Change is tough for me personally to go through. We all come to points in our lives, education, relationships, profession and so on that we realize, we need to change something. I’m a firm believer that growth comes from change and that change always leads you on a journey.
I’ve been doing a lot of soul searching and pondering during this “uncertain” time. The COVID-19 thing gave me a lot of really good time back, but when I have extra time, I think. A lot of time when I think, I worry. The beauty of nature helps calm those fears and brings me peace so I’ve spent a lot of time exploring and “being one with nature” ( what ever that means).
During the pasts few months I’ve really tried to figure out where I want Sarah Jackman Photography to head. How I wanted to proceed during the next few years. The more time I spent outside, the more things became clear about what I love to photograph and where I love to be.
I don’t love to be indoors. I don’t love to stand in a studio and play with controlled lighting. I do love nature. I love when I come around a corner and a massive Big Horn Ram is standing there strong and brave begging for me to capture it and show others. I love when I find that perfect lake spot at sunset and I even love thinking I’ve found it but the sun plays hard to get or the wind starts up and the lake is choppy. I love the unknown and uncontrollable aspect of nature.
Some honest truth, I struggle with anxiety and feel the need to control everything so that I don’t have to worry about more than I already do. When I have my lens and I’m on an adventure, I don’t feel that need to control it all and in fact look forward to the fact that I can’t. Nature has a way of setting me free.
So, here is to a new chapter in my photography career. I’m walking away from a huge part of my portrait sessions and finding myself looking for unknown trails, the smell of pine trees, and lots of the unexpected. Im traveling toward some new freedom for my soul and mind.
As I mentioned, I will be leaving “most” of my portrait sessions behind, but fear not ( ok, that’s sort of a joke since I worry more than any one I know ). I will still be happy to book clients who want their senior portraits, family pictures, or elopement photos taken in destinations with gorgeous landscapes. These sessions will be for the adventurers at heart and will be different than sessions I’ve held in the past. So, Im not leaving my love of people and the beauty I find in them, I’m just joining my two loves into one to create some magical memories for everyone involved.
Another huge change for me is that I’m combining all of my stuff in one spot. I will have blog post on all of life as I see fit to type about it. I’ve been taught over time that I needed to keep my business and my personal life separate. I’ve been told that to be successful, I need to stick to one thing and specialize in that ( i.e. only newborns, or weddings) I don’t even believe these things to be wrong in general, but they aren’t right for me. Why I shoot what I do, how I do, where I do, it’s all because of who I am and what I’ve experienced. It’s all part of me. I don’t want to be just a photographer, or just a mom, or just anything….I want to be all of everything I am.
I want to start having blog posts on everything from travel adventures to parenting adventures, probably not a lot about cooking adventures since quite frankly I’d rather eat out everyday than have to come up with an idea or dinner ( but you can probably count on a post about that too). Maybe one week I will type about sports, or social media or mental health. I want to be real and open and honest. I do so knowing (and having great anxiety) that my thoughts, experiences and opinions wont be the same as every one that reads it. I think that’s kind of awesome and hope that leads to healthy conversations and growth. If you ever have a topic you would like my thoughts on, feel free to email me @sarahjackmanphotography@gmail.com with your suggestions.
You know, a funny thing about nature is that change is almost on schedule but it doesn’t make it less brutal or less rewarding. The seasons bring on such amazing things from the cold icicles of winter, to spring when life starts its song and dance, into summer when the heat of day is almost too hard to bear and even the sand seems to crack, clear to the crisp color changes of fall….all so beautiful and breathtaking in their own way. This is a new season for me and I’m planing on finding every incredible thing about it along the way. Please join me on my journey.