Vacation time is here!! =)

So Scott officially began his vacation on Wednesday.  It's been wonderful having him home!  =)  Tomorrow we will be celebrating my Mom's birthday at my brother's house all day.  In other words, we are taking a trip to "Margaritaville."   Woo Hoo!!  There will most certainly be lots of great food and alcohol there.  That's just how we roll in our family.  LOL     

We are leaving early Monday morning for our camping trip at Possum Kingdom Lake.  I have never been there, but it looks so beautiful online, (no, they were not affected by the recent wildfires), and I cannot wait.  We are going to spend 5 days just eating, swimming, and relaxing... exactly in that order and repeatedly.  We will most likely not have cell phone service out there, so we will be completely out of touch, (which means peace...lol).  That also means that I will not be able to update my Facebook Fan Page or this blog for a week... sorry.  But I should have plenty of photos and stories to share upon my return.  

A friend of mine from high school, Diana Almand, is in the process of creating a logo for my business... yay!  I am super excited because she is an awesome artist!  You can see her work on her Facebook page: Click here.  I will also have a special surprise for all my Facebook Fans when I return, so tell anyone who is not already one of my fans to become one before the end of next week.  Well, I need to go finish up our laundry and begin packing for our trip.  Hope you all have a great upcoming week!

Thanks for reading "All About My Business"
Crystal Campbell
Crystal Campbell Photography
www.crystalcampbellphoto.com 

Fun and Busy Times

This past weekend was the most fun I have had in a while.  On Friday, Cheyenne, Madi and I spent the day with my cousin Tonya.  We hung out at the mall for a little while, had lunch at Taco Bell, then went to see Bridesmaids, (yes, again).  It was just as funny the second time around.  My cousin had not seen it yet, so it was fun watching her experience it for the first time.  After the movie we went back to my cousin's place to swim.  =)  Later that evening my husband joined us and we had burgers from Wendy's, some Mike's Margarita coolers, and sat in the hot tub!  Yes, it was 100 degrees, in Texas, and we were in the hot tub... LOL  It was very relaxing and we all slept so good that night.


We got up early on Saturday morning and hit the water park, (NRH2O).  We were there from 11:00am til about 10:00pm.  The park officially closed at 9:00pm, but they had fireworks after so we stayed for that.  It was a fun day of swimming... eating.... applying sun block... swimming... eating... applying sun block... etc.  All of us reapplied our sun block every hour to hour and a half and we all still got burnt.  What??!!  Isn't it called sun block for a reason?  I guess it's time for a different brand.  Oh well, it was still very fun.


On Sunday, we all went to church and saw the Annie Moses Band perform.  They are a wonderful christian family music group.  They are amazing!  You can check them out here.  Then we came home and rested for a while, and Scott cooked steaks on the grill for dinner.  


Today I began writing in my personal journal again.  I have been kind of astray from God the past several months and felt that I needed to draw closer to Him.  I had my prayer and Bible study time, then wrote in my journal.  My journal helps me to keep track of how God is constantly working in my life, and helps keep me on track with my spiritual walk.  I don't want to neglect my spiritual life anymore.  I get too close to that dark place in my mind, and heart, when I do.  The love of my Lord and Savior has been a miracle in my life.   

I also worked on the photo shoot I did with Cheyenne and Madi.  I now have them on a website for viewing and purchasing.  Tomorrow I will need to do some tweaking on my business website and Facebook page.  Scott's 2 week vacation begins on Wednesday.  I'm so excited to have my man all to myself for 2 whole weeks!!  =)  Right now we are having a very intense lightening storm, so I had better get off the computer before it gets hit by a power surge or something.


Thanks for reading "All About My Business"
Crystal Campbell
Crystal Campbell Photography
www.crystalcampbellphoto.com

Worn Out... in a good way

Today was a big day.  I spent most of the day with Cheyenne and Madi doing their "sister photos."  We shot some in Downtown Southlake, Downtown Grapevine, and at Grapevine Lake.  It was great!  =)  I will have some "sneak peaks" of the photos on my Facebook Page in the next few days, so stay tuned.  You can find me on FB under Crystal Campbell Photography.  My fan list is growing, but we still need more, so please go "like" my page, and then share it with all your FB Friends.  

We finished off the day, after the last part of the shoot, with BBQ chicken and swimming at the lake.  It was so refreshing!  We even took our Golden Retriever, Bentley.  It was his first time away from the house, so he was a bit nervous at first, but once he hit that water there was no stopping him... LOL  Now I am sooooo tired.  I feel like I could sleep for days.  I have a ton of work to do the next 3 days, because I'm taking Friday off to go out with my daughters and my cousin, then taking the girls to NRH20 on Saturday.  It's going to be quite a week, but I love it!  =)

Thanks for reading "All About My Business"
Crystal Campbell

Crystal Campbell Photography

www.crystalcampbellphoto.com

Up and Running!!!

