So much is happening over here that I wanted you to be the first to know. 

First off, it's 2021! It's time for reevaluation of priorities and goals to truly live our best life, and one that is true to what we believe and what we feel we are here to share with others. I have been thinking about that a lot lately. What photography means to me in my life and what it has meant to others that I have shared it with. I believe that we are all here to learn and grow, then learn again. But it doesn't end there. We are then supposed to share what we have learned, with others. In sharing, we continue to learn and grow. It's a beautiful process that is never ending. 

So here I am, continuing to learn and grow and share something that I hold in high regard in my life. Photographs. The art of photography. The physical memory of a time long past. In the age of "everyone is a photographer" just because they have a phone in their pocket, I think there is a responsibility and an opportunity that we aren't taking advantage of. Photography is the documentation of a moment, a feeling. It is the historical moment of a person or event. It is our family and world history. And I think we quite often take the capture of something so significant for granted. 

I have studied, and practiced, and adjusted, and learned so much about the art of photography, what it means, and my responsibility of what I produce. What it means to families who are loosing, or who have lost a loved one. Or families that have lost all their photographic memories due to fires, or other tragedies. 

The family photograph in many forms is taken for granted. It is not until you have lost it, or never had it to begin with, that you realize its importance. Its significance in your life. 

To share something very personal... I have not seen my two older children for 3 years. They live with their Dad, and as teenagers have chosen not to be a part of our lives. I continue to reach out, to write letters, to send photos of us, with no response. To say it is heartbreaking is an understatement. As a mother who is deeply in love with her children, it feels criminal to not have a relationship with them at this time. And honestly the only thing that gets me through the hard moments without them are my photos and videos that I have from when we were together. I would be lost without those. Those moments that are frozen in time remind me of happier times. They give me hope for healing in the future. And they remind me that they will always be mine and I will always be theirs. 

The family photograph has a meaning that goes beyond commercial, that goes beyond superficial. It is a portrayal of love, of hope, of forgiveness, of time passed, of lives lived, of adventures shared. Those moments change us and define who we are. And to have the ability to capture it in a beautiful, artful, meaningful way, is everything. 

In all this reflection of what photography means to me, I have decided to take what I have learned and create a photography course that not only teaches you how to use your camera, how to know how to compose an image, and how to edit in Lightroom. But it teaches you how to find those moments that are desperately waiting to be captured. How to pull feeling into your images, and how to preserve, display, and store your memories properly so that your memories will be cherished forever by family and friends who value those moments as much as you do. 

This course will be ready the end of March of 2021 and will be widely advertised when it will be available. I want everyone, especially parents of children, to be able to better capture, edit, and preserve the memories of their own personal family. It is imperative for us to capture our family history and it would be that much more beneficial if we did it with the knowledge and tools necessary to do it right and with meaning. 

I am so looking forward to this rebranding of my business, for being able to share what I know with you, and to play a small role in ensuring your family memories are cherished forever. Here's to learning, growing, and prioritizing what we value most, in 2021. 

Alisa