Category Archives: notes

A Family Update!

So thankful my sister came with & took this photo for us!

Hello friends! You may have seen already…We are EXPECTING! Little Wilcox #3 is due to arrive August 2020! We are very grateful for the Lord’s timing & His protection on the baby & I.

Overall I am well & baby is well, but we’ve needed to take things verryyy slowly this pregnancy these days. We’d appreciate your prayers as a our little one grows & our family draws closer to it’s due date! But that explains why things have been a little quiet around here after the fall photo season ended for me 🙂

I am booking sessions for 2020! Keep reading for some baby & business related FAQ’s!

FAQ

Are we finding out the gender? Nope 🙂 We didn’t with our girls & as long as it’s not a medical need, we probably won’t ever find out with any pregnancy
How far along are you? I am 16 weeks (in the 2nd Trimester) as of Sunday
Is this your last? We will see what the Lord has, but we hope to have more 🙂
How are you feeling? Tired & very grateful.
Are your girls excited? Elizabeth is ELATED & Ruth doesn’t totally get what’s going on hahah 😉
When do you plan on releasing 2020 Mini Session themes & dates? As soon as I can! I was hoping to this week but I’m needing some time to rest & so it will in the next few weeks now. The best way to stay in the now about Mini Sessions is to watch your email!
Mom & Me Mini’s this year? Planning to! They will occur in April & be the first mini’s I offer this year. I will also have them open to expecting mommas! So perfect for a mini maternity session! I’m working to confirm our location for this year in the next week! They are going to be a bit different this year so get excited!
When will you be on maternity leave? Most of July & August & potentially the first half of September depending on when the baby arrives!
Are you still doing Back-to-School Mini Sessions for Homeschoolers? Yes! They probably will just be in late September this year instead of July/August.
Are you accepting any birth clients? My last birth to photograph is this June & then I will not be accepting births for the rest of the year & a majority of 2021 with having our own newborn.

THANK YOU
for celebrating with us! We’d appreciate all your prayers!

Naomi, Eric, Elizabeth, Ruth & Little Wilcox

5 Resources for You!

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YOU ARE NOT JUST A CLIENT!

This morning in my head I was thinking about how to explain my heart on WHY I did what I did. And I realized the short answer is- because I care about you all. You’re not just clients to me. You’re my friends. My people. Special individuals that I get to watch as your family grows. I get to watch while you & your significant other go through new seasons & I get to celebrate with your senior as they take a new step into the world. And I get to cry & cheer as your brand new child is born into a room full of love.

I believe so much in what we get to do together- save THIS season of life, hold THESE moments in time- for the legacy that you will carry & pass on.

I “filmed” 5 Facebook Live videos that I am gifting to you to use as we draw closer to our photo session together. I called it my Christmas in July series & they’re all on my facebook HERE (or just click each topic below & you’ll go directly to each video).

Here are the 5 Topics I Hit:

How to Make Photos Happen on a Budget
Getting Your Loved One on Board for Photos
Tips for How to SCHEDULE Family & Group Family Photos
5 Tips for Saving Money when Buying Clothes for Photo Sessions
What to Wear for Photo Sessions? 5 Tips!

I’ve had all of these topics clinking around in my brain for years now. I can only get so many words into a blog post & frankly the amount of information I shared would have been too much for a blog post. Plus it was easier to just share my heart verbally then take the time to think through the right words & write it all out!

All of these videos & the information I shared was from my heart & not from Pinterest posts somewhere. I thought through the things that have & have not worked in the last 5 years of business & am REALLY EXCITED to share these resources with you!!!

I care about you & I care about the money, the time & effort that YOU put into photo sessions. And I care about our time together & want it to be as special as possible! That’s why I took the time to film these & I’m REALLY excited about them. So please, check these out! Here’s THE LINK again so you can just click & play whatever one you’re most interested in. And feel free to just put it on & “listen” to me as you make dinner, fold laundry or whatever! And the cool thing is, you can comment on ANY of the videos at anytime ask any specific questions you may have & I’ll get notified & can answer back right there!

