Episode 024 - Helen Ransom

In this episode, I welcome Helen Ransom! Helen is the owner and photographer of Faces You Love Photography, and she shares about finding her niche, building her business, and what she loves the most about her job. (Fun fact: the cover image of this episode is one of Helen's photos!)

 

Get in touch with Helen Ransom: www.facesyoulove.com | www.facebook.com/facesyoulove | www.instagram.com/facesyoulove 

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Episode 24 - Helen Ransom

Lindsey Dinneen: Hello, and welcome to Artfully Told, where we share true stories about meaningful encounters with art.

[00:00:07] Krista: I think artists help people have different perspectives on every aspect of life.

[00:00:14] Roman: All I can do is put my part out into the world.

[00:00:16] Elizabeth: It doesn't have to be perfect the first time. It doesn't have to be perfect ever really. I mean, as long as you, and you're enjoying doing it and you're trying your best, that can be good enough.

[00:00:24] Elna: Art is something that you can experience with your senses and that you just experience as so beautiful.

[00:00:33] Lindsey Dinneen: Hello, and welcome to another episode of Artfully Told. I'm your host, Lindsey, and today I am delighted to have, as my guest, the lovely Helen Ransom. She is the owner and photographer extraordinare behind Faces You Love Photography. And she is joining us actually from her studio today, which is super cool just down the road from my house actually! A little trivia. Thank you so much, Helen, for joining us. I really appreciate it.

[00:01:04] Helen Ransom: Thank you for having me, Lindsey. And I'm thankful today for a quiet studio that I could escape to.  Lindsey and I met a long time ago when you started dancing in the same company that my sister is in. So we've had a few little run-ins here and there, but then got reconnected on a more personal level through Polka Dot Powerhouse. And I loved having you in the studio for headshots recently, and kind of working together and collaborating on that. And now I'm just so excited to be part of your podcast, cause I've never done this before.

[00:01:40] Lindsey Dinneen: Wahoo! I'm so glad you're here. Yes, it was such a blast to being at her studio. She has the cutest little studio. She's so good at making everyone to feel at ease. And I mean, I was laughing at myself a lot because apparently my posing needs some work.

[00:02:01] Helen Ransom: No! Stop it. You were great. You were great.

[00:02:05] Lindsey Dinneen: No, it was a great time. But yeah, so, Helen, how did you get started in photography? What sparked all of that for you?

[00:02:11] Helen Ransom: You know, it's funny. I, people ask me this all the time. They start with, you know, "Well, how long have you been in business?" And, and you know, "How long have you loved photography?" And, and my earliest memory of really loving photography goes all the way back to when I was probably nine or 10 years old. And for Christmas, I really wanted a camera and I didn't need a big camera. But of course back when I was nine or 10, it wasn't digital, it was going to be film. And I was so excited when I got this little Vivitar camera for Christmas. And, it was just a lot of fun to be taking pictures of family and my dog and things that were happening.

[00:02:51] And so that really started my love of it. And then, I kind of fell away for a while and then I had kids and I had a really crummy point-and-shoot camera. And I thought, "You know what? I'm being way too picky about these pictures. I need to upgrade." And so I suddenly remembered all of the savings bonds that my grandparents had given me for each birthday when I was growing up. And I hopped online and I looked and they were all mature. And so I marched myself into my bank and cashed them in and bought my first digital SLR camera and started teaching myself how to use it. And that was about 11 years ago now.

[00:03:32] Lindsey Dinneen: Wow. Oh my goodness. That's a such a great story.

[00:03:36] Helen Ransom: I love that my grandparents have such a part in it and I always bring that up to them on Grandparents' Day. And I'm like, "Hey, just to remember, shout out to my grandparents." And my grandma is the only one still around, but you know, I always give them a little shout out. I'm like, all those little savings bonds you gave me every year for my birthday when I was a kid, kind of propelled me into this career that I never would have dreamed I would have, and it's changing my family and it's changing other families when they have beautiful portraits. And it's just really special. I love that. They helped me get my start and that wasn't even the intention back when they gave me all those savings bonds.

