How do you recharge?

Hi Everybody!

I'm about to fly out to Kansas City to photograph a truly special wedding tomorrow...and as I look at my desk and see the lists of things I wanted to get done before I left (which didn't!), I am centering myself instead of wasting too much energy judging my performance in the office this week! I had over one thousand pictures to cull from the Miss Pierce County Pageant on March 6th, in addition to regular office tasks and shoots!

I learned from my business coach, Karen Buckley, about how different people recharge, and it's been really helpful and I thought I'd share that nugget with you all. The basic idea is that some people recharge by being alone, going away, in the quiet and silence of themselves. Other people recharge by going "out", gathering around people, around bustling activity and getting pumped up by the collective energy surrounding them.

Well pretty much instantly, I could make a list of my friends and family and who recharges how. For me, it's a no brainer. I LOVE being alone "lost in her own thoughts" like the Pemco Insurance commercials say on the radio up here about the "bookstore waif"' you'll find so easily here in the Pacific Northwest. Though with a full-time business and full-time family, I'm not waifing around the bookstore a lot...I have realized HOW critical it really is for us to keep an eye on your energy level and mood, and recognize when a little recharge is necessary.

So I'm truly looking forward to the time in the airport and the time in the air today...ipod, pen and a pad and I'm one happy recharging camper.

Sneak Peeks!! Portraits For Haiti

Hi Everybody!

I wanted to show you what you missed out on if you didn't get a session with me this past Sunday when I was involved with a four other photographers at Gene Coulon Park for Portraits For Haiti! We were blessed with El-Nino driven warm temps (for February that is!) and sunny skies...a perfect day to donate all of the proceeds of our 30 minute portrait sessions to a deserving cause.

100% of the proceeds from all of our donation-based sessions that day goes to help the children of Haiti. We raised over $1500.00 on Sunday!

This tickily moment brought to you by Portraits For Haiti....

Hugs for grampa brought to you by Portraits For Haiti.

And of course, this bench full of adorable wiggily grandkids brought to you by...Portraits For Haiti...Thank you SO MUCH to everyone involved...I'm so glad I got to capture these moments for you...

Back to editing all of these fabulous families' images!! Thank you everyone who made it out!

Senior Inspiration--Heck Yes!

Hi Everybody and big juicy HELLO to all the students out there!! I can't WAIT to see what we create for you SENIORS!

My big aim is to create an environment where you feel Comfortable, I feel Comfortable, and we can PLAY! Whether you LOVE having your picture taken or LOATHE it...haha nothing makes a difference like having an experienced pro goofily guiding your way. I rely on gut instinct and a rock solid knowledge of equipment and technique based on nearly 10 years of business, but you may just be surprised at how much I play during your shoot...and how much of it isn't stiff and static...

I make each shoot as unique as possible by talking with you and getting a feel for who you are, and what you are about. I LOVE taking your ideas and making them real for you...but rest assured, if you have NO IDEA what you want to do some of my best creative work has occurred in sessions with NO destination in particular in mind...


If you are one of the lucky ones who will receive one of my special FACEBOOK cards tonight, high tail it over to my "Julie Watts Photo" fan page and let's see what we can create together!! With packages ranging from $300-$2000, everyone can afford to have a fun experience and fantastic images of who you are right now...

What are you waiting for?! :)

xoxo,

Julie

Hi Everybody!

So much has happened so far this year... I am so glad! This can be a cold, dark, soggy time of the year, so I'm glad excitement is in the air. I have two international trips scheduled this year and some really open and fun brides and grooms that I'm excited to get to know better. First though, remember back in 2008 and Christine & Travis' Surprise Engagement "Portrait" Shoot?

I wanted to show you a few of my favorite images from Christine & Travis' WEDDING last September, because they are some of my favorite images ever...

It was a beautiful September Saturday in Puyallup, and Christine's dad just saw her as a bride for the first time. As he started to get a little emotionally overwhelmed, Christine responded by leading her pops in a few, deep breathes. It was absolutely beautiful to have watched this unfold. Yes, I live for getting the epic gorgeous shots of my brides and grooms, the kind of picture I wished I'd had of me as a bride, but THIS stuff below? These spontaneous moments of connection have grabbed my attention my whole life and this is one of those images I could look at over and over and not get bored of it.

There's so much expression in body language.

That's what you are really asking for when you ask me if I shoot a lot of candids, I think."Will there be spontaneous moments captured where our natural body language shows our deep connection?" That's what I hear when you ask me that.

Seconds after a totally inappropriate moment between brothers. ;)

I actually have another Photoshopped version of the one above of Christine where I filled in her hair between her bangs and her temple. But I thought it would be neat to see the original before any PS.

There's a HUGE bigtoy right behind Christine above!!

And sometimes images are 99% perfect but that last 1% happened to be front and center...oops!

Alright sometimes I'm writing the captions underneath the images and sometimes above. I think in spirals and have to fight that sometimes!!

Congratulations Christine & Travis! To see their slideshow, click here!

Portraits For Haiti

Hi Everybody! I don’t know one person who hasn’t been deeply touched and devastated in their own way due to the mind blowing earthquake that took place in Haiti just weeks ago. The footage of the mass destruction and the loss of lives is enough to keep me awake at night. The horror to have your husband/wife or worse yet, child missing or found dead, just turns my stomach. My heart goes to everyone involved but especially the children. Perhaps it’s because I myself am a mom, but I just can’t get the images of the injured and children out of my head. Already there were so many children who were deemed orphans before the quake hit but now the number of parent-less children is overwhelming.