Behind the Name

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Naming our two girls took prayer & time. It’s a big deal to bestow a name on someone who will have it for their lifetime! Naming anything like a pet, business, a book, you name it (pun intended 😉 ) takes thought, prayer, time, & hopefully some soul searching of why the name works (or doesn’t).

Naming my business Nomi Photography when I launched the photography business in 2014 was a no brainer. My siblings when we were all young couldn’t say my name Naomi very clearly & instead “Nomi” came out. Nomi stuck & through the years some of my dear friends as well as my siblings still call me that to this day! Even the little ones I nanny called me Nomi! (I’ve actually met a few other Naomi’s in my life & have been told their loved ones called them Nomi too! How fun!)

A lot of things have changed in the past 5 years. I’ve got some gray hairs. I’ve become a mother of two girls. Learned that I can’t eat too much dairy in a day & that real plants aren’t my thing. Bought a house. Worked harder at actually finishing the books I buy 😉 I’m 33 & life looks a lot different for me now then it did 5 years ago. With photography, I’ve made some decisions on what I choose to shoot & what I don’t. I’m not a wedding photographer. I’m not a studio photographer. I am a birth & family photographer!

All of that took time & maturity. Later in the coming weeks I plan to share 5 specific things I’ve learned in 5 years of business. But the bottom line from what I’ve found, with owning a business is if you want to take care of your clients & treat them like your own family (which is what I strive for) you have to change. You have to prune & grow. And mature.

Changing from Nomi Photography to Naomi Elizabeth Photography is an outward sign of the inward pruning, growth & maturity I’ve had in the past 5 years of business. I’ve learned soooooo many things & have changed for the better as a photographer & business owner & I want to make an outward reflection of that.

It is always my prayer to keep getting better in how I service my clients & the quality of photos I give. That is not going to change. My word for Naomi Elizabeth Photography for 2019 is “connection”. I want to connect with my clients in a deeper & more helpful way. Thus the recent Facebook Lives, the announcement of Birth Photography. Some of my policy changes for this year. The name change.

What can you expect with this change? I’ve got a new beautiful logo, a new website address: www.naomielizabethphotography.com. You’ll all need to start getting used to seeing Naomi Elizabeth Photography instead Nomi Photography! I will have a new email address & will be sharing that soon. I am working to get my facebook page name changed as well. Hopefully that goes well because I’ve heard it can take quite a bit of time!

But I’m excited & SO ready for this! Nomi Photography has matured for the better & Naomi Elizabeth Photography is the perfect way to reflect & share that change!

Friends, thank you for being here. For taking the time to read this. For supporting me & my family. Naomi Elizabeth Photography wouldn’t be what is now without you 😊 May is a big month & I plan to celebrate 5 years in several different ways! Stay tuned!

PS If you’re wondering, yes! Naomi Elizabeth is my first & middle name! And we did name our eldest Elizabeth so we could share names! 😉

GIVEAWAY!!!! To celebrate all the changes that have come to Nomi Photography NOW Naomi Elizabeth Photography 😉 I am giving away a Mom & Me Mini Session! Click HERE for the details!

Why Birth Photography?

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I’m getting emotional just thinking about all the reasons why I want to do birth photography.

I love people. I firmly believe that EACH person has a purpose. That’s why we’re here. We ALL have a purpose.

My first birth I photographed, I remember the excitement growing in my heart as I was waiting for the go-ahead to come photograph his birth from his mom. It was this tangible excitement. Adrenaline was flowing through me & I couldn’t think about anything else but his arrival or his mom. I remember asking myself WHY. Why was this SOOO different then anything else I had ever photographed. I’ve photographed some amazing things including two weddings. But let’s be honest, a birth is QUITE spectacular. There’s just NOTHING like it. I KNEW that this was unlike anything else, but I wanted to know WHY.

