faith.LIFE Archives - Page 4 of 13 - Krista Photography Blog

Posted on October 1, 2012 by Krista Guenin · 9 Comments

The Badi Girls

When I began looking for my first job in photography over 10 years ago, I wasn’t even thinking about wedding photography. I wanted to be a photojournalist. I wanted to travel the world and take “important” photographs that changed the way people thought about the world.

What actually happened was that the first person who would hire me was a wedding photographer. At the time, his work was like nothing I’d ever seen before – it was like a combination of photojournalism, fine art black & white film, and weddings all rolled into one. So, I dove in head first and started learning all about wedding photography. But that itch to document the hard things of this world has never left me. I’ve travelled to many countries on missions trips with my church, and as a photographer on behalf of non-profit organizations, and captured all that I saw and experienced. And still, I’ve wanted more.

It’s been over four years since my last trip, and my heart has literally ached for another opportunity. Then, just a couple of weeks ago, I got this email from my friend Grant who lives in Singapore:

“Hey Krista, What does your calendar look like in November? How about a trip to Nepal…”

He sent me to the website for the Lighthouse Foundation, where I read about the Badi Girls. Nepal is primarily Hindu and holds to the caste system, in which the Badi people are the lowest of the low, the lowest of even the Untouchables. And though they are “untouchable,” the only way most families can even survive is to offer up their daughters as prostitutes. I read the testimonies of two young girls who had been drugged, sold to brothels, forced into prostitution, severely beaten, and eventually escaped and came to live in the Lighthouse orphanages. And with tears streaming down my cheeks I realized that I had no choice but to go and do the only thing I really can do – photograph this story. Grant started a company called Code Red Films and will be organizing the trip, and gathering a crew to go into Nepal and shoot a documentary about the Badi Girls. I am honored to be invited to work on the project as the still photographer, and completely overwhelmed at the thought of what this experience will be like. So, in just a few weeks, I’ll be heading to Singapore, then Nepal to spend 2 weeks meeting and photographing these girls. I have no doubt that it will be an incredibly difficult, and gut-wrenching project, but somehow I’m still excited that we are tackling it and I can’t wait to see what God will do with this!

Code Red Films (i.e. Grant) is financing this project with funds donated by people from all over the world. Please consider supporting our efforts by donating either directly to Code Red Films, or to Krista Photography. None of the donations are tax deductible, but they will be greatly appreciated and used directly towards expenses associated with the film (plane tickets, travel within Nepal, post-production, etc.). Also all GIVE Program donations will be directed towards this project for all weddings booked within the next 2 months. If you’d like to re-direct your GIVE donation to this project, but have already booked, please let me know before your wedding! And if you are a praying person, please pray for this project! Pray for us as we form a team, and a plan, and for our safety and the safety of everyone who participates and helps us along the way!

I’m looking forward to keeping you updated on this project over the coming weeks and months!! THANK YOU so much for supporting us in this project!!

Posted on June 5, 2012June 5, 2012 by Krista Guenin

The Great Giveaway was awesome!

I love The Great Giveaway!! Every year, it never ceases to amaze me how many people come out for it – both volunteers from GENESIS, and people from the community. This year we were specifically praying that 600 people would come, and God totally blew us away when over 800 people showed up!!! About 15 minutes before we opened there were over 300 people waiting, and almost everything was gone within the first 45 minutes. It was NUTS! But SO FUN!

It took us a month to collect all of the items that were given away, a week to organize it all, and about 3 hours to put it all out on display.

People began lining up and waiting by about 7:30am (the giveaway began at 10am)

My friend Tracy did a fabulous job organizing the event!

My lovely friend Christie was passing out balloons (photo taken on instagram). I heart this picture of her :)

All the volunteers gathered to pray right before we opened the “doors”

The masses are getting excited!!

Check out this quick little video I made of the opening of the floodgates! It was NUTS!!!

This guy was the big winner of the day, and walked away with a FREE 60″ TV!! He was pretty pumped to say the least ;)

My brother, Michael, did an awesome job with the bullhorn, keeping everyone entertained and informed!

