As my 2012 wedding season starts,  I had made the decision, that I wanted to get published. I realize that most people won’t care or know exactly what it means, but to other photographers or for brides and brides to be, I know they see the awesome factor, because thats what it is awesome.

So as April passed, I still really hadn’t done anything as far as submitting my images to blogs/online publications, the reason? Fear of rejection, duh. Who wants to be told eh, nah we think we will pass?  However, its almost like a rite of passage I think- much like when you first learn to ride a bike, you have to fall in order to learn how to ride. In this instance, you have to fail in order to succeed.. and in photography no principle could be truer, you have to first make a mistake in order to learn from that mistake. So knowing that I would get rejected how many times before I was accepted was not exactly something I was chomping at the bit to do.

That changed about two weeks ago. creativeLIVE is a photography community built on helping other photographers learn new and exciting things, there is things even the most advanced photographer can learn. Every month, they have free workshops online. For three days a month (luckily on the weekend) I am glued to my laptop (or TV if Graham is not around!), learning new techniques as well as getting the basics reinforced, because without the basics, you will go nowhere… aperature always controls flash, its just the way it is. Anyways… Jasmine Star is an international wedding photographer based out of Orange County, CA. (her link is below), she is one of the people I look up to in photography (really, its not silly!),  she held a editorial workshop on creativeLIVE and I made sure to tune in.

After this workshop I was perusing my Google Reader and one of the photographers I follow was featured on a blog and announced it on her blog. I clicked the link and after looking at nearly every post on the blog I knew this was the one that I needed to start with, I just had this feeling.  I read the submission guidelines, gathered the needed information and clicked send.

The editor of the blog said states on her blog that she tries to respond within 48 hours. Ahh, it was a bit nerve wracking for me. It is incredibly competitive to get featured, it really is. You have to submit correctly, your images need to follow the blogs branding style (like theme or message) and not to mention the other photographers that have amazing work that is submitting as well.  I thought to myself, it is the fact that I tried that counts.

As I opened my computer last Saturday morning, I see a message from the blog… I thought ‘this is it’ ok, I can open it no biggie, this won’t stop me’ as I logged into my email I read the email, then I read it again,  then I turned the computer to Graham and said ‘OMG, does this say what I think it says?’ He gave me his usual ‘your bonkers’ look and said yes, congratulations.. (he knew I was submitting). I couldn’t believe that I was being featured! It was a honor to be considered for the blog.

I quickly emailed my bride to let her know the good news, because yes I take good pictures, but the couples on the other side of the lens that are willing to laugh and be silly that make it all come together. So, thank you Kayla and Kyle for being you! You rock! You may remember them from their engagement session here.

Ok, I will stop rambling. Head on over to I Love Farm Weddings to check it out.

Catch ya on the flip side!

Stefanie

Jessica and Tim were married on April 28, 2012. The weather was perfect, ok, a bit cold but the ladies rocked it out. Here is just a sneak peak, way more to come later!