Our story, completely unscripted -- in this episode we talk about:

+ how we first got started as wedding photographers (back before the internet - maybe exaggerating, maybe not)

+ how we work together, merging different styles and slightly different philosophies

+ why we absolutely love what we do and why/how our value has grown, the longer we have done this together!

This one was FUN and might just tempt us to throw out the scripts a bit more often. :)

In over 50,000 miles, we’ve been to 41 states, 23 national parks, and averaged ~5,000 miles while on 4-8 week-long-road trips, which we’ve taken annually for 7 of the past 9 years.

And nearly every year, when we are on the road with our kids for this amount of time, we get asked both the WHY and the HOW. And we get it, road tripping with small children is not always easy… but it’s also pretty awesome! If you haven't listened to Part 1, start there first!

RESOURCES MENTIONED

In over 50,000 miles, we’ve been to 41 states, 23 national parks, and averaged ~5,000 miles while on 4-8 week-long-road trips, which we’ve taken annually for 7 of the past 9 years.

And nearly every year, when we are on the road with our kids for this amount of time, we get asked both the WHY and the HOW. And we get it, road tripping with small children is not always easy… but it’s also pretty awesome! Let's talk about it.

FULL SHOWNOTES

In December 2021, I read the book, Digital Minimalism, then decided to take a month-long break from social media that January - in 2022 - which turned out to be one of my favorite decisions heading into the new year, so I did the same as we started off 2023. Here’s a recap of the things I’ve learned from taking a whole month off social media each January for the past two years!

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

FULL SHOWNOTES

The book, Unreasonable Hospitality - The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect, is the story of how Will Guidara transformed Eleven Madison Park into the best restaurant in the world by reinventing how they offered hospitality… and making those little things they do into big things – making their personal touches unreasonable.

But it’s not just about the restaurant or hospitality industry, it’s about all about how he learned the power of going above and beyond, and is filled with incredible and super inspiring stories and examples along the way.

I LOVED this book. It’s one of my favorite business books I’ve read in awhile. Let’s get into it some lessons we learned from it!

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

FULL SHOWNOTES

We'd love to hear from you! Reach out at [email protected]

"The art of marriage is really the art of keeping up to date with your partner, of staying on track with your own and each other’s life goals as they emerge, exist, and change. It is about supporting each other and staying connected emotionally, intellectually, physically, and spiritually."

Want to know what can help you stay connected on all of those levels? A Sunday night priority session! This one is a really practical episode. Grab a pen + let’s get into it.

One of the questions we’ve been asked many times through the years is, "How in the world do you work with your spouse?" Sometimes it’s said with a bit of curiosity, and other times people are straight-up appalled that we would choose this lifestyle!

It’s most on display when we’re working alongside each other at weddings. So, inevitably, it comes up in conversations, usually during cocktails or over dinner with guests at the wedding that – yes, this is what we do for work; yes, we do this full-time; yes we are married; and yes, we really do work together!

FULL SHOWNOTES

We'd love to hear from you! Reach out at [email protected]

Do you have a vision for your family culture?

In this episode, we talk about four essential elements of a family culture that help to build a great family story - things like family mission/vision, daily/weekly/annual rhythms, planned adventures, and how to document and retell your stories.

Full show notes here

We'd love to hear from you! Reach out at [email protected]

We’re Ray and Kelly, professional photographers, seasonal road-trippers and relationship coaches! When we first started our wedding photography business, we loved what we did mostly for the novelty of it all – being part of big celebrations nearly every weekend was really fun. As time went on and we matured and grew and had a family of our own, we started seeing the depth of the work that we got to be a part of, the reality that we were being invited into intimate moments, given front-row seats to stories that not many people ever have the privilege of seeing. Over time, we started to take things more seriously and we realized that what we did really wasn't all that much about us, but more about the stories of the people that were in front of our camera and in the shared spaces of those moments. We also realized that, at every wedding, we get to see firsthand the fruit of marriage and family relationships and their effects on family legacies. Because we've had so many glimpses into family dynamics on display, we've become deeply interested in work around marriage relationships – so much so – that we were trained as certified Marriage Coaches and have been volunteer coaches for the past 3 years. It's been a wild ride, incredibly rewarding, and at times, intensely challenging. We are both passionate about many topics, and we might branch out into more as time goes on, but here are some core ones that we'll be covering in upcoming episodes: working together as a married couple, 'rules of life' at home and in business, systems and workflows to create freedom and harmony / balance, family culture-making, tag-teaming as homeschool parents, and listening and communicating well within relationships, all while living a life of faith. We want to give back on all that we've been given, to help couples - especially ones who work alongside each other - navigate through balancing schedules, life challenges, and personality differences, to find ways they can effectively communicate in order to have a thriving marriage and family culture. When we first started our wedding photography journey we loved it for the art, we wanted to be STORY CREATORS. As time went on, we really sought to be STORY TELLERS, to learn the depth of a couple's story and to tell it well. And now, as we've grown as people and as parents to growing children and have watched our parents become grandparents, we've felt the long-lasting impact of our work more than ever, and this has made us want to intentionally design the  RHYTHMS of our home and work so that we can live a meaningful and CREATIVE STORY. We're inviting you into this process - you can think of these short episodes as little glimpses into our late night conversations... the ones where we think deep, get creative and ask the hard questions. We're so glad you're here! To connect, send us an email at [email protected]