The kids probably had the most fun! I love these two, and their deep discussion about stuffed animals. It looks like intense negotiations, haha!

Games inside for the kiddos

And a bouncy house outside for the kids big and small ;)

Um, perhaps they were over-sugared… My nephew Tristan would beg to differ

Facepainting fun! My niece Reilly and her best buddy Maddie got matching face parrots

Oh Dylan, you make an adorable basketball!

My nephew Caeden – almost as excited about the hot dog as he is about that container full of candy!

We grilled and gave away almost 1,000 hot dogs!!

I have no clue how much popcorn and cotton candy we made, but Bettina was COVERED in it!

Seriously, there were SO many PEOPLE there!!!! But within an hour almost all of this was gone, and it was just people eating hot dogs and playing games.

SUCH a fun day!!! I can’t wait for next year!!!!

to view more of my favorites from The Great Giveaway, check out the album on Facebook!

Posted on May 18, 2012 by Krista Guenin · 2 Comments

The Great Giveaway – TOMORROW!

For the past 3 years, my church, GENESIS, has done an event every May called The Great Giveaway. Basically, it’s a HUGE yard sale where everything is FREE, and it’s pretty awesome! We believe that God is generous and He gives so much to us (provision, life, love, salvation, and abundant blessings), and that we are called to be generous as He’s been generous to us. So each year we collect thousands of items – clothing, furniture, electronics, books, toys, strollers, appliances, home decor, linens, and more – and we give them away to anyone who needs/wants them! Plus, we throw in some super fun stuff for the kids to do (even a bouncy house!!), and we feed everyone while we’re at it! Frankly, it’s the funnest day of the year, and I’m getting super excited for tomorrow!!!!!

Last year, everyone lined up and was waiting for it to begin, and when it did, they all RAN in to check it all out!

The kids LOVE it!

The grown ups have been known to have some fun too…

And it’s always fun to see people walking away with things they really NEED!!

This year we’ve got about THREE TIMES MORE stuff to giveaway than we did last year!!!! Check out more photos of what we’ve got in store on the Facebook invite here.

The Great Giveaway is TOMORROW, Saturday May 19th from 10am – 12pm at GENESIS church (16 Wheeling Ave, Woburn)

I hope you can stop by and check it out!!! Be sure to say HI – I’ll be the one walking around with a camera ;)

You can see more of the fun from last year’s Great Giveaway here. And check out my post about the first Great Giveaway here.

Posted on April 16, 2012April 16, 2012 by Krista Guenin · 5 Comments

Now Hiring!

It’s that time of year, and things are getting pretty busy over here at Krista Photography! It’s shaping up to be our busiest season yet, which is awesome! With all of this busyness comes a lot more work on the back end, and I’m realizing that CoCo and I can’t do it alone! So, we’re looking for some more help around here…

What are we looking for?

One or 2 people to work part-time.
Background in photography, graphic design, marketing, administrative assisting, or other applicable skills
Honest, detail-oriented, hard-working, creative, problem-solver who’s eager to learn – preferably someone fun :)
Experience with some combination of Mac computers, Microsoft Office, Quickbooks, Social Media, Lightroom & Photoshop
You’ll need a car to get to my home office in Woburn
Someone who can start the sooner, the better!

What kinds of things could you be doing?

Managing vendor relations
Marketing & Social Media projects
Submitting images for publication
Updating & managing our website
Wedding Album Design
Administrative Tasks
Client Communication
Scheduling Assistants & Second Shooters
Culling & Color Correcting
Digital Asset Management
IT Troubleshooting
Assisting at weddings
Various projects
Cleaning the office for meetings :)

What will you get in return?

Pay commensurate with experience and final job description
Flexible Hours
Fun, relaxed & productive work environment
You’ll probably get to hear me singing to myself a lot, get to pet my cat a lot, and hopefully have a little fun while you’re here :)
You’ll get to work with US! Who wouldn’t want that?! :)

If you’re interested, please send an email telling me a bit about yourself, why you’re interested in working for Krista Photography, what kind of roles you’re interested in taking on, a link to your work if you’re a photographer, and a resume to kg@kristaphoto.com! Looking forward to hearing from you!!!

