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For Photographers, #inbend, personal stories
Michelle Simmons
Are you living to work, or working to live? ...

Are you living to work, or working to live? Here’s how and why I step away from my business for days at a time, without sacrificing my client experience or my sanity.

Are you living to work, or working to live? (setting boundaries to avoid burnout)
Business + Branding, For Photographers
Michelle Simmons
Why I use HONEYBOOK to run my business (and ...

Being a solopreneur is NOT easy. And I have to admit, a huge part of my "secret" is that I have HoneyBook to keep me on track with it all. This client management system helps me book clients, send emails, contracts + invoices, and so much more. See exactly how I use HoneyBook in my own business, and get a 50% discount off your first year!

Why I use HONEYBOOK to run my business (and discount code inside)!
Who I Am Project, senior photos, psychology
Michelle Simmons
the power of AND

We all come programmed with a biological drive to categorize things in order to make sense of them. And if something can't be easily categorized somewhere or labeled as something, it causes chaos and discomfort. Even within ourselves. But the truth is… we are NOT one-dimensional creatures, and it kinda sucks when we get pegged that way.

the power of AND
personal stories
Michelle Simmons
a birthday toast to my dad

After the gifts had been unwrapped and the dinner devoured, my dad and uncle would break out the Wild Turkey bourbon, pouring shots and taking turns toasting to all the stuff that had happened that year. And now that my dad has passed, it's MY turn to carry on his tradition…

a birthday toast to my dad
family photography, Travel Sessions
Michelle Simmons
An afternoon to remember | an Orange County ...

She craved just one afternoon of normalcy + delight... where she could hang out with her daughter, bond over sandy cartwheels + ice cream cones, stroke her daughter's hair , share silly stories, and just BE.

This mother/daughter photo session happened almost 10 years ago, and it's still on my mind…

An afternoon to remember | an Orange County family photoshoot

starting over.

I love Januaries. (And birthdays.) 

It's the whole "clean slate" thing. An easy way to mark the time.

There's a sense of renewal, and an easy way to start over again. To let go of pieces of the past... the "should"s and "wish I would have"s, and start over again. 

Like with this blog. 

With a smattering of mis-matched posts over the years, this blog was doing NO one any good, and was no longer a good representation of who I was, what I offered, and what I wanted to share. 

So I've gotten rid of the clutter, and we're starting fresh. 

Here we go. Enjoy the ride. 

The Suitcase Studio - lifestyle photography photo tips