Photo Shoot: First Presbyterian Church, Milton, FL

Yesterday I attended a seminar at First Presbyterian Church in Milton , Florida. The " church ladies " were gracious enough to open the doors of their lovely historic nave & sanctuary so that I{ a fan of old buildings in general & old church buildings in particular} could look inside.


Here are some photos of the exterior of the church. I particularly love the rustic, untreated wooden doors.

Here are some of the better photos of the interior of the historic church. I highlighted the stained-glass windowpanes & minimized the " background" of the windows in order to make the colors of the

glass " pop".

I played around with my editing software for these next photos. Some photographers I know are not fans of using black & white for portraiture, but I am of the opinion that " less{ color} is more" for some photos. The photo of the baptismal font is probably my favorite from this photo shoot: as I LOVE the contradiction between the dark wooden bowl base & the clear glass flask of water.

My "Professional " Facebook Page is LIVE

A couple of days ago, I finally created my Facebook page for my photography studio . I named my studio "Coastal Hillbilly Photography" So far, I'm under 20 " Likes" on Facebook, but as I promote my hobby I hope to gain more followers.

I took so many photos from my first paid gig { DioCGC13}, that only approximatly half of them are currently on my professional page. I'm also looking for a somewhat user-friendly web hosting site to host a URL . If anyone knows of any such RELIABLE web hosting domains, please email me at : Sarahbethstaugs@gmail.com. Thanks. So far I've tried weebly & I find this product inferior on many levels.

I've decided that I will focus my photography gigs to events. At this point I'm not *qyite* ready to produce professioal-grade portraits.Naturally I want to get to the point where my portraiture is good enough that people will pay for me to take portraits. I also need to somehow invest in Photoshop. Best Dude has  decent editing software on his desktop computer, but it " ain't" Photoshop.

Anyhow, it is one step at a time. I'm a " work-in-progress" as a photographer & I enjoy learning & practicing techniques. This evening I perused Ebay pricing tripods for my Nikon camera.

I will not give up.

2013: The Year of Self-Confidence

One of the problems I face with  my physical limitations is that I get bored easily. My slight autism, back issues & terrible eye-to-brain neural connections  make for multi-disabilities.  I LOOK " normal" {whatever that is... and who really knows}

I've accepted myself as God made me &  with a lot of encouragement from people I love, including Best Dude} am recognizing my strengths. In college I studied English & journalism, so I'm more than qualified to run a media/publicity campaign for my favorite nonprofit charity.

For the past four or five years { I lost count} I've been active in the local chapter on a national autism advocacy, support & education. Last year we sponsored our first 5K. Admittedly, I was not as active in the planning for the event as I'd hoped, but this year  is different. They need someone to chair the publicity/media campaign & I volunteered for this task.

I love telling stories & showing such stories via visual media. When I was a teenager in the 1990's I wanted Christiane Amanpour's job at CNN...I wanted to travel the world & tell stories that no one else dared o expose. As a child I alternated between wanting to write the Great American Novel & joining the FBI. { Police-procedural dramas are still my favorite TV drama genre}

Last night I received the agenda for tonight's meeting via email. The spreadsheet form looked a bit daunting to me...until I remembered that I am the " new & improved, stronger Sarah Beth". last yea my focus was to begin & maintain a physical fitness routine...so in 2013 my goal is to develop more self-confidence. Due in part to my later-in-life diagnosed autism & various other medical issues, my self-confidences low. Although I've been extremely blessed for these past five years { and especially these past two years} , it is hard to erase over 30 years of self-doubt. 

My hope is that I take opportunities this year to become involved in projects that can showcase my talents.  It is hard to be approaching middle-age, re-evaluating my life & realizing that comparatively, my timeline is blase. But, as Best Dude repeatedly tells me, my life's story is not " typical"

Most people I know & love are somewhat atypical.

I hereby declare 2013 as the Year Of Self- Confidence.

Amen.