On True Love and Facing Big Fears | Anglesea Urban

A super personal post.

Blog writing is straight up petrifying. There… I said it.

To put your heart, your reputation, your “knowledge”, your thoughts, ideas, personal life and anything else you can think of out there for the entire world to see is down right scary.

What if no one cares? What if no one reads it? What if they do and totally judge me? Or challenge me?

WHY am I writing anyway? Apart from highlighting client sessions – why not leave it at that?

The answer for me is: for some reason I could be in the shower or driving in my car and this instant download scrolls through my head, in sentence and paragraph form, from start to finish, on random subjects. And when that “download” is finished there is this overwhelming urge inside me to find the closest keyboard/phone/notepad/napkin to quick write it all down. If I don’t, I feel plagued with heaviness. When I do, I feel a lighthearted release. That’s about all there is to it.

I ignored it for a while. Surely this happens to everyone, right? Until one day I mentioned this to Steve and this perplexed look on his face told me, UM…NO…’normal’ people don’t do that. They just drive or sing a song or something. lol Then he told me to stop fighting that thing that scares me and to just write and see what happens.

Shortly after that Pursuit 31, an organization now very near and dear to my heart started a blog and I was randomly asked to be one of the writers. Oh the irony.

My very first post was to be on Valentine’s Day of last year. After struggling to get the courage up to go below the surface of fanciful writing to what was deep down in my heart, I wrote this post below. It took everything I had in me to go this personal, so publically. And for what? I didn’t exactly know. Maybe someone somewhere (besides my husband) needed to read what was in my heart.

Last year I was stretched and molded and forced to face a LOT of my fears whether I was ready or not. It’s never much fun in the “during” part, but once on the other side it seems to make so much more sense. And a lot of it does now, but there are plenty of things still in the “during”.

A year later, blog writing is still down right petrifying. I still feel the fears each time I hit publish – and maybe that part isn’t ever meant to go away. And when I try to force myself to fill “content” for SEO purposes those fears increase dramatically. But when I get those instant “downloads” from start to finish, in sentence and paragraph form, I know that if I ignore THOSE, then there will be a bigger fear that I’ll need to face. It’s that thing that happens when you ignore what you are suppose to be doing and try to make excuses about why you are not doing THAT.

Maybe today’s post encourages someone to face their fear….or maybe it will encourage someone to go deeper in their marriage. Or maybe no one will even read this. I don’t get to decide what happens when I hit publish, and that’s ok. Today is one of those vulnerable ones so maybe I’ll pretend that no one saw this and there is nothing to be nervous about. <—yes, I think I’ll go with that one. 😉

And to my darling hubby, Happy Valentine’s Day, my love.  Another year has gone by, but the words written then would be written again today. With my whole heart, I will love you always.

XOXO,
Angie

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February 14, 2013 - 6:33 pm

rachelle - for the record…i love reading every word you say. xo

A new year, a fresh new look | Angelsea Urban New Jersey Lifestyle Photographer

Just because you can dangle giant chunky silver frames, on an angle, with rotating images in them, doesn’t mean you should. <–Lesson learned. :-/

How sad for you all that when I searched for an old screen shot deep in my archives on what my old 2012 website looked like, I couldn’t find one. Maybe it was fate trying to save me from the embarrassment. Thank you, fate. 🙂

The photography world lives and breathes your “brand” or in essence your entire “business identity”. Sadly, it’s become just as important as the body of work your brand represents. Today’s market is visually saturated. And being in a visual field – it’s WONDERFUL.

If you are a photographer looking to “brand” your business or are searching for your business identity, start with a design board. I created this one more than two years ago and as my business evolves, it also changes. I update it constantly – with images that inspire me, with colors and  textures I love, and with recent work so that I can be sure it hits the mark of expectation that my clients have come to expect.

Every decision I make from what color tissue paper to package my prints and products in, to what color border will be on my Facebook images, get held up against this board. If it doesn’t match the look and feel that I am looking for, I keep going until it does.


I intended for my dangling frame website to be temporary but I never intended for it to sit there FOR A YEAR. AYE!  I guess it was a good & busy year! lol When December hit, I finally committed to buckle down in January and get it DONE. I got a “Date with Doza”. Yes, Steve totally approved me dating, because it was a FREE training service from Showit my new website hosting company. David Mendoza was a staff designer whose main job was to help sad people like me go from embarrassing dangling frames to what you see below on the left. David was AMAZING and threw this template together for me and showed me how to use this program in 90 MINUTES. Yes, ninety…minutes. He was so, so, so helpful. I took that and ran with it and created what you see on the right.

