What am I even talking about?

Wedding. Love. Maine.

Those were the top words I used in my Tweets this past year according to the analytics generated by my Tweet Cloud for 2009 (make yours here). It makes sense. I also wrote often about home, happiness and hope and used the word "thanks" more than "skiing" and "snow," or "beach" and "brides." And it should come as no surprise (though Alder and Nikon were a little miffed) that "Kyle" rounded out the top ten topics talked about on my Twitter feed. What can I say, I really like him!

Given that so much of my life unfolds under the watchful eye of the Web, it's fascinating to find out what it all really says in the end. This January will mark the start of my third year on Twitter (I've been a user since 1/23/09 and have updated nearly 1500 times), and I get giddy just thinking about the thrilling and trying things I'll have to Tweet about as what looks to be a promising and productive year unfurls itself.

Let it be known: 2010- I am SO ready for you!

And just for fun, you can see a more refined version (the top 15 words used) of my Tweet Cloud here or a less refined version (with tons of my tweets) by clicking here. If you make your own, I'd love it if you'd leave the link below in the comments section.

Happy New Year! What do you hope 2010 holds for you?

The Wednesday Wrap (aka The Deets on the Tweets), Vol. 5, Part II (End of the Year Edition)

Every few Wednesdays, I pick a trio of my recent tweets, and go beyond brevity to give you a few more deets. More work for me, more love for my blog. Earlier today, I posted Part I of the final edition for 2009 of the Wednesday Wrap. Part II, which features some of the many kind words I've received from my clients and their families this past year, is below. As always, you can read more about why I do the Wednesday Wrap here.

•Wednesday, September 16 at 12:26 p.m. "35. Yeah, 35! That's the number of times "love" was written before "the images!" in an email I happily received today from a bride&groom."

I blame the tortured artist that lives within (hey, she's already blaming herself), but no matter how well I work a wedding, I always beat myself up to have been better. Instead of admiring the angle I took, I see advantages in the ones I didn't. Rather than congratulate myself on the composition, I challenge myself to have checked another. And I always get mad over a moment missed, rather than the many memorized by my camera. Since I am always so hard on myself, it's nice that my clients are not.

At all of the photography workshops I've attended, debate has broken out as to whether you shoot for yourself, or for your clients. I am not just pandering when I say this, but I always shoot for my clients (after all, it's their wedding). While I know I can always be better, and will be, they know they now have a photograph of their grandmother singing Sweet Caroline alongside their fraternity brother, or their husband, looking at them -and only them- just like the day he did when they first met in that crowded bar. I know this pressure I put on myself makes me a better photographer and while I'll never be completely content with the day's captures, luckily, my couples and their families and friends always are. If they're happy, then I should be too! In addition to the aforeTweeted compliment, here are nine others that made me (momentarily) proud in 2009.

From Nancy and James (Sullivan/Hancock, Maine wedding in August)"Love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love the images! Major happiness as James and I spooled through just now. In essence, we were brought back to the excitement, warmth, love and joy of that day (and previous evening)! Thanks ever so much!"

From Meghann and Brad (Laconia/Lakeport, New Hampshire wedding in July): "Greetings from our foggy bay of SF! Did we tell you yet how fabulous you are?!?! We not only got the coffeetable book w/note and CD in the mail, but we were BLOWN OUT OF THE WATER with how well the pictures came out and look in our book. We are BEYOND pleased. Your services EXCEEDED our expectations and we're elated to have met you! Rock on! From the photos to how helpful you were as I was getting ready... Sam, I just (we just) cannot thank you enough. You're brilliant! We send our best to you, dear Sam! Enjoy those pretty autumn colors we'll miss! Love, Meghann + Brad P.S. You come with my 10 star recommendation to all friends and family getting married. Even my bro! Woohoo! Let's hope!" (It should be noted blog readers that said bro is only nine.)

From Gail and David (Kennebunkport, Maine wedding in September): "You bring such a nice touch to what is a stressful day but such an exciting and special day. You were like one of the family (but you take much better pictures!)"

