Got a Question: Email Jen at jen@jenosullivan.com
LEARN SOMETHING NEW!

PHOTO TIPS
Using Clean Light
Bounced Light
Diffusing Flash Photography
Passion Is Everything
Window Lighting
Darkening Day
Lens Flare
Be a Copy Cat
Catching the Moment
Cocktail Hour Candids
Getting It All Done
Senior Portraits (To The Senior)
How to get an “A”
Image Concepting
Composition Basics
Tangancies
Framing
Angle of Vision
Reflections
Foreground Background Relationships
Depth of Field

WORKFLOW
Photo Actions for Watermarks
Surveys and Feedback
RAW vs. JPEG
Black and White Conversions
Photo Actions for Watermarks
Blogging
Free PhotoShop Actions
Batteries
Group Portraits
Shooting Singles
Paper Cutters
Computers
Album Design: Principles and Elements of Design
Album Design: Printers and Binders
Album Design Tricks
Adobe RGB vs. sRGB
Post-Production Services
Printing
Proper Image Labeling
Creating Categories for Online Wedding Previews
Archiving
Staying Healthy

TECHNIQUE
Bounced Light
Shutter Drag
CF Card System
Tips to Give Your Clients For Great Photos
Interior Photography
Irrational Composition
Going Unnoticed
Camera Handling
The Beginning
Portrait Lighting Using Reflectors
Studio Strobe Lighting
The Magic Hour
Camera Control
Manual Camera Operation
Understanding ISO
ISO Offenders
Custom Function 4 (focus tracking using the * button)
Canon EOS 500D Rebel T1i
Best Starter Camera For Your Money
Understanding Lenses
Sigma 50mm 1.4 EX DG HSM Lens
Printers
Hard Drives
Tripods
The Essentials

STUDIO BUSINESS PRACTICE
Your Identity
Branding Yourself
Picking a URL
Your Email Address
Surveys and Feedback
Retouching
Insurance
Etiquette
What’s In a Name?
Be a Pro Photographer
Pricing
Client Profiling
Contract Writing
Terms of Service (Copyable text for your contracts.)
Writing a Business Plan
Creating a Theme
Belief Setting
Goal Setting
Creating Your Catch Phrase
Portrait Studios
Assisting
Assistant Wages

MARKETING
Who’s Your Market?
Doing Charity
Branding Yourself
SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
Who’s On Your Team?
Got Print
Staying Connected
Custom Booklets
Twitter
Promo Printing

Copyright © 2012 by Jen O’Sullivan http://www.jenosullivan.com

Beverly Hills Wedding Photographer, Jen O’Sullivan is a boutique wedding photographer who specializes in portrait journalism.

489 South Robertson Boulevard, Suite 200, Beverly Hills, California 90211 ~ 120 West Bellevue Drive, Suite 20, Pasadena, CA 91105

jen@jenosullivan.com ~ 310-890-8174

First and foremost: Forget what other photographers tell you about fill flash. The effect is ugly. Why? Because your flash is not a full strobe. Well, it is, but it is not a studio strobe light that is large. You do not have a soft box that is 3 feet wide. The only way you can make your on-camera flash into something decent when out doors is to have your assistant carry around a white board to bounce it off of. I find this to be a little obtrusive when I am trying to shoot intimate portraits.
So,

Off Topic Tip #1
Never use an on camera flash if you have natural daylight.
Ok, there is always the exception so here it is:

Exception: Sunset shots on the fly
This is called: OVERPOWERING DAYLIGHT
How to: Camera set to Manual
Camera Mode: Manual
Flash Mode: Manual with High Sync on

1. Position your subject so you can see South, South-East, or Eastern sky, or you can do this at sunset as seen to the left.
2. Take ambient light reading and set your exposure.
3. Stop down your aperture by 1-2 stops, speed up your shutter speed by 1-3 stops.
4. Take a test shot and balance exposure on your subject with your flash power and/or your aperture.
5. Adjust sky darkness with your shutter speed. (Usually at about 1/500 sec is normal.)

