What a great seven years it’s been…

Hello there!

If you’re here for the short version of the story, here goes:

After seven years of photographing amazing people, I am moving on to another exciting adventure and putting my camera to use in a different way.  SO, it is bittersweet to say that this year will be my last year offering fall mini sessions.

When: October 27 (4-6:30) and November 17 (2-5)

Where:  Mint Springs Park

Sessions are 20 minutes long, cost is $225 for session and 5 high resolution files or $325 for session and all high res files (approx. 25).

Contact me at lindseyzovkophotography@gmail.com or via the contact button on the main page to sign up!

**Spaces are limited and will be booked on a first come, first serve basis with priority scheduling for previous clients until October 25.**

Want to hear the long story?:

Eight years ago this month, we found out were expecting our second child, the sign we’d been praying for when it came to knowing whether or not I’d be leaving my teaching career. Turns out that after thinking I’d never ever want to be a stay at home mom, my heart was telling me differently, and a near miss with a light fixture falling on me during a freak earthquake changed my life trajectory.

Even though the scene of it was kind of hilarious as told by my co workers – think crazy lady panicking while looking around deciding whether to leave the building or stay and then heavy metal light fixture falling from the ceiling as she bolts to the door like a wild animal – it rocked me to think a freak accident could have ended my life in that instant.  Which, as one does when they think they could have died, lead me to think “if today had been my last day on earth, would I have been happy with the way I spent it?”  And I had to admit it wouldn’t have been.  Don’t get me wrong, I loved my years of teaching and was fortunate to work in a great environment.  But it wasn’t ironic to me that the earthquake also happened to be the first day back to work after the summer break with Lily that made me realize that me spending time with her as she grew up – time I knew I couldn’t get back – was more important to me than anything else in the world.

Obviously leaving a steady paycheck is scary though, and in my mind I almost felt like we needed a real excuse.  Which leads to another non-ironic timing twist to the story: that summer Carl and I had started thinking it was time to maybe try for another baby, so naturally that night I went home and said that it was definitely time to try. And, if we were blessed with another child, we could take it as a sign that it was also time to leave teaching given that almost my entire paycheck would be going to daycare.

One month later, the test was positive, lots of doubt about my promise to listen to God’s sign ensued, tiny miracles showed up to give us hope that we were making the right choice, and we took the leap of faith that lead me leaving my job at the end of the school year.

How does this all play into photography?  Well, after a whole lifetime of being obsessed with photography/photographers, having Lily had finally given me the incentive to learn more and become an expert behind the camera.  So, when I wasn’t teaching, I was learning as much as I could about the craft and photographing not just Lily but anyone who’d let me.  That led me to photographing friends on the side just for fun.  Then, sweet said friends started offering to pay, giving me hope that I may actually be able to make money doing something I loved.

Fast forward to the summer where Harper was born, I was officially not going back to teaching but already having the itch to pursue photography as a career, and voila (with a side of some meltdowns and lots of “do you really think you can do this?!” thoughts), Lindsey Zovko Photography was born.  I started offering mini sessions, did newborn sessions with friend’s babes to build a portfolio, my first wedding job landed in my lap miraculously (Molly and Tim will forever be heroes in this career story for taking a chance on someone who’d never shot a single wedding)… and here I am today, feeling beyond grateful to have spent seven years photographing amazing people in beautiful times of life all while spending the time I’d hoped with my own family.

Which of course makes it sound weird that I’m leaving, but just as with teaching, I leave only with the best of feelings about my photography career. It blows my mind to think about the work I’ve been able to do: documenting the beginning of life, witnessing the start of many beautiful lifelong unions, watching those unions grow into families.  Then watching those children grow.  Not to mention the beautiful friendships that have come about through all of that.  To those of you who’ve entrusted me to tell freeze moments of your life with my camera, thank you from the bottom of my heart for the privilege it’s been to help preserve your story and family history.

And now in full circle fashion, I’m going to end my next to final blog post in the same way I did my first ever blog posts: sharing pictures of my own family.  Thankfully the editing quality is much improved (you can go take a peek a here to see for yourself), but the heart of why I ever began this photography journey is still there, and the message still the same: real life is beautiful and your story is worth telling.

Thank you again for the time and support you all have given me, and if you’re wondering about what’s next for me, scroll on down to the bottom for where to find me from here on out!

 

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nPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINGrateful for the memories above, but the ones below may just have to be my favorites: snapshots of a forever dream coming true. This February, with the support of an amazing husband and my favorite two side kicks, I began pursuing the life in flowers I’d been dreaming of for over a decade, another venture showing proof that all the cliches are true: the net does appear when you leap, the path becomes clear when you follow your heart, and the real adventure starts at the end of your comfort zone.  I’d also add in the lesson I want my girls to always remember: you don’t have to be just one thing in this life, you can have lots of career dreams to fulfill, and it’s always okay to change direction as you grow.  Paraphrasing the great F. Scott Fitzgerald here, “it’s never to late to be whoever you want to be.”

Follow more of this story on instagram @liliharpflowers, and I’ll be posting one last time here once the new website is updated as to how you may still be able to have me as part of your wedding day and special life moments from here on out.  But if flowers just aren’t ever going to be your thing, please don’t stay a stranger! I’d still love to keep in touch and see you grow.

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