From Meredith, the mother of Courtney of Court and James (Scarborough, Maine wedding in August): "Hi Sam... I wanted to write (now that it is Friday and so many days have passed) and say that we all were over the moon about the pictures. Phil and I and the girls have watched the slideshow over and over and over and sent it on to relatives and friends who were just amazed. You did such a beautiful job with that--perfect selections, conveying (with music!) what a incredibly happy day it was for all of us. We were so blessed to have such a gathering of family and friends and love reliving it ---plus seeing so many things we missed! It is just wonderful to have so many beautiful beautiful photos of Courtney and James to pick from. I think their favorites are by the barn---some so sweet they bring tears to my eyes. And I particularly love the close-ups of them at the table when Lizzie is telling her prom story---they are amazing--you truly captured the moment there! And for Phil and me the sequence you did of our girls (after I think you called Caroline out on watching America's Top Model---ha!) was SO much fun-----we will treasure that. Thanks so very much for everything. I can't image how exhausting that shoot must have been in the heat and with all those family gatherings, etc. But we are thrilled with the photos---you are the best! Hope to see you soon, Meredith"

From Lizzie, sister of Courtney of Court and James (Scarborough, Maine wedding in August): "Hi Sam, I vowed I would never be one of those people who start med school and didn’t get the little things done she really wanted to…and this is a reminder I CAN’T let that happen! I have been meaning to write you since the photos came out from Court & James’ wedding – they are BEAUTIFUL and have brought tears to my eyes on more than one occasion. You did (and do!) such an incredible job of capturing just what couples – and Court and James in this instance – are all about. And of course, like my mom, I am partial to the GORGEOUS sister photos! They are by far the best photos of us I have ever seen. I just read the blog (been checking it all the time, of course) and again found myself teared up in lecture rather than paying attention…but no doubt this IS more important! With both your words and pictures you described the wedding and C&J so accurately. And I thought I’d pass on that other students sitting around me right now are in awe of both your photos and the fact that you put so much care and intimate detail into what you do. THANK YOU THANK YOU and please know how much we love the photos (I am not kidding when I say watching the slideshow has been my constant study break for two weeks now…!)Many, many thanks and Happy Wednesday (!), Lizzie"

From Mandi and Rob (French's Point, Maine wedding in August): "I wanted to let you know everyone at work thinks I'm completely insane. I'm sitting in my office when I checked my email and all of a sudden I started crying! Everyone runs into my office because they think something horrible happened to one of our clients... I'm like no, it's just our wedding pictures! I can NOT believe how amazing they are. I always knew you had a gift for capturing emotion but when it's your own, it's totally different. My phone has been ringing off the hook on how breathtaking everyone said they are!! I've been giving out your name left and right! I have dreamed about this wedding day since I was a little girl and you captured all my dreams come true :) You're absolutely AMAZING!!!! I can not thank you enough for helping to make this the best day of our lives!" Mandi and Rob"

From Robert and David (Mount Washington Resort, New Hampshire wedding in October): "What can I say...You have left us both speechless!!!! These are so wonderful you have no idea how happy I am right now. You have done an outstanding job on everything. We sat and watched all photos last night and it was truly special! I can’t seem to get enough of them and you really did a great job capturing the day, with the tender and funny moments that happened randomly. These photos are more special than I had thought they would be and I want to thank you once again! You are a very talented photographer. Also, there were so many people that were talking about you saying how wonderful you were and how much they liked you. We were very fortunate to have someone like you at our wedding!"

From Alison and Mike (Stow, Massachusetts wedding in October): "You really did such a great job on the photos! We've had so much fun going through them together. It's so nice to be able to remember what exactly happened that day. With the adrenelin and lack of sleep, some of the details were a blur, but the photos bring it all back!! We love so, so many of the photos that it was really tricky to decide on what to include in the album (I'd include them all if it were possible). The dancing photos were the hardest. They're all so funny! You did a great job narrowing them for us! I don't know where we would have started if you hadn't."

