New Year, New Blog

I’ve had some good times on this blog but it’s time to move on! Check out the new and improved Blog here! See you there!!!

Ben, Michelle and the penguin.

I walked out of Starbucks a few months ago and remember feeling excited about what lied ahead for these two. I had just met with Ben and Michelle and listened as they told me about their plans in the coming years. They talked about their big move to Michigan, Ben’s acceptance into Law school, and Michelle’s search for a teaching position. It brought back memories of when Mark and I started out and how far God has brought us in the past four years. There’s no doubt in my mind that Ben & Michelle will look back four years from now and count their many blessing as well. There’s just too much good with these two to think otherwise. 

Now, you’re probably wondering about the penguin. I’ve gotta say I seriously contemplated sharing the penguin story with my blog readers, all three of them, but I just don’t think I’d do the story justice. All I’ll say, is that it’s one of the best proposal stories I’ve heard in a while……and yes, it involved a penguin carrying a diamond ring, and giving Ben the scare of his life!!! I’ll leave it at that. You’ll have to ask Ben & Michelle for the rest of the story. 

Thank you both for giving me the honor of documenting your day. I’m excited to see what lies ahead for you both, so I’ll be really mad at you both if you don’t keep in touch to let me know!! Enjoy a little sneak preview.

600 gsm(s) of Paper Goodness

It started when I was really young. Not sure exactly when, I just know my business card fetish developed at some point during my childhood. I can remember my father handing out his business cards, proudly, as most entrepreneurs do. He used to have a collection of hundreds of business cards he had gathered from different business contacts and would meticulously store them in a black vinyl business card folio. As weird as it sounds I used to love playing with that thing! When most little girls were playing house, I was picking out my favorite business cards, taking them out of their designated slips, and pretending to hand them out to big potential clients. Gosh, I’m sooooo my father’s daughter!! I couldn’t wait to have my own REAL business card and that day came when I was 16. My friend and I started a t-shirt printing company and the first thing on my priority list was a business card!! We got what we could afford……and I was devastated!! Like I was bawling my eyes out devastated!!! My friend couldn’t understand why it was such a big deal, and although at the time I really didn’t know marketing lingo and principles, it was very clear to me that I was devastated because our cheap little cards didn’t reflect who I was nor left a good first impression. We were kids but I wanted to be taken seriously, and our business cards didn’t help!

Since then I’ve worked several jobs and have been given many business cards. Mostly ones decided upon by pharmaceutical companies. However, not till now have I had a business card that helped heal the trauma I experienced when I was 16. Really, to this day I still cringe when I think about my first card! I’m now the proud owner of beautiful, thick-as-a-piece-of-chewing-gum, Crane’s Lettra 600 gsm paper, stunning, letterpress business cards!!! They’re so amazing I had to blog about it! But more amazing is Zida Borcich and her outstanding team at Studio Z!! I’m convinced Zida is the Mother Theresa of the letterpress world. She was so patient and attentive with me and helped me throughout the entire process. Working with Zida was such a great experience that I’m hoping to run out of business cards soon so I can do it all over again!! She on other hand may want a break from me…..for about 10 years! Seriously, the woman is a saint and ridiculously talented!

So thanks to Zida and her team for helping me create such an impressive business card that truly reflects my business and who I am. It’s a card that I’m proud to hand out and doesn’t make me want to cry!!

Thank you to my husband for being my hand model. Sadly, his hand look better than mine these days.

My Best Friend’s Wedding

My sincere apologies for the terribly cheesy title, but I’ve been dying to use that phrase! I’m corny and I’m cool like that!! But all cheesiness aside, one of my most amazing and best friends really is getting married a week from today and I wanted to blog about her.

Friendships are an amazing yet funny thing. Some come and go with the seasons and some you couldn’t get rid of even if you tried (I’m not trying to get rid of anyone, promise). I’ve come to the understanding that not all friends can be everything to me, and me to them. Every friend I’ve been blessed with plays a different role and enriches my life in a unique way. I’ve got my “steady eddies”, my crazy fun ones, my hysterical-call-when-you-need-a-laugh ones, my encouraging ones, my tell-me-the-truth-even-if-it-hurts ones, ones that would walk on their hands through hot coals for me…….and the list goes on. But rarely does a friend come along who, well, who just gets you! They know your heart and understand why you do what you do and say what you say. They grasp your thought process and intentions and can at times predict what you’re thinking because it’s probably what they’re thinking too. They embrace who you are, flaws and all, yet love you enough to be honest with you. And they rejoice! Yes, they rejoice and get genuinely excited about everything and anything in your life, even the small things, like business cards. In my life, that friend is Natalie. 

