A Personal Battle: Living with OCD

/

I don't usually get quite this personal on my blog, but what the heck—sometimes you just have to put yourself out there and trust that it will be for a good reason. Besides, it's entirely possible that someone may even find what you have to say helpful, encouraging, or even—dare I say it?—inspiring. I hope that's the case.

The truth is—I have a confession to make. I am far from perfect. (Well geez... Don't act so surprised!) It's a well known fact that no one is perfect, but that doesn't stop us from trying, does it? I'm as guilty as anyone else when it comes to thinking that I might actually be Super Woman, but the universe has an annoyingly stubborn way of reminding us that we're all human.

I run a successful business. I'm a published author. I have a wonderful family and a rich life filled with more rewarding experiences than I could count, which I wouldn't trade for the world. But alone, in the privacy of my own mind, I'm waging war—fighting a constant battle against Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

More than a torturous condition that very few people understand, OCD is listed by the World Health Organization as one of the top 10 most debilitating disorders around. Having kept my battle private for more than 22 years, I've decided to open up and go public in an effort to help others and spread awareness after a recent and especially bad flare up that began in October of 2011 (just as Emir and I left on our bike tour) and roared to epic proportions this past February as we got serious about wanting to start a family. The reinvigorated battle lead to my recent TEDx talk called, "Anything is Possible, and That's the Problem. Or is It?"

The talk explores the ways in which our beliefs shape our realities (however distorted they may be), and how we can all benefit from a wider perspective and more balanced thinking. Check it out:

If you or someone you know is suffering, it's easy to end up in a very dark place if the OCD goes untreated. Find a therapist (who specializes in OCD), ask your doctor about medication, and get some good books. These are my personal favorites:

When in Doubt, Make Belief by Jeff Bell Part memoir, part therapy, this is a great place to start.

Devil in the Details by Jennifer Traig An intelligent and tragically hilarious memoir.

Nowhere Near Normal by Traci Foust Another eye-opening (brilliantly written and humorous while simultaneously tragic) memoir that helps to put things in perspective.

Perhaps I'll share more details of my own battle someday in a future blog post, but for now here are some things worth knowing:

  • OCD is not a personality trait. Preferring to sort your closet by color, alphabetize your music collection, or keep your house exceptionally tidy because it makes you happy—is not a symptom of OCD.
  • Statistically, there are people in your life who have OCD and hide it well. Share this post and these links. Spread awareness.
  • There are a number of highly successful and creative people who have gone public with their OCD including: David Beckham, Justin Timberlake, Cameron Diaz, Megan Fox, and Leonardo DiCaprio (who famously played another famous OCD sufferer, Howard Hughes in "Aviator,"). Super geniuses Nikola Tesla and Albert Einstein are also thought to have suffered from OCD.
  • Although there is no cure, symptoms can be managed with medication and/or therapy. If you know someone who suffers, encourage them to get help. It can get better!
  • Learn more here.

Album Design Webinar: TOMORROW!

/

Spend an hour with me tomorrow—and shave boatloads of hours off your album design time. (Yes, I said boatloads.)

No previous InDesign experience necessary. I'll be teaching from the ground up.

Here's some of things people have said about my InDesign workshops in the past:

“I watched your InDesign tutorial today…in the time it took me to design two pages in Photoshop, I’m almost done with an entire album. Why did I wait so long to try this????” — Nicole Neff

"I attended your platform class and it was indeed life changing.  Now I'm using InDesign to design my albums and it's so easy and quick. Thanks!!" —Emilie

"I just wanted to let you know how much I LOVED your platform class!!  It was seriously the best class I went too!  I took away more applicable knowledge than I have in years!  You kept it fun and interesting and educational, always following it up with a smile!  Love it!  :)" —Jamie

Join me at 1pm central (2pm est) right here.

FaceBook Timeline Cover Design

/

If you've been looking to spruce up your FaceBook timeline cover, this post is for you! I have a tutorial coming down the pipes to show you exactly how to build your own using InDesign, but for now, you can download this InDesign Facebook timeline cover template that I created, and start having fun right away!

Note: Opening the template file requires InDesign CS4 or newer.

New to InDesign and don't have a clue how to use it? Learn the basics and be up and running in less than an hour with my InDesign tutorial video. Bonus: Save 10% with the code CRAZYFAST.

