By day, I swim in spreadsheets. I juggle metrics. I crunch data. I have deep, impassioned arguments about qualitative vs. quantitative findings like it’s the championship round of a nerdy debate club. And honestly? I love it.

But I’d lose my mind if that was all I did.

That’s why I blog.

Let’s talk about the real MVPs of my personal development plan: Jude and Scarlett. Age four. Equal parts chaos and charm. They are wild, unpredictable, sticky-fingered bundles of pure energy — and also, low-key, the best training I’ve ever had for working with people of all ages.

People occasionally ask me about my lighting. Not like in a “teach me, oh wise one” kind of way — more like “what the heck are those blinking boxes doing on stands?” But either way, it's worth talking about. Because while natural light is a beautiful thing, it can also be rude, inconsistent, and gone before your clients even show up. Candidly, I prefer the ease of natural light for most shots — But off-camera flash is so useful for “sportraits.” Tastefully utilizing off-camera flash is an important tool to have in your bag and can level the playing field when natural light is being a jerk.

We’ve all been there. Digging through old files, maybe cleaning up your Lightroom catalog (or pretending to), and then — BAM — one of your early edits jumps out at you like a jump scare from a low-budget horror movie.

“What… was I thinking?”

People don’t just hire photographers — they hire humans. A simple interaction while booking photos for our son years ago is a reminder I still carry with me today.