Tip to remember: You need to have lots of sky in the background for this effect to work nicely. The flash exposure will be adjusted by your aperture while the background sky exposure will be adjusted by your shutter speed. Also, try to keep your flash to the side. I had my assistant hold the flash about 3 feet to the right of me. It makes the light less flat.

If you are NOT shooting a sunset shot…

Tip #1
Diffuse your flash
The quickest, easiest way to diffuse your flash light, other than to get tricky with bouncing it off walls (which is preferable in many situations) is to put a swanky little omni bounce cap on and set your flash to 45 degrees. The very last part of that sentence is what is important: “set your flash to 45 degrees.” Many people do not understand that the way to properly use their cap is precisely that way. I see many pro shooters with the cap on their flash and the flash cocked straight at the people at a 90 degree angle. Light travels straight through and will still render the same look as with it off. By placing it at a 45 degree angle, the flash will light up the cap and glow in several directions creating a slightly softer light.

Tip #2
Camera and Flash Basic Settings
Set your Camera to Manual and your flash to TTL
The rest is history. You can decide what aperture you need and what shutter speed you need. FORGET YOUR LIGHT METER. Your flash will fire the correct power.

Tip #3
Camera Specific Settings
That being said, if you are a dumb dumb and have NO CLUE about exposure and you set your camera to Manual at f22 with your shutter at 1/125, then I doubt your flash will work property. Why? If it is dark out  your flash will not be able to handle pumping out that much power. Keep your settings at or around this: (THIS IS BIG! SO WRITE THIS DOWN!) f2.8-4.0 at 1/6-1/30
APERTURE
If you have a lens that goes down to 1.2 to 1.8 do not shoot wide open if you are shooting an event. Yes, your batteries will last forever, and yes, you will pick up more ambient light, but you WILL miss most of your shots. At an event people are moving. Use your head. If you are shooting something in low low light and no one is moving, by all means shoot wide open. I bet you money you will still miss several shots (meaning they will be out of focus.) Trust me on this one, just stop down a bit. I find that 2.8 – 4.0 works perfectly.
SHUTTER
Your flash will pump out the brightness that is needed based on what aperture you set.
Your shutter however is picking up whatever ambient light there is. If you shoot too high (most people shoot flash shots at 1/125) your backgrounds will be dark and you will catch shots that look like everyone else’s point and shoot cameras.
Your job is to balance the light. If you have a newer camera (something purchased AND built in the last year) you can use your ISO to get better ambient light. You can shoot at higher shutter speeds to you do not get motion blur or shutter drag by upping your ISO. If you own an older model camera (first version 5D, first version 1D) you cannot use your ISO. For the best looking shots shoot at only ISO 100 (or 200 if that is the lowest your camera will go.) I have a newer camera and I still keep my ISO to 100. Occasionally I will raise it but I generally try to shoot at 100 as much as I can. I honestly think people who shoot entire events at high ISOs are LAME! Okay, you may think, that’s a little harsh. But honestly, I HATE any and all forms of digital noise in color images. Even if it is slight. HATE IT!!! So, if you want your images to look gritty and I am not talking beautiful film grain look, then by all means, crank up your ISO.

Tip #4
Shutter Drag (Tungsten Blur)
Camera Mode: Manual
Flash Mode: TTL (no need to use Slow Synch)

1. Take ambient light reading and set your shutter exposure (Normally around 1/3 to 1/15 sec. with aperture wide open)
2. Subject should have little to no light on them
3. Adjust ambient exposure with shutter speed. The slower you get, the more “drag” you will get.

There you have it. Hopefully you can try some of these things but remember: practice practice practice. Understanding light takes a lot more looking at light than it does reading about it. Enjoy!

All of the above shots were taken using and Omni Bounce flash cap except where noted for the little girl.

