Some Sundays Are Extra Special

Good Morning and Happy Sunday.

I have returned from an excellent trip to San Antonio Texas for Imaging USA sponsored by PPA (Professional Photographers of America). I last wrote about feeding your passion and my trip to San Antonio was one of those acts to feed my passion. Everything fell right into place, Marie a friend and colleague of mine contacted me about the conference and ultimately it flourished into a wonderful road trip down to San Antonio and back with such fun and awesome opportunities to capture images. We had no expectations other than get to Texas, attend the tradeshow, and capture some images along the way. Adding to our trip were some funny moments, some not so funny moments and a few adventures (a perfect reflection of my world and how sweet it is to share those moments with someone). Thanks Marie.... You are an awesome traveling buddy and I'm excited to see where the next one takes us. I am still not able to talk about that Safari without laughing out loud and tears.

I'll be sharing a few images on Facebook and add an image or two to the 365_2011 Project so stay tuned.

I woke this morning to a very touching note from a family I served over a year ago. To share, I was called to the Children's Hospital that day for a NILMDTS Session for a beautiful baby boy who was on support and not expected to survive. I captured beautiful images of this little man with his parents. I left the hospital praying for the family, for peace and comfort. I recall this particular family well because when I finished the images, I had sent notes to confirm the address however; didn't hear back so I started calling the phone numbers I had to make contact so I could get their finished discs to them. I left a message on their cell phone and received a call back to find they were still at the Children's Hospital with this little man. I was stunned and surprised that this little man, now nearly three weeks since I captured his images was not only still alive but now looking to going home to be with his brothers and sisters. What a blessing. Along with this touching note of thanks was a beautiful image of this little man today, his smiling eyes lifted my heart. Yes, this little man has many struggles ahead, but his family has patience, faith and love.

It is not too late to capture that special Valentine Session; we have two full weeks to capture and still allow for Valentine's Day Delivery with that Special Gift. February 5th is the final day to order your Valentine Prints and receive the special gift. Prints ordered after February 5th, cannot be promised for Valentine's Day, February 14th ♥

Call/Text/E-Mail to schedule your personal session. If you would prefer an intimate couples session to be captured with your Valentine, we have a beautiful gift certificate that you can present to your Valentine this Valentine's Day so options are endless. Now is the time to capture your memories in Portraits to last a lifetime.

Keep Seeing the Light,

Katherine

Take Time To Feed Your Passion

We have all heard the saying "Take time to smell the flowers" feeding your passion can be seen this very same way as well. First before you can feed your passion, you have to identify and find your passion. Sometimes the road may appear narrow, beaten or in some cases nonexistent. Do not mistake this narrow path as a dead end; it's sometimes only the beginning.

Everyone has something they are passionate about. I've met people who are passionate about Love, people who are passionate about Dance, people who are passionate about Animals, people who are passionate about Art, and people who are passionate about Photography just to name a few. A common misconception is "there is no room for my passion". Because someone has seen the passion of others they feel their own personal passion has no place, well this is just not correct and that is one of the first thoughts you must give up before you can move forward. We may touch on what we do with the product of our passion at a later date but know this: having passion and feeding passion is personal and is something you own, it does not warrant critique, criticism or jealousy from others, it belongs to you.

This year I am making a point to feed my passion and I have suggested the same to many people. You do not have to be part of a special club or have the most expensive tools to feed your passion. You don't have to be perfect to reach out for your passion. You do have to have the determination to do something about unlocking your passion and the willingness to do something with it, to feed it. It is one thing to say you love music and are passionate about music, now identify what about music you are passionate about; is it that you love to sing, or maybe even love to write songs, or you might just enjoy listening to music.

For some this is old news, take forward motion toward your passion. Just saying you have it doesn't keep it alive. If you want to dance, identify what you like about dance, get up and do it. Sometimes this means enrolling in a dance class, attending a workshop, finding a teacher or mentor, going to the ballet.

I have a few simple suggestions that I will share regarding forward motion, at the end of each day, answer these questions:

1. What did I do that addressed my passion? This could be anything from the grandest gesture to the tiniest details...a kind word, taking time to gather information, a phone call, starting a to-do list, taking a photograph.

Now once you've come up with at least five things, move to number 2.