For years my clients have been couples, who get engaged, plan a wedding, have a baby, and then maybe another, or get a puppy! I love having clients for life and it’s an honor to walk alongside them for all of their most important and joy filled times in their lives. Navigating through wedding info when you are looking for newborn pictures, or vice versa can be confusing. So I now have three, yes (3) totally separate websites to customize each of these experiences. The overall feel is the same for each, but the content is totally customized to that website and unique experience.

The main website is still  www.angelseaurban.com and will take you here where you will “choose your own adventure” and go to one of the new sites:

Or clients can click on weddings.angelseaurban.com to go directly to The Wedding Site

To go to The Portrait Site portraits.angelseaurban.com

and for the little itty bitty babies, The Newborn Site at you guessed it: newborns.angelseaurban.com

Each of the sites have full and complete details on every single product and experience offered.

Aaaaaaannnnd what website wouldn’t be complete without a totally embarrassing section of life behind the scenes with yours truly. For those who fill out the contact form – there is a fun surprise for you when you hit submit. It really is SO different being on the other side of the camera. ha!

And of course when you overhaul the website, the rest will follow. Here’s a look at the new Facebook page:

The before and after look of the blog:

And last but not least (and still in progress) The Boutique:

To check out all of the new shiny stuff:

www.angelseaurban.com

AAAANNNND to celebrate the new refreshed look, the very first person to find the easter egg in the site(s),

hidden by my darling hubby, wins a $100 dollar Gift Certificate.

Good towards any future session this year or product credit. Email me at angelsea@creativeeyephotography.com if you find it. 😉

XoXo,
Angie

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Product Review: Showit Website Creativity Solution | Angelsea Urban Lifestyle Photographer

Announcement: I have officially become a website designer! (Not technically, but thanks to Showit, of course).

Tomorrow I will be officially unveiling my new website update and redesign, and none of it would have been possible without the use of Showit, a website hosting company which uses proprietary design software.

This is mostly likely the one billionth blog post and raving testimony regarding Showit. And every single one of them are well deserved. Here’s why:

Using only my Photoshop and Microsoft powerpoint skills, I was able to create a custom, one of a kind, unique website (and THEN some) that represents my work, my personality and my business identity.

The program itself is incredibly intuitive to navigate and once I made the first page or two it was as if auto pilot took over and the rest just….happened. I was able to create a custom website for each branch of my business, and the custom client sites….well that should be an whole other post by itself. They had me at “admin organization”. Done and Done.

If you don’t want to create one from scratch (which you totally can because it is SO easy), you can use a FREE, yes FREE pre made one to get you started.

Having a similar feel to photoshop with layers and effects, it’s no surprise why so many photographers are using this product.

Yes the program itself is fantastic, however, the best part of this program is not the program at all, but the company behind it. Showit has BY FAR, the most superior customer service you will ever find. Ever. Yes, ever. Their mantra is to serve their clients and their community of “customers” who are not treated as customers at all, but more like family and friends. Who share knowledge and referrals and even help to pick each other up from airports when stranded.

Yes, total strangers brought together by their shared interest in their WEBSITE COMPANY helped to pick up a stranded stranger at the airport!

THAT is the type of company I want to put my money in. To support companies who’s goals are to support “people”, not “customers”.

AND if THAT is not enough to convince you – just LOOK at THIS! This non-website designer was able to create THIS below!

RUN. Do not walk to your closest browser window and click on THIS link below. And the best part is – you can download the program FREE! Yes, FREE. Now go and try it. If you love it (and you will), the fee is only $39 month for UNLIMITED websites. UN….LIMITED.

Thank you Showit, and to all of the Showiteers that harassed me until I finally gave in. Your persistence and dedication to this company was a little weird at first I must say, but NOW………….NOW I totally, totally get it.

CLICK ON IMAGE BELOW.

XOXO,

Angie

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March 26, 2018 - 11:02 am

Cindy - Hallo,I was wondering if you may be able to help me with your showit effects for photoshop.

Thank you
Friendly
Regards Cindy

Jaxon | Angelsea Urban Children’s Lifestyle Photographer

Meet: Mr. Jaxon

I posted a sneak peek of this little man and my inbox filled up with inquires for this little stud muffin and what commercial he was auditioning for!

No commercials just yet, but it’s surely not because Mr. Jaxon lacks swag, because really, just look at him! Already at the tender age of one, he’d surely steal the heart of any little lady that came his way.

Now, sing a little Justin Beiber’s Baby Baby, and Mr. Swag is putty in your hands!

