12/24/2017
Dear Facebook Family - This is bittersweet.
As booking season quickly approaches, and 2017 comes to an end - I've made the difficult decision to take a hiatus from professional Photography.
This is a decision that I truly hope is only temporary - however a decision I know I needed to make before I wound up with another Season full of weddings, and in turn another Summer with no time left for my Family.
As many of you know - my Wife Sasha and I welcome our fourth child Laniakea into the world this past May. In addition to her arrival, the Real Estate career I began "for fun" not too long ago has taken off at a rate I never saw coming. While I tried to keep my wedding bill as light as possible this past Summer, the combination of Photography and Real Estate effectively resulted in two months without seeing my Family... At the end of the day Family means more to me than anything... and that is the reason for my decision to put the camera down for the next few years.
Photography has been a deep passion of mine for my entire adult life, and it's impossible for me to deny the fun I've had since I turned my passion into a career nearly a decade ago. It is a career that has taken me around the world, and introduced me to literally hundreds of amazing people in the process. I cherish each and every relationship I've made on this journey and am keen on maintaining as many of them as possible over the years to come. My hope is that, in the not so distant future, I will be able to take on Photography part time again, but for now I know I need to remain focused on the present.
I want to thank each and every one of you for the bottomless support and encouragement over the years. Whether you are a past client who I had the pleasure of working with, a friend or family member who passed my name along to someone you knew, or a fellow member of our amazing local photography community here in Victoria - You all have played a key role in my Life and it really means a lot to me to have had you as a part of it.
I am not going to kill the Cedar and Stone page, because if I do begin to take on bookings again in the future I would love to be able to reconnect with all of you easily, and return to sharing my work with everyone. Because of this - I would love for you to remain "quietly connected" to this page. If/when I come back I'll let you know.
In the meantime, if you would like to continue to follow me/keep in closer touch - I would be thrilled if you were to join my Gower Smith Real Estate Team page. I will share the link to it here shortly (it's just undergoing a bit of an overhaul at the moment) so that you will be able to "like" that one and remain connected with me through there - my business partner and I will be actively involved with everyone on that page and will be holding tons of contests, and throwing lots of client parties you will all definitely be invited too.
Thank you all again for the fun we've had over the years, it truly has been a great ride and has ultimately taught me that you CAN make a living doing something you love. That is a lesson that later inspired me to pursue my dreams of a Real Estate career, and a lesson I can't wait to pass on to my Children when the time comes. It was (and still is) an amazing feeling to be able to say I am payed to do something I love so much. If any of you need a "pep talk" before taking a similar leap in life I welcome you to reach out to me, I will never be too busy to encourage someone else to chase a dream (and I am full of advice that will help you along the way).
Cheers to another great year. I hope you all have an amazing Holiday and then succesfully carry those good vibes into 2018.
Much Love,
Kris
(Family Xmas photo below taken by the insanely talented FunkyTown Photography - If you need any family portraits/wedding photos done I couldnt possibly say enough good things about them!)