Posted on April 3, 2012 by Krista Guenin

Life is too short

I’m going to get pretty personal here for a minute. For those of you who are friends with me on Facebook, that won’t surprise you, but for those who are just stopping by for the first time – I hope you’ll indulge me…

Two weeks ago, a young woman from my church, Alanna, and her unborn son, were killed in a tragic accident while on vacation with her husband in Florida.

Alanna was a joyful, sweet woman – the kind of person that no one could say a bad thing about – just genuinely loving and kind. She always had a beautiful smile on her face. I remember the few conversations I had with her being completely pleasant, and walking away feeling encouraged and more grateful for my life and work than I was before. Our hearts have been so heavy within the GENESIS community, even for those of us who didn’t know Alanna very well. Her death affects us all because we are one Body. “For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” Romans 12:4-5. And it’s that much harder for those who knew her well and for whom she was a big part of their lives. More than anything, my heart aches for her husband Michael, and her family. It’s an absolutely devastating loss.

For the last 2 weeks, I have been praying that God would use this for good. I have said it again and again, but her death, this whole thing is just so completely horrible – it’s so horrible that there is no way that God will not use it for good. God does not delight in tragedy, but in taking ashes and turning them into something beautiful. And I believe with all my heart that God will use Alanna’s death to bring about something beautiful in the lives of those left behind. I believe that He will reveal Himself to us, and to many. I have already seen it, and I trust that it will only grow as time passes.

I think Alanna’s legacy is her faith in and love for Jesus, and that above everything else, she would want people to know that about her, to see that in her, and to seek the same. On her Facebook page, in her “about me” section she wrote the lyrics to the song Legacy by Nichole Nordeman…

“I want to leave a legacy
How will they remember me?
Did I choose to love?
Did I point to You enough
To make a mark on things?
I want to leave an offering
A child of mercy and grace who
blessed your name unapologetically
And leave that kind of legacy”

This is the legacy she leaves. Her entire life, and even her death points us to God. That’s what she wanted most, and I believe that’s what she’s done. And I rejoice in knowing that she’s with Him now – at perfect peace, in perfect joy, and hearing “well done, my good and faithful servant.”

For me personally, I feel overwhelmed with all I’ve learned in these last few days. I look at how she died in the midst of such joy – she’d said it was the happiest day of her life – and I realize that life is just too short for anything else. Life is too short to spend it being angry, or frustrated. Life is too short to waste our time on foolish things, on too many hours spent in front of a computer or a TV. Life is too short not to tell the people you love that you love them – not to show them that you love them. And most importantly, life is too short not to be lived in light of what we believe is most important. Alanna’s entire life, her entire personality, everything about her pointed the people around her to Jesus, spoke to them of His love. Will they say the same of me when I die someday? I hope so. I hope that I could leave half the mark on the people around me that Alanna has left. I look to her example, and am deeply challenged. I pray that my life would be different from here on out – that her life and death would not impact me just these last few weeks, but for the rest of my life.

You truly never know what moment will be your last, don’t waste them.

p.s. I wish I knew who the photographer was who took her wedding photo, so I could give him/her proper credit. I pulled this from Facebook, and she didn’t credit her photog. A reminder to all of us photographers to watermark our images… If you shot this photo, please let me know and I’ll edit the post!

Posted on March 15, 2012April 3, 2012 by Krista Guenin

Inspire 2012 is almost here!!

Inspire.

It started out as an idea… What if there was a conference that felt more like a community? What if instead of flying around the country to hear people from California talk about running their businesses, we gathered photographers from right here in New England and asked them instead? What if we did it ourselves? These are the questions that Matt & Enna Grazier asked a few of us, as we all looked at them as if they were nuts. Brilliant. But nuts… If it had been my idea, it probably would have stayed an idea, but the Grazier’s are people of action, and thank God for that!

