My Blog Has Moved

If you have arrived here to visit my blog it is now at www.virginiagronley.wordpress.com


Please feel free to follow me there!


Thank you

Selfie - To Do or Not To Do?

Most of us in Michigan are being hit with the winter storm today and are expected to get between 6-10" of snow.  I'm home alone, being bored and really didn't feel like going outside.  So what was I to do?  What else, take a selfie!!  I don't know about you, but I hate taking my own photograph.  I feel like I can never pose correctly, smile the right way and many other negative self-critiques that I continue to tell myself.

But then, I remembered an article (I can't remember who posted it) about no matter how you feel about yourself you still need to take photos of YOU!  As a photographer I'm always capturing that moment with everyone else and very seldom do I take the time to take my own photo.  What better day than today.

So here is my best attempt at the one I liked the best (yes this was after about 20 tries) and decided to share.



New Year's Resolution

Here we are again, another year and another resolution.  If many of you are like me you commit to a new resolution and are energized by making it happen and then by mid-year if not sooner, we lose focus.  Well, that is my new year’s resolution for 2014: Staying Focused!

I found that 2013 seemed to be the year that I never felt I had enough time in the day to complete all the things I wanted to do.  When I look back on the year the one thing that I noticed over and over again is that I try to do too much.  How many of you are like that?  Let me tell you how out of sync I have become.  First, let’s start with my priorities; God and family always come first for me.  My passion is photography and leadership.  I also have a full-time career.

So here is what 2013 looked like for me:

·       God

·       Family

·       Career

·       Photography business

·       Became a Certified John C. Maxwell Coach, Speaker and Trainer

·       Thirty-One Consultant (selling of purses, totes, etc)

·       Premier Designs Consultant (selling of jewelry)

·       Local Chapter President of National Association of Professional Women (NAPW)

·       Member of Women4Women networking group

·       Moved into a new home

·       Various health issues between me and husband

·       Oh and by the way do I need to mention I spent countless hours on FB and Pinterest?

I ended the year feeling exhausted with not much being accomplished.  That is why I have decided on staying focused as my goal for 2014.  I am starting to remove the facets of my life that I don’t enjoy, have passion for and just fill up needless hours of my day.  This hasn’t been an easy decision for me because I feel like I’ll be letting some people down, but I know in my heart it is something I need to do.

So my new year will look like this:

·       God

·       Family

·       Career

·       Photography business

·       Leadership training & speaking

·       Member of Women4Women networking group

·       Limit my hours on FB and Pinterest

 What is your new year’s resolution for 2014?

 

 

Are You Willing To Pay The Price For Your Dream?

What is your dream?  Do you dream of being a great musician, a great leader or a great photographer to name a few?  Ever since I was little I always had dreams.  We then go through life being told you can't do that, or you don't have the money to do that and so on and we lose sight of our dreams.  Many times to achieve our dreams we have to be willing to pay the price for it.

As John Maxwell states in his book, "Put Your Dreams to the Test" the dream is free, but the journey isn't.  We get to some point in our dream where we need to be the buyer of our dream.  What is the price we are willing to pay to make our dreams come true?  My dream has always been to be a great photographer.  Night after night I would research how to use my camera, understand composition and lighting and watch what other photographers were doing.  I would imagine me producing such beautiful images that they could be a piece of art and maybe even one day be hanging in a gallery.  What was the price I had to pay to get there?  Time and money.

I had to be willing to give up my free time to continue to learn and grow in my photography journey.  I had to invest more money to buy good lighting equipment if I wanted to produce beautiful portraits without using natural light.  I already had an awesome camera and lenses and just needed to add a few more things to my toolbox.  My issue was more about time.  I am always the person doing many different things and thrive on this, but at times I get overwhelmed and know that I need to take a break.  So I had to be willing to let other things go to continue investing in my time relating to photography.

I can see a huge difference in the quality of work that I produce and I know it is because of the time invested in growing and developing my craft.  So what is your dream?  What are you willing to pay to achieve this dream?

So here is an example of how investing in my dream has paid off.  This is a before picture from 2009 in TN of the Smoky Mountains.  Nice photo, but a little flat, boring and just really doesn't do anything for me.

This next photo is from TN, again in the Smoky Mountains in 2012, but you can really see the difference from photo 1 to photo 2.  Photo 2 the colors are amazing, you can see the depth of the mountains much better and overall it is a much more appealing photo to me.  I actually had this blown up on canvas and have it hanging in my office.  One of my favorite locations to visit!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You Know You Are a Photographer When....