From Amy and Mark (Thornton, New Hampshire wedding in July): "I hired Sam through a recommendation of a friend for my outdoor wedding at a personal residence. I knew I was looking for a non-traditional wedding album without the cheezy hiked up groomsman pant leg "posed" shots. I perused her website and was impressed instantly. After setting up a "get-to-know" you meeting suggested by Sam, I knew without a doubt I had made the right decision to hire her. I decided from the beginning that the photographer would make up the majority of our conservative eco-friendly wedding budget and knew it had to be someone special with talent and very reliable. I hold most of my close friends, family, and co-workers to high levels of accountability. Sam did not disappoint. In fact, she makes you want to continue a relationship with her and her husband long after the wedding is over. If you are planning on getting married anywhere within the New England area and have not considered Sam as your photographer, muse, wedding day coordinator, or instant friend you are making a grave mistake!"

And last, but certainly far from least, from Carly and Al (Portland, Maine wedding in September): "Hey! I can't believe I didn't check my email last night.. If only I had known that our pictures were sitting in my inbox just waiting to be viewed!! Although, it was an awesome surprise to wake up to! I just looked through the slideshow and the gallery (multiple times each) and I can't wait for Al to get home from work so I can show him! Sam, you did such a great job with our pictures!! Wow, they are wonderful!! I especially love the ones by the water.. soooo beautiful! I'm not sure how you turned those moments into such amazing images.. It's funny how a different point of view changes everything. I mean, Al and I were just standing there laughing and talking.. but by taking advantage of different angles and viewpoints and the beautiful scenery, you were able to create such romantic and beautiful images. I love the ones you took while crouching in a patch of wildflowers. I have to admit, I saw some pictures from a similar perspective that you did for Jason and Diana's wedding and I lovvvvved them. I was secretly cheering inside (during our shoot) when I saw you find a patch for us! I'm definitely happy that we did all the family and wedding party pictures at the church. The background was perfect, and the brick what not at all what I was picturing it to look like. I'm so happy you found that spot with the beautiful pine tree. It's SO Maine! My mom is already planning to use our family picture for her Christmas card this year. :)

All of the other pictures are wonderful too! I don't have enough time or space in this email to gush about every single photo, but I would if I could! It is nice to see our wedding from an outside perspective so we can catch all the things we missed at the time. As for the slideshow.. LOVE it! The picture that is on the cover is my favvvvvorite! Before our wedding, I told Al not to forget to kiss me on the forehead for one of our pictures, because it's something that he does all the time and I love it. Well, he didn't forget, and I LOVE the way that picture turned out! I love the way the veil shows in it too, because I had borrowed it from a good friend here in Hawaii that was unable to make it to our wedding.. It is just an extra special pic! ..oh hang on, Al just got home for lunch so I have to show him everything asap, be right back..

(a few hours later)

Ok, so Al and I went through all the pictures together and we are so excited! He loves them so much too. We must look silly because our eyes are glued to the computer screen and we have huge smiles on our faces, making sound effects like, "awwww", and "haaa!"...its so much fun to play everything back! but anyway I better get going because my sister is on the phone and wants to talk about how much she loves the pictures too! :) haha, its an exciting day for us! THANK YOU!! Carly and Al"

I'll be sharing the deets on the tweets early in the New Year, as well as the great news and views from the 2009 weddings I've yet to blog. In the meantime, you can follow me here on Twitter, and friend me here on Facebook. Happy New Year!

The Wednesday Wrap (aka The Deets on the Tweets), Vol. 5, Part I (End of the Year Edition)

Every few Wednesdays, I pick a trio of my recent tweets, and go beyond brevity to give you a few more deets. More work for me, more love for my blog. This post, which was actually started when I selected the Tweets in September, serves as the end of the year edition, so pull up a chair and a flute of Prosecco. There is just so much to catch up on that I've broken this post into two easier to swallow portions. Read Part I below and tune in later today for Part II. As always, you can read more about why I do the Wednesday Wrap here.

•Tuesday, September 22 at 10:53 p.m. "Just realized I am six - yeah, six- weddings behind when it comes to blogging. I am so far back I actually might be ahead for next year."