Crystal Campbell Photography is officially up and running!!  I finished the website and Facebook page.  Yay!  So everyone go visit my website: www.crystalcampbellphoto.com and go "like" my Facebook page.  You can find it under Crystal Campbell Photography.  I am super excited!  This is only the beginning and there is still so much to do.  I love having a lot on my plate and I hope it never slows down, because I wouldn't know what to do with myself if it did... LOL.

The family and I went to a graduation party today for a family friend.  It was fun, but my daughter may have spent too much  time in the pool and sun.  She is not feeling well tonight.  I hope she is feeling better tomorrow.  I hate to see my baby girl sick.  My step daughter, Madi, is here visiting us for a few weeks so I'm also trying to find some fun stuff to do with the girls that won't break the bank.  Last week we went to see Bridesmaids.  It was so hilarious!  It has been a long time since I've seen a movie that I laughed all the way through.  I will have to see it again to catch parts I missed while we were laughing... LOL 


I want to thank all my friends and family who have given me so much support with my new business.  Especially my wonderful husband, Scott, and my awesome daughter, Cheyenne.  I definitely could not do this without both of you.  I love you!!!  =)


Everybody go visit my site and like my Facebook page!  


Thanks for reading "All About My Business"
Crystal Campbell
Crystal Campbell Photography

Conflicted...

Well, I have had a very interesting day.  As you all know, I am a photographer.  I specialize in outdoor photography and my focus is on Maternity, Newborns, Small Children, Seniors, and Families.  I recently received a Facebook message from a close friend of the family requesting my services at a wedding.  A wedding?!  Someone saw some of my work, loved it, and now wants me to do their wedding in Colorado this summer.  I'd be lying if I didn't say that the idea excites me; however, my specialty is not weddings nor did I go into this business wanting to be a wedding photographer.  So, I politely declined and suggested an awesome wedding photographer that I know.  

End of story??? Oh no... not when it comes to my family.  LOL  Today I get a call from my brother who tells me that this couple doesn't want some high profile wedding photographer.  They liked my work and want me.  Wow!  I have to say that, while my brother can be slightly harsh in his delivery, he brought up some valid points in why I should take this opportunity.  I told him that I would think about it.  I'm going to talk it over with Scott tonight and hopefully give an affirmative answer either way by Sunday.  To tell the truth, it scares me a little... no, it scares me a lot.  LOL  I've never shot a wedding before and this would be a "sink or swim" situation.  My way of thinking is that if I screw up an individual or family shoot we can always do retakes; however, I only have one shot at a wedding to get it right.  Having been a bride myself, I know how important a wedding day is and how it can be ruined by bad photography.  

On the other hand, I always doubt myself like this when trying something new and then it usually turns out that I exceed all expectations.  Maybe I work best under my own pressure???  hmmm... could be.  Also, if I don't do this I may regret it and possibly miss out on future business.  If I do this, it will expand my portfolio and my business.  I have always wanted to see Colorado.  It's a tough decision.  Well, I have a lot of thinking to do tonight and tomorrow.  If anyone has any advice for me, please leave a comment.  I could use it.  =)

Thanks for reading "All About My Business"
Crystal Campbell
Crystal Campbell Photography

I'm Fixed!!!

You will not believe how much "computer drama" I've had lately.  Okay, so about 3 weeks ago I decided to take a week off to do a little "Spring Cleaning" around the house.  I got all of it done, and then sat down at my computer all ready to work only to find that my computer was sick!!  It had contracted a virus... well, several actually.  It was blocking me from doing anything including getting on the internet.  I knew we wouldn't have the money to fix it right away, so I did the only thing I knew to do.... I pulled the plug.  It was a sad day around here.  =(   We would have to wait for Scott's next paycheck before we could attempt to revive the old girl, so it was down for 2 weeks.  There was nothing I could do except pray that, once we had the money in hand to fix it, our computer would restart and my files, (plus some unfinished photos), would still be undamaged.

I was not able to do anything for 2 weeks and my house was already clean.  So I just kind of vegged in front of the TV and got caught up on some of my DVR shows.  Scott and I had a nice long Memorial weekend with lots of grilling and appreciating the freedom we have due to the sacrifices that so many soldiers have given for our country.  Finally, payday arrived.  It took 2 days to get this PC working again.  A big Thank You going out to Cameron for helping me as well.  Fortunately, all my files and photos were unharmed.  The only casualty was my wireless card... it was completely useless and had to be replaced.  All-in-all I guess I was lucky not to have lost everything on my computer.  

So now I'm back!!  I finished Brandi and Charlie's Prom pictures today.  They are on my facebook, (www.facebook.com/crystalcampbell55).  I will also place some below.  Anyway, thank you for holding on and staying with me through all this.  =)  Oh, and I did get some awesome protection for my computer so that virus thing will not happen again.  =)

Charlie and Brandi - Prom 2011

Thanks for reading "All About My Business"

Crystal Campbell 

Crystal Campbell Photography