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Friday Fun – Photography updates, D.C. food & dance!

January 19, 2018

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I’m Manali
Coach, editor & brand photographer based out of Cincinnati, Ohio. When I'm not behind a camera or teaching about systems, you'll find me at a vineyard or cuddled with my cat Keegan on our cozy couch!
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This week was another good week! I feel like good weeks generally keep good weeks coming.Β My life here is by no means all pretty flowers, gorgeous wedding venues and beautiful rings ALL day every day! Most of it is just sitting behind the computer with a top knot and an unfinished mug of coffee next to me, typing out this blog post or emailing a client, or putting together something useful for 2018 brides, or even mundane things like marking expenses as business or personal. It’s a lot of hard work that goes on behind the scenes that doesn’t always get showcased! So, I want these posts to be a little bit more transparent with everything that goes behind doing wedding photography πŸ™‚

So that being said, here’s prominent parts of the week (aka generally a lot of food highlights hahaha):

– I went out to the Wharf in D.C. on a super windy day with Naveen and LOVED IT!!! Also, they get a million bonus points for having a brand new Dolcezza gelato and coffee store which also features BREAKFAST FOOD!! I mean check out this menu & this super cute penguin πŸ˜€

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– I got to virtually hang out with all of my girls from college who are now all over the US via Google πŸ˜€ It was definitely the highlight of my week getting to catch up with everyone & hear about all the awesome things that people have been up to. And it was also comforting to realize that yea sure, we’re “real adults” now, but we’re still ourselves and having fun! I also think everyone appreciates the fact that they get wayyy more sleep now post that E-school life!!!

– It feels so much quieter around here now that everyone who was back from UVA for break has gone back to school again but I’m excited to get back to practice, practice, practice!! I’m performing with DCBC at an upcoming bhangra competition called East Coast Bhangra (ECS) at UVA and I am SO excited to be going πŸ˜€ At first I didn’t think I was going to be able to perform but now that I am able to I CAN’T WAIT to be able to be in Charlottesville for a weekend, compete with my DCBC crew and get to hang out with all of my UVA homies!!! It’ll be like YAR PART TWO! and I’m so, so exciteddd.

– Anyone see the Vikings victory over the Saints? I was totally rooting for the Saints but damn, that was a CLUTCH ending!! If you didn’t se it, go check out the highlights, it was a crazy game!

– For any of you craving Bodo’s, try out Bethesda Bagels in Dupont Circle! I promise this will help you get your fix of the water bagels & bagel sandwiches we all love Bodos for <3

– I spent a lot of time configuring HoneyBook which is my new customer management system that tracks all of my project/wedding details in one place! So far I’m loving it (except for that one time I accidentally sent someone a slew of template emails…). I added the Wedding Questionnaire that I send to couples 2 months before their wedding day into HoneyBook to provide a seamless experience and added a portion to my website regarding what the wedding experience with me looks like from start to end! I also updated my engagement questionnaire to reflect these changes. Along with that I fixed up a section of Frequently Asked Questions to include in my Wedding Collections & Pricing guide! You see what I mean about the top knots & coffee and hours at a computer rather than just taking pretty pictures? But I really love it!! Because from all the hard work comes news like that below:

Β – I BOOKED ANOTHER WEDDING!!!! I legitimately love this couple already πŸ™‚ We FaceTimed since they currently live in San Francisco and they are just the most easygoing and laugh loving (that’s a thing…) people I’ve met! The groom to be designed one stellar engagement ring that I can’t wait to photograph soon as their official wedding photographer!!!

– I AM GOING TO BE WORKING WITH ONE OF THE TOP PHOTOGRAPHY INDUSTRY LEADERS THIS YEAR!!!!!!!! I know, all caps, this is excessive but this is someone that I’ve looked up to for probably over five years now. You know when you meet a movie star in real life? I’ve never been a fan of actors/actresses but I FANGIRL over some of these well-known photographers and she is one of them! Despite being around the same age, she has worked really hard and been so incredibly successful, she hosts her own photography workshops and even teaches at conferences! I will be photographing a handful of weddings alongside her this year and I can’t wait to get to meet her in person (I was NOT cool over FaceTime when I talked to her hahaha let’s be real) and get to know her personally over this upcoming year πŸ™‚ Plus a little bird told me that I’m sharing this whole experience with another photographer friend which makes this all the sweeter. I’m so excited to get to go out to this photographer’s workshop which is right after ECS! I had been planning on trying to make it out to a conference this year as one of my 2018 goals and it’s cool to see this coming to life!!!

If you read to the end of this, you’re a champ and I thank you for being a small part of my journey here with my little business πŸ™‚ It couldn’t be possible without you!

PAST FRIDAY FUN POSTS!

The One with Biscuits & Warm January Days

The First of 2018!

Wind, Hats, Cake & The Crown

 

 

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