Category Archives: Kids

Moving forward and stepping back

08.22.23

This post is a long time coming but I wasn’t sure how to put it into words and I wanted to be confident in the decisions I was making. In the past few years I have seen many fellow business owners stepping back from their respective business. Whether cutting hours, shifting specialties or completely closing- folks are taking steps to prioritize the things that bring them joy in their lives. I truly believe that one of the “benefits” of the pandemic was that it forced many of us to slow down and take stock of our lives.

My first business "pause" was when my son was both over 9 years old.

In late 2010, after spending years working in higher education, I was lucky enough to be able to switch careers to a job that gave me an outlet for my creativity while allowing flexibility in my home life. In the past 13 years, as Blue Daisy Art grew, my client roster grew and demands on my time because greater than I hoped. After my son was born 9 years ago, I attempted to shift and adapt my focus to give myself time with my family while not letting my clients down. I moved to not booking high school seniors, only photographing families in the fall, and somewhat limiting the number of births and newborns I booked.

As a Gen X’er though I grew up in a time when being super busy and having more, more, more defined success. I also have a hard time saying no and have serious FOMO (fear of missing out.). When I took a season off from photographing families, I got a little sad looking at the images captured by other photographers of gorgeous fall colors with families I loved to capture.

I am now though at a point in my life when I am counting down the years in which my own kids are still at home. My kids are active and busy and between school, sports and activities, I am lucky to have any time with them. While driving with my daughter recently I looked over at her and thought “I only have a few years left with you before you leave for college” and I started tearing up.

So what does all this have to do with Blue Daisy art? Initially my plan was to close my doors, but I am not ready for that. I would like to take this year as a test to see what my schedule will allow. So, for now…

I will not be booking:

Fall family sessions
Milestone (sitter, 1 year, etc.) sessions from new clients
Births from new clients
Extended family sessions

I will be booking:

a very small number of newborn and maternity sessions from new and returning clients
milestone sessions from returning clients (which may include family images if booking a “complete” session)
New Arrival Sessions (Fresh 48/In-hospital sessions) from new and returning clients
Previously purchased or donation gift cards, which can be used for family or newborn sessions

What is up in the air?

Christmas Mini-Sessions. I will take the next couple months to decide if and when I will offer up the Christmas “Milk and Cookies” sessions

I appreciate everyone’s understanding and if at any point I begin to open up additional sessions, I will inform folks via facebook. Below is part if my “why”. Why I am stepping back, as my kiddos (and my husband and I) are not getting any younger and time moves too fast.

Thanks, Vicky

Isabelle Mommy and Me | Springfield Jerome IL Photographer

02.03.19

Alright folks, I am going to be real with you. Like REALLY real with you. Years ago, when I evaluating my business model and knew that I wanted to focus on newborns- one of the reasons I chose to go that route was the 14 month-3 year old. You all…toddlers are HARD and frustrating to photograph sometimes. I mean like, really hard. Especially if you needed them to work with you for more than 10 minutes. If you have an 18 month-old that doesn’t want to cooperate (which really is most 18 month-olds) there wasn’t a ton I could do. At the time, I had two pretty young kiddos of my own and had enough of my own toddler battles at home.

However, over the past several years after doing a LOT of newborn/sibling images, with many kiddos in that age range, I began to realize something about this age group. Even though I had to sometimes work REALLY hard, once I got those adorable images, it was really rewarding. Toddlers, while obstinate and not quiet yet old enough to bribe, were often really fun. Sure, they may not sit for you when you ask them or give you a big smile but man oh man do they have personality. Thus enter Miss Isabelle.

This gorgeous little girl had one of the most eventful births I have ever captured and I feel so lucky that her momma entrusted me to capture her first year. In the spring when her mom mentioned getting some outdoor images of the two of them, I jumped at the chance. Isabelle had always been a joy to capture and even though I knew she was at that tough toddler age,I was up for the challenge. Sure, this sweetie would NOT keep the gorgeous floral crown her momma got for her on her head for more than a second or two and sure, she was a little bit of a stinker occasionally, but my patience, goofiness and “go with it” attitude allowed me to capture some precious images of this cutie and her mom which I know she will treasure for years to come.

Cameron 6 months old | Auburn Springfield IL Baby Photographer

01.24.19

I first met adorable Cameron and his family at his newborn session and at that session he was a total dream! His adorable hair, lips and dimple, along with his sweet demeanor, just won me over. Flash forward now to his 6 month session and not only did he still have that awesome hair, lips dimple, and personality but add in some dreamy bright blue eyes and cute front teeth. Oh my goodness, I seriously was just in LOVE with his session. His sweet sisters tagged along as well so we were able to capture and updated sibling image for his parents as well.

You all, I LOVE sitter sessions. For some kiddos, like Cameron, it can occur around 6 months but for some it is closer to 7 or 8 months (or for some early babies even later.) I have a closet full of adorable sitter outfits for boys and girls, like the cute denim romper that Cameron is sporting below. I just love sweet and simple outfits that focus on the baby!

Chizara 2 years old | Rochester Springfield IL Photographer

01.23.19

A few years ago, this adorable little cutie came into my studio for her newborn images. Now she is a big sister and close to turning three years old. The session below was for both her 2 year session (yep, I am almost a year behind in blogging) and for her parents to announce their pregnancy with number two (moms maternity session and baby brothers newborn session blogs are coming soon…)
Two years old is such a fun and crazy age. Their second year development happens so fast and all of a sudden you no longer have a baby but a walking, talking little person. Chizara here was a big fan of the baby shark song, which I’m sure many parents sing in their sleep!

Josie 8 years old Glitter Session | Springfield Chatham IL Photographer

01.19.19

Over the past couple months I have seen a lot of photographers advertising glitter sessions. If you have been following my blog, you have seen that I have done this sessions in the past and they are certainly fun. I’ve never officially offered glitter sessions but I can integrate them into your child’s session for no additional charge if this is something you are interested in.

Last year around this time I was working on Keira and Kimber’s session where we ended the session with some glitter fun. My adorable 7, almost 8 year old, saw the images on my computer and sweetly requested that SHE get to play with glitter in my studio. So, when the time came for her to turn 8, her GOLDEN birthday I knew I had to accommodate her request. We had SO much fun with this session and it *almost* made up for me finding glitter in my studio for months, lol.