I love being alive.

I am astonished, sometimes overwhelmed, by the countless opportunities, experiences, sensations and nuances of life. I feel as if I’m in a perpetual recess, running and laughing and feeling the joys of freedom and possibility and heightened senses.

Give me a field. A stream. A camera. Not much, at all, really. I’ll quietly be content and entirely at peace.

There aren’t many experiences in life I’d trade for the awe-inspiring feeling of coming face-to-face with an owl in the wild…. I have 1,000 owl stories, and to the depths of my soul I appreciate every single one of them.

Strangest place to be, but we’ve crossed the tipping-point for 2021 into where we now unfortunately say “No” more than we can say “Yes” to session requests.

I’ve thought every day for years that I probably should’ve named the business something other than my name, so that we could partner with other regional photographers on shoots. When a business is self-named, however, we’re limited to how many sessions I personally can take, as there’s also the necessary time to edit (primarily) and complete the other tasks of running a business.

I’m genuinely sorry to say “No” to folks, and wish that I could always schedule everyone who was kind enough to choose Jeff Norris Photography…. We’re essentially fully booked through year’s end already, with the exception of early-morning/late-evening 45-minute headshot sessions in the studio and a smattering of mid-summer slots. Of course, there may be cancellations and/or postponements on dates currently booked, but those usually happen last-minute, so it’s challenging to plan accordingly.

We’ll always accompany a “No” with recommendations for other local photographers, should we not be able to schedule you. We know most of the other professionals, and can help steer you accordingly, based upon what you’re looking for.

On the other hand, we’ll also work with you to find dates/times/options that are possible, perhaps with a bit of flexibility on a range of days…. We sincerely appreciate the opportunity to schedule as many sessions as is feasible.

Three more headshots today and then an engagement session Saturday and a senior picture session Sunday as we all feel the wonder of the first day(s) of spring….

I’m lucky, grateful, appreciative and blessed.

This week has been several headshots, an engagement session, a family reunion shoot, a commercial project and a wedding. Whew!

Somewhere in the mix of coffee, positive outlook, exercise, dark chocolate, great films, sunny skies and more coffee, I’m delighted to step in to each new experience. There’s absolutely no such thing as routine or mundane or typical in the life of a professional photographer, and I love the daily challenge of improvising, adapting and creating from scratch upon stepping into each new situation each successive day….

Collaborating to create beautiful portraits is such an intimate, meaningful process. Once there’s trust, the sessions blossom. I’m deeply grateful that my career allows me to help people see themselves in a deeply personal, honest, captivating, rare and insightful manner.

I had a friend ask me this week why I didn’t advertise in the annual Bloomington spring wedding magazine.

Sweet that he looked and noticed (I don’t even look at the publication).

I told him that we’re so lucky…. We’ve never spent a penny on wedding advertising, yet we shoot about 25 each year and turn down many more.

Our advertising has been either with Google and/or with local radio. One helps people find the business (especially out-of-state parents of IU students, for instance) while the other helps with B-Town local name recognition.

Right place. Right time. Right combination of price, service and memorable, meaningful images. We’ve truly simply been fortunate. There’s an enormous element of simple luck involved in life — good luck and bad luck. None of us knows the lot of the next draw.

But, unquestionably, knowing nothing of what’s ahead or which side of the equation those events will fall, we’re best served to do our best, day-after-day, to persevere, to honor the positive and to enhance the lives of everyone we encounter along our journey.

In the case of our photography business, the success has been word-of-mouth. As cliche as it sounds, it’s the best advertising, by the widest of margins. Our clients love the photographs, the relationships and the fair pricing. We’re lucky. Exceedingly lucky. But we work awfully hard to contribute to that good luck, and the hard work costs nothing, at all.

While strolling around town this week, I saw several new businesses popping up throughout downtown Bloomington.

I love to see tangible examples of forward-looking, positive-thinking entrepreneurs.

To believe in something (self, community, location, product/service) — and to commit your financial resources to it —is a brilliant way to live a life. Feeling passionately about an undertaking is euphoric and unrivaled in creating enthusiastic energy.

I grew up in a small town, and my family knew everyone who had a restaurant, clothing store, hardware store, grocery store, etc…. It’s a wonderful feeling to know you’re supporting friends and neighbors and classmates and local families. When I left my small town to go to college in B-Town I never let go of the preference to support local entrepreneurs. I used to walk Kirkwood, College and Walnut and Indiana Avenues, and all the surrounding downtown streets each week, buying albums, clothing, food, gifts, and anything/everything I needed, and all from Bloomington-centric businesses.

Times change, and national chains now dominate the landscape of American urban centers, of course. Too, after a global pandemic (and on the heels of the ‘08 Great Recession), I can understand why someone would be unwilling to launch a new business, risking savings and the ease of a steady job as an employee. But sincere kudos and appreciation to the brave souls who jump in. Each new business is a tribute to the founder(s), and a vote of confidence for our community. I’ll continue spending my Bloomington-earned money at Bloomington-based businesses, helping my kindred spirits realize their dreams, as well.

I love accessible, friendly, welcoming photography.

When I see a portrait, I generally feel one of three thoughts: 1) it feels too self-important or pretentious 2) it shouldn’t have been published in its current version (perhaps needs to be edited to look better), or 3) it feels attractively, warmly relatable.

The third, the type of photograph that allows you feel a moment of wonderful human emotion/connection, is a gift. I always feel I’m giving folks a loving gift when I hand them back a beautiful memory of a small moment of their lives (and/or loved ones).

The work of art that most inspired my life is Thorton Wilder’s immortal “Our Town”. As it reaches its breathtaking peak of tension (and genius), Emily asks the Stage Manager if anyone ever realizes life while they live it, every minute. The answer, of course, is “No”, but upon first reading it I committed my life to actually trying. I remind myself daily — and have done so for decades — to try to honor every minute.

When I’m working, I try to honor every minute by giving others a realization, too — via a visual image — that life is fleeting, precious, poignant, bittersweet, and, as Emily says, too wonderful for anyone to fully grasp.

Back from an amazing month-of-January 8,000-mile road trip that we deemed the “South-by-Southwest Tour”…. There’s little I love more than hands-on exploring, and I deeply value every day/week/month that I can spend wandering with no agenda, map, plan or timeline. We explored nine national parks on this adventure, and our pug (only two years old) has now been in 31 states!

Having taken this deep breath, I’m back in full-swing with seven sessions this week plus my first 2021 wedding on Saturday afternoon/evening.

I’ll go over all my South-by-Southwest Tour photography during the month February, and am looking forward to making some new enlargements for home and studio….

And I’m already planning the NEXT long road trip! There’s so very much to embrace in our all-too-brief lifetimes, and I aim to experience the bulk of it all firsthand…