We will not be updating here anymore…..

Thank you all for your years of support for studio3z!! We can’t wait for what is to come!

jess & brett

And now this is the last business day with you….

FAREWELL!!

And with that,

let me show a little behind the scenes.

A few weeks ago our amazing designer and friend came in from Indy to do an “art class” with the kids, and draw up some things to be used on the site. He wanted the kids to be involved, and he had them helping, making their own versions of things, and we had a lot of fun. Our HUGE chalkboard wall was covered- some things for the site, a LOT just for fun.

Chalkboards are a big part of our life with schooling, and now we have a 42 ft one running through our house so you will see this incorporated in the new site!

Oh!

And speaking of new site…………..

You better be here this MONDAY!

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It’s going to be BIG.

And NEW.

All fresh, shiny, and pretty. 

I can hardly believe the journey that we’ve been on over the last couple years. In fact, I find it difficult to even begin to share, but I will. Big changes are coming around here. I’ve been saying it for months (and some of you are wondering if it is really even true!) but we are getting so close. These changes are more than I expected, and also something I didn’t think would be so difficult to complete. We made the leap into the world of “re-branding” and along the way, I feel I found myself. Not sure if Brett would say the same thing, but me, most definitely. I figured out my part. I figured out I can be a good mom AND also run a business. And let me tell you, it is such a wonderful feeling when you figure out the how’s and why’s of your place in this world, and for us the world of the photography industry.

Two years ago we hired a designer. You heard that right, two years ago. (Bless you Ryan.) We’ve only been in business for a little under 5 years, but we never had a brand, look, or logo. Being “un-branded” became our brand.  In a way I feel we never really owned up to who we were because we just weren’t sure, and that’s normal. We were searching. We were gaining experience, building, shooting and growing. We didn’t throw down roots and call any “look” home….we just purchased the latest $50 website every 6 months or so, and hid there for a while. You know, “until we figured out what we REALLY wanted.” Right.

In the spring of 2009 I went to cheer my good friend Bobbi on as she spoke at a convention in Indy. It was there that I met Ryan Hunley and heard him speak. It was that day that I KNEW he would do our company’s branding. I had been holding off on getting a new site/blog because I wasn’t sure what we wanted it to look like, but hearing Bobbi and Ryan speak about the importance of your brand, I knew we needed to get going. Ryan was different……he didn’t speak business-y. Ryan spoke from his heart. He spoke with passion. He was honest. He wasn’t about to let a client walk away without feeling 150% satisfied with his work. He had energy and confidence, but was still incredibly humble. And, I was sold. I don’t think poor Ryan knew what he was getting in to. But then again, he’s a designer, and they tend to deal with indecisive people. But Brett and I…well….we’re of a different breed.   Sometimes Brett has trouble with decisions and over analyzing things (as in sitting at a restaurant for an hr. before deciding what to order), and I am admittedly picky as all get out. (Again, bless you Ryan.)

It was about a year and a half ago that it happened. Ryan sent over a round of studio3z logos, and they were rocking, but I just didn’t feel connected. I then realized it was the name. I knew RIGHT THEN AND THERE that we just couldn’t go on as “studio3z.” I needed a name that meant something more to me. Something that was a driving passion for us and what we do. Something people would hear and understand who we are a bit. So, the next day I (*gasp*) told Ryan I was ditching the name, and he was completely a gem about it. Then Brett and I began some serious soul searching. SERIOUS. Like praying, writing down words that we were drawn to, ideas of who we were and what we stood for, and things that were important to us. We had nights of sipping wine, mapping out our life on the chalkboard wall, and nearly coming to tears out of frustration. Imagine finally coming up with something awesome, taking it to Google just to find it belongs to someone else??! Ahhh! I just wanted the right name. Our name. Talk about putting the pressure on……

Last August we were having dinner with some good friends. They are the kind of friends who are completely honest-not afraid to lay things out there. They offered up a couple critiques about us. Ouch. But you know, the good kind of ouch you need to hear. The kind you grow from. I’m so thankful for friends like that. They listened to our dreams, where we were headed, and they were digging it. The next day Brett and I were reflecting on the previous night and we kept coming back to the same place. An idea that has consumed us and drives us. Something that sums up our mission. And then we knew…..we had found our name. And of all things, it was Brett, standing over a pot of food he was stirring at the stovetop, “So what about ________??!” Of course I was hesitant. But then about an hour later, I was sold. “It just makes perfect sense,” he said. “You’re absolutely right,” I concluded, with the biggest sigh of relief and smile across my face. We had it.

Then the journey began. That was August of 2010. This year we have dug so much deeper, and we can’t wait to share what we’ve come up with our friend Ryan, who I still can’t believe actually wants to be our friend.

We can’t wait to “own up” to who we are.

I plan to post quite a bit over the next week and then guess what…….

WE LAUNCH.

Thank you for sharing in this with us. We are giddy with excitement!!

(Photo props to Sarah Rhoads)

Getting on the plane to head home I thought back over the previous 5 days in somewhat disbelief. You see, I actually had a GREAT time at WPPI.

So why did we even go you may be asking? Well, for a few reasons. 1.) I wanted to see what the hype was about. 2.) I wanted to hear a few people speak (including our pals Bobbi + Mike) 3.) We wanted to have a session done for our upcoming rebrand- remember, photogs from around the world come to this, so it was ideal for having our photos taken! 4.) We wanted to visit some good friends that we rarely get to see that live in Vegas.