[00:04:16] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. That's, that's beautiful. What a great story. So, okay, so you started to teach yourself how to do photography professionally, but what kind of let you, or what made you decide to take it from-- not that it was necessarily ever just a hobby--but you know, from more of a hobby to a professional career, essentially.

[00:04:38] Helen Ransom: You know, it, it wasn't really my intention. I have a background in radio. That's what I did. It was my big interest all through high school and college. And then my early days of, being married and out on my own, and then I had kids and I wasn't going back to work, and I got this great camera and started messing with it and teaching myself how to really do things well and actually use the camera in the mode it should be used in. And friends started noticing that I was doing pretty well and taking pretty great pictures of my own kids. And they started asking me if I would take pictures of their kids. And so, so when I had a year where I had three different families asking me, "Would you take pictures of my kids?" And one of those families said, "I'll even barter you for it. We have a big chest freezer sitting unused, and you have lots of kids. Would you like said chest freezer in exchange?" So that was basically my first paid gig was I did pictures and they gave me a chest freezer and I was like, "You know what, Nick?"--I talked to my husband-- I said, "Nick, I think maybe I need to look into this." And so he said, "Why don't you talk to your friend, Jennifer, who is a photographer and has been in business and see if she thinks you're ready?" And so we sat down and she said, "I think you're ready, Helen. And here's what you need to do to get started. "And.The rest is history. That was nine and a half years ago now.

[00:06:10] Lindsey Dinneen: Wow. Oh my goodness. And so is there any particular niche that you feel is something that you absolutely love or are--I know from  experienc-- you do a whole wide variety of things which I love, but is there one thing in particular that kind of captures your heart?

[00:06:32] Helen Ransom: You know, it's funny. I, so I go back and forth. Like if you had asked me two years ago, this question I would have said, "I just want the babies. Give me your babies." I want to do nothing but newborns and babies and the families that come along with them. And I am good. But then a year ago, I, I had moved into this new studio. I had a lot more space to do inside work, and another photographer kept encouraging me to branch out and add in headshots, but not just like your boring headshots, more fun headshots, as you experienced. And so I've been doing that for about a year and I get such a kick out of that too. Mostly because so many of the headshots I do are of women.

[00:07:26] And, you know, we women do not like to be photographed. We are not a fan of seeing ourselves up close in those ways. We are so self-critical. And so I get such a thrill now, now out of doing a headshot day and having woman after woman come in, and I can tell they're apprehensive, and I can tell they are not excited about this, but they feel like they have to do it. And then they look at their pictures, and they aren't even edited,  cleaned up, you know, made the right brightness and contrast, and they get excited about seeing themselves. And that is so gratifying to me, and also to my hair and makeup artist. She loves it too, of seeing these women kind of transform in front of us and get so excited about a portrait of themselves. And so I would say I equally love now the headshots with these women and the babies. I still really love the babies. Keep giving me the baby.

[00:08:27] Lindsey Dinneen: Yes. And we'll share some contact information at the end, but definitely, if you're listening to this podcast and you haven't yet seen her photography, definitely go check it out because yeah, the baby photos are so adorable. I can't handle it.

[00:08:43] Helen Ransom: They kind of steal the show, honestly.

[00:08:46] Lindsey Dinneen: They do. They do. They're just so cute. And she's got all of these props and little accessories and all sorts of things to just make it so fun. And it's just the most precious thing ever. So do you still do, or have you done much wedding photography, or are you kind of more in the sort of, you know, family portraits and?

[00:09:07] Helen Ransom: You know, I have done, I have assisted at one wedding and I have photographed a second wedding. And I think you were even maybe at or in that second wedding, I don't remember. It was a long time ago.

[00:09:19] Lindsey Dinneen: Yes.

