"you've got to keep watering it."

Moving forward

It has been three and a half years since Willow Roots Photography was launched as a portrait photography business. I am proud of myself for taking the leap and turning my hobby of taking photos of my people into a business, but boy did I have no idea how much more I had to learn. My skills directly behind the camera and during my client's time with me have grown tremendously, along with my knowledge of editing and all things post processing. These skills are constantly evolving, and I am always hungry to figure out ways to be a better photographer and to serve my clients with more intention. Learning how to run a business has been one hundred percent trial and error, I am finally at a place now where I am happy and comfortable with my workflow.

What's in a brand

I never really thought much about how much the brand of a business is such a vital part to it's success. But when you think about it, why wouldn't it? Why wouldn't you want your first impression to be cohesive, aesthetically pleasing, and intentional? The brand is the personality to the business. I have changed the logo for WRP at least three times, all three times I had created them myself and they have always been painfully amateur. For the last six months, I have been feeling a shift in more ways than one. And it was time to step up. I definitely lean more towards being a minimalist and that comes through in my approach to working with you. But keeping things at a minimum does not mean it is less than in comparison, it simply means that I am focused and dedicated to using our time together intentionally and full of meaning.

the new

Since picking up my first DSLR, a hand-me-down in 2012, I have always known I wanted to photograph people. I know how much we rely on our relationships with those closest to us because I feel it in my own life every day. When someone is having a bad day, looking at the big picture and keeping perspective is a way to change that. When someone is having a good day, looking at the big picture and keeping perspective is a way to fully embrace that. When I use the phrase, "document this season in your life", it is so much more than just a catchy slogan. When you have images to reflect the major milestones from a new home, an engagement and marriage, a new baby, a birthday, or images to reflect what your every-day life looks like - you are giving yourself the proof to realize all the good that you do have and how much you have gone through to get there. Because no one's story is all easy all of the time, everyone has a struggle. To have photos of you and your people to remind you of your "why", it means the world and can make all of the difference. And if you have children, when they see their family in a frame together, it instinctively reinforces the love and nourishment that need to thrive.

And that is where WRP has evolved to. It is so much more than point and click for me, so much more than the "likes" and ""shares". It is doing what I can in order to give you something that you can have as a keepsake of this life that you have made. That is my "why" for WRP. And I needed WRP to reflect that from the moment you click in to see what this business is all about, to see if it is worthy of investing your time and money in, and to see that it is so much more than "provide a service, collect a payment".

During the beginning of the pandemic, I took the down time and the little funds I had saved in WRP to reinvest in my business. I hired Palm and Poplar, and I worked closely with Ajla to create a new brand that best represented myself and WRP together. I could not be more happy with the work that she designed. So if you see the new logos, the new marks, the new merchandise, and you notice even more intention with our connections together, it is the new WRP. And I hope you love it, because after all, it is for you and your people.