My fellow photographers can relate to this post.  I often find myself daydreaming and as a photographer it always goes back to my art.  I thought it would be cute to develop a top ten list of, "You Know You Are A Photographer When..." so here it is:

You Know You Are A Photographer When:
1.  You find yourself in thrift stores and garage sales looking for props.
2.  You are driving and always noticing the beautiful spots you pass for a future shoot.
3.  You're constantly thinking of different ideas to build your business.
4.  You're at a party and see how the light is hitting someone and think, "great photo opportunity."
5.  Your grandkids and children start to run away when you come with the camera.
6.  Your Christmas list always contains something photography related.
7.  A photo is a piece of art.
8.  Everyone in the family comes to you for photos.
9.  You go no where without your camera!
10.  Your heart sings every time you capture that perfect shot.



 

Hola!

I wish I had a garden this year, I miss my homegrown veggies.  Over the weekend a dear friend brought me a bag of tomatoes from their garden.  I was so excited because I've been wanting to make homemade salsa, especially with all the Pinterest photos of salsa. 

Well, today I pulled out the old blender and made my salsa.  We like the consistency like El Charro's so I wanted it more on the puree side.  I'll be trying tomorrow so that the spices can mix and do their magic overnight.

Sweet as Honey

This morning as I was sitting on my patio and enjoying the sunshine I kept watching this little guy fly from flower to flower.  I just love the detail in bumble bee's and had to grab my camera to capture this shot.  Love it!

I'm Back!

Hi folks,
Yes it's been a few months since I posted to my blog.  Had to take a much needed break and am finally back in the swing of things, hope you didn't miss me too much!  Life sometimes has a way of getting so busy that we just need that little siesta to get refreshed.  Art is my passion as you all know and I'm anxious to start creating some beautiful work.  One of my plans has always been to create a piece of canvas art from one of my photographs for above my fireplace.  So that will be my mission this summer to capture that WOW image that suits my style.

How about you, what is your style when selecting a piece of art over your fireplace or anywhere in your home?  Do you like flowers, animals, people or just about anything?  I'd love to hear your comments.

If I had a cottage this would definitely be one of my choices!

It's a Bird, It's a Plane, No....It's a Falcon

This little friend has been hanging out in our backyard for a few months now.  Today he was joyfully enjoying his dinner atop our birdhouse.  So I grabbed that 500mm lens and started snapping away before he flew away. So this isn't the sharpest photo, but at least I captured the shot while he was eating.

My Mentor John Maxwell

As of February 21, 2013 I am officially a Certified John Maxwell Coach, Speaker and Trainer!  For those of you that don't know who John C. Maxwell is, he is a great Leader, teacher and author.  I have read many of his books and studied his teaching for many years.  Last year I enrolled in his certification program and attended the certification just this week in Orlando, Florida.  I spent three days with him and his team and I can honestly say it was a life changing event for me.  He is a humble, servant leader who puts God first in all that he does and I am blessed to be certified by him.  The opportunities are endless and as John says, "Don't shortcut your strengths."  So my plan is to continue to invest in developing my strengths to 150%!

Me and John Maxwell celebrating his birthday!

Invest in Yourself

Twelve more days and I depart for my John C. Maxwell Certification in sunny Florida!  Can you hear the excitement in my voice?  I am anticipating the wonderful networking opportunities that will be abundant, the photo op with John himself and yes a book signing to go along with the wonderful training I will be getting.

So it will be official, I will be a Certified John Maxwell Coach, Speaker and Trainer as of Feb21st.  I already purchased a new notebook to take LOTS of notes from John's leadership experiences.  As Les Brown stated today on a conference call, "We are never to old to learn and never to young to teach."  So follow your dreams and continue to invest in yourself to develop that untapped potential.

Birthday Blessings

Today is my mother's birthday and we celebrated by taking her to Olive Garden.  I am truly blessed to have such a strong, loving and kind woman as my mother.  She is one of a kind and I love her dearly.  We talk at least once a week if not more and never end a conversation without saying I love you. 

So thank you mom for being you.

New Year...New Project(s)

Since it is the start of a new year I have decided to finally jump in and do a 365 day photo project.  So what does this mean you say?  I need to take one photo everyday for one full year.  The goal is to expand my creativity and technical skills as it relates to photography.  So far, eight days in I'm still on task!

I also joined a 52 week themed project that I'll be participating in.  I know, I'm crazy but hey if I don't take the plunge now when will I, right?  I'll be posting the photos to keep you all updated and they are also on my fb page www.facebook.com/virginiagronleyphotography.com

I loved how today's photo came out!  Today is Elvis's birthday and I pulled out some of my old 45's with my xbox guitar and got a little crazy!


www.virginiagronleyphotography.com

Happy New Year!

Today is the first day of 2013 and everyone is talking about their New Year's Resolution, so what is yours?  Mine is to focus on paying off credit card debt, I mean really "focusing" on a budget so that any disposable income can be paid towards our outstanding debt.  What a great feeling that will be when all our credit cards are paid off!