[00:09:21]Helen Ransom:  And yeah, and I loved the day of, because who doesn't love a wedding, I love a wedding, but it was really stressful because there is so much pressure to get it right. And what if my equipment fails or something goes wrong with my card? And then I am not going to lie. I was bored to death with the editing of the same faces for so many days, because you take a lot of pictures of the wedding. And after I did that, I said, "You know, I could've spent the same amount of time photographing eight to 10 different families, and then I'm at least editing other faces and it's probably gonna work out to about the same amount of money." I think, you know, weddings just are not for me.  I'm going to let other photographers who rock at weddings  continue to roc aet weddings, and I'm just not going to do those.

[00:10:18] Lindsey Dinneen: I think that is completely fair because you just found what you love and you stick to it. I mean, it's, that makes complete sense to me.  So I'm just curious, are there any photographs that really just sort of stand out in your mind that you've taken that either have a story behind them, or just the moment just had something that really like--if you could pick a couple of favorites--what, what would that look like?

[00:10:46] Helen Ransom: So I have a couple of favorites that weren't necessarily a favorite to me, but I know now that they are a favorite to the family, because somebody in that portrait has passed on unexpectedly and knowing that that family treasures that photograph, because it is a beautiful memory of their loved one. It's life-giving to me to know that they have, that I was able to give them that. So that's a huge thing. And that has happened several times over these, you know, nine plus years in business. But then there's others. Like, so last year I started trying to branch out and get into photographic competitions, like really big deals where they're actually harshly judged, not the popularity contest, vote for my picture, who can get up the biggest social media presence. And it's been fun too. Last year when I entered, I just entered pictures I'd already taken of clients. This year when I entered, I put thought into some of my entries. Like I was like, what kind of story can I tell with these pictures? And, and because of COVID, all of the competitions got pushed. And so pictures that should have been judged a couple of months ago, they're still accepting entries right now in those contests.

[00:12:08] And,  I won't know how they're judged until probably a month from now, but one of those pictures in particular, I really put some thought into and I am so excited to see how it does in judging. And even if it doesn't do well, I'm totally going to post that sucker because I think a lot of people are going to resonate with it, but I had a mom come in and I said, "We're going to make you look more tired than you usually are." Because most women, when they come in and do a picture, you want to look good. Right? That's the whole reason I have Kim here doing hair and makeup is to make us not look so tired and look like our best rested selves. And I said, "When you come in, we're going to do the opposite. We're going to enhance those dark circles. We're going to make your hair look a little greasy and messy because you haven't had time for a shower. We're going to let your toddler look like they are drawing on the walls in the studio." We're like, we're going to do some stuff here.

[00:13:11] The scene, I had a plant tipped over. I taped up white paper to the wall in the studio to run into the white walls already here so that her toddler could draw on the paper, but it looked like he was drawing on the walls. We had a dirty diaper balled up on the floor, and I planted mom on the floor next to her baby, just sitting there. And I gave her an empty coffee cup and I was like, "Just stare. Like stare into space. Like you were just exhausted. You have had the longest day. I am done." And I love the way that picture came out because it tells such a story. Now I feel like everybody's going to look at it and be like, "Oh, it's a portrait of a COVID mom. I took that picture before COVID but. Let's just be clear here. I feel like I need to keep saying, I took that picture like two weeks before COVID was a thing and shut everything down, but everybody thinks it's just a portrait of a COVID mom. That's fine. Whatever, but I love that picture and I am super excited about it. And I've been holding it until contests are judged before I put it out there. Just so that, it doesn't ever get back, 'cause you want it to be anonymous in judging, and I don't want it to somehow get back to judges who took it, but I'm really excited to share that picture later this year and let people see what it looks like.

[00:14:34] Lindsey Dinneen: I love that. Oh, how exciting. Well, I'm definitely rooting for you. That's that's really exciting. Of course, of course. So one of the things that has always been kind of challenging, I think, for artists who turn maybe what was a hobby into a career, sort of how to price that? Is that something that you've... how, how did you go about that? 'Cause I know that can be a challenge.