My answer hit my heart so quick, I knew it was from the Lord, & again, I’ve got tears threatening to brim over & down my face as I try to convey my heart! “HE HAS A PURPOSE. I’ve got something planned for him.” That’s what I heard in my heart. I knew it was from the Lord. I remember getting out of the car & running into the hospital. My heart pumping, my smile as big as it could get. You’d have thought this baby coming was my own! But the joy in my heart & the joy I felt in that hospital room as he made his arrival was knowing the reason he was here was that he had a purpose. And he had arrived to fulfill it.

After documenting his birth, I was hooked. The joy. The pain. The newness of a life all in one space, all in front of me. It was the honor of a lifetime to be there & save it forever for his mom, his dad to look back on & one day share with him.

Since then birth has become a big part of my life as I’ve had my own two baby girls & photographed more babies & another birth. I want to be that person. That person in the room when the baby arrives & documents it all. That person that is softly praying & encouraging the momma. Watching for the beautiful details to unfold & capturing them to be remembered forever. For the momma to look back on & see those moments when she wondered if she could keep going. And then to see the moment when she realizes it’s all worth it

I know this post is about birth photography, but let me take this moment to say, my friend, you have a purpose. It started the day you were conceived & continued on strong the moment you were born.

I have needed to wait for just the right timing to offer birth as a regular photography service, but thanks to a team of people & a couple small life changes, the time is NOW!!!

Will you do me a favor? Help me get the word out!!! If you have a friend, a cousin, a neighbor, a co-worker who’s expecting, will you connect us? Let them know I’m NOW OFFERING BIRTH PHOTOGRAPHY as a service. I want to be their photographer for this incredible life experience. Have them email me at naomi@nomi-photography.com or just direct them to my page HERE. Or if you’re the one expecting, I’d love to take you out for tea/coffee & go over my Birth Experience package with you! (And for a limited time I am gifting FREE Fresh 48 Sessions along with Birth Sessions that are booked with me!)

I’d love to meet you or your friend. To celebrate this new life, this new little one that has a PURPOSE.

Here are two of my birth sessions from my portfolio to view – TOBIAS (hospital birth) & BLYTHE (Birth Center birth).

New Policies for 2019

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Hi friends!

Nomi Photography is turning FIVE in May! I’ve said several times I feel like my kid is going to Kindergarten! haha! Each year as my business grows & I meet new clients & reconnect with clients that have become friends, I’m just truly thankful that the Lord has made photography such a big part of my life!

For 2019, I have three policy changes that I’m making.

1) Deposits are required to reserve a session. Last year I started requiring nonrefundable deposits for mini sessions & now that requirement will be stretched to all my sessions. It’s super easy to do now with the online payment options I offer so it’ll be a piece of cake! The deposit will be subtracted from your overall session fee & the remainder will be paid the day of your session.

2) If you want individual pictures taken of your children, a regular session will need to be reserved instead of a mini session. After evaluating my clients experiences & wanting the best for everyone, this year I will be standing firm on not offering individual photos of children at mini sessions. That’s why I’m offering in September the Sibling Mini Sessions. That is the ONLY mini session where I will offer individual portraits in a mini. Otherwise a regular session is best for your family if that’s what you’re needing! (Please not that this new policy does not affect the Back-to-School Mini Sessions for homeschoolers.)

3) I only accept newborn sessions in December. This isn’t really a “new” policy because I’ve actually had the rule for several years now but I wanted to get it out there 😉

That’s it for this year! If you’re needing a refresher HERE is the post on my list of policy changes for 2018! Thank you for making Nomi Photography such a special thing for me! I wouldn’t be doing this without you 😉

Maternity Leave for Little Wilcox #2

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I’ve started to get emails from clients wondering when I’ll be out on maternity leave for our second child (YAY!) & I wanted to share just a few things regarding that!