Also, please get your terminology right. The circles are NOT Bokeh (Correct spelling is Boke, photographers added the “h” so people would say it correctly however people still mispronounce it. The correct pronunciation is like bouquet just without they yay at the end. BO KE with equal pronunciation on both syllables. The term is derived from the Japanese word boke that means fuzzy or hazy. Literally meaning someone who is senile or fuzzy in the head. I personally do not like lumping boke with Circles of Confusion. They are very different, however on many free online sites that describe boke, are lumping in Circles of Confusion in with boke. Photographers who are lovers of true boke will describe it to you like the smoothest buttery look of an out of focus area. It almost looks touchable. Like super soft suede. So, take it as you like, but to me, Circles of Confusion have nothing to do with truly GREAT boke. (Jen’s 2 cents!)

To see a live webcast on this subject click HERE.

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Copyright © 2010 by Jen O’Sullivan http://www.jenosullivan.com

Beverly Hills Wedding Photographer, Jen O’Sullivan is a boutique wedding photographer who specializes in portrait journalism.

Jen O’Sullivan Boutique Wedding Photography | 357 South Robertson Boulevard, Beverly Hills, California, 90211 | 310-494-6547

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Copyright © 2010 by Jen O’Sullivan http://www.jenosullivan.com
Beverly Hills Wedding Photographer, Jen O’Sullivan is a boutique wedding photographer who specializes in portrait journalism.
Jen O’Sullivan Boutique Wedding Photography | 357 South Robertson Boulevard, Beverly Hills, California, 90211 | 310-494-6547

Doing a bridal show can be one of the most exhilarating things you do. I am literally on a high when I come back from the, and no, I don’t mean a sugar high from all the cake. There is so much energy surrounding shows: talking to brides, meeting new specialists, seeing old friends. If you have never done one, I encourage you to read on. If you always do them, I also encourage you to read on. There are so many things I have learned over the years of doing shows and I ALWAYS see other vendor not making the most of it. So, from start to finish, here are my tips.
There are three things I will be going over.

1. The Research. Find the right show for you.
2. The Show. Be prepared but don’t over do it.
3. The Aftermath. Follow through immediately.

THE RESEARCH

1. Check out the calendar for upcoming shows on Wedding Wire.

2. Try before you buy. Literally go to as many shows as you can. They are all so different.

3. When you are at the show really pay attention to what types of brides are in attendance?

4. Ask yourself, “Who is YOUR bride?” Really figure this one out.
How old is she. Are her parents still married? Is family important? What is her style? What kind of clothing does she where? Where does she shop? What kind of car does she drive? What are her personality traits? Is she a college grad, currently in college, an artists, etc.? Is she paying for your services or are her parents? If her parents are, what type of people are they?

THE SHOW

1. Be prepared but don’t over do it.

2. Your work should look clean and should be free of excess (unless of course you are an over the top event designer, then by all means go for it.)

3. Show your personality.

4. Have some sort of draw in. Moving Visuals, Photo booth, cake (yum!).

5. Don’t worry about free giveaways. They are, for the most part, a waste of time. However, if you want to give something away or participate in the swag bag, see photos above and below for ideas.

6. ALWAYS capture their information. Names, wedding date, venue, budget, emails, phone, address, something specific you need to follow up with them about.

7. Don’t give out your price sheet. Tell them an estimate.

8. Give them a reason to contact you again.

Inside tips:
- Brides are usually marked, guests are usually marked, and vendors are usually marked.
- Be open to EVERYONE. You never know who you are going to meet. You cannot judge people based on what they look like. Most people who do not have money dress like they do and those who do dress like they don’t.
- When a bride walks up talk about HER, not you. This is the #1 mistake other vendors make ALL THE TIME.
- When you capture their information be thorough. Ask questions. When they leave fill in the blanks.
- Bring a laptop to capture their info.
- Look professional and stylish. Wear something dressier than you normally would to shoot.
- Stand in front of your table to the side. Never sit behind it looking up. You will look weak if you sit all day.
- Bring an assistant that looks the part. Someone who is personable and knows your products and services.
- Hold back some information so you have a reason to contact them.
- Set up early and then walk the show and collect EVERY vendor’s card only. Forget about all their marketing materials. Also, if you can, bring your camera and have each vendor pose in front of their booth then take a few detail shots of their display.
- DO NOT TEAR DOWN EARLY. If the show ends at 4pm you should be tearing down at 4:05. Here is why… I always seem to meet someone who is late to the show and is looking to talk wedding right at the end. If I tear down, I will be unprepared. Also, you paid to be there, take advantage of every second.

