1, 2010. The time starts now.

First minor change to make my blogging practices better and different - use keywords in post titles. This change clearly isn't something huge, but it isn't photography-related and it won't take 25 pictures to express my ideas and thoughts. It will help to better my blog for my business.

Yesterday, I attended a Social Media Workshop at 3rd Idea in Gettysburg, PA. Anne, my boss at Liberty, suggested I attend and see what new things I could find out about Facebook, Twitter, Blogging and the social media that is taking over the world of marketing. Seriously, it's happening. Anyways, while I already know the basic ideas of such social media tools and use them often, I did walk away from the workshops with a few little tid bits that will help with our marketing efforts at Liberty and with my business.

Including keywords in my post titles will help me to be more searchable. In other words, Google will like me even more! If I include "MD, PA, VA, WV, DC Photographer" in my post title (like I have for this post), I will have a good chance at coming up in a Google search for MD, PA, VA, WV, and DC photographers. After learning this at the workshop, I noticed that some photographers due include such labels (of themselves, their business) in their post titles, and I always kinda wondered why. Well now I know, and I'm going to do it, too. So here's to the start of including keywords in my blog post titles! Here here!

And because it's Christmas time and all blog posts shine best with a picture, here's one for ya: Mine and Brian's Christmas tree.

Sorry for the wordy post. I was on a roll.