Working Smarter - Not Harder - To Be Creative

It's been awhile! I've missed all you amazing people and WELCOME to all the new people who signed up during my canvas wrap giveaway. Lots of new faces around here.So, where have I been? After Christmas I decided I was doing things the hard way when it came to my photography (and life in general). It was making me not want to sit down and do one of my favorite parts - edit photos - and I ended up with photos just sitting on my memory card, in my camera, forgotten.

I challenged myself to try something new and STREAMLINE my process. It meant signing up for tutorials and classes, taking time to learn new things, and unlearn my old habits. It wasn't easy because it meant I had to sloooowwww waaaayyyy down (while thinking in my whiny voice "noooo, I don't wannnnaaa, I wanna do the longer way that is ingrained in meeeeee") and keep looking up my notes and tutorials on how to achieve what I was imagining.

That is not an easy thing to do and I know many of us face that same challenge. We create habits and, even though we know there could be a better way, we keep going with those habits because steering the ship in a new direction can be so darn hard.

In the end, it was absolutely worth it. You know that saying "Work smarter, not harder"? That's my goal is this year. I also came up with a new tagline:

Photographer - Traveler - Dreamer

I feel between working smarter and following my new tagline I am more in line with what's a great creative process for me. I've also been taking care of a work-life balance by working out with a trainer, taking this free 30 Day Push Challenge to be more organized (http://www.30daypush.com/), and learning how to just chillax about all that small stuff so I won't feel overwhelmed.

And you know what I've learned? If it's not enjoyable - it's not worth it.

Confession: I never learned the proper way to type and now I type using 2 fingers on my left hand and 3 on my right. I can see your brain twisting trying to imagine what that looks like. It's not quite monkey at a keyboard but it's definitely close. I type super fast this way but get crazy looks when people watch me. I know that typing with all 10 fingers would make my life easier but the idea of trying to unlearn years of wacky typing makes me wanna sweat.

Maybe next year?

**Note: The 30 Day Push Challenge is not an ad or affiliate link. Just truly something I've been enjoying and wanted to share.

P.S. Are you on Snapchat?

I'm having fun sharing the random daily things of my life (including videos of my visits to the beach!) and interacting with fellow SnapChatters! Just open up your Snapchat, snap the ghost to the left, and it will automatically follow.

Search by username: rach.abrahams

The Clouds Are Real, I Swear

I showed this to someone recently & the first thing they said was "Cool sky. Is that a stock image or did you Photoshop it in yourself?"

Huh? What?

Until that moment, the idea that the sky looked so nice that I couldn't have possibly captured it that way had not occurred to me but I promise you, I did. It was incredibly hot that day (of course it was, it's Florida) and there were storms coming later which meant the preceding weather was an oppressive heat that made me question my sanity for being anywhere outside that day. There were soooooooo many people at the Animal Kingdom park in Walt Disney World and I really didn't want to spend a lot of time in the park. My mom was willing to be my partner in crime while I wandered around looking for ideal photo opportunities with the promise we would ride Expedition Everest (excellent roller coaster) and also have lunch at Tusker House (it was delish). I know this isn't the most original photo and many people before me have taken this shot but I HAD to do it when I saw these amazing clouds floating by. They were moving quickly so I just stood there waiting for the right "grouping" and took my moment.

Plus, if you look in the water you can see the reflection of the sky. I may be getting better at Photoshop these days but there is NO WAY I am that good, haha!

P.S. In my opinion, Animal Kingdom is my least favorite of all the parks at Walt Disney World. When I think of going there, images of oppressive heat, overwhelmingly crowded walkways, and battles with double-wide plastic strollers invade my mind. Maybe I haven't given it an honest chance but I've been approximately 10 times now and I only look forward to Asia & Expedition Everest. Anyone else feel this way? Willing to convince me otherwise?