Dear Friends, Family, and Loyal Clients –

I love your faces. I love your smiles, your eyes, your freckles. I love hearing your laughter and seeing looks of love exchanged between you and your family. I love walking with you and getting to know you while looking through the lens of my camera.

I love coming home and putting your pictures on my giant monitor and dazzling you with perfect pictures. Well, the pictures aren’t perfect, but in my experience, they feel perfect because they capture the ones you love. And let’s be frank, I love it when you tell me how much you enjoy your photographs.

There are so many things I love about being a photographer.

As much as I love being a photographer, I love being a parent more.

When I first started my photography business, I did so with a point and shoot camera and a black sheet. I was nothing more than a lady with a camera back then. Now, I’m a photographer. I do no advertising; I simply rely on word of mouth and recommendations from you. And you’ve never let me down. My appointment book fills more and more every year. In 2015, I had so many sessions booked that I was turning people away. It killed me to do so, by the way. Thank you for all you’ve done for me.

This year, as I look forward to the upcoming spring and summer, and ultimately fall, I see a lot of summer nights and fall mornings that I want to spend with my family. I have two children, and most of you may or may not know that we struggled and ached and survived so much to get those two beautiful souls into our family. We wanted more kids, but we’re infinitely grateful for the ones we have.

Last summer my kids finally got to the point where we’d get in the car and they’d ask who’s pictures I was taking, even if we were just on our way to the store. And it wasn’t excitement that filled their voices. It was resignation. They knew that after we scoped out the location, I’d be soon on my way to take those pictures, followed by hours sitting at the computer. Mommy sitting at the computer means a mommy who can’t play.

And as you know, kids are only little for so long. My daughter starts school next year, in 2017. And then I’ll be home alone with no voices to fill the halls. No running feet in the kitchen. No little hands patting my cheeks. I don’t want to miss this time at home with my babies. You know, my thirty and fifty pound babies. :)

When I take your pictures, I devote my time and energy to your family. And I love doing it. But with the way my business is growing, just as things are, “getting good,” as they say, I find myself having to make a decision. A commitment. To my dwindling time with my kids or to my role as a professional photographer.

So this is my official sabbatical notice. I’m taking a break from professional photography. I’m not quitting. I love it too much to quit forever. I don’t intend to give it up forever. I intend to smother my kids until they’re both in school full time. When my home is empty during the school days, I’ll fill it with the laughter and joy from your smiling faces.

Thank you for everything.

Deborah Andreasen 
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