Call us crazy but we made the move from Arizona to North Dakota...
...and things have been very different (but I suppose 2020 has been an off year for everyone). We knew we wouldn't stay in Arizona forever but never thought we'd be heading back home. I grew up in North Dakota, moved away when I was 26, and told myself I'd never have to live through another cold and snowy winter. Apparently, I'm a sucker for torture. Pretty sure we sparked the early snowfall too, so I apologize for that. After having our daughter, Payton Callie, we decided it was time to be closer to family so she could grow up with Aunts and Uncles, cousins galore, and her Grandparents only four hours away in either direction.
North Dakota has been good to us, though. We're happy to be back and it's nice to have some familiar clients nearby. I've been doing headshots for the athletics programs at North Dakota State University (NDSU) and also photographed their lone football game of the fall season. Valley City State University (VCSU) has had me visit a couple times for volleyball and football games and I'll make the trip west again for a couple basketball games next month. Since I'll be cutting back on sports coverage, we will be focusing on more portrait sessions including family portraits, senior photos, headshots, and one of my favorites, branding sessions for entrepreneurs and small businesses.
COVID-19 has made for an interesting year. It started by cutting a 30-day gig in half (cancelled after 13 days) and prevented me from shooting any Minor League Baseball as the whole 2020 season was canned. There's been a lot of adjustments, a lot of figuring out how to keep a small business afloat, and working hard to get my name out there in a new region of the country. However, there is a positive takeaway from this pandemic. I have been able to spend so much time watching my daughter grow up - something I didn't think I would get to do because of the everyday task of photographing baseball across the United States.
For those that don't know (pretty sure everyone in the world knows by now), we had our first child, Payton Callie, last October. Well, we've made it a full year and recently celebrated her first birthday with a small amount of family and some of our closest friends. Payton was spoiled with gifts that have been so helpful with her development and she gave everyone a show when she dove into her birthday cupcake as evidenced in the photos below. She continues to grow faster every single day and her personality is really beginning to shine. She's a ham...such a ham! And boy, does she love her Momma. The two of them are perfect together.
All in all, life has been good. We just wanted to share a quick update as the website is being upgraded to a new and easier to browse portfolio and information center. I will be posting new blogs for each session (they'll be less wordy, I promise), and the website will have new content weekly. This weekend I'll be releasing a post in regards to a couple mini sessions we're offering the weekends surrounding (and including) Thanksgiving weekend so don't forget to check back or add @ZacharyLucyPhotography on Facebook and Instagram for updates.
All the best,
Z.
