GAVE ME A BREAK | PERSONAL | MARYLAND WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER | ASHTON KELLEY PHOTOGRAPHY

I’ve taken a few weeks from blogging. It’s been hard. At first, I felt a lot of stress in thinking that I would fall behind. I worried I would be missing out on something, a new client, or lose the interest of my current readers. I thought often about ending my hiatus early and posting, but everything I put down seemed thrown together and unworthy. It left me questioning my own worth as a photographer, but worse-as a person. Am I this laser focused on business? Am I missing out on my life? The harsh reality was that the answer was, “yes.”

After the first week, I was in Florida for my brother’s wedding. This welcomed a lot of distractions that kept me from feeling like I was letting down the social media world, and also left me feeling great about where my energy was going. My brother and his new bride had an amazing wedding and it gave me such joy to be part of it, to help, and to be present with them in those special moments. On my drive home, I reflected long and hard (21 hours of driving, long!) about how I can make more time for me in 2016. How can I ensure that I don’t go too long without seeing friends and family, that I don’t miss out on my own wedding moments, or find myself stretched thin emotionally as I have this year. For the first time, I felt relief that I had taken this break.

As photographers, we often wear an armor for our emotions. We justify “feeling fine” because we worry it’s unacceptable to struggle. But, if we’re being really honest.. we ALL struggle. We all have hardships, doubt, fears, face changes and adversity, or feel like we’ve fallen short. These feelings of inadequacy and defeat creep in at the worst time.. though I’m not sure there’s ever a good time.. and leave us feeling down and out. It’s easy to fall prey of that during the holidays, but the one thing we can count on is that a new year is just around the corner. In just over a week, we will welcome a new year and a new opportunity to start fresh.

So, I’m back! I’ve got some great holiday material to share this week and we’ve got some awesome things in the works for the new year. Here are just a few things you can expect in the next month:

1. AKP is in the middle of a brand refresh! I’m excited to work with Mariah of Blush & Crew to give the website a new pop for 2016. New features are going to include a travel map, an updated subscriber option, and a new look for the blog!

2. I turn 30 this week! That sounds super crazy to say, but alas-tis true! I hear that your 30’s are the best, so I’m excited to share them with my soon-to-be hubby and our fur babies (who knows, we might just add some human babies into the mix over the next decade..ha!). As for now, check back on Thursday! I’ll be doing a special giveaway to celebrate MY big 3-0. :)

3. Our January retreat is almost a month away! We have over 30 attendees coming from all over WV, OH, and MD to join us for this three day event in Charleston, WV. I can’t wait to share more from this workshop. I’m joining 10 other mentoring photographers to teach and we have a mix of new and old faces that I can’t wait to hug! <3

There is lots more to share, but I’ll leave it at this FOR NOW. Check back, soon. <3

– Ash