Celebrating The Guy Behind the Camera

Happy Friday, gals! It’s been an exciting week with Fifteen Minutes to Flawless turning one and I’m still overwhelmed by all of you that reached out…it really blew me away!

I’ve worked hard the past year to establish Fifteen Minutes to Flawless but there’s someone else who’s invested a LOT of his time. Ridge is my love and best friend, but he’s also my photographer and my sounding board. Ridge has joked he’s my “Instagram husband” but in reality he’s so much more. He’s the guy who offers to do the laundry so I can get a post out and patiently answers the questions “Babe, which bag?” and “Babe, between these photos, which one?” When I’ve questioned if my blog “has what it takes” he’s my vote of confidence that never wavers.

Blogging has a way seeming effortless but the reality is it’s quite time-consuming. Ridge didn’t ask me to start Fifteen Minutes to Flawless yet he’s signed himself up to support it.

Tonight I want to celebrate the guy behind the camera. Below is a little Q&A to introduce you to Ridge and hear what it’s like for him. I’m not filtering any of his responses, even if some of them weren’t the easiest for me to hear.

Q: What are you most passionate about in life?
A: Being a dad to Juliana and a partner to Terra. These girls mean the world to me and being a good father and partner is and always will be my biggest priority. After that comes football. If my sneakers don’t give it away, I’m a huge Florida State Fan. (I also love the Carolina Panthers for better or worse.) I started a sports talk channel, and it’s been fun to share my passion that way.

Q: Where are you from? 
A: I was born and raised in Gaffney, SC. When I graduated from high school I joined the army and got stationed in Hawaii. I met Terra there two days after returning from deployment in Iraq. In 2014 I transitioned out of the army to finish college.  

Q: Does Juliana look more like you or Terra? 
A: Like me! She looked like Terra when she was born but these days everyone says she looks like me. Sometimes we call her “mini Ridge”. It’s fun to see how she has both our personalities though. She’s girly like Terra but has the same sense of humor as I do. 

Q: What’s the best part of working on Fifteen Minutes to Flawless with Terra?
A: Most of the time I love getting behind the lens to capture Terra’s beauty. It’s fun to find creative ways to photograph her and I like taking good candid shots of Juliana when we’re out shooting. Those are fun to look back at later. I also love supporting Terra’s dream, and seeing it catch on has been exciting for me. 

Q: Aww, that’s sweet. But fess up- what’s the worst part?
A: Most of the time I love taking photos, but occasionally it’s not fun. Terra will have a specific “shot” in mind and want to take ten photos to get it “right”. I think guys are a little more approximate but if I’m hungry or tired I’m like “Babe, let’s wrap this up!”. It’s also tough when it’s really hot outside or when Juliana photobombs an otherwise great shot. Another thing is that Terra spends many nights on her blog. We’ve started to schedule “date night” but sometimes I miss lazy evenings on the couch. I admire her drive though, and I try to be flexible. Not to complain but there is one other part I’m not crazy about ,and that’s shopping. Terra does most of her shopping online or goes to the store herself, but occasionally she “encourages” me to go with her and Juliana so we can make it a “family day”. I’d rather go to the park or the lake than Nordstrom. Terra and I talked about doing a parody vlog where we chronicle the life of an “Instagram husband” and exaggerate the bad parts, but I didn’t feel it would be fair to Terra. She’s always looking for ways to give back to me, and I wouldn’t feel right doing a vlog that misrepresented what life is really like. Supporting Terra’s blog has its challenges but I love helping her chase her dream and I admire how dedicated she is. 

Thank you, Ridge. I love you always and forever Babe.

I hope ya’ll have a wonderful weekend and don’t forget to enter my giveaway!

XO,

Terra

P.S. Would you gals would be interested in a men’s fashion post for the guy in your life?  I just checked with Ridge and he’s up for working with me on it! <3