My Maternity Leave:

APRIL Saturday, April 28 will be the last possible day to have a session with me before my Maternity Leave begins May 1.
NEWBORN SESSIONS If you are having a baby in June or July & want me to do your newborn session, please contact me. We’ll see if we can make that happen 🙂 I’d advise contacting me sooner rather then later since I will not be checking my email that much once my maternity leave starts 😉
OTHER SESSIONS In 2017, I did a few newborn sessions in June & July & if you are wanting me to do their One Year Sessions, please email me & we’ll see if we can make that work! This is only for reoccurring clients though that I’ll try to make this work for 🙂
AUGUST I plan to officially be back & scheduling sessions in AUGUST IF not before. If you want a session the end of July/August, please email me as soon as you can because, again, I won’t be looking at email that often! Depending on when the baby is born, I might be back before then!
BACK-TO-SCHOOL MINI’S For those of you wondering, I will for sure have Back-to-School Mini’s for homeschoolers this year! Depending on when our baby comes, they will either be the very end of July or beginning of August, which is when they usually are. I will do my best to communicate a Save-the-Date with the homeschooling families I offer this to as soon as I can, post baby 🙂
LIST OF MINI SESSIONS FOR 2018 Click HERE to see the official list of the Mini Sessions I plan to offer for 2018!

If you have any questions about anything, please don’t hesitate to email me (naomi@nomi-photography.com) & we’ll chat!

And here’s a my 30 week bump picture for those of you who are into that sort of thing 😉

New Policies for 2018

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Hi friends!

We are already 3 months into the year & I’m looking forward to all the sessions that are happening in 2018! Each year as Nomi Photography grows & I meet new clients & reconnect with clients that have become friends, I’m just truly thankful for this part of my life the Lord has blessed me with. As seasons have changed for me as a person (becoming a wife, becoming a mom to one & now Little Wilcox #2 is on the way!) Nomi Photography has been there & changed with me. It’s also been a blessing to have a creative outlet & financial help as I am a mom to almost two & nanny a few days a week as well. For those of you who are new to Nomi Photography or have been with me from the beginning THANK YOU for being a part of this journey!

So YES! If you haven’t heard, we are expecting our second child mid-May! You can read all the details HERE. As life transitions for us, there’s a few policy changes I’m making to Nomi Photography:

1) I no longer will be traveling for sessions outside the 15 mile radius of Bloomington-Normal UNLESS it’s a Newborn Session. There are many, MANY great locations to use for sessions in the BloNo area. I promise we will work together to find the best local location that fits YOU & your family!

2) There is now a $20.00 fee to have a gallery reloaded if a client requests for it to be resent after it has expired. With 2 little ones soon in my arms, time is money! Whenever I finish a gallery & send it to a client, I allow at least 30 days for you (sometimes even more!) to download & save the images for your records. If the session gallery expires & I’m asked to reload the gallery, the fee must be paid before the gallery is reloaded.

3) Family Mini Sessions are now 30 minutes in length instead of 20 minutes. I’m super excited about this & can’t wait for my first Family Mini’s at the end of this summer! Here’s the full list of the mini photography sessions I’m offering this year.

4) I don’t schedule sessions on Sundays. This isn’t really a policy change as that I’ve had this policy ever since I started my business! Hah! But I wanted to get it in writing so clients are aware of it. I use Sundays as my “Rain Day” for sessions that happen earlier in the week in CASE we would need to reschedule & have it on the Sunday following their session. I go over all this with my clients one on one but I thought I should put it here! This allows me to keep Sunday as my family day since I’m often working Saturdays & then Sunday is the only day our family can be together uninterrupted!

These aren’t policy changes but here are two things to note:
1) My 2018 Prices are now on my website over on my INVESTMENT page.

2) THIS blog post has all the details regarding my Maternity Leave for Little Wilcox #2 🙂

Weather Policy

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As I’m writing this, we have just gotten out of the wet April that seems to always hit the Central Illinois area 🙂 Spring has sprung in Bloomington-Normal & summer is peaking at us! My weather policy for Nomi Photography is the same all year round & is pretty simple!

