break.

If there is one thing that is true about the creative process, it is this:  creativity and artistic endeavors need space, breathing room, etc.  Throughout my creative journey, this has been the case 100% of the time.  As a photographer, I have come to that place.  I have been fighting it for a while now and am bittersweetly giving up the fight.  My mind and heart need a rest from the business of being a photographer.  I love creating images and making pictures.  I especially love sharing this gift with others.  However, I have realized and made peace with the fact that I need a break.  Maybe not a long one, but I do need one.   It is hard to walk away from something that has been really good and an incredible blessing to me and my family.  I know that it this a good thing, for now.   Not sure how long this break will last…maybe six months, maybe a few years.  Be assured…I will let you know when AHP is open for business again.

How is this going to look?  The AHP website will stay live, including the blog.  I will keep any previously scheduled appointments.  However, I will not be scheduling any new appointments from this point on.  There may be the occasional shoot that pops up that, for whatever reason, needs to happen.  However, for all practical purposes, AHP is heading into hibernation.  I am going to be offering a “sale” on all my jpeg collections.  If you are a client, you will receive an email about that.  So…..check with me if you are interested in purchasing your jpegs from your shoot.

Friends, thanks for reading.  I am truly looking forward to what I am going to learn during this time off.  Here are some of my favorite images from this fall….enjoy and see you soon.:)

amy

what I never thought I’d do.

If I had a penny for every time that I have thought to myself during a photo shoot, “I will never do this…drag my kids around begging them to smile….never,”  I’d have a lot pennies.  But a few weekends ago, there we were.  Mommy with the large camera, two boys in coordinating colors (monochromatic, to boot), and a daddy with the patience of Job in his back pocket.   It was a spontaneous decision.  Very unplanned and “hey, let’s go do this thing before it gets hot.”  The boys did great and, in their own way, appeased their mommy’s fleeting need for capturing them and turning them into a million little pixels.  It was fun and they played right into my hands with all the bribery.  Much ice cream was consumed when all was said and done.

I am off to a MUCH slower start this fall, purposely and thankfully.   The pace has and will be slower this time around.  I’ll be sure to post pictures from recent shoots so that you can see for yourself that I have not disappeared.  As always, I am grateful for this little part of my life.  Thanks for reading and here are my boys.  Meet Sam and George.

happy day.

So, one minute I am sitting across from Catherine in Mrs. Shepherd’s kindergarten class studying her very organized school box, then a few minutes later, I am standing with her at the Botanical Gardens, photographing her five very lovely children.  Indeed, a full circle moment.  My sweet, lifelong friend, the one who has known me the longest, was in town this past weekend visiting family.  She’s the friend that helped me get my skates on at Skate World in 1977 and the one who stood next to me at my wedding in 2003.  She’s the one who had the nerve to tell me to stop smacking my gum and the one who never tired of a good game of “slug bug.”  There are many great memories and a new ones were made on Saturday.  I am grateful for her constant friendship that is always easy.  I was sad that her husband couldn’t make it, but hopefully, he will enjoy the collection of photographs of his five little treasures.  Many thanks to Sydney (“Nanna”), who graciously helped make it all happen.  Here are some highlights of our time together.

the art of a slow pace.

I must say, I have loved slowing things down.  I catch myself every now and then dashing to the computer to work/edit/fill orders, and happily realize that there is nothing to do…well…there always SOMETHING to do.  Nevertheless…my business has quieted it’s loud voice in my home and things are better.  I am learning to graciously say “no” or “maybe later” and actually feeling really good about it.  My boys see my face more now and not the back of my head at the computer.  When my husband asks me what we have been doing, it is nice to say “playing outside” or “cooking dinner.”  A healthy change has come upon our home.  Now, let me say this, I am still out there…shooting and loving it.  It’s just less.  A really good less.  Here are some early spring pictures of children who are so dear to my heart.  Thought I would share these sweet moments with you.  Enjoy.

growing smaller.

I have gone back and forth about posting this blog, but I’m afraid for the sake of personal accountability and clear communication, I just need to get it out there.  A little over four years ago, I stumbled into someone else’s dream of becoming a photographer.  Although, I have always considered my first artistic love to be photography, I never imagined myself running a business and actually making a go of it.  Blending my love for kids and families with photography has truly been a gift.  I have discovered many sides of myself that were hiding.  I have grown spiritually and artistically.  God has used this little business in my life, and the life of my family, in countless ways.  My heart is full of gratitude for this gift he has laid before us.