What began as an idea, a question, grew into a real life conference we called Inspire Boston. What was an incredible and inspiring two days in Concord with 100 photographers, grew to something more the next year… Inspire Boston 2011. We added mentoring sessions, shooting workshops, and a vendor lounge and this time 125 people came from all over New England and beyond!

So, here we are, 3 years later, and it’s just 12 days until Inspire 2012 kicks off! This year, we’ve changed the name from Inspire Boston to Inspire Photo Seminars – since it’s really not just about Boston anymore. We’ve moved it to the Sturbridge Host so we could have a bit more space and be a little more centralized for our primarily MA/CT attendees. We’ve got 18 Speaking Sessions, 8 Special Classes (shooting session, portfolio reviews, etc.), a special pre-conference all-day Pictage + ShootQ Bootcamp, an even bigger Vendor Lounge, a mid-conference party with KARAOKE (clearly that was my idea!), one-on-one and roundtable mentoring sessions with the speakers and sponsors, and a killer Wrap-Party at the end! It is going to be a JAM-PACKED couple of days!!!

I’ll be speaking at Inspire this year on Facebook Marketing Strategies. If you follow my blog, you’ve probably liked my Facebook page as well (and if not, what’s stopping you?!). And if you follow both, you’ve probably noticed that I post on Facebook WAY more often than on here. Facebook just makes it so EASY for me! It has dramatically changed and grown my business over the last 3 years. Last year my weddings doubled from the year before, and this year I’m almost entirely booked up for the year already! I give most of that credit to how I share images and communicate via Facebook – but I guess I’ll give a little of the credit to my photographs too, yeah? ;) I’ve been super excited to share my Facebook strategies and theories with the Inspire community, and wouldn’t you know it, Facebook went and changed everything about their business pages three weeks before the conference! So, I’m reworking my talk and trying to learn as much about all the changes as possible, and now I’m even more excited :) I mean, what better time to talk about how to set up and use a Facebook page than right when everything about them has changed and everyone’s wondering what to do?! OK, so I’m excited and also a little overwhelmed, but I do think it’s an exciting time to be sharing about this and I’m hoping that it will be really beneficial to everyone to comes to my talk!

If you’re a photographer, and you aren’t signed up for Inspire yet, what are you waiting for?! It’s going to be FUN! You’re going to meet a TON of awesome local photographers who may just become your nearest and dearest friends (I’ve gone on vacation with ladies I met at Inspire, and don’t get me started on how much I love the Planning Team). You’re going to LEARN something new! You’re going to leave feeling INSPIRED and EMPOWERED to make some great changes in your business and maybe even in your life. It’s not too late to sign up and come be a part of it all!! I’ve got a $50 off discount code that is good for the first 3 people who use it! Go HERE and use the code KRISTAPHOTO2012 to get $50 off your registration! I hope you can come!!!

Posted on January 2, 2012January 3, 2012 by Krista Guenin · 9 Comments

The end of a year

Today I’m officially observing New Year’s Day! Every year, I normally spend New Year’s Day sleeping in (check), having a nice long quiet time of journaling and praying (check), work out a budget for the new year (um, pass, I don’t feel like it), going through my calendar for the last year (check), and reminiscing about all that’s happened (check). It’s been a challenging year for sure, especially the last few months of the year when life got doubly stressful, but as I look back I have a much better perspective and am able to truly thank God for this year!

Here’s a little peek at my 2011 in no particular order…

Shot 14 fabulous weddings from January through December in Boston, on the Cape, and in Connecticut

Took voice lessons for the first time

Renovated my home office

Fell in love with my new neph-dog, Buckeye

Brought on CoCo as a paid office assistant

FINALLY bough an iPhone!!!!

Lead a LIFEgroup of fabulous women for a few months

Got published in The Knot Boston, twice!

Said goodbye to too many dear friends as they moved away

Joyfully welcomed back a few friends as they returned home

Spoke at the Boston PUG on Facebook Marketing, and with Enna Grazier at Inspire 2011 on Branding

Shot 12 Engagement Sessions in Boston, on the Cape, and in New York

Donated over $4800 to various non-profits as part of our GIVE program!! So cool!