THE AFTERMATH

1. Follow through immediately.

2. Take your captured list that very evening and send out an email to each of the QUALIFIED brides you spoke with. Write something like this:

Hi Julie, It was such a pleasure meeting you and Brett. Here is a link to the engagement website for my clients and the sample photobooth photos I was telling you about. I know you will love them! Let me know if you would like to set up a time to chat more about your wedding. It already sounds like it will be a wonderful party!
Enjoy this season in your life! These are exciting times.
Jen

3. Write and mail them a hand written note and include your promotional materials.

4. Upload any images you took at the show and load them to your blog.
- Email all the brides as well as the vendors a link to your site first.
- Load the same images on Facebook. Each image should be watermarked with your logo as well as fully marked with ALL your contact info. Invite everyone (brides and vendors) to connect on Facebook and then tag them as they accept your connection.

5. Start a data base of your contacts in Excel. Contact them with an email asking for their birthday and mailing address if it was not on their card. At the end of their line, place the show at which you met them and anything that can jog your memory about them.

6. Mail them a “nice to meet you” card and include ONE business card along with one or two 4×6 or 5×7 prints from the show of their booth along with a DVD of the imagery. I include every image. Please be mindful, I do not do this for EVERY vendor. Just the ones I would like to start a relationship with or whom I would like to continue an existing relationship.

7. Contact the show producer and offer your images to them as a trade for entry at no cost the next time. This is for you newbies out there. If you are already an established photographer, you should ALWAYS do a trade at the beginning. If you are a well established shooter, negotiating a trade for the show fee is a good way to go.

8. Track your sales. I tend to go by the 4 to 1 rule. For every 1 dollar I spend advertising, I want to get 4 in return. However this does not translate my actual marketing budget. I spend next to nothing on advertising. BUT, if I do a show and it costs me $5,000 to do it, I need to make $20,000 from that show. Now, how can you track this. The rule of thumb for marketing states that you need to be seen or heard by someone 7 times before they will actual buy what you are selling. This is true and false in the wedding industry because you are selling based on emotion.

All in all, have fun. Be open and enjoy all the energy!

For a download of the live lecture, please email me at jen@jenosullivan.com

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Copyright © 2010 by Jen O’Sullivan http://www.jenosullivan.com
Beverly Hills Wedding Photographer, Jen O’Sullivan is a boutique wedding photographer who specializes in portrait journalism.
Jen O’Sullivan Boutique Wedding Photography | 357 South Robertson Boulevard, Beverly Hills, California, 90211 | 310-494-6547