 

Downloading Photos from Your iPhone without iTunes

/

As much as I love Apple, I do not love managing/downloading my photos with iTunes or iPhoto. But—I also don't want 3 years worth of images bogging down my phone. What's a girl to do? Turns out, Mac users can easily bypass iTunes by using Preview. Just plug in your phone, launch Preview, and choose File>Import from iPhone.

Once the images are downloaded, you can also use Preview to batch delete photos from your iPhone. Pretty sweet, eh?

Now that you have tons more space for tons more photos, get out there and get to it already! :)

PS: Looking for more photo fun? Check out my post on how to give your mobile photos a life beyond Instagram and Facebook.

PSS: Windows user? Check out this great post made just for you!

Making Time for Creativity

/

One of the mistakes I made early in my business, was forgetting to budget time into my schedule for myself to recharge, recalibrate, and dare I say it—relax. I was shooting like a maniac on every day of the week, with multiple sessions per day and one or two weddings every weekend. Ba—nanas.

This went on for about three years before I finally got my act together. When I think back to that time, I still can't quite figure out how I managed to hold it all together, but I'm grateful that I was able to grow from the experience.

These days, I have a much better grip on things and regularly make it a point to give myself lots of breathing room for all kinds of passion projects—photo related and otherwise. While it's not always easy to look at your calendar and simply draw a big ol' line through days, weeks, or even months at a time, it's one of the most rewarding things you can do for yourself. The payoffs can come in the form of increased focus, new and expanded ideas, and of course—creativity.

Recharging my batteries also means that I'll have more time, attention, and energy to devote to clients, enabling me to provide them with the best possible experience.

Like most things, if you don't allocate time for "taking time off," it's unlikely to happen. With this in mind, I've blocked out the rest of 2012 to devote time to several writing projects, travel, teaching, and hopefully—lots of nephew squeezing. :) I look forward to sharing my adventures along the way!

Before you go, check out this TED Talk from Stefan Sagmeister who shares the value he's found in routinely taking an entire year "off."

Love Shoot: Jared + Leigh

/

Leigh, Jared, and I welcomed one of the first officially "cooler" days of fall with an engagement session in celebration of their upcoming July wedding. It may very well be 100+ degrees the next time I have these two in front of my lens, but it'll still be a walk in the park as Leigh's feathers are impressively slow to ruffle. Not only was it pretty darn chilly out during yesterday's session, but we walked a million miles (and Leigh did it all in heels!), and—sadly, we eventually lost the balloons we were so excited to shoot with. (Surprisingly, even weighing them down with a hand-weight wasn't enough to overpower the wind.) Thankfully, we managed to work the balloons in early on....

Can't wait for their big day—working with these two is such a breeze! ;)

Workflow + Album Design: creativeLIVE Wrap-Up

/

Wow. The entire crew over at creativeLIVE is on their game like nobody's business. They make magic happen on a daily basis, and—they make it look easy.

For those of you who aren't familiar with creativeLIVE and how it works, they offer entirely FREE online workshops, broadcast over the internet to anyone in the world with a connection. If you enjoy the course and want to keep it for future reference, you can purchase it for immediate download (which often includes some bonus goodies too).

They're quickly taking the whole world by storm, and I am beyond honored to have had the opportunity to be part of the fun and witness their collective genius in action. (Group hug!)

I shared my approach to wedding workflow and album design, detailing how for the past 3 years, I've managed to edit a full wedding (and design the album) in 8 hours or less, getting everything back to clients within a week of their wedding. I've been teaching variations of this topic for a few years, and there are always some folks who think I'm making the whole thing up. :) To put an end to any doubts you may have, at the end of Day 2, you can watch  me design a full 40-pg album (entirely from scratch in InDesign), start to finish—in 35 minutes. LIVE and on-camera.

Think I'm kidding? Get the course and see for yourself! ;)

Here's a wrap-up from the end of Day 1: (Huge shout out to the entire creativeLIVE crew and everyone who tuned in to be part of the world-wide magic... Collective happy dance!)

Join Me on creativeLIVE (for FREE!)

/

Wedding Album I am crazy excited to be making an appearance on creativeLIVE and will have the opportunity to help photographers around the globe whip their workflows into shape!

The 2-day workshop will be broadcast on-line for FREE on Sept. 27th & 28th and you can sign up to watch here. (If you're in or plan to be in the Seattle area at that time, fill out this form for a chance to join me in the live studio audience. Selectees will be notified on Sept. 17th, so get the form in no later than the 16th!)

Here's an overview of what to expect—don't miss this!