Natalie has been on an incredible journey in the past few years, one that has allowed her to unfold into the amazing Godly woman she is today. There was a great deal of confusion, heartbreak, doubts, and fears along the way, but each time, although it wasn’t easy, she surrendered to her convictions and humbly grasped God’s grace amidst the refining fire. At the end, she sought and found God’s best for her life………and his name is Nate.

I’m so proud of Natti, her journey, and her bold decisions. But more anything, I’m proud to stand next to her during this time next week when her and Nate exchange vows. So in honor of their nuptials next Sunday, I thought I would debut their hot engagement pictures, which yours truly had the honor of taking. Natti, thank you for your faithfulness to the Lord and for your friendship. I’m beyond excited to see what God does through you and Nate. Almost as excited as you get about things in my life, like business cards.

 

A bit overdue….

In the past year I’ve had the great opportunity to meet and work with some phenomenal photographers in my area. I’ve learned so much from them and truly appreciate their insights. Among them is Kenny Kim. Kenny’s willingness to help, teach, and share absolutely amaze and inspire me. Everyone who knows Kenny would second that!! So I thought I would share some images I captured from Scott and Jane’s wedding which I had the opportunity to assist Kenny with a few months back. It was great weekend in Chicago, a great wedding, and I thank you for letting me be apart of it. Enjoy!!

Patricia Karina

My mother derived it from a russian novel by Leo Tolstoy. Something about the main character’s name, Anna Karenina, appealed to my mom so much that she decided to name her first born daughter after her . Ok, so at some point she evidently decided to customize it a bit. She replaced Anna with her own name (Patricia) and took the “en” out of Karenina and shortened it to Karina. Now, anyone who knows my mom will tell you that she is one of the most noble, virtuous, and trustworthy women you’ll ever meet. Therefore, all my life I just always assumed that this character, from whom my mother drew her inspiration for my name, must have been equally as great as, well, my mom. Right? Nope, not even close. Being that Russian literature hasn’t exactly been my prowess, I never realized till recently that Anna Karenina was actually an unhappy and adulteress woman, who left her husband and son to live with her lover, and eventually committed suicide by jumping in front of a train. Really mom? Really? Couldn’t we have gone with Mother Theresa or maybe a nice relative? 

Actually, I love my name . It’s who I am. It’s what my family has called me all my life and still does. It’s how I initial the bottom of my love notes to Mark and it’s what he calls me when he leaves me sweet loving voicemails. So with that said, I’m excited to announce that my identity crisis is over! For months now, I’ve been contemplating giving my brand a complete facelift and flirting with the idea of using my middle name instead of my last name. I wanted my logo and brand name to represent my past, my present, and my future. Although Patricia Hildebrand falls into two of the three categories, Patricia Karina encompasses all three. It’s been an exciting yet long and complicated process but after doing some soul searching and gaining the feedback of my closest friends and family, especially Mark, I’m thrilled to debut my new logo and brand! Drum Roll Please………….

There you have it! Simple, clean, and modern! I’m thrilled! I’m also glad to announce that with the change in brand comes a new email, blog, and website. Stay tuned as these things will also debut in the coming months!

So thanks to my remarkable mother who, with a bit of customization, came up with my name and thus my brand. I’m glad to say that I haven’t lived up to the name Karina……but I surely hope to be half the Patricia my mother is.

Overflowing……

My fondest childhood memories are of packing up for the weekend, leaving Miami, and driving 3 plus hours to the beautiful beaches on the west coast of Florida. On our way up, we would drive through Alligator Alley which became a battle ground for my cousin Olga and I as we would viciously compete to see who could spot the most alligators. To this day, I’m 100% convinced she cheated every time. She was infamous for pointing out lilly pads and other random objects in the canal and somehow convince everyone it was a gator’s head. Oh look, a twig!….one point for Olga. Oh look, a ripple in the water!….another point for Olga. Olga 231, Patty 4. I’m not bitter, really, I’m not. Regardless of Olga’s cheating winning streak or whether it was Naples, Marco Island or Ft.Myers, one thing was always the same, I was with my parents, cousins, aunts, and uncles……..and I felt loved.

As I drove to Lynchburg this past weekend, my heart could hardly deal with the excitement. Waiting for me in Lynchburg were the best friends a girl could ask for, a cousin who, despite her lack of integrity as a child, I hadn’t seen in a long time, and a precious baby boy named Eli who I could NOT wait to meet for the first time!! This weekend turned out to be a serious amount of soul food for me in the form of fun, great conversations, and amazing and much needed fellowship. As much as we love our spouses, and I L-O-V-E mine, there’s no doubt that a girl needs her girl “friendship love tank” filled occasionally.