1. Turn and Burn  2. Artistically Valued

The first is obvious and usually sloppy. The second implies too much time and noodling. I stay away from the turn and burn although sometimes things just need to be handed over quickly. I just photographed some invitations for Mistyka of Special Occasions and they needed them asap. They wanted me to just give them the photos straight from my camera and have me shoot in JPEG. I had to draw the line by telling them they would have them within 24 hours because I never shoot JPEG. Even though 99% of everything I shoot has minimal work done to enhance the photos I still like to make sure the photos I give clients are the best ones and they are color balanced and exposure corrected. Those of you who feel like the 20 hours you spend “artistically valuing” the 1 hour photo shoot you did for an engagement session should quit now and just put a sign up that says “will work for food.” What kills me even more (and has nothing to do with post production) are those people who give their potential clients 3-4 hour consults. Just keep throwing your money out the window. Anyhow, back to post production. We need to have a happy medium when it comes to working jobs. My rule of thumb is to try to keep my post to the number of hours worked. So, if I shoot an 8 hour event, my post production time is around 8 hours. Many shooters will tell you to work about half the time in post that it took you to shoot. I find that to be impossible if you include EVERYTHING other than the album design. We are talking about downloading the files, deleting bad images, color correcting, exposure correcting, and full enhancements on 60-100 images for online including watermarking, loading to my blog, loading to Facebook and tagging people. Then loading the full suite of images (for me that number is around 1500 for a full wedding) to an online viewing and ordering company. I use SmugMug. If you are able to do all that in 4 hours, PLEASE tell me how. I recently purchased RPG Keys and will be trying it out this season so I will give you the verdict soon but I am skeptical about it cutting my time in half. I am hoping to shave maybe 2 hours off my edit time. There is a lot of care that goes into post, but you also have to draw the line. I do not go back and re-evalutate images over and over. I do not give my clients multiple edits of the same image (it says that you are wishy washy and cannot decide how the image needs to look.) I do not fix every blemish and wrinkle on the bride (just on my main picks for my blog post.) I do not us preset enhancements or textures on my photos. Anything that is popular today will not be tomorrow. Wedding photography should be classic and timeless. I really think the textures on photos that is popular today are fun and sometimes work really well, however not on every photo. Come up with your own style and create your own look. Don’t follow others look by adding their prefab textures and stylized elements to your photos. Your work should stand on its own. YOU decide what your imagery should look like. Over time you will develop a signature look. Stick with it. Your clients will trust you more. Okay, enough ranting. Just remember to evaluate how much time you are actually spending on each job. Do it right. Do it well. But don’t get stuck archiving one job for too long or I promise you, you will learn to hate photography and that, my friend is no good for anyone!

(see below photo for how my actual archive system works.)

Post Production Workflow with Jen O’Sullivan from Jen O’Sullivan on Vimeo.

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Copyright © 2010 by Jen O’Sullivan http://www.jenosullivan.com
Beverly Hills Wedding Photographer, Jen O’Sullivan is a boutique wedding photographer who specializes in portrait journalism.
Jen O’Sullivan Boutique Wedding Photography | 357 South Robertson Boulevard, Beverly Hills, California, 90211 | 310-494-6547

My muse, JT. His smile is infectious!

You may be at a point in your career where you are juggling too much, or you can’t seem to keep things together, or you are just getting burned out. I will have to warn you, you will not like some of the things I have to say. If you can be honest with yourself, please be willing to try some of the things I will tell you. I understand that everyone is busy, busy, busy. I respect others workflow because everyone is different. HOWEVER, I always laugh a little to myself when people complain about how busy they are because of my own business. Just to give you some insight into my world: I own 4 successful businesses (Jen O’Sulivan Photo, Wedding And Event Specialists, Little Book Bindery, ASAP Mentoring). You know what my photo business is, however I also teach bookbinding to over 180 students a year at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. Wedding And Event Specialists is a person to person network organization in Beverly Hills and ASAP Mentoring is a year round photography school where I mentor 12 full time students, do weekly lectures, and host shootouts and workshops once a month. I teach a High School class at Flintridge Preparatory in La Canada and a College class at College of the Canyons in Valencia. I am a mom of a 2 year old and wife. I am pretty traditional when it comes to my family. I take care of most of the household duties (meals, shopping, keeping things clean) and kid duties. I have child care for 10 hours a week but otherwise I am the full time child care provider. So, yes, I laugh just a little when someone complains to me about being too busy.
The number one question I get asked ALL THE TIME is, “How do you do it all?” Here is the short answer: I love EVERYTHING I do.
Here is the long answer:

It comes down to 10 important areas that I try to keep up. I don’t keep up with what everyone else is doing. I do what is right for me; what keeps me going and is not toxic to my life. These areas are my health, spirituality, spouse, children, home, extended family, clients, colleagues, friends, and community.

(This post will be broken up into 12 posts.)

Click HERE to read how I tackle the HEALTH issue.