Confession: I started this Deets on the Tweets post more than three months ago, back in September when my seat on the blogging wagon was wobbly, but I'd yet to fall completely off. Fast forward to today, and I am officially a full on BLACKER! Would you believe that me, the girl who used to blog within hours of a wedding, hasn't shared one here on the Samantha Warren Weddings blog since Courtney and James' August 22 nuptials in Scarborough? That means you haven't seen Nancy and James' (and Hurricane Danny's) Hancock wedding, or Carly and Al's in Portland, Becca and Ryan's in Northeast Harbor, Liz and Jay's in Scarborough, Gail and David's in Kennebunkport, Liz and Derek's in Center Lovell, Aimee and Eric's in South Portland/Portland, Dana and Matt's also in South Portland/Portland, Robert and David's at Mount Washington Resort, Alison and Mike's in Stow, MA and Susan and Jeff's in Kennebunkport. Six weddings behind suddenly sounds not so bad, compared to the 12 post plus blogjam I've got going on as I head into 2010. (Hangs head in shame.)

So what the heck happened? Well, where to begin? First of all, last April, I took on a part-time position that has turned into a full-blown love affair as the Marketing and Communications Manager for a small non-profit, The Institute for Civic Leadership. What started as a temporary two-month stint to help the Portland-based institute while their marketing manager was out on maternity leave quickly grew into something much more meaningful and lasting, as did my passion for the organization's people and its mission of offering a range of programs to train, support, and engage civic leaders and build organizational and community capacity across the state. Recently and with my help, we've launched a statewide young emerging leaders initiative that seeks to better engage Mainers under 35 in nonprofit governance and I am very proud of what we are putting together toward that effort. I greatly believe in our programming and the people behind it, and consider myself quite lucky to have literally fallen into something that seems so right, right now.

While summers are a blur, the offseason can be a bit blah for a New England wedding photographer, and my three days a week work at ICL allows me to keep busy when I otherwise would not, exercise my marketing, media relations and writing and photography skills and strategies and enjoy the camaraderie that comes from working in a bustling Old Port office with Maine's foremost leaders in the public, private and nonprofit sectors (something you don't get when running your own home-based business). At the same time, the flexible schedule (including a slower summer) allows me to appreciate the quiet days I have at home to focus on my business and gives me plenty of time to shoot, edit, design and cultivate my relationships with clients and other wedding vendors. Seeing I was in graduate school and teaching the previous two years of my business, my new position at ICL has not added more to my plate, but my commitment to marketing and communicating our work there has quite frankly left me with little drive to do the same for my own business. A case of the cobbler's kid having no shoes for certain!

Furthermore, I have a habit of writing rather detailed posts- both emotionally and word count wise. (I'm just barely beginning this one and I bet you already need a bathroom break). While I realize that not everyone wants to read a Tolstoy-esque tome every time they visit my blog, brevity is just not my bag, baby. I rely on other social media, like my Twitter feed and Facebook page, for quick communication, but my blog is a place where I can go beyond the pithy updates and really show and tell you about me a person, and a photographer. If my Tweets (which also generate my Facebook status') are a window into my world, my blog is where I throw open my front door and invite you in to share a bottle of red. I so often get compliments on my writing from people who follow my blog, and though back in my newspaper days I wrote hundreds of articles each year that had a readership of thousands without a worry, lately I've been feeling a paralyzing amount of pressure each time I sit down to blog, especially when I am trying to do justice to the richness of the relationships I am honored to document. And so it becomes easier to just type a trivial tweet (max 140 characters) then delve into the deep stuff. Easy is good.

Finally, in this age of tweeting and texting and letting everyone know what you are up to every moment of every day, I often find myself wondering "Who cares?" In some sense, it's pretty self-absorbed to think people actually need to know, let alone care, that Kyle got me custom tassels for my bike for Christmas, or that I'm making banana bread using vanilla yogurt instead of the sour cream Martha Stewart's recipe calls for? Yeah, I've tweeted about both of those really earth-shattering events in the past week. Back in the summer and fall, when I was seriously stressing about the state of my blog and vowing to stay up straight until I got caught up, Kyle (always a sage voice of reason) asked me matter-of-factly "To what end? What's going to happen if you don't?" I muttered something about the world coming to an end and with it, the business I've put my hands, head and heart into building these past four years, but when I stopped and thought about it, it all sounded kinda silly and self-centered. Clients were still getting their image galleries, slideshows and album proofs within two weeks or so, and so my work and the word of mouth (and my Website, which I do sometimes update) would speak for me in times the blog could not. And so, the blog became less of a priority, and my family, friends (many of them former and current clients and other Maine weddings vendors) and myself became more of one.