We spent our New Year's Eve with the kids playing card games, dancing with my grandson, Aidan and just enjoying family time.  Melanie has her first hangover (lol) and my poor daughter-in-law woke up with the stomach flu, no not the bottle flu!  Isn't it funny how in our 20's we want to party hard and then in our 40's it's all about staying home to avoid those party hard drivers!

Anyways, I hope you all had a blessed year and as for me I am looking forward to 2013 with an optimistic outlook on life as always!

"We Wash You a Merry Christmas"

Those of you that know me, know that I'm addicted to Pinterest (amongst other things)!  I made these cute little gifts for my neighbors and I must say they turned out adorable. 

First: Made glass ornaments with acrylic paint inside with a silk ribbon to hang them.
Second: Purchased soaps from Bath & Body Works
Third: Made tags from my Cricket maching which say We "wash" you a Merry Christmas
Last but not least: Placed in clear bag and tied with pretty ribbon.

I will be deliverying these on Christmas Eve to their porches as a little way to say Merry Christmas for such great neighbors.  I always like to do something each  year for them and Pinterest just makes it so much easier to come up with some unique ideas.

Thank you to the following two blogs that helped me achieve success on my project!

Credit due to:
www.darlingdoodles.blogspot.com and www.ayellowbicycle.blogspot.com

My Journey Continues

I have been on a journey to learn as much as I can and always have a back up plan.  My full time career as a Learning & Development Consultant with a Fortune 500 Company is truly a blessing for me.  Besides my passion for photography I have a passion and yearning for Leadership Development.  I have always invested in self-help books, Leadership books and Seminars/Webinars to continue to help me grow.  It hasn't been until recently that my journey has taken a new route!  I am now in the process of becoming a John C. Maxwell Certified Coach, Speaker and Trainer and I am soooooo excited!  I'll be traveling to Florida in Feb to meet him in person and receive my certification, did I mention I was soooooo excited!

My passion is to help others become leaders not only in their professional life but also in their personal life.  Remember, we don't need to be in a leadership role to be considered a leader AND you CAN learn to be a leader.  As I travel along this road I will be incorporating some of my learnings into my photography business as well in hopes that some of you may be able to use the knowledge to help build your business and become a better YOU!

Till then....

Fa La La.....

I LOVE the Christmas season!!!!  So what is it that I love about it:
1.  Christ our Savior was born
2.  Love the giving spirit everyone has
3.  Love the family time and making traditions together
4. LOVE LOVE LOVE the Christmas music
5. LOVE LOVE LOVE decorating my home
6. Love everything the season is about

One thing that I find as I get older is that each year I decide to cut down on my decorating.  I think I will always do a tree and fireplace mantle(as long as I have a fireplace) but the banister is something I can see me not doing as I get older (many more years to come of course)!

My tradition is to alway decorate the weekend of Thanksgiving.  We get all the kids together and go as a family to cut down a real tree and I love it!!!  What is your tradition for Christmas?

Blessed Little One

I have been such a slacker, really over a month since I posted to my blog!  So much has been going on, if you are a frequent visitor to my blog I apologize.  I do keep up my facebook photography page daily so you'd think I would have a problem with my blog. 

Anyways, my third and youngest grandson, Bryson, was baptized!  I still can't believe I have three grandchildren and as I sat and took it all in I couldn't help but remember my son, Jeremy when he was that little.  Life truly does come full circle and enjoy everyday that you can before it passes you by.

My son has come such a long way on his journey and I am so very proud of him, he is a great father and I know that God has some great plans for him.



The Thompson Clan from left: Harold & Pat (Jeremy's grandparents) Tiffany, Jeremy & Bryson, Jill & Tony (Jeremy's dad) and of course Aidan, big brother to Bryson!




The Gronley Clan
From left: Margo(Jeremy's grandma, my mommy) Me, Tiffany, Bryson, Jeremy and Melanie and Megan (Jeremy's step-sisters) Missing from photo: my wonderful husband Mike, he had to work :(



Jeremy & Tiffany, proud parents!

A Reflection of Achievement

Don't you just love when you capture that moment in a photo session when you say "stunning"!  Well, I did just that when I was photographing Jake, a senior from Armada.  I had the pleasure of using their property in Armada consisting of beautiful trees in full color, old wagon wheels, burning bushes and a coblestone bridge with water and all!  I couldn't have hand selected a better background for this session.

This is my absolute favorite!

Senior Session in Armada

I love doing senior sessions with all the upcoming graduates!  This week I have two senior sessions and one wedding.  Armada is one of those towns that has the amazing large colorful trees in the Fall.  Cody's jacket with the orange coloring for Armada just went so well with the leaves.  This is one of my fav's from my session.