Kelli Trontel

On June 15, 2010 my dad took residence in Heaven, with our Lord and Creator. What a loss this has been for me, but I am gaining new perspective everyday….on life, love, serving others and living as if Heaven matters most.

My dad was the best dad to his girls. There are four of us….and he loved us so so much.

My three sisters and I lead the Celebration Service in Orange County, CA on June 26th. Aside from the circumstance…the day was perfect, in every way. There was laughter and there were tears, but above all…a legacy was remembered, while we thanked God for blessing us with an amazing man who we got to call DAD.

I have some of the best friends in the world. The late night phone calls, hour long meetings at Starbucks that helped me clear my mind, the dinners, the cards, the Facebook and Twitter messages…..all of these things have made my days brighter. I have felt LOVED. Thank you!!

Below are photos, along with a video blog with details about some incredible moments that I encountered just moments before I received the phone call about my dads unexpected passing and where my heart is at today. Please take the TIME to watch it and my hope is that you leave my blog….encouraged and with a new perspective. My life has radically changed these past 30 days and I just wanted to share it with you…..Thank you for being a huge support to me. Your prayers and words of encouragement have made a huge impact on my life.

XOXO

Lucky me. I spent all of last week in my hometown of Orange County, CA visiting family….and attending a fabulous photography conference in Newport Beach. There’s just something about leaving town and being around new creative talent….and not to mention, the beach! HOLLA!!!

Ok, so many of you know that I talk about Jasmine Star…a lot. Especially to those who are on the fence with blogging and social media. Regardless of your views on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Blogger, WordPress, Showit Sites ect….this is where we are headed and where we will continue to go. Yes, we are all entitled to doing things the way we see best for our business, but we are in this photography community together. Our decisions and attitudes don’t just affect ourselves. Anyway, I was stoked to find out that Jasmine’s topic at the conference was on Social Media- I could not have been happier. She rocked it.

I learned something new from every speaker that stood on the stage and poured our their heart. I didn’t necessarily agree with everything that was said, but that’s the beauty of what we do. We are all unique. We all create. But we can never afford to stop growing and learning from others. This is what Escalate was for me. A place to listen and to learn. An opportunity to hear what works for other photographers and how that may or may not work for me. It was an opportunity to meet “cyber” friends face to face [HELLO jamie delaine] and to connect with other creatives. I am an advocate for collaboration and I want to do more of that…this was a huge part of what Escalate was about.

Speaking of collaboration….that’s exactly what TABOR JEAN, my new wedding photography venture is about with photographer extraordinaire, David Bean. A few of my other upcoming creative collaborations include miss Brooke Boling and Elise Yetton….more on these later. I just want to encourage you all to join forces with other creatives and visualize bigger dreams….and make them happen!

I appreciate the time that Dane Sanders, David Jay, Jerry Ghionis (all the way from Australia!), Becker, Jasmine Star, Jessica Claire, and Jeremy Cowart put in to further educate the photography industry.

::iPhone photos::

sara d harper & dane sanders

jasmine *

jeremy cowart

Three weeks ago today, I was driving home from a Womens conference at church. It was a little after 4pm and the sky was dark, the winds were blowing harder than ever and the rain was not letting up. What would normally take me 40 minutes to drive home…..took over 2 hours. The freeway was closed and the water on the roads began to rise. I had no idea what was about to come…..it was a shock to our city.

I know. I know. Texting and driving is bad news bears……but I was stopped [i promise!]. Since the radio wasn’t saying much about the roads and weather, I decided to hop on twitter to try and figure out what was going on. **p.s…to all you twitter haters out there….this a perfect example of social media at it’s finest!** I posted a “twitpic” of my current view on the freeway and asked people what they knew of the situation and the responses were such time savers! I was able to avoid certain roads and get home- safely.

My heart is heavy for those that have lost everything….and anything at all. We have dear friends who lost their home and are now dealing with additional headaches- called Insurance companies. I am sad at the loss of many of Nashville’s tourist attractions and recording studios, which contributed to the heart and soul of our city. However, I am proud to be part of this community that I call home. WE ARE NASHVILLE! We love. We serve. We help. We rebuild. A new song will be written!

Below are many photos that I took as I walked around and prayed over our city. I have also posted a video that a dear friend [Michael Deppisch] put together, which is so very powerful. There are many opportunities to volunteer and give- check them out here & here. Yes, it’s been 3 weeks since the flood, but the volunteer needs will desperately be needed for months to come.

One year ago today I was laid off from my job at an advertising agency in downtown Nashville. Goodness, I remember it so clearly. It seems like yesterday when I was sitting across from the CFO as her mouth was moving, but my mind was wondering off towards new dreams and visions. As I left the building and was walking to my car I had no idea what the next day, week, month or even year would look like for me. At the time, I was in a music group called COLMANblue and we were really hoping to move things ahead. I was hopeful in the midst of the unknown.

Let me back this up. It was Easter 2009 and our pastor was talking about purpose. I sat in my chair that Sunday and really examined my life. Was I really doing what I was called to do or was I putting my hands to things that I selfishly wanted to obtain? Pursing my own dreams? My own visions? The last thing that I wrote in my journal that day was:

“I don’t want to be a person doing things that God has never called me to do in the first place.”

So, as I was hearing the dreaded words of being let go- just three days after Easter- my mind went to that place in my journal. I was hearing the words “Now Go. Do what I have called you to do.”

So much has happened in this ONE YEAR. Never before have I felt more in line with what I am being called to do with my life. The funny thing is, it hardly involves what I have been trained to do since I was a little girl. The music that I had been pursuing had come to an end and I found myself in a whole new place, but never alone. I am being REFINED. REDEFINED. SHARPENED. TRUSTED. LOVED.

So, I sit here in my office away from the office [Starbucks] and I write to you to tell you….to listen. Be aware. Be intentional. Dream. Take chances. Believe. Have faith. Life is fast and ever changing. God dreams much bigger dreams than we could ever begin to touch, and honestly our dreams don’t even come close to the magic He desires for us. He’s not even effected by time frames….how amazing is that!?!?

“God trains the called, he doesn’t necessarily call the trained.”

I am a people person. I love a good conversation. I value relationships. All of these things are what I get to experience on a daily basis with photography. Yes, I love nothing more than a ridiculously radical photo, but first and foremost….its YOU! It’s an honor for me to really get into the lives of people…..with guards down…..being real and authentic. This is where true magic begins.

The opportunities that have come my way in just the last few months have completely blown my mind. I’ll be announcing a few of those things later this week. It just amazes me how quickly things come together when you are doing what you’re called to do. I whole heartedly believe in proper alignment….being at the right place, at the right time, doing the right things with the right people. Try it! Life is just better this way…….

Is anyone else out there hearing what I am saying? Where are you at in this season of life?

Be encouraged! And lets move mountains! I dare you.

p.s the CFO that laid me off….later hired me to photograph her daughters wedding. Seriously?!? Life always works out.