[00:15:00] Helen Ransom: It is a challenge because when I started out, I started out like I think a lot of artists do of  I'm just passionate about this. This is fun for me. And I want people to have beautiful pictures and, and I'm going to price myself really low because everybody should have these beautiful things and I'm just passionate about it. And if I make a little money, it's a great perk. And I think a lot of us fall into that trap because it's easy to do because we do, we start out, and we're so passionate and excited. But then about four months in, I was working ridiculous hours trying to edit and turn pictures around for people. And it was routine for my husband to go to bed at 11 and say, "Are you going to bed?" And I'd say, "No, I have to get these galleries edited," and I'd be up until two or three in the morning. And he finally said to me, he said, "This can't continue like this. You, you have to fix something, 'cause we can't keep doing this." And I did the math and figured out that with all the hours I was putting in, I was making about $5 an hour.

[00:16:06] Lindsey Dinneen: Oh!

[00:16:06] Helen Ransom: And I thought, "Wow, I could be making more money at a fast food restaurant." And I wouldn't be working as much and I thought, "This isn't going to fly." And so I started just guessing and raising the prices a little bit. And then later, as I've progressed through the years and the career, I thought, "You know what? I invest a lot of my time into this." And yes, this is a gift that people love. They want this beautiful portrait of their family and their memories, or they want this, you know, amazing baby picture, or a fantastic headshot that's going to land them that next great job. But I also, I invest a lot of my time and energy and a lot of my resources into this. And this is more than just pushing the button. There's a lot more that happens here that the client's not here for, and I should be paid for that and I should be profitable. And it's a hard line to walk sometimes because we feel badly charging for a talent we have. When to the person, you know, the viewer, the recipient, whatever they feel like, you know, for what they saw, I didn't, it didn't take me that long. And I think they think that about, you know, dancers and people who paint or do pottery. Like they're just seeing the end product. They're not seeing all the blood, sweat, and tears and money that goes into it at the end.

[00:17:40] And so it's a battle. And I feel like in the last couple of years, I've really come into that of owning that this is my price and yes, different than other photographers, but I have a different cost of doing business. Maybe I've invested more time and money into developing my skills and maybe I just, I'm putting out a superior product. And I know that, and it's up to me to say, this is what I do, and this is why it's really excellent and fantastic, and why you should choose me. But I have to make peace with the fact that some people don't place the value of the same level as I do, and that's fine. They would rather spend their money on other things. And I have to make peace with that and be okay with it.

[00:18:26] Lindsey Dinneen: Absolutely. And those clients are probably not your dream clients either. I mean, it probably goes both ways.  Something that I've admired about you, getting to know you a little bit better, is that you are constantly learning. You're not just saying, "I got it all." Even the other day, you know, you posted something about how excited you were, you learned a different editing technique, and I thought, "You know what? That is so cool." You're not just complacent and say, "All right, I know everything."

[00:18:54] Helen Ransom: Yes!

[00:18:54] Lindsey Dinneen: You know.

[00:18:55] Helen Ransom: No, I think it is really important to be constantly as artists, whatever genre you're in, trying to improve against your past self. It's really easy sometimes to get caught up in comparing ourselves to other artists in the same genre. And that's a dangerous place to be. I had to unfollow a whole lot of photographers for awhile on my social media channels, because I was getting too wrapped up in, their pictures are better than mine. They're doing more business than me. And a lot of times it's a lie anyway. But it's a lie we tell ourselves and we can get wrapped up in it. And so I had to be really good about that. And then focusing on "No, how can I better myself from where my pictures were or where my business was or what my plan was even six months ago, how can I make it better?" And so I'm constantly looking for ways that I can improve against my past self.

[00:19:51]Lindsey Dinneen: Perfect. I love that. Yeah, your only competition is yourself.

[00:19:56] Helen Ransom: Really! It should be that way.

[00:19:58] Lindsey Dinneen: Right. Absolutely. Well, I'm also curious, how it was to transition from-- you know, you are still basically a one-woman show, with Kim, who's a fantastic makeup and hair artist, as well. But to go from sort of working just by yourself, in your home or out of your home, to now having a brick and mortar studio--how was that transition? 'Cause that's, that's a big step forward.