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Copyright © 2010 by Jen O’Sullivan http://www.jenosullivan.com
Beverly Hills Wedding Photographer, Jen O’Sullivan is a boutique wedding photographer who specializes in portrait journalism.
Jen O’Sullivan Boutique Wedding Photography | 357 South Robertson Boulevard, Beverly Hills, California, 90211 | 310-494-6547

One of my dinners at a wedding. Vegans are so difficult!

Part 2 of the 12 part series on balancing your life.

Out of the 10 main areas of concern when it comes to balancing your life, I listed HEALTH first because when you are down and out so is everything else in your life. Literally. Think about your home. If one person gets sick, they tend to bring the whole household down with them. And when that happens there will be a major loss in workflow and productivity. Here is what you need to do. GET HEALTHY. The number one reason most of you are not healthy has nothing to do with your ability to run up a flight of stairs or do 100 sit ups. It has everything to do with the crap you are fueling your body with. Here is where you may start to hate me just a bit.

You cannot drink coffee. Not one single cup. Caffeine saps your energy. Even drinking decaf. Tea is bad too. The only thing is herbal tea. That is it. No soda. No sports drinks. Definitely no energy drinks. All these things put chemicals, sugar, and yuck into your system. Your body then expends energy trying to figure out what to do with it. It saps your energy AND your immune system. Water. That’s it. Juice is fine too if you are a juicer straight from the fruit or vegetable. Anything else is worthless. Why? It is called pasteurization. Most drinkable liquids from natural substances like juice and milk need to be processes so as to reduce the number or pathogenic micro-organisms. This process will also most of the vital nutrients your body needs leaving whatever you are drinking somewhat useless. How the companies get around this is they will fortify the drink with vitamins and minerals that were lost in the pasteurization process bringing it all back to where it was when the process began. But is it really back? Not quite. Nutrients work together synergistically and mother nature got it right the first time.

The only way to ensure you are getting the right nutrients is a diet high in raw fruits and veggies. So, seriously, who has time for that. I try all the time to eat well when I can. You may know that I was vegan for the last year and am now vegetarian meaning I eat cheese and ice cream sometimes. Mostly my goal throughout the week is to eat as raw as I can. Nuts, dried fruit, whole fruit, lots of salad with just veggies (no cheese or creamy dressing). This may sound hard, but I will tell you I used to eat steak 3 times a week and a glass of milk every night. I was also a size 12 and tired all the time. I am not saying vegetarianism is for everyone however I am saying you should consider lowering your intake of animal proteins to 5% of your total food intake.

Let’s say this is not an option for you. My husband would laugh me out of the house if I tried to enforce this (although I have gotten him to regularly eat meatless meatballs.) WARNING: I am going to sell you something. Juice Plus+ It is what my entire family is on. You take it instead of your vitamins because it is a food vitamin rather than an isolated man made vitamin. I can tell you with certainty that this one product alone is why I am as healthy as I am. It is why my son of 27 months has only gotten one cold his entire life even with weekly trips to one of the most viral places on earth, Disneyland. If you want to check into it, go to http://www.jenlovesjuiceplus.com I am not trying to make any money off you rather I want you to be informed about something I swear by. I will never not take Juice Plus+ because my business and family depend on me.

Take your health seriously. Become an advocate for your body. You only have one.

Click HERE to learn how I tackle the SPIRITUALITY issue.

Click HERE to go back to the beginning of this topic.

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Copyright © 2010 by Jen O’Sullivan http://www.jenosullivan.com
Beverly Hills Wedding Photographer, Jen O’Sullivan is a boutique wedding photographer who specializes in portrait journalism.
Jen O’Sullivan Boutique Wedding Photography | 357 South Robertson Boulevard, Beverly Hills, California, 90211 | 310-494-6547

Your spirituality is something between you and yourself, you and your God. I cannot tell you where you should or should not be spiritually because we are each on a different path. I can only tell you how I live. I am a Christian. I don’t judge others. I choose to love everyone where they are. I have a pretty active prayer life. I read my bible. I spend time with God. The time I spend helps me to stop, slow down, reconnect, and reassess where I am in life. If you are not a spiritual person I would like to recommend you start going on thankwalks. Take a fifteen minute walk around your neighborhood and with each step in rhythm only say what you are thankful for or are blessed with in your life. No ifs ands or buts. Just pure gratitude. If you can do this in the morning your whole day will be better for it.

