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End of Season ReBoot

end of season reboot

By Enna Grazier

Enna has a deep love of big sky spaces, chocolate, and travel. She founded Inspire Photo Retreats (www.inspirephotoretreats.com) with the support of many talented and generous photographers, and now co-produces it with Mark Higgins and Eric Foley. Enna lives in New Hampshire and runs Grazier Photography (www.grazierphotography.com) a wedding photography studio with her husband Matt.

Enna in front of woodpile – “tintype by Matt Grazier”

It’s that most exhausting time of year for wedding photographers again: we are feeling the image fatigue, the muscle fatigue, and the ache of not having enough time for clients, friends, family, and self.

One of Enna’s favorite images from 2015. A quiet moment with the bride before her wedding ceremony.

I’ve learned over the years that I need to step back and re-group my visual self, my social life, and my physical body. Even though I’m swamped I’ve learned it’s important to set aside the task list and make time to look for new meaning, purpose, refresh my vision, my heart, and my body so that I can head into the next year’s booking season feeling inspire and motivated.

Enna is working on a book about food and regional ingredients with a local chef. The book features farmers, fishermen and women, and others who contribute to the local food community.

I follow a number of photojournalists on Instagram, and a comment by one of them caught my eye yesterday: Ed Kashi has photographed extensively in war zones over many years, and he posted a photo of a boy doing a pull-up on a tank. In telling the back-story of this image, he wrote “I’ve seen and photographed too much at this point in my life and seem to constantly be facing situations I’ve been in before.” While our work photographing in the extremely safe realm of weddings could hardly be compared to working in a war zone, this concept of image and experience fatigue rings true: this has a very real impact on our work as wedding photographers. [follow Ed Kashi on Instagram: @edkashi and search #icausebeautiful to see photos inspired by his challenge to image-makers to find purpose and meaning beyond the visual impact of an image.]

Reconnecting with old friends at Inspire Photo Retreat by Kate McElwee

In addition to the image fatigue, I find that this time of year I am, well, to be honest, a bit lonely. During the busy summer and autumn months I fall out of the loop in my own social networks – among photographers and non-photographer friends alike. It happens every year, but it still surprises me when I realize that the busy months of May through October have rolled by and I’ve had to decline almost every social invite that came in. Yes, introverts get lonely too!

So yeah, it’s time. My eyeballs need a reboot, my heart needs some cozying up to good friends, and my feet need a rest. I bought some orthotic shoes, and am working on an exciting personal photography project. But for the most part, the kind of healing/rest that I need happens in the heart. This is where friends come in. Lucky for me, many of my closest friends are also photographers, and they’re in the same boat as me!

Over the next month, you’ll find me having brunch with a group of moms who I met at last year’s Inspire Photo Retreat, cocktails with the local crew, and yes, scheduling a couple of “business” lunches with our favorite event planners.

Want to join me ‘virtually’ on this end of season reboot? Here’s my prescription:

Schedule an open-invite coffee or brunch at your local coffee shop
Do something that is for your physical wellness: a massage, a manicure, a walk in the woods… it doesn’t matter what it is, as long as it helps you get re-grounded in your body.
Find a creative work that inspires you: read, follow, do, make, listen… it doesn’t matter. And don’t force yourself to follow up and create, or make, or report, or do anything with this inspiration. Just soak in the experience and enjoy it.

These are truly simple acts, but they are guaranteed to help you get back on track after a busy season. What are your favorite ways to fill up the tank at the tail end of an exhausting season? -Enna Grazier.

Contact Enna-

Food & Field: www.ennagrazier.com

Wedding & personal commissions: www.grazierphotography.com

Photographer education: www.inspirephotoretreats.com

Posted on December 15, 2015 by ShootQ in Uncategorized