Sang lots of karaoke (sometimes while shooting weddings ;)

Helped organize and pull off the 2nd Inspire Photo Conference, and began planning the 3rd (it’s going to be sweet, you photogs should come!)

: photo by RAW Photo Design

Shot 10 Family Portrait Sessions in Boston, Indianapolis & Chicago

Holiday Portrait Party!

sang on the Worship Team at GENESIS on a lot of Sunday mornings

Shot 5 Corporate photo sessions

Bought a new iMac to add to my collection

Discovered the Colin Firth version of Pride & Prejudice and held a British mini-series marathon that caused some random British accents to pop into conversations for a month or so

Travelled to Dallas for my cousin’s wedding, a photo conference, and a visit with a friend – whirlwind weekend for sure!

Watched Butler lose the NCAA Finals for the 2nd year in a row. wah wah :(

Scratched the surface of understanding the word GRACE and what God’s love is really like

Spent a long weekend at Loon Mountain with some of my favorite photog ladies

Lots of visits from Mom & Dad (aka Mimi & Papa)

Discovered & fell in love with The Civil Wars, Pinterest, and truffle oil tater tots

The Great Giveaway!

8 friends got married, 3 more got engaged, and 6 had babies, adopt or get pregnant!

Spent as much time at the beach as I possibly could

2 weeks in Indianapolis, and the annual Guenin Family Vacation

Cried over the end of the Harry Potter series

Said goodbye as too many friends moved away, rejoiced as a couple of friends returned home

Watched my sister’s kids get far too big

Hunkered down for Hurricane Irene

Threw some fun parties

Cookie Face Race!

Dexter. Psych. Pushing Daisies. Mad Men. My So Called Life. The joy of Hulu & Netflix…

Turned 34. yep.

Finished reading through the entire Bible for the second time (it only took me 5 1/2 years…)

Did NOT have anyone move into or out of my house!! A first for the last many years – so thankful for my awesome roommate!

Laughed a lot, cried a lot, went to the chiropractor a lot, ate too much pizza, drank too much Coke, sat at my computer a lot a lot a lot…

All in all, that’s a pretty great year! I have more to be thankful for than I remembered yesterday – so that’s pretty awesome :)

Here’s to a great 2012!!

xoxo

Krista

Posted on September 20, 2011September 23, 2011 by Krista Guenin

Krista Photography Internships Available!

When I started out in photography almost 10 years ago, my first job was assisting at a big wedding studio in Chicago. I remember the very first task they gave me… shovel the sidewalk :) I started at the very bottom of the food chain. As months went by, I became the studio manager, and then began shooting as an Associate photographer for the company. A few years later, I moved out on my own and started at the bottom again in a new town, with a new studio. I have worked hard over the past 5 years to create a business that I love and that actually supports me. I don’t ever forget those first few months though, and the opportunity I was given to learn from someone successful and to see it all from the inside before I went off on my own.

Over the years, I’ve tried to pay that same opportunity forward. I’ve brought on interns the last few seasons, and it’s been great! I get some much-needed help, and they have hopefully had the chance to learn things they couldn’t have learned in school. This past year, I got a new intern, CoCo, who actually interned at the studio in Chicago just after I moved to Boston, and then moved to Boston herself. She’s so awesome though, that I had to take her on as a paid assistant/photo editor. And man, she’s been SUCH a help to me!!! But here we are, reaching the peak of wedding season (in Boston at least), and we need some more help! So, we’re hoping to find a new intern to add to the team!! If you’re interested, check out the details below to see if you’d be a good fit!!

What are we looking for?

Photography, graphic-design, or marketing student, or someone just starting out in the photography business
honest, detail-oriented, hard-working, creative, problem-solver who’s eager to learn – preferably someone fun :)
experience with Mac computers, Microsoft Word, Lightroom & Photoshop
you’ll need a car to get to my home office in Woburn
6-8 hours/week
Commitment through the end of the year, starting ASAP!

What kinds of things will you be doing?

contact management/data entry
shipping packages
scanning film
culling/editing shoots
burning discs
office organization/filing
research projects
social media tasks
designing print materials
running errands
various projects (i.e. setting us up with ShootQ)
shoveling the sidewalk ;)

What will you get in return?

