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Bozeman Photographer Christina Samuelson Recognized in an International Image Awards Competition

I was recently recognized and awarded the title of an Accredited Portrait Masters Associate Photographer. I’m so happy to have reached this milestone in my portrait photography career!

How do you build yourself up? By celebrating and acknowledging the wins, big and small. 

By taking time to reflect on how far you come. Be thankful for the journey. 

I would never celebrate anything, I desperately craved external validation but when I got it I could not RECEIVE it. Ok, I did that, next! Never enough. 

So today I celebrate this, for an analytical, overthinking engineer to take this step is quite remarkable, to embark on a new journey, to follow her heart instead of her head. So often we think we have it all figured out in life, we have the plan, however sometimes your heart wants something completely different than your head and what you “should” do.

I’ve come to discover for myself that my life is more about growth and expansion and less abut what I actually do to achieve it as long as I am enjoying the journey. As introverted as I am, working alone in a lab was not it, I thrive connecting with people and instead of creating nanoparticles I get to create portraits

The Portrait Masters International Awards and Accreditation Program is a recognition of “high professional standard,” and submitted images are judged by a panel of internationally renowned Photographers and given an average score. 

I’m proud to be an Accredited Portrait Masters Associate Photographer, you can be assured that you are working with a true professional in the industry. (https://theportraitmasters.com/directory/)

 

Show up as you are, grammar errors, forgetting words and all

I used to be a control freak and a perfectionist. Not a great combination if you want to get anything done 😉
When I had to do public speaking I dreaded it. I had to memorize every single word because what if I made a mistake? The horror! And the fear of judgement used to paralyze me.
Now I’m pretty good with doing lives on my phone, however doing something more “official” like this still got me spinning a bit.
The difference is that I did it anyway. I could wait until it was perfect…. But what is perfect anyway? There is no such thing. It’s so easy to get into our heads, to make it about us and hide.
But the world needs every one of us to show up, to share what we are passionate about. After you do something you are scared of you are going to find that you didn’t die 😉 Next time it will be even easier. Remember, our brain just wants to keep us safe.
In this video I talk about the importance to exist in photographs, not just for yourself but for your loved ones to whom they will be priceless one day. Little did I know that when I took the portraits of my dad, that would be the last time I saw him. I see his soul in them, I remember him and the experience through those portraits. I so wish I had the same experience and portraits of my mom to remember her by. 
Join me in my studio in Bozeman for a beautiful experience that will leave feeling empowered and unstoppable!
Beauty is Ageless

Beauty is Ageless

I’m so excited to announce my new campaign – Beauty is Ageless! I can’t wait to share amazing stories and gorgeous portraits of badass women over 40 living their best life!

Imagine a day where it’s all about celebrating YOU. Have far you have come, everything that shaped you up to this point. Let us take care of you, we will treat you like the queen you are!

Toss the to-do lists and obligations for a day! You come into the studio in Bozeman and you just relax and let us take care of you. We greet you with a glass of bubbly and invite you to sit down. We put on your favorite music and you get your hair and makeup done exactly as you envisioned. You knew this woman was in there, she just needed a little time for herself to come out and shine. 

Let us treat you to a red luxurious phtotshoot, we created different sets just for you, to allow all the aspects of you to shine. You are wearing some of your favorite outfits, posing is effortlessly because it’s my job as the photographer to guide you through this whole process. You don’t have to worry about anything!

I could tell you that this photoshoot experience is a fantastic way to step into your power while having tons of fun but I’ll let you discover that for yourself.

I’m looking forward to seeing you in my studio!

xoxo,
Christina

 

Lead from the heart

Life has shown me the importance of community, seeking help and being open to new experiences lately.

I was a vendor at the Women in Tech Festival a few weeks back where I met all these amazing women. What really stood out to me was how these women are paving their own path, defining what success looks like for them and how important it is to have a strong personal brand.

One of the talks that stood out to me was by Pasha Cook, Founder of Pasha Cook & Associates.“Personal branding creates opportunities, it’s about understanding who you are so you can show up fully.”

I’ve been having some health problems lately, forcing me to slow down, to reflect and to try new things. Last week I did my first Reiki session, having no idea what to expect. After the session my healer told me that the words “heart centered photography” had showed up for her when she was working on me.

She said “you should put Heart Centered Photography on your website”. I just stared at her in disbelief, she just described exactly what I do in 3 simple words.

I will continue to mull over what these words mean to me and my branding, I just wanted to share that sometimes we get a message from the most unexpected source when we try something new. Sometimes we get so busy doing that we loose track off who we are when we are just being.

xoxo,
Christina

Don’t decide where it ends

DONT DECIDE WHERE IT ENDS.

My yoga teacher spoke those words when I was in a particularly hard pose to hold. Can you meet your edge? Hold just a little bit longer?

That got me thinking of when I do this in my life, where I prematurely decide where it ends. I recently began talking singing lessons and when I come to this high note in this Lady Gaga song, I stop, thinking I can’t hit that note, that it will sound terrible (hello perfectionism!). But that was all in my head, I could in fact hit that note after a couple of trials, I had the power in me to do it all along, I just needed a little coaching.

Take a look at these two portraits below. Looking at the woman I was in 2013, I’m cute and younger but I can see the insecurity in my eyes. I was new in my role as a marketing and event manager, going to network at an event full of Silicon Valley hotshots and I dreaded it. Because I did not feel worthy, who was I to be there?

Looking at the woman I am today, I see someone who is on track to own her femininity, to step into her power and journey and ask herself, who am I NOT to be there? And that is powerful. Every time I doubt that, I can look at my new portrait and remind myself.

As a portrait photographer I meet women who have decided where and when it ended. Who tells me with their objections that it ended before this age, before this particular weight or before……. But they decided that they are not worthy of being photographed. Not in this season of life.

But it hasn’t ended. You can hit that note even if your mind says you can’t. You can meet your edge where it is today. And you can move that edge, bit by bit every day until you are in a completely different place that when you started out. Dont decide where it ends, my sweet friends.