Before leaving for Vegas, I asked around for tips about the best way to handle WPPI.  Some answers were: wear comfortable shoes, keep a water and energy bar on you for all the long lines you will wait in, bring hand sanitizer for all the hand shaking (Ok, that was my add-on….). Most often I heard, “Plan on feeling very overwhelmed.” Well I took this very seriously, and prepped for it.  While there, I talked to people who were burned out by day 2 or 3, and I was still having a great time. Here are some things that I think helped our experience go well, and helped us not feel like we were LIVING at the MGM for 5 days:

-We began by renting a car…FREEDOM, but with long waits on parking.

-Brett’s brother came in from LA to hang with us the first 3 days and we had such a great time.  He reminded us (numerous times) that he must really like us, because he’s not a fan of Vegas. I just love our traveling trio….

-We hit up Trader Joe’s on the first day. Our room had a mini-fridge so we had cereal and milk, coffee and cream, salsa and chips, and loads of snacks. This was GREAT because Brett and I are not meal skippers. This allowed us to eat before our 8 am classes and avoid the huge Starbucks line.

- We visited some very good friends that live out there, and enjoyed “normal” life and great conversations on three separate occasions.

-On the second day we went out to Red Rock Canyon for our shoot, and we returned a few days later with our new and very refreshing friend Gabe for some exploring. I can’t say how invigorating it feels to just get away from the city and breathe a bit.

-We are foodies, so anytime we travel we make sure to escape to great restaurants in the area. In fact, because we stayed in the side towers of the MGM, we didn’t even walk around the main MGM through endless jingling/jangling slot machines until the 3rd or 4th day! Roaming the city and beyond made it feel more like a vacation.

-We saw our first Cirque show compliments of Jason- Brett and I loved it.  Thank you Jason!

-It was fun being able to break out of “Mom” mode for a couple days and play dress-up.

-We enjoyed meeting people and making some new friends. Meeting Gabe of Perspectiveye was seriously one of our favorite parts of the whole trip. Brett and I  love being able to “invest” in a single friendship much more than hanging with groups of people….Gabe is a kindred spirit, so after hanging for the majority of a couple days, it was sad when we had to part ways! Seriously, so awesome to meet great people out there in this big world. 

*Here a few photos, most of which were taken with a point and shoot camera.

]]> http://www.studio3z.com/blog/2011/03/wppi-my-take/feed/ 9 http://www.studio3z.com/blog/2011/01/change-can-be-good/ http://www.studio3z.com/blog/2011/01/change-can-be-good/#comments Mon, 31 Jan 2011 14:57:30 +0000 admin http://www.studio3z.com/blog/?p=8462

A long time ago….way back in a land called 1999, we had a baby girl.  I was painting at the time, and hoping to really further my art.  Brett and I decided to make a website so that I could throw some of my artwork on there, and more importantly, we could share photos and journal a bit about our new little family.  It was just the three of us.  We were the 3 Z’s.  This is how our name found us.  Six years and 2 kids later, we began a photography business….and guess what?  We already had a name!  It has been this way for nearly 5 years. As endearing as it has been to have a name that has been with us since becoming “a family,” I have to admit that I have always felt that our name just didn’t fit us on this particular adventure.

I will wait to explain the years, months, hours, time it took to get to our new name.  Let’s just say, it took a while….but it’s going to be good.  It’s going to “fit” just right.

Stay tuned.  

We had a great year shooting. We met some awesome people.

Here’s a little view of us behind the scenes, even some ridiculously unflattering moments.

I look at my life at this point and compare it to last year, and I honestly feel like a new person. This past year has been such a reflective and introspective one for me; a time of change- of reevaluation. In my constant search for BALANCE, I’m learning to view things with new eyes. I see growth- in my personal life, in our family, in our business. But I still see so many more goals that I want to accomplish…..(but much more on that later).

This morning we enjoyed a great breakfast as a family. We read the bible, and then Priya and I did some knitting. I also spent some time looking back at our year in photo sessions. Quickly, I grabbed a sampling from each shoot of 2010- minus a couple weddings that are still in the works….

Thank you to all the wonderful people that invited us into your lives for a moment. Each of you in turn gave something to us, and we truly feel honored to have documented bits and pieces of who you are.

xo~ jess + brett

We will be taking some time off here soon to be with our family, and I am so excited for days of doing not much of anything.  Ok, who am I kidding, but a girl can dream right?  We actually have two more weddings this month, and one on New Years Day!  But the in between days we plan to try out “relaxing.” 

What does this mean for you?  We have DEADLINES for orders!!!  If you have done a session with us and would like to receive any prints, canvases, or discs of your session before year end- please send your order to me by Midnight, this Friday the 10th.

Orders after this date will not be processed until Monday January 3rd.

Thanks so much for understanding!

And here’s a little preview of family photos we took on our New Mexico trip….Gabe’s face cracks me up. I don’t know when he decided to become the biggest ham of the group.  As always, thanks to brother J for the photo!

And that brings me to you….

We are traveling to Chicago, NYC, and New Mexico this fall, and we currently have room for one session in New Mexico, and NYC. Here are our travel dates:

New York City: September 3-6 (Labor Day weekend)

New Mexico (Albuquerque, Taos, and Santa Fe): October 5-13

Please email me at info@studio3z.com if you would be interested in a photography session!

And I leave you with this little photo I shot while on a shoot last month….I looked over to my side and saw this beauty.  We were completely DEEP in a industrial junk yard, and I just thought, “How beautiful.”

We are a little stunned over here, but it was like SLAM BAM, we looked at our schedule and it was COMPLETELY full.  The only room we will have for the rest of the year is for our 2011 wedding couples who need to have engagement sessions in 2010. 

We have started our 2011 wait list, so if you would like to be notified FIRST about our session openings in 2011, please email me at info@studio3z.com to be placed on it.

Thanks so much to clients old and new….we can’t wait for all the amazing sessions ahead this year.