Because I am using a camera to take your pictures & that camera & the lens on it are pretty expensive if there is rain happening during a session, I have to reschedule. As frustrating as that is, we can’t have a wet camera because then that means a broken camera! And we don’t want wet clients either 😉

Policy for a Session
Amazing Client schedules exciting, fun session with me. (We talk over the weather policy in your consultation.)
I watch weather like a hawk all the way up until the session with Amazing Client.
I see that it looks like it’s going to rain & I call client an no less then 1-2 hours before session & we chat about what to do.

Policy for Mini Sessions
I schedule Mini Sessions on Saturday’s & then use Sunday’s as my rainout/makeup day.

It’s that easy! I don’t work on Sunday’s. I don’t schedule sessions nor do I edit or answer emails. Sunday is my family day. Since I’m usually doing sessions on Saturday, Sunday’s are the only day that my little family can spend together. BUT I save Sunday’s for my sessions that get rained out & then use Sunday’s for the new day IF another time/day during the week doesn’t workout.

I will do sessions in light snow & wind even. I will reschedule an outdoor session if it it below 40 degrees. I will also reschedule if it is too hot.

I have a list of indoor locations that can be used in case of bad weather.

I hope this blog post helped you when it comes to weather change! Don’t let weather scare you! Being outdoors for a session is the BEST.THING. you could ever do for your family. Natural, outdoor light can NEVER be replaced by studio lighting. It’s just not the same.

And just for fun, all these pictures that are in this blog-post were taken on SUPER cloudy days! Pictures can still happen when it’s cloudy out! 🙂

Let’s do this! Email me at naomi@nomi-photography.com & we’ll schedule your session!!!

Making Our Family Activity List!

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A couple weeks ago I posted on my personal facebook & asked for suggestions of free or VERY cheap things to do as a family in the Bloomington-Normal area. I was blown.away but all the responses & wanted to figure out a way to keep the list! I did save it to my computer but these ideas are too good to not share so I decided to just throw them in a blog post & share them with you!

There may be spelling & grammar mistakes, so sorry about that! Feel free to share this post with friends 🙂

And you may be wondering why I would share this on my photography blog? Well, I think EACH of these activities would be AWESOME to do during a lifestyle photo session with me!!!!!! See what I did there? 😉 I wet your appetite & now you’re dreaming up all the awesome images we’d get! 😉 So check out this list, make your families summer bucket list & then contact me for me to hang along & we’ll have the most amazing session EVER!

I’m excited to share in the future what Eric, Elizabeth & I ended up doing!

I’m linking to a podcast & facebook live video that I think are just helpful in general for doing things as a family & on the cheap! Click HERE for one of my favorite podcasts & hear Shailey & Katie talk about some of their tips for getting out of the house- they’re funny & so down-to-earth! And click HERE for a facebook Live video that Bonnie Greiner of Mom by Example did that really encouraged me to not overbook ourselves this summer!

And if that wasn’t enough links 😉 here’s another one- THIS is the list I used with the kids I nanny. We took our favorites & put together our own Summer Bucket List. This is the PERFECT list to use or copy if you’re needing all your “adventures” to be at home & free.

Special thanks to Cheryl, Caroline, Krista, Katie, Lynne, Crystal, Annaliese, Miriam & Darla for all the awesome suggestions you made!!!!! This list greatly helped me!

Community Outdoor Activities

Walk around White Oak Lake

Fly Kites

Ice cream at Emacks in Uptown

Sugar Grove Nature Center

Normal Public Library

Third Sunday Market

Lincoln Balloon Fest

Uptown Jazz Festival

Loungeabout the Roundabout

Sugar Creek Arts Festival

Music at Mackinaw Winery

Miller Park Zoo

Glasener Beach (at Comlara Park) is also a fun little outing

The Replex in Leroy is $15 for the day pass for a family and they have a pool and splash pad as well as an indoor playroom.

Sugar Grove Nature Center has activities & neat classes when kids are a little older.

Another fun thing we did every summer is park judging. The kids made a “rating list” and a list of parks they wanted to try out. Throughout the summer we would visit, play and judge the park. There are so many great parks here. We found some new favorites in the process. And of course included some special snacks or a picnic lunch to make it fun!

