Amanda Kraft Photography- Behind the Scenes

Three years ago, I found myself crying on the floor of my closet with nothing to wear minutes before we needed to leave for a friends birthday party.  It was in that moment that I knew my life needed to change.  On the outside, it seemed we had everything; still in the honeymoon phase of our marriage, my photography business was booming and everything was going to plan.  What I didn’t see on the inside was truly how unhappy I was.

What others couldn’t see was the late night hours of editing, running the business as a one women show, sleeping for maybe 4 -5 hours a day, traveling non-stop and eating pure processed junk. The pounds added up quickly and before I knew it, I was staring at a completely different person in the mirror.  My unhappiness was masked by buying purses, shoes and dinners out.  I wasn’t ready to admit to myself that I needed to work on me and that the material possessions were only band-aids fixing the problem for a short time before I would need another “thing” to make me happy. It was in that moment of crocodile tears surrounded by a pile of clothes that didn’t fit that I would have to wake up and take control of my life once again.

I enrolled in a 12 week weight loss program at one of the area gyms, dropped 20 pounds and felt incredible.  I would continue to push myself and lose an additional 20.  Through my own transformation, I discovered that I wanted to help others find their sparkle again, what that would be, I wasn’t exactly sure. It wasn’t until a potential family portrait client contacted me about a possible shoot that I would figure out just exactly what I wanted to do with my new found love for clean eating and fitness.  Come to find out she was a holistic health coach and I become a subscriber to her newsletter – scrolling to the bottom I found a link that said “Want to become a Health Coach?” I followed the link and my life would never be the same.

Last July, I enrolled into a virtual course with the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and am happy and proud to announce that I have graduated as of two weeks ago! My goal is and always will be to help my clients become their best self.  I have worked with brides and high school seniors who have never viewed themselves as beautiful and I love being able to present them with images that truly showcase how incredibly beautiful they are and now, I am hoping to do the same with my health coaching clients.

So how this relates to my photography business – well, nothing is changing, I am still available for high school senior portraits and weddings and will be coaching women on how to break free from struggling to fit into their skinny jeans by creating a personalized roadmap for healthy eating and feeling fabulous in their own skin while transforming into their own before + after photo

For more information on my coaching business please visit: http://www.amandakraft.com for more information and also become a fan on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/AmandaKraftMcGary

For the past year or so, this blog has pretty much been neglected.  I’ve tried to find the time to post, but honestly, it wasn’t about the lack of time, it was the lack of enjoyment.  You see, posting to a blog used to be FUN; a great way to showcase new work, things happening in the business and sometimes in our personal life.  However, in the past year or so, I have found blogging to be a drag, coming up with content, resizing the photos and all of the other necessary steps.  It wasn’t for lack of work or not being busy!  So, I have decided to step away from blogging for a bit. Allowing myself not to stress out about upcoming posts and content and just enjoy each day as it comes. We could all use a little break from technology and social media and this just happens to be my first step.

Thank you to all of my loyal readers, I hope this post doesn’t come as a disappointment and hopefully one day in teh future, you will see a new blog post.  Until then, became a fan on facebook to see recent shoots, or the websites or simply send me an email just to say hi!

The handful of images below are from recent photo shoots with bare Skin Care and Laser Center.  If you are feeling the winter blues, like I am, these never seen before images are sure to make you think of hot summer days!

Class of 2013 | we have a great way for you to get FREE grad cards to announce your graduation in style!  Refer 3 juniors and once they book, you have earned your grad cards!  pretty simple… so what are you waiting for?

I can hardly believe that another year has gone by!  The start of the new year is much like the beginning of spring, a rebirth, a chance to create resolutions and goals and start with a fresh slate.  For me, this year has been an incredible ride both personally and professionally.  I will be taking off the rest of the week and will officially be back in the office on the 6th of January.  Good luck to all of you have set out to eat better, workout more, take more time for yourself, cook more, do laundry or any other resolution you might have decided on!

See ya in a few days!