Happy First Birthday Mr. Jaxon ‘Studmuffin’ James.

XOXO,
Angie

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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February 17, 2013 - 12:09 am

Marisa Fence - Love these pics, they are adorable!!!

February 10, 2013 - 3:45 pm

Betty Vanburen - Great pictures. Very handsome great grandson
N

February 10, 2013 - 10:08 am

Lisa Renae Drum - Sooo adorable!

February 10, 2013 - 9:18 am

Karen Stutzman - He is soooo adorable!!

February 9, 2013 - 11:33 pm

Linda - Omg soo cute and great pics

February 9, 2013 - 10:45 pm

erdem - super cute!

February 9, 2013 - 10:40 pm

Sherry Campbell - AWESOME PICS OF JAXON! !!

February 9, 2013 - 10:31 pm

Jamie - Great pictures!

February 9, 2013 - 10:22 pm

Val - He’s soooooo cute! Great Picts

February 9, 2013 - 10:14 pm

Michelle Yeago - He is so cute!!!

February 9, 2013 - 9:53 pm

Crystal - Love the pictures!!

February 9, 2013 - 9:50 pm

Karen Jarrell - The pics are stunning. You had such a cute subject!

February 9, 2013 - 9:20 pm

Brittney Jarrell - He is adorable!

February 9, 2013 - 9:17 pm

Sheri - Tiffany & Tristan, Jaxon is going to be a heartbreaker one day! He is so handsome!

February 9, 2013 - 9:10 pm

KaraNicole Crismond - He is my little cousin and he is absolutely adorable!!

February 9, 2013 - 9:09 pm

Nicole LeBoeuf - I love these photos. Would love some like this for Annabel. They are beautiful.

February 9, 2013 - 9:03 pm

Lori - Remarkable photos of such a handsome little guy!

February 9, 2013 - 8:43 pm

shannon - Good pics!

February 9, 2013 - 7:39 pm

Melynda - So handsome..

February 9, 2013 - 10:01 am

Beth Crawford - Beautiful pictures of Jaxon!!

February 9, 2013 - 8:23 am

elisabeth - To stinkin cute!!!!

February 9, 2013 - 7:56 am

Kaila Martin - He is so adorable! The pictures were amazing.

February 8, 2013 - 10:27 pm

Valerie - He really is a cutie and sweet baby.

February 8, 2013 - 10:14 pm

David Hagenseker - So cute.

February 8, 2013 - 10:08 pm

Cassie - Handsome! Awesome pics!

February 8, 2013 - 10:07 pm

Amber Berry - He is sooooo cute!! 🙂 <3

February 8, 2013 - 10:05 pm

Jamie Williams - Too cute!!!!!!

February 8, 2013 - 3:44 pm

Jill - Heart breaker.

February 8, 2013 - 3:33 pm

Kevin - Cool Picture of Jaxon!

February 8, 2013 - 3:29 pm

Scott - Great picture of Jaxon!! Great photography work done, very good job!!

February 8, 2013 - 3:11 pm

lisa erskine - awesome!

February 7, 2013 - 8:35 pm

Leslie Comfort - Wow!! Awesome pictures… Great job!! My favorite are the ones with the tie… All are super…. Jaxon is sure photogenic!!

February 7, 2013 - 7:32 pm

Amy Vergin - He is one handsome little man!

February 7, 2013 - 7:25 pm

Kathryn - What a handsome boy, and fantastic photos to treasure. <3

February 7, 2013 - 6:54 pm

Shannon Clayton - So precious!!!

February 7, 2013 - 6:19 pm

Robin Doyle - He is adorable and such great pictures.

February 7, 2013 - 6:11 pm

Andrea Hertzler - What a handsome little fella! And fabulous pics!!! 😉

February 7, 2013 - 5:50 pm

Samantha - Jaxon is sooo cute

February 7, 2013 - 5:44 pm

Erin Lawlor - This baby has a modeling career ahead of him.
He is exceptionally cute, & these pics enhance his cuteness:)

February 7, 2013 - 1:28 pm

Anna Carson - Jaxon is a cutie, but so serious 😉

February 7, 2013 - 12:46 pm

Rebekah Triolo - Wow! Such an adorable little man! Angie, you are an amazing photographer!!!!!

February 7, 2013 - 12:31 pm

Cris Maggion - Too cute!!!

February 7, 2013 - 11:14 am

Brenda Stoltzfus - gorgeous boy and fabulous photos!

February 7, 2013 - 10:05 am

Laurie Finelli - Beautiful pictures.