ELP September $125 Holiday Special.

OH YES OH YES!  It’s that time of year… to start organizing the address book, start writing the annual update and start piecing through photos to send to the inlaws/outlaws, neighbors, co-workers, friends, brothers, sisters, cousins, grandparents, etc… Make it fun and easy this year and take advantage of ELP’s Special… $125 will get you one on location two-hour session, two online galleries, and three digital files… the only hard part will be trying to figure out which one’s your favorite!

But seriously… I’ve got much love for family but ELP’s availability is limited this fall!  So take advantage quick.  Email fun@erikaleighphotography.com for more details!   Tacky sweaters not required, but appreciated…………. jokes, jokes.  :)

Can’t wait to hear from you!  erika@erikaleighphotography.com!

Light Love.

It’s a dangerous shot for my sweet little camera… going into the sun like that.  I knew it’d be worth it.  I look at it and feel it’s just them but at the same time feel like something else is there with them in the  shot……..

I will keep this so very short.  I touched on my belief in the importance of faith in my number four inspiration, Buckhead Church.  I also touched on how sensitive a subject faith and religion is in that same write up.  I must say though I think it is too taboo now a days… I understand not pushing religion or belief on others but to feel odd to even talk about it is a sign of our times.  We are all so worried about being ‘politically correct’ that we forget what our own opinions are.  God is my number one inspiration… in work, in life and everything I am.  If I make anyone uncomfortable, I do apologize.  But at the same time I make one feel uncomfortable I hope that person is uncomfortable because they have as strong as an inspiration elsewhere just in another form.

I have been in and out of religion.  I went to church when I was younger because it is what we did.  I didn’t believe… in a lot of what they were saying but it wasn’t something that bothered me… I just went, because it’s what we did.  Biggest thing I didn’t agree with though was the thinking that if one didn’t go to church they weren’t religious or spiritual.  Because they preach the love of God but warn that one has to attend church in order to talk to  Him… it just seemed odd to me that the love He gave could only come for an hour on Sunday.  But ironicially after it was made clear by my pastor at Buckhead Church you didn’t have to be in the building to be with God, I starting attending without fail.  I attend the 6pm service every Sunday even after long work days or big Falcons wins or if I am traveling I find it online.  Buckhead Church has done wonderful things for me in that one hour a week… but it is God that has done them for me the other 167 hours in the week.

My friend always says ‘God is painting the ‘perfect’ picture in your life.  Just let Him paint.’  My life has been next to perfect already… I’ll admit this, but I still find those moments or those experiences where you should wonder what do you do now, why is this happening, how do I go on.  I think back on those times and the answers were always so small and for the moment.  My answers have changed as my ‘relationship’ with God has changed.  I still most definitely have problems (dang) but I find my answers in the bigger solution, in the bigger ‘picture’ if you will.  I’ll be very open (like I’ve been anything but, but still) I used to make fun of people who were what we would call ‘Bible-beaters.’  If we allow ourselves to believe in the non-human power we find less human, less strict interpretations and answers we then act less human in response… with more care, with more understanding than a human brain would less us.  Example:  You’re boss tells you, ‘You’re terrible.’  Human response:  ”No, you’re terrible.”  Lil less human response:  I’ll forgive him for that comment, he’s probably facing a harder battle.  I thought that was all nonsense until it started happening in my own life.  There’s more warmth, there’s more understanding for horrific events, there’s content in death and more joy than jealousy.  I am not a perfect Christian… I swear, I speed, I drink (among many other things I won’t mention) but my God teaches forgiveness and love and just the simple understanding of a ‘person’ that only wants to forgive and only wants to love, though it seems we’d try and get away with so much more but I’ve found it only makes me want to be a better friend, a better roommate, a better business person, a better family member… just a better person every day of my life.

I’ll go back to my #4 write up one more time in emphasizing the idea and notion of faith.  Though God is what I put my faith in… may you all find a faith that makes you believe the good is good for a reason and the bad is good for a reason, too.  There were endless quotes I thought would apply to this write up… but I chose this one about hope.  With faith, this title quote is not a question… there is hope… and I’ve said time and time again, God has hoped bigger things for me and you, than we can even begin to believe and/or hope for… He’s painting a more beautiful picture than we could comprehend… “Let Him paint”… have hope… have faith.

That wraps up ELP’s ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY IMAGE AND INSPIRATION EXTRAVAGANZA.  Heartfelt thanks to all of those who were even with us for one day!  I have FAITH that this next year will find even more beautiful images, keep the same inspirations… and maybe even, find some more.

FAMILY PORTRAIT SPECIAL rolling out soon.  Make sure you’re on ELP’s mailing address by emailing me or fun@erikaleighphotography.com to get details.  NEW BLOG DESIGN will be up as soon as I finish my second ‘Technology Tackle’ of ’09… come back soon!

As always, stay in touch… erika@erikaleighphotography.com

Forever.

Awwwww, love.  These two are real… you can sense from the image… but I’ll confirm… they have real love, adoration and respect for each other.  They are proof that true love exists and is worth all the battles and questions we face on the path to its conquest.

She’s hands down the best person I’ve met in my life… hands down… I love my family and my friends but she wins the award.  She is why I am here… why Erika Leigh Photography has not only made it to one year strong… but why it even exists.  She met me at a time in my life when I was happy and content but she saw I could be doing more… she believed in me… or believed in the terrible cliche, in the pursuit of happiness.  She knows all too well the truth of this title quote.  But even takes it one step further… she not only longs and hungers for these good and beautiful things, she goes after them.