[00:20:25] Helen Ransom: It was a really big step forward. And so when I moved to having a studio, it was a much smaller space and it was a little bit sooner than I had originally anticipated doing, but a great space opened up and I knew I had to jump on it when I could. It was really fun. It's funny though, because I heard all these great stories about photographers, who say, "Oh, as soon as I moved into a brick and mortar studio, I had so much more business. I had so many more inquiries because they feel like you're a legit photographer." I didn't experience that at all, which was a big disappointment I had to get over quickly and realize, okay, just because I have a brick and mortar studio doesn't mean business is going to fall into my lap. I still need to hustle because kansas City has a ridiculous number of photographers for how many people are in this city. It is insane and having the studio was wasn't the magic solution for getting more business, but having the studio pre-COVID was really great at helping me draw more boundaries so that I could leave work at work.

[00:21:35] And I didn't have the constant temptation to edit late at night, or edit through dinner while Nick and the kids were eating, and I was somewhere else editing on a laptop, and it forced me to leave work at work. Now I'm struggling with do that again with COVID and I've pretty much moved all of my editing time back home, so that I can be home to monitor my kids now doing distance learning and all these things. And so it's a little bit harder again, and I'm having a hard time struggling with that balance. So I would say that's been one of the biggest things, though, of having the studio is forcing me to have that balance, and scheduling things the right way to keep that balance in check. It's a nice perk to have when I can utilize it the way I like to utilize it.

[00:22:21] Lindsey Dinneen: I love that. What a great way to use the space too, as establishing boundaries for yourself and for your work. So that's just something that entrepreneurs across the board, whether they're artists or not, I feel like that's just a struggle of when to stop working because you've got to hustle, but at the same time, life is going to keep trickling by and you're going to miss it if you don't have those boundaries. So yeah.

[00:22:49] Helen Ransom: Exactly. It's, it's such a struggle. It's just hard because you feel like if I don't hustle, there's nobody else hustling for me.

[00:22:57] Lindsey Dinneen: Right.

[00:22:57] Helen Ransom: If I don't do it, it's not going to get done. And if I don't reply to this new inquiry, they might move on to somebody else. And so I've had to be really strict with myself about not answering emails on the weekends and not answering business texts at 10 o'clock at night. They can wait until the morning, but it's, it's a hard, fine line to walk.

[00:23:17] Lindsey Dinneen: Absolutely true. Oh my goodness. Yes. Okay. So are there any particular stories that stand out to you either through your own business or through observing other art that just really resonate, that kind of stick in your mind as this moment to remember?

[00:23:35] Helen Ransom: There are a couple of times I have had clients come in to look at their pictures and I do it in a really unique way. For regular portraits, where I print everything and I put them in mats and I put them all on one wall in my studio. And so when parents walk back through the door a week or 10 days after their session, they're greeted by a wall of their baby or their family or their high school senior, or, you know, it was just time for an update on their kids. And I have had several times, times where the session ends itself and kids are kids and they aren't behaving like perfect angels, which they shouldn't. It's fine. They're kids, they're small people. They can't handle it. And mom is convinced it was a terrible session and I got nothing. And then she walks in and sees this wall full of beautiful portraits and cries because she is so happy. And she is so in love with these pictures of her babies. And it's just, she will say, "You just...it's them. Like that is their expression. They're always like that. I can't believe you got that smile out of them." And I love when I have to hand a box of tissues to mom, because she is so elated, and in love with these portraits, it is the best part of my job. I love the shoot day, but yeah when I can watch that first reaction of a parent coming in and seeing that wall and being in awe, especially if they cry, I feel like I've done my job.

[00:25:15]Lindsey Dinneen: I love that. What a funny way of articulating it. I totally, I'm onboard with you, but this is so funny. If I can make a client cry, I've done my job.