2. What did I give to others today that benefitted them? (Yes giving back feeds your passion to move forward).

Now come up with five things here and go to number 3.

3. What difficulties did I cause others today?

Wow you might say, the beauty of this question is that it requires you to step back from your own viewpoint and see the world from another's perspective. Do not just look for mistakes you may have made, instead, think about the impact you had on others today. In a perfect world you would not have caused difficulties for others but we all know we do not live in a perfect world so as crazy as this last question may appear, answer it honestly to yourself and allow for forward motion.

Do this daily and you will find the road to your personal passion becoming much clearer and fed. All artists need continual growth to feed those things they aspire to be better at. You cannot buy the passion; you must physically take forward motion toward your passion. Sometimes things will appear to slow you down but do not give up, so you are not moving as fast as you had hoped to but you are in fact moving forward and feeding your passion.

I hope this post answers perhaps one question of what to do next as we feed our passion in 2011 together.

I'll be attending Imaging USA in San Antonio Texas, feeding some of my passion.

Keep Seeing The Light♥

Katherine Payne Photography joins Thirst Relief

Katherine Payne Photography has joined the Thirst Relief Efforts. This post is dedicated to the upcoming Mentor Auction which goes live on Monday, 1/10/2011. Please read the information and consider supporting. THIRST RELIEF MISSION

Our mission is to overcome death and disease resulting from the consumption of contaminated water by providing safe, clean drinking water to those in need around the world.

Vision

Our vision is simple yet profound - to save lives and change the world.

Thirst Relief International is a water development organization working to improve access to safe water in nine countries worldwide. Founded in 2005, Thirst Relief works with its implementing partners to launch and sustain water projects in impoverished rural areas and urban slum communities. By providing infrastructure development, training, and financial and technical resources to our partners, we are helping thousands of people each year improve their health through safe drinking water. Without Thirst relief's support, and the generosity of our donors, many of these water projects would never come into being.

The Worldwide Water Crisis

In this day and age, the statistics are seemingly unbelievable. 1.1 billion People lack access to clean drinking water, and nearly 2.5 million people die each year due to waterborne-related disease (90% of which are children under the age of 5). As a result, the World Hunger Organization (WHO) has declared a worldwide water crisis among the world's poorest people. Further, the UN has declared 2005-2015 Water for Life: International Decade for Action.

Each week, due to easily preventable causes, diarrheal disease claims the lives of 30,000 people, most of them young children. This is a silent humanitarian crisis that thwarts progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MGDs). The consequences of our collective failure to tackle this problem are the dimmed prospects for the billions of people locked in a cycle of poverty and disease.

HIV/AIDS and Clean Drinking Water

The lack of clean drinking water is at the root of the African HIV/AIDS pandemic. Children and adults living with HIV/AIDS require clean drinking water to survive. Waterborne illness, considered normally mild in healthy adults, becomes an incurable death sentence for those affected by HIV/AIDS. In sub-Saharan Africa alone, millions of people lack access to the basic necessity of clean drinking water. In this same region, some 25 million people are living with HIV/AIDS. The result - over 2 million children and adults die of HIV/AIDS annually in sub-Saharan Africa alone.

Integral to this horrible cycle, sickness and disease resulting from the consumption of contaminated drinking water destroy the strength and development of African families and communities. This leads to extreme poverty, lack of education, tremendous inequities, and greater illnesses, creating conditions ripe for the continued spread of HIV/AIDS. Caught in this downward spiral, it becomes difficult, and most cases impossible, for individuals to progress out of their terrible plight.

The Power of Prevention

One of our Thirst Relief partners, who is an emergency/trauma center doctor turned medical missionary, attended a tropical medicine seminar. He was astonished to learn the following - over one hundred medical practitioners agreed that three ongoing medical clinics a day, in any given tropical region in the world, wouldn't have as much impact on addressing a community's health as simply addressing their need for clean drinking water.

By providing a source of clean, safe drinking water to those in need, we are preventing waterborne diseases and circumventing the need to treat it. For those without access to doctors and antibiotics, this prevention is literally live saving.

Katherine Payne and Katherine Payne Photography is proud to be part of this effort. Stay tuned for more details as we approach the unveiling of the 2011 Thirst Relief Mentor Auction on Monday, 1/10/2011.