I told her about my love of photography and she ran with it probably more than I did… she introduced me to Portfolio Center, she talked extensively and enthusiastically about there being no way I wouldn’t be successful and she was my first TRUE paying job!  I’ve never had huge confidence issues but if I did she filled in all the holes.  She up and moved away to follow her own dreams (of love) not too long back, but I still hear from her regularly, always a person that knows the exact words to say.  I have trouble expressing how crucial she was in me forgetting my insecurities and setting me up to follow my dreams… follow my heart.  So I hope I can put it simply as, Carissa, you made me make my dreams come true.   And like all my top inspirations there is a whole person not just one inspiring trait.  She is kind to all, she has no enemies, she is smart, she is witty, she is loyal, she is exactly what the world needs more of…

Non business wise it must be said… I’m young, yes, but I fully believe in perfect love.  Perfect being unique in every individuals eyes… but bottom line it is all encompassing, comfortable, unselfish and undeniable.  And I truly believe that everyone can find this and it can last a lifetime.  I meet many cynics.  I meet many settlers.  Carissa is not one of these.  Next to her amazing support for me, this love of love is what made all her words of encouragement and praise so worthwhile.  People are quick to advise but not always believers in their own medicine.  She could’ve told me all day long to take that risk but the reason her words stuck and hit home for me was because she was busy doing it herself… she knew the benefits of acting on a dream.  She knew the hurt it could cause, she knew the self-questioning I would face but she knew what I was reaching for was worth all of that… she knew, because she was in the middle of it and she could see the light.  She fought the battle to find true love.  She is proof that you live a life of goodness, it will come back to you ten-fold.  She continues to hunger for the beautiful and good… and it keeps finding her… just as it should!

erika@erikaleighphotography.com!

He Loves Me Not.

Fun with photoshop.  Fun with art.  Fun with expression.

I knew this would be my hardest to write.  These write ups so far have been positive… they are about things and people that I am so lucky to have in my life.  This one is about someone that will never be in my life again… equally lucky because of that.  To include him is a risk… because I don’t want people to turn away from what ELP is about:  fun-loving, full of life people and photography… but to not include him would be a bigger risk because it would make this list, of TRUE inspirations, a lie.  Sometimes it is those people we can’t or shouldn’t have in our lives that are most inspiring for that reason alone… they come, then they go… but leave us for reasons beyond knowledge or for good reason… blindly, they’re role is not to get us down but to pick us back up and remind us of where we should be going.

We all have variations of this person… she or he that made us or continues to make us question our goodness, our life, our destiny, our happiness… our worth.  It could be that girl that never gives you the time of day, the boss that never acknowledges your contributions, or the man that promises you happiness but doesn’t even knew what a true promise nor true happiness is.  As humans, we naturally seek acceptance or love from others… some more than others.  It is innate to want to love someone and be love in returned.  It is normal to want praise for your hard work.  But where we get so lost is that these acceptances can not come to fruition without initial acceptance and love of ourselves.  OH WOW, that sounds so 18th century, self-help book, it sounds so cliche… and I’ll be the first to admit that I love cliches… but they’re common and over-used for a reason… they’re true… or 96% of them-ish.  This, like many bittersweet things in life, is cyclical.  Sadly, yet obviously, you have to be hurt to get better, you have to fall in order to stand back up.

This person in my life has been an amazing inspiration.  Quite frankly and rudely, inspiring me to understand exactly what I never want to be in my life.  BUT at the same time, reflecting on my own faults, by being out of my life this ‘goodbye guy’ allowed me to stop being the person I was becoming… therefore, like most of my past inspirations listed, saving my life.  I’m not going to speak specifically on the situation but let it be left with a few THANK YOUs.  Thank you for making me question my path.  Thank you for letting me realize the pain I was causing myself in not saying goodbye.  Thank you for holding me back so I can understand how great it is to be set free.  Thank you for helping me truly understand the power of friendship.  Thank you for making me a better friend, partner, daughter, sister.  Thank you for humbling my happy and sad moments.  Thank you for renewing my love of art and expression.  Thank you for reaffirming the love of my family.  Thank you for testing my strength therefore allowing me to see how much I have.  Thank you for bringing me to understand the power and plan of God.  Thank you for letting me love me again.  Thank you for saying goodbye.

These people have their own path.  And as hurtful as it may seem to you and as destructive it may seem to your purpose… have faith and be grateful in the perfect cliche, ‘Time will heal all’  for it applies to your ‘goodbye guy’ and you.  I am so lucky to have had this person in my life… because, despite his plan or what his actions ruined at first, my experience through having and now not having him, have been life-  and value-affirming.  We should all be so lucky… as odd as it sounds… to have a person like this come and LEAVE our life… Their recklessness may truly prove to be the thing that brings you back to whole… or even gets you there in the first place.   That being said… don’t be afraid of saying goodbye yourself.

WHEW… that was easier than I thought it was going to be.  As always, thanks for reading… tomorrow two more… very happy, very acceptable inspirations!  :)  I welcome your comments or criticism always… and feel free to let loose your ‘goodbye guy’ (or ‘goodbye girl’) story… erika@erikaleighphotography.com.