Shakespeare at Ewing Manor is fun too…they have free shows during the day during the summer that are geared toward kiddos (10AM on Wednesday or 10AM on Saturday July 12–August 12)

We used to do a picnic lunch on Ewing Castle Lawn where they would have people dressed in period costumes. I think it used to be in late spring, they did it once a week for 3 or 4 weeks. I don’t know if they still do it or not.

We did movie night at the park, once a week at dark they show a movie. We’d bring a blanket and popcorn. They do that for about 5 to 6 weeks in the summer.

Free family Fun Day, May 6 12-2pm @ Tipton Park

Miller Park, Franklin Park & Wither’s Park have free summer concerts.

Connie Link Amphitheater has lots of free family events over the summer including professional story-tellers and magicians.

Toddler time at Anderson pool is always fun! And we enjoy the splash parks!

World Day of Play in Uptown Normal- check Normal website for date. Grandsons and I get list of parks in town and park hop and cross them off the list after the visits after their “reviews.”

Registration for Fun Run just came through my e-mail today, so that is another one that I would definitely add to the list. Great family program on Friday Nights. It is through the Lake Run Club – http://www.lakerunclub.org/get-involved/kids-run-for-fun/

Macaroni Kid has a list of events!

Do you have any other suggestions of things I should add to the list? Comment below & let me know!!! I’ll add it!

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Remember, Remember, Remember

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There has been a change in my heart regarding photography. And this little girl in my arms is the key that has unlocked an entirely different side of it to me.

I knew once I became a mother there would be some kind of change in how I looked at photography but to be honest, I didn’t expect it to be so drastic, so life-changing. I remember my mentor, Amy, mentioning that it would happen & I believed it. But I had no clue of what a vast difference it would make.

Every mother can attest to the fact that once a child has been entrusted into your care for the first time, whether by adoption or birth, your life as a woman is never the same. Never. Becoming a mother has changed everything about me. I remember going through changes when I became a wife & becoming a mother has continued that journey of change.

These changes have affected every part of my life including photography. In May of 2013, with the support of my husband, I launched Nomi Photography. As each session, each month, each year passed by, I continued to learn & experience so many changes in my photography skills. But I can say without a doubt that the biggest thing I’ve had happened to me that has GREATLY revamped, improved, challenged & reshaped the way I look at my photography is having a daughter.

Before Elizabeth, I would say that I wanted to “document” during my photography sessions. That little girl’s beautiful freckles. That little guy’s first steps. That couple’s laughter.

document: something (as a photograph or a recording) that serves as evidence or proof; a material substance having on it a representation of thoughts by means of some conventional mark or symbol

But now that I’m a mom & have felt the emotions, feelings, fears & love that a mother does, I want to “remember” with my photography.

remember: to bring to mind or think of again; to retain in the memory; record, commemorate

I want to help a mom remember what that warm embrace feels like from her son every time she looks back at a photo from our session together. I want to help that dad remember what it’s like to hold his little girl’s hand before it can no longer fit into his. I want to help the new mom remember what her new baby smells like every time she looks at the images from their newborn session even when he’s started to drive at 16. I want to remember those first wobbly steps of a mom & dad’s toddler before she’s off running to college. And yes, I can barely type that without tears flowing!

Remember, remember, remember.

I’m excited. Every day as I step further into motherhood, I’m excited to see how it shapes my photography. There will still be a lot of documenting going on with Nomi Photography 😉 But I promise you, there will be lots & lots of remembering.

I ask for you to join me on this journey. There are very fun & special changes coming to Nomi Photography. Thanks to Elizabeth & thanks to my amazing clients. I want to make the Nomi Photography experience smoother & even better! Follow along at @naomiwilcox on Instagram or at www.nomi-photography.com/blog to see it unfold. (Or better yet, signup for my e-newsletter HERE. When you do, you’ll receive a free gift just for signing up!)

And even though this photo is out of focus, I love it so much!

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