[00:25:24] Helen Ransom: Yeah, I've totally done my job! And it's great for one of those headshot session days that Kim and I did back last winter, and one of those women was, "Ahh, you know, it's just, I feel awkward and I don't love pictures of myself." And she was really thinking she was not going to like anything. And I think she was thinking in her head, "Helen, I'm not going to like any of these. We're going to look at them, but I'm going to make you go back out there and we're going to do some more." And we looked at, I think it was probably the fourth or fifth picture in, and she literally jumped up off the couch in excitement because she loves that picture of herself so much. I can make a woman do that. And women are so self-critical and we don't like pictures of ourselves. And I made her jump off the couch because she was excited about this picture. Again, I have done my job.

[00:26:18] Lindsey Dinneen: That is fantastic. Wow. Oh, my word, I love that so much. Well, you have a very particular way of capturing, like bringing out something that I think, especially as a woman, you don't even know about yourself necessarily, and then you have a way of just, coaxing it forward. And then all of a sudden the results, you think, "Wow. Where did that come from? Yes. I love this." Yeah. Yeah. That's really neat. So what's on the horizon for you? I mean, this is a strange time of life for everyone, but do you have any kind of big things coming up or anything like that

[00:26:57] Helen Ransom: I would say just the biggest thing that I'm, well, I mean, right now I am just trying to plug along and keep the business surviving this weird, weird year, because I still have clients who don't feel a hundred percent safe, coming out and doing a session even though every precaution is taken. I am wearing a mask the entire time, whether inside or outside and precautions are taken, but some people just aren't comfortable or they lost jobs or were furloughed for a while and they just don't have the money. And so right now I am a hundred percent focused on maintaining the business so that it survives and sees the post-COVID world. But post-COVID, I am already looking ahead about a year and a half from now. And the next Faces You Love dream is to be able to purchase a building, and have my studio in a very permanent place and not have to do this renting office space from somebody else. That, that's the ultimate dream. I would love to purchase a building. And so I'm starting to save so that I can hopefully make that happen in about a year and a half.

[00:28:04] Lindsey Dinneen: That's so cool. All right. I'm excited about that.

[00:28:08] Helen Ransom: It's kind of a big, scary, audacious dream, but nothing's going to happen if I don't dream big dreams. So I'm going to go for it.

[00:28:16] Lindsey Dinneen: Absolutely. I love it. Oh, that's so exciting. Well, I will be eagerly watching that journey unfold. Oh, excellent. Excellent. Yeah. Well, I have three questions that I like to ask my guests. Is it okay if I go ahead, and dive in? Okay. Wonderful. So first of all, how do you personally define art or what is art to you?

[00:28:41] Helen Ransom: I have learned over the years, having a sister who dances and having my mom who loves nature photography and myself, I prefer the people side of things. Art is a lot of things to me. And art is walking through the Plaza Art Fair and admiring all the different mediums. And art is watching my sister dance and seeing the way that storytelling can happen that way with no words and just movement. And art is the beauty of nature and the majesty of creation. And art is a smiling toddler, or a mom rubbing noses with her sweet baby. It's all art and it's beautiful. And to me it describes humanity and the world we're living in.

[00:29:35] Lindsey Dinneen: I love that. That's beautiful. Okay. And what do you think is the most important role of an artist?

[00:29:44] Helen Ransom: I think it's storytelling and it's trying to capture that moment, whatever that moment is. And, and the role of the artist is to tell that story the way they see it. And, you know, so for me, it was like that competition image that I've entered of the mom who was just done with the day and trying to capture that in a way that maybe people who, you know, if some men could see that be like, "Oh, that's why the dishes are still dirty when I come home, because she's done. She's done what she can to keep the kids alive." And I think the role of the artist is just to tell that story and to draw attention to things in the world.

[00:30:29] Lindsey Dinneen: I love that. Yeah, absolutely. Okay. And then my final question is, do you think that art should be inclusive or exclusive? And what I mean by that is inclusive meaning that when the artists presents something to the world, they have a little bit of context. I mean, a title, it could be as simple as a title, or it could be program notes or some explanation of what the artist was sort of envisioning, versus exclusive being a little bit more, the artist creates something puts it out and doesn't really provide any context. So it's kind of more only up to the viewer to determine what they will with it. If that makes sense.

