Where does my photographer disappear to?

So periodically I get inquiries from families that love my style and I have to turn them down or wait for a month or two to start booking. Why? Well, your favorite photographer isn't just a photographer. I have spent the last 14 1/2 years serving my country.

For the first 14 years, I was assigned to units doing a job that gave me a predictable schedule. In July that changed. I was assigned to the US Coast Guard Cutter Munro, a 378 foot cutter in Kodiak Alaska. My husbands first thought was "HUNTING AND FISHING HEAVEN!" while mine was "What's going to happen to Bella Aqua?" I had spent 4 years building my business, filling my portfolio, creating contacts, and learning everything I could about photography. Now I was headed to a boat that would have me gone for 2-3 months at a time, and was getting ready to head to a dry dock period for an undetermined amount of time.

But then we arrived and I got on the cutter for my first sail and discovered that I have a view of the world from a point of view that not many people are lucky enough to have. I get to see one of the world's last truly untouched lands from the fantail of a cutter while out to sea.

The absolute serenity of watching a helo fly over the mountains of kodiak amongst the clouds is something I would otherwise have never seen.

The morning mist weaving its way through the windmills, even though man made, is so beautiful and mystical.

Then there are the traditions that you get to observe that no one else can. Raising and lowering the national ensign on the fantail of the cutter every day at sunrise and sunset. The folding of that flag and the deference afforded that piece of fabric that symbolizes so much of what we are on board this cutter for.

And theres the utmost honor any military service member can be bestowed. The opportunity to observe a fellow service member be committed to his final resting place. In this instance it was the first captain my my ship. Captain John T. Rouse.

So, if you reach out to me for a session and I can't accommodate you as quickly as you would like me to, this is why and where I disappear to. Occasionally I have to put my business on hold to take care of other business. I miss each and every one of you when I am gone, but I wouldn't miss what I get to do while gone for a minute.