The love tank filling fest began with meeting Eli. You may remember Tricia & Ian’s pregnancy pictures back in October. Well Eli arrived about 3 months ago and I met him for the first time this past Friday. It was love at first sight. Although Tricia probably didn’t notice, seeing the little guy for the first time put a knot the size of Texas in my throat. That’s a big knot folks. I was completely humbled thinking back at everything my best friend went through to finally have this precious little guy. It was totally worth it all. My cousin Olga came in later that day and it was so great seeing her! I love seeing people from different spectrums of my life come together and totally mesh. That’s my cousin Olga. She embraces my friends as her own and my friends just can’t help but do the same to her. Love tank status: Half way full.

Our entourage got bigger when Natalie’s sister Michelle came in later that night for the main event! For weeks now, Michelle, Nikki, and I, otherwise known as the shower planning committee, had been trading phone calls and emails in attempts to plan a phenomenal bridal shower for a phenomenal girl. Seeing Natalie at her shower in a state of complete amazement, happiness, and appreciation was worth it all. Love tank status: 3/4 full. The venue was outstanding at Boonsboro Country Club and the main attraction, other than Natti, was the stunning and succulent Victoria’s Secret cake. If you’re in the lynchburg area and need a spectacular cake, you’ve got to check out the uber talented Wendy Coffey. Her creations are amazing and it was a complete pleasure working with her.

Finally, Saturday night rolled around and I found myself surrounded by best friends, great food, and lots of laughter. Love tank status: Overflowing!!!! So whether I was loving on Eli, having a slumber party at Natti’s, running wild all over Lynchburg looking for flowers for the shower, or just sitting around talking and laughing with my best friends, one thing remained the same…….I felt loved.

February 28, 2009: Matthew & Brandy

When Brandy contacted me over the phone a few months ago her goodness and sincerity filtered through my iPhone into an application that evaluates and determines whether the person would be good to work with. Ok, not really, but I wouldn’t put past Apple to come up with such an application. But all cheesy joking aside, I truly did sense that this was a special girl in a special relationship and what more could a wedding photographer ask for in a subject? Their day consisted of a warm and charming bed & breakfast downtown Indianapolis in addition to the love and support of their 20 closest friends and family. The setting made for great fellowship and intimacy, which I loved because it gave me greater insight into this special couple. What I discovered was that this thing Matt and Brandy share is, well, it’s the real deal. I wish you both God’s best in your journey together and will always be thankful you gave me the opportunity to document your “real deal”.

 

They’re coming……

Major changes that is!!! Stay tuned!

Hi there, remember me?

Can’t blame you if you don’t since it’s been like, um….. FOREVER!!!!! I must admit my blogging dropped to the bottom of my priority list in the past several months due to an overwhelming amount of other “priorities”. Lets see, first we bought our first home, which I’d like to say we’ve been busy working on but still looks almost the same as it did the day we moved in. Then there’s the ridiculous amount of traveling, everywhere from Lynchburg and Washington D.C. to NYC all the way to Nicaragua, just to name a few. Lets not forget the holidays, birthdays, 3-year anniversary, engagements, babies (not my own), and a huge transition at work with King Pharmaceuticals. Somehow in the midst of all that I still managed some photo shoots but their blog documentaries fell victim to the latter. So now I’m back and ready to redeem myself. Not only will I attempt to catch you up on my recent projects but I plan on keeping you in the loop with my upcoming ones as well! I’ve been blessed and honored to be given the the opportunity to capture some astounding weddings in 2009. I couldn’t be more excited to work with theses fabulous couples!! I thank you all in advance for allowing me to play a role in your once-in-a-lifetime event. So thanks for your patience with me and be prepared to meet the incredible people I’ll get to work with in the coming year. 

On a somewhat different note, I’ve had the opportunity to truly reflect on my future……you know, the whole  “where I’m going and why I want to go there”. See, for the past year since photography made it’s grand entrance into my life and completely rocked my world, I’ve battled with the idea of taking a risk and pursuing my new found passion. I’ve had several winds of momentum during the past year, but non lasting enough to push me over the threshold and, like NIKE would say, “Just Do It”!!! I’ve come to the conclusion that fear and insecurity has been my stumbling block. I once heard someone say that most people will choose unhappiness over uncertainty.  Yep….. I might as well have a sign on my back that reads GUILTY for that one!!!! So after a lot of soul searching, praying, and late night conversations with Mark, We’ve made the decision that the time has come for me to, as cheesy as this may sound, follow my dream, do what I’m passionate about, and quit my j-o-b at the end of this year to truly start my photography business in 2010!!! So there you have it. I know I’m not the best photographer in the world….not even close, but I can’t help but believe that I overcompensate for any short comings with the passion and love I have and pour into every image I capture. So with that said, I’ll close with a quote  from my photography idol, Jasmine Star, that has become my theme for 2009. While speaking to a group of photographers during the Free to Succeed Tour with David Jay last year, she said the breaking point for her was when her husband, J.D, looked at her and assured her that:

“I rather see you fail at something you love than succeed at something you don’t”.

Thank God for encouraging and supportive husbands like J.D and my Mark. So here I go……