[00:31:10] Helen Ransom: Yes. And I will say for me personally, I enjoy viewing art and having even a tiny bit of context, even if it is just a title so that I can start to then use my own imagination to go with what they were looking for here. "Cause I think a title even can convey a lot and help draw the viewer down the path that you were hoping they would go. So I am a fan of inclusive, and having at least a tiny bit of context included.

[00:31:46] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, absolutely. And I'm curious, so with your photography and granted--most of what you do is for the family so like a title wouldn't be needed--but when you are submitting to contests and things like that, do you provide, is that part of it, providing any context, or is it just, this stands alone on its own?

[00:32:04] Helen Ransom: So it's interesting. So there are two big photography competitions that I enter. And last year, both of them, you had to include your title and it was only a title. You were not supposed to provide another description other than just titling it. And this year, one of those competitions remove the title option and it kind of irritated me because I thought, "No, but my title really goes along with the portrait and I want it to help you understand, you know, that this is the direction I wanted you to go with it." The other competition still does want a title. And the title I've been told from judging is very, it's very important. How you title your image is important. So for those situations, yes, I do have to type it obviously for a family portrait. I don't title anything. They just get their picture.

[00:32:58] Lindsey Dinneen: Right. Well, I was just curious because yeah, I mean, when it's for a private viewing, they know who they are. Right. But right. I was just thinking in context of like, if you were to do a gallery or something like that, you know? Yes. Yeah, yeah. Which actually brings up a question: in your building, would you have a gallery?

[00:33:21] Helen Ransom: I don't know! I might if I had enough room. I think it would be fun to have rotating gallery of local artists, having things hanging there, you know, and do different themes or, or whatever. Or if somebody had a whole set of things, I think that would be fun. It's it's an interesting thing to dream about, depending on the size of the building I can afford.

[00:33:43] Lindsey Dinneen: Right. Exactly. Well, while we're dreaming big, we'll just make sure it's big enough for that.

[00:33:48] Helen Ransom: We might as well, really.

[00:33:50] Lindsey Dinneen: Right. Well, Helen, first of all, thank you so very much for being here with me today. I really appreciate it, but I would love to know if there are good ways for our listeners to get in contact with you if they're interested in your photography or just to chat or whatever, is there a way for them to do that?

[00:34:07] Helen Ransom: So, yes, I would love that. So my website is facesyoulove.com. It's all spelled out. And then you can also search Faces You Love on Instagram and Facebook. So those are all great ways to get in touch with me. My studio is in South Kansas City, but I am happy to also travel to people's homes. And hey, while we're talking big, crazy dreams, I know there are destination wedding photographers. I would love to be a destination newborn photographer. I'm just gonna put that out there. I think that'd be amazing.

[00:34:39] Lindsey Dinneen: Yes! Oh, how cool would that be?

[00:34:42] Helen Ransom: I know! So, yeah. So those are your best ways is just to search Faces You Love and I'm it. So you're going to find me that way.

[00:34:52] Lindsey Dinneen: Perfect. Excellent. Well, again, thank you so much for being here today and thank you also for giving your gift to the world. I think that when you do embrace something that you love and you make it your profession, or whether you just create for the sake of creating, I really believe that that makes the world a better, more beautiful place. So I want to thank you for sharing your art and, and for being here.

[00:35:21] Helen Ransom: Thank you so much for having me, Lindsey. I appreciate the opportunity.

[00:35:26] Lindsey Dinneen: Of course. And like I said, please definitely get in touch with Helen. At least peek at her photography. It is so incredible. Her, her newborn photos are my favorites, but she's a very versatile photographer and has a lot of great content and I know you're going to love looking through it. So definitely do that.   Well, thank you again for listening. And if you're feeling as inspired as I am, I would love if you share this episode with a friend or two and we will catch you next time.

[00:35:56] If you have a story to share with us, we would love that so much. And I hope your day has been Artfully Told.

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