That said, I greatly value my blog despite its challenges. While the number of weddings I photograph each year is fairly stable, I've been able use this platform and others like Facebook and Twitter, to give prospective clients a better sense of Sam and Samantha Warren Weddings, which has resulted in couples who are a great fit for me and my style of being and seeing, and thus, truer images. In 2010, I vow to view the blog as a blessing rather then a burden and to that end, intend to spend more time here. But don't hold me to it. If you really miss me, of course you can always try Twitter.

•Wednesday, September 30 at 12:35 p.m. "I love going to the dentist so much that I just committed to going every two weeks for an entire year. Invisalign, you better be worth it!"

We've all heard the "Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference" bit. It all sounds so simple, but as all Utopian visions are, it never is. Or is it?

As I reflect back on the past year, which has brought deaths in the family yet the birth of so many new and meaningful friendships, I realize I've never had a 365-day period of such growth. And I am acutely aware that so much of that has come from the realization that I have control over my circumstances. Gasp!

I remember reading a blog entry a few years back by a well-known photopreneur who suggested that to achieve "freedom," photographers make a list of the things they like and don't enjoy about their business, and find ways to limit those pesky dislikes. Try it! For example, if you don't enjoy designing albums, then hire a graphic artist to do the work for you. (For the record, I adore album design.) The whole goal is to get back to doing what you love, which hopefully for most of us, is taking pictures of people in love! At the time, I detested post-processing, the act of taking those 2500-3500 images I shoot at a wedding, and culling them down to the 1000 or so final photographs I present to my couples. So, I outsourced the work to a post-processing company who did it for me, until I found a workflow that made editing more fun and took back the task. Suddenly, I realized the beauty of being a business owner- that control to not let the business own me, but instead, to sculpt something that would satisfy both my clients and myself!

If it worked for Samantha Warren Weddings, I suspected it might for Samantha Warren as well! Early in 2009, I started with a little thing- hiring a cleaning company to come to our house just once a month. Surely a splurge, but if their two or so hours of work freed up an entire day for me, then it was worth the cost. After all, my time is valuable too and it cleaned a dreaded to-do right off my list!

And that was just the beginning. I've taken more control of my life and found the courage to remove from it what I can and should to make me happier and healthier and give me more time to devote to the activities I love and the people I love doing them with. Instead of complaining, I've chosen change. Often, it's small adjustments that have big payoffs. There is so much in life we have no control over - the economy, the weather, our waistlines (hey, genetics is a powerful thing), that it is surprisingly satisfying to take charge of the little annoyances! I've unsubscribed from listserves that I never read anyway, I've moved the chair over a few inches instead of just cursing it every time I crashed my knee into it, I take Advil when I get a headache instead of just sitting there and I've omitted people from my life who no longer made me feel good about myself and accepted those who do for who they are, and not who I think they could or should be. Instead of hating on my kitchen, with its gold-flecked formica countertops, I budgeted the money for a renovation and we're now the proud owners of granite ones. Instead of telling Kyle I'd clean up my clothes on the bedroom floor, I've just cleared a path and told him "I am sorry, but this is who I am."

And, with the Invisalign, I've (heavily) invested in and committed to a series of very small adjustments that will hopefully move my teeth back from being the bucked bane of my existence to a place where I'll be proud to smile. I am thinking in 2010, I'll have lots to smile about. Yes, it may be vain to spend so much money on my appearance (there are some health benefits, I swear) and yes, my teeth may not turn out the way I wanted. But I accepted that I was not brave enough for traditional metal braces and found the courage to commit to the cost and discomfort to do whatever I can beyond that to fix a flaw that I focus on far too much.

As you begin your New Year, I encourage you to consider the blessings and burdens in your life, and how you can outsource or omit what doesn't bring you bliss. Because you can.

Stay tuned later today for Part II of this edition of Deets on the Tweets. In the meantime, you can follow me here on Twitter, and friend me here on Facebook. Happy New Year!