As the business has grown, so have my two little boys.  They are bigger, more needy, more talkative, more energetic, more fun, and well….more everything.  They require much from their exhausted mommy.  Along with these boys, I have this amazing and patient husband.  I love him.  I long to be a wife that honors and respects him…the wife I knowI was created to be.

A little over a month ago, I made the decision to drastically scale back Amy Henry Photography.  I believe that the Lord has graciously led me to this decision.  There is a strong desire in me to make everything in my life smaller, less fussy and uncluttered.  AHP has become way to big for me to move forward at the pace I have been setting.  It has been a BLESSING (I could say that a million times and it wouldn’t be enough), however, it is more than what we can all do right now.

Here’s the deal: I am not going away all together.  I will still maintain the website and blog, hopefully, with an update every so often.  I will keep a less busy calendar of shoots.  And finally, I will give myself the freedom to say “not at this time”….whenever it is necessary.  If you are one of my amazing and faithful clients, thank you so much for your support.  Again, I am not disappearing, just getting smaller.

wrapping up.

This past Sunday was my last scheduled shoot for the fall season.  Whew!  It has been busy, and yet, a whole lot of fun!  Balancing my real life with my very real family and a job that gets bigger every year has become the tightrope that I walk.  Thank you, Lord……I love the tightrope.  Looking forward to filling orders and then taking a break for a bit.  Here are a handful of shots that I love.  There were many, but these are the ones I picked for you.  Enjoy and have a very Merry Christmas.

Rain or shine, boys.

The unpredictability factor makes photography hard and wonderful.  I have a love/hate relationship with weather that will not make up it’s mind.  This control freak is learning to enjoy even the messiest of photo shoots.  A few Saturdays ago, my sweet friend, former roommate, and Felicity kindred-spirit brought her three adorable boys out for a photo shoot.  About 45 minutes into it, the sky opened up and the rains came.  Thankfully, we had a productive 45 minutes and got the shots she was hoping for i.e. face shots, Christmas card pic, etc.  After taking cover for a few minutes…hoping it would “blow over”….we just gave in and let those boys play….monograms and all!  Here are some shots from this really fun Saturday morning.  Meet Wheeler, Hollis, and Wrenn.

this family.

Between thunderstorms last Saturday, I had the opportunity to shoot the Bailey kids again.  For the past two years, this adorable and fun (and really funny) family drove from Memphis so that I could take their pictures.  We were dodging raindrops, but it ended up turning into a great shoot.  The Baileys LOVE each other.  So refreshing to hang out with teenagers who are really crazy about their parents and each other.  It was, once again, encouraging and time well spent.  I thought I would share some of my favorites.

i knew this would happen.

My intentions were pure and I was motivated.  Adding the blog to my business and website would be SUCH a great move and the perfect next step.  Deep down I knew I would struggle with regular entries.  On this amazing journey as a wife, mother, and photographer,  I feel like everything in my life gets a “little bit” of me.   Blog entries have gotten less than that and it is okay.  I’m back on track (for the moment) and am recommitting to posting images from my shoots that I think will be fun for you to see.   Tonight I am adding some images from a few sweet summer shoots.  One of which is a very dear college friend’s precious little girl.  Such a joy to photograph a child of someone that you know and love dearly.  God has been good to me in that way.  Many of my clients are very dear friends.  

I am gearing up for a busy autumn.  I completely booked with a few families on my waiting list.  I am grateful and overwhelmed.  

 

Enjoy and thanks for stopping in.

 

mda shoot. derby for duchenne.

Recently, I had the great pleasure of photographing some precious boys for a PR shoot for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.  There is an upcoming event, Derby for Duchenne, that will raise money for the organization, specifically for researching one particular type of MD, Duchenne Muscular Dystropy (DMD).  It is our hope and prayer that this event will raise enough money to fund the research needed to find a cure for DMD.  For more info., visit http://www.derbyforduchenne.com.  Thanks for a moment of your time and enjoy the pictures.