Opportunity to learn how to run a wedding photography business from a seasoned professional
Intern Day each quarter where we’ll spend the day focusing only on what you want to learn, and giving you portfolio feedback – lunch included
This is unpaid, but I’ll buy or make you lunch each week :)
Opportunity to assist at weddings and portrait sessions (PAID)
You’ll probably get to hear me singing to myself a lot, get to pet my cat a lot, and hopefully have a little fun while you’re here :)

If you’re interested, please send an email telling me a bit about yourself, why you’re interested in the internship, a link to your work, and a resume to kg@kristaphoto.com!

Posted on April 28, 2011April 28, 2011 by Krista Guenin · 1 Comment

Inspire Boston 2011

You may or may not know that for the last 2 years, I’ve been part of a small group of photographers who have planned, organized, and put on a local wedding photography conference called Inspire Boston. The first year was awesome, and this year’s was even better! The whole conference is based around the concept of peer-to-peer mentoring and the idea that as we build relationships with one another and our community grows stronger – we’ll all become better photographers and business owners. It was an intimate conference of just 125 people, and we held it at Concord’s Colonial Inn which gave the whole thing a very cozy and New Englandy vibe. There were a handful of great (mostly local) instructors for presentations, shooting workshops, and mentoring sessions. We also scheduled in tons of free time so that even more learning, inspiration, and encouragement could happen in between the formal class times. And this year we added in Vendor Lounge so that people could connect with some of the industry and the area’s best vendors. All in all, it was pretty fabulous!

Between preparing for my presentation and organizing all the logistics – I didn’t take too many photos for those three days! But here are a few of my favorites from the last day of the conference…

My fabulous assistant, CoCo Boardman shot a few images during & after my presentation with Enna Grazier. Our presentation was on Creating a Sustainable Brand. It went really well, which was exciting, and also a huge relief!

It was especially cool talking with people after the presentation, hearing their feedback – but also watching people talking and brainstorming together. People seemed really inspired to figure out who they really are, and what they want their business to be. Love it!

Later that night we had a Wrap Party at LensProToGo complete with pizza, raffle prizes and a very fun ring light to play with :) I loved this shot CoCo got of me!

Tabitha looks like she’s singing a sad song… I love her :)

that’s tougher than it looks, eh Larry?

dude, CoCo’s mean!

aw, Paul & Krystal :)

Here’s a shot of the whole crowd at the Wrap Party (courtesy of Raw Photo Design)

And the “Dream Team” who planned & organized the event: CoCo, me, Mark Higgins, Krystal & Paul McNerney, Carla Ten Eyk, Candice Coppola, Diana Chouinard, Matt & Enna Grazier (the masterminds behind the whole thing), and Richard Esposito. What a blessing it’s been to work with these lovely people!!

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After the wrap party, came the best part, really – the AFTER PARTY! A bunch of us went back to the Inn for a concert by Jimmy Mazzy & Friends – the most fabulous little old jazz band in the world. Oh, they were soooo fun!!! And they play every Wednesday night at the Colonial Inn, if you ever want to check them out!!

Gid. He’s my favorite!

The Incredible Mr. Jimmy Mazzy!

I had to show Gid how to use his camera on his phone, but once he figured it out, he couldn’t put it down!

see, he’s just delightful :)

Thanks again to everyone who participated in Inspire Boston 2011!!!! I had a great time, and am already excited for next year! We’ve already begun planning for 2012 so stay tuned for details coming in the next few months!!

If you’d like to view more of my images from Inspire Boston, check out the album on Facebook.

Posted on April 4, 2011April 5, 2011 by Krista Guenin

GO BULLDOGS!!!

Just for the record… I graduated from Butler University, and I will be rooting for the BULLDOGS to win the NCAA Basketball championship tonight! I think that you should too. :)

**/edit/**

I’m so sad they lost last night, but I think this article is just awesome! I was not impressed with their playing last night, but I am beyond impressed with how they handled it.