Hey, it’s me!

I figured it was about time for me to take this blog to actual blog-land. It’s the “return to the root” if you catch my drift. My entire entrepreneurial journey started through a blog where I let everyone in on all of my life. Since then, my family has grown and I’ve become a little bit more of a recluse when it comes to sharing my life on the internet.

WELL FOLKS, LET’S MIX IT UP A BIT.

If you don’t already know my name and my face…here it is. My name is Anna St. Blanc. I’m from Lafayette, Louisiana and about 5 years ago I moved down south (yes, more south) to the Bayou Teche to live the bayou dream with my husband, Blaise. Since then, we’ve had two children, Caroline (3) and Landry (1).

THE CREATIVE PATH

Calligraphy wrapped me up about 6 years ago when I purchased a dip-pen starter set from a calligrapher I followed on instagram. About a week in, I had finished the entire book…but was severely hating life. The instructions were bare-bones and there were hardly any sources that could answer my questions. From there, I started addressing wedding invitation envelopes and the rest is history. Envelopes upon envelopes later, I still address them but have slowed down on the number of brides I will take on in a year. (It’s hard to address envelopes with babies running around, ya’ll!) I’ve also developed a workshop to help others start this passion/hobby. Trying to put everything that I was frustrated about into one 3-hour workshop has been a challenge, but also so rewarding!

When you calligraph things and need to market yourself, you hone your camera skills! I’ve had somewhat of basic knowledge in using a DSLR for a while now and when I started using my camera for my blog & calligraphy, friends and family started asking me to take pictures of them. Of course, I always said yes and hardly ever charged. As the years went on, I became more and more passionate about capturing families with my camera. Lately, I’ve started to learn how to use a 645 medium format film camera. It’s completely changed the way that I feel about shooting and I’m overjoyed with how timeless my images look. Something about doing something the old-school way (much like dip-pen calligraphy) feeds my soul.

Asking me what I do is always interesting because the answer will always be a craps-shoot. Upon first response, one would think, “man, this chick is all over the place.” But in reality, each stepping stone of my journey has led me to the right next step. It’s felt unnatural to market myself for 2 different jobs (both a calligrapher and a photographer), but once I fully embraced the journey – it’s been fun! Two old-world passions, doing things with purpose and grit, with a modern twist. Kind of how I want to live my life!

Have you ever stopped to look where you are and realize that never in your wildest dreams did you think that a twisty, turvy, not-so-ordinary path would have lead you on this journey?

Headshots by my good friend Sarah Beth Photography on Fuji 400H.
Kiddo shots taken in studio by me on Fuji 400H.