Click HERE to read how I tackle the SPOUSE issue.

Click HERE to go back to the beginning of this topic.

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Copyright © 2010 by Jen O’Sullivan http://www.jenosullivan.com
Beverly Hills Wedding Photographer, Jen O’Sullivan is a boutique wedding photographer who specializes in portrait journalism.
Jen O’Sullivan Boutique Wedding Photography | 357 South Robertson Boulevard, Beverly Hills, California, 90211 | 310-494-6547

The love of my life and High School Sweetheart, Tim.

Part 4 of the 12 part series on balancing your life.

Part of keeping a balanced life is to remember your spouse is your partner. He or she is not your slave, not your dumping ground, not your back-up plan. You need to be as much a support to them as they are to you. Talk with them. Ask your spouse how you can support them and tell them how they can support you. It might surprise you. I know that the best way to keep my relationship happy with my husband is simply to keep our house clean. That’s it. Really, in a nut shell, men are quite simple when it comes to their needs. There are pretty much two things he needs and he is good. You can guess the second one. We also try to go to lunch together without Jacob. I think too often parents use their kids as buffers until one day they wake up and don’t really know each other anymore. As a wife, I take my role very seriously and you should too. Having relationship problems with your spouse is a sure fire way to get depressed and become highly unproductive.

Click HERE to read how I tackle the CHILDREN issue.

Click HERE to go back to the beginning of this topic.

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Copyright © 2010 by Jen O’Sullivan http://www.jenosullivan.com
Beverly Hills Wedding Photographer, Jen O’Sullivan is a boutique wedding photographer who specializes in portrait journalism.
Jen O’Sullivan Boutique Wedding Photography | 357 South Robertson Boulevard, Beverly Hills, California, 90211 | 310-494-6547

My little man, JT playing at our park.

Part 5 of the 12 part series on balancing your life.

My biggest fear is becoming THAT parent.  The one who is always working to better their spouses and kids lives only never to experience it with them because they are always working. The one who is constantly on their smart phone in the car, at the restaurant, texting, and emailing away. The one who is always on the computer who says “just one more minute” and then takes 30. Okay, so I have to admit, it happens from time to time. I am well aware of it and my goal is to always jump off the computer when my kid wants attention. This is hard if you have a home office.

Here is some advice. Have scheduled time with your kids that is just theirs. Don’t tell them this or it will become trite to them. You need to physically schedule them in and then do nothing. Leave your phone at home or in your car. Just hang out with them. I take Jacob to the park, the zoo, Disneyland. When I do work, I try to make sure he is busy with a project and when he gets bored I play with him. The other thing I have done is to have a mother’s helper. Part of the 10 hours a week that I have a babysitter/nanny I am also home. That way it is like a play date for Jacob with the nanny. He knows I am upstairs getting work done but I often come downstairs for a few minutes to kiss on him. I want to be a mom who is present. I am protective over this time. Tim and I take Jacob on outings all the time. We have “family day” 3 days a week where we do something fun together. If you do not set time aside for this you will be truly sad when your child is all grown up and you cannot remember his or her milestones because you were simply not there.

Click HERE to read how I tackle the HOME issue.

Click HERE to go back to the beginning of this topic.

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Copyright © 2010 by Jen O’Sullivan http://www.jenosullivan.com
Beverly Hills Wedding Photographer, Jen O’Sullivan is a boutique wedding photographer who specializes in portrait journalism.
Jen O’Sullivan Boutique Wedding Photography | 357 South Robertson Boulevard, Beverly Hills, California, 90211 | 310-494-6547