I have spent the last 3 months writing snail mail letters to deployed soldiers, via the remarkable group Soldiers Angels.
It has been incredibly grounding for me and hopefully grounding for our deployed men and women. I haven't talked about it before now...I was doing it for me but I see how by spreading the word, you might think about writing to a soldier, too.

Well, the ravishing and talented Jenna Karowski of JFK Weddings asked if I would be willing to donate a day or portrait shooting to help the children of Haiti. My answer? Totally.

Myself along with some of my lovely photographer friends are coming together to put on a special portrait event to help raise money for the devastation in Haiti caused by the recent earthquake.
We are all giving our time and talents to do portrait sessions all day on Sunday February 21st, for donations. ALL proceeds will go directly to the cause.
If you have been thinking about getting professional pictures (your kiddo’s, family, senior, pictures with your sweetheart or anything else) done or if you haven’t had a chance to donate yet, this event is for you. We will be making 30 minute appointments for all day Sunday February 21st, 2010.
If you are interested in securing your portrait session please email me directly at PortraitsForHaiti@jfkstudios.com and I will promptly email you back with more information and get you scheduled. Appointments are being taken on a first come first serve basis and spots will fill up quickly, so email today!
Thank you to Jenna Karowski, Jessica Hanaumi, Emma Smith, Shannon Hodson & Amanda Mays for volunteering your time and talents to help make a difference!!

What I've Been Up To

Hi Everybody!

This time of year has always been a wonderful time of creative mixup mashup inside my head, and right now is no exception. Below are a few examples of what I've been up too while I'm not blogging...I'm off to Texas on Wednesday to shoot my cousin's wedding so today's blog is short.

I'm really into this quote from "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron...


"Being creative is different than living a creative life."


I am SO into living a creative life, but too much I think we get the two confused. Having to "be" creative is a sort of a judgment call, it brings pressure to mind because "being" creative to me is seen as something you either have or you don't. Obviously that's ridiculous because we are all creative by nature...creativity has a depth and a breadth that is far more than drawing or painting or singing or any of the traditional aspects I think of....to me, it's a relief to remember I can choose to live a creative life...that's a verb. I can DO that.

I got on the drums the other night with my ipod on. Sure there were other things to do. But I wanted to follow along and let Dave Grohl give me a private lesson...after about 45 minutes I needed a hearty drink of water! Later that night when we had a jam session, everybody agreed I rocked exceptionally hard...Brent laughs at what 45 minutes of practice does for me...and what's weird is that the feeling lasts...the feeling of honoring yourself, letting it all out, and having others recognize it is just extra confirmation, but it does feel good.

Is there something you've forgotten to do in a while? Is there a burning desire you're ignoring, living with a little tiny itch of dissatisfaction that you can't place? Be open to letting it creep it's way out from where it's hiding inside of you...even if your Inner Critic is telling you why you shouldn't. If it's too much, at least listen what your Inner Critic has to say...cause the truth is you have a right to living a creative life as much as any other beating heart that's ever beated.

Magical Lights

Hi Everybody!

Well it's December and I was stunned to hear my daughter say "Mom Christmas is in a week!"

Does that surprise you too? Or are you well aware of the date because you are eyeballing it on the calendar each day, hoping to keep everything together, your giving, your recieving, your joyful and grateful attitude..............yeah.........me too.

I'm glad to get the tree up right after Thanksgiving because Christmas is my favorite day of the year. It's pretty much always been my big SHE-bang since my birthday is the 26th. It lands on a saturday this year--yee haw! I have nothing planned. I don't want to miss out on an opportunity to insist the family all does something I've always wanted to make 'em do (you know how Moms are haha)...but I'm a little distractible so unless I write 'em down, I can never remember what all those epic things are unless I find them in my lil spiral notebook I carry with me whereever I go.

So while I'm pacing myself with my photography errands and items to complete (and I'm right on schedule), I'm going to share the spectacular view of Seattle last week at dusk...

Isn't it something else or what? I will always fawn at pretty lights :)

And just because I'm in the Holiday Mood, I thought I'd post a teaser of one of my weddings that has yet to be completed!! Do I EVER do that? No! Check out a peek of Carly & Erik's Seattle Wedding:

I hope to have it posted before I leave for San Francisco to celebrate with my amazing business coaches, Karen Buckley & Fay Freed at the Wisdom Connection...it's a quick weekend trip with an evening at our friends' Becca & Patrick's, and some wickedly fun shopping at Union Square downtown...

Do you wanna see what I've been shooting like crazy over the past month or so? Well when I get back I'll show ya! Til then, have some cocoa or eggnog and take it easy and feel the love this season.

Photographer Preview Success!

Hi Everybody!

I am about to leave to go drop off a wedding album(-oooh-which reminds me--I need to grab some quick shots of it before it goes to it's home)and off to a wedding rehearsal, the last wedding of the year...I LOVE winter weddings!

But first I wanted to post a few pics from the first ever Photographer's Preview night at Julie Watts Photo Studio. Check it out!

Okay so this was me before anybody showed up...I've got a sweet mirrored wall that is fun to play with when you are all set up and still have a few minutes to spare before people start showing up...it's safe to say we all had a great time...lots of talking and taking turns shooting Lindsay & Julian! It was a great way to start off my TWO events at the studio held back to back, Photographer's Preview and Client Appreciation Open House! And I could NOT have done it without the help of my secret weapon (and the secret weapon of many brides), Atiya Canley, owner, You Are The Star Wedding & Events!! http://www.youarethestarweddings.com/

You will be hearing more about her soon, as I have been kicking around the idea of having interviews here on the blog. I think that would be fun. I get to meet so many interesting people...it's one of the best parts about being a professional photographer...

Okay gotta run!!