"The Biz"

Well... I have said more than once that I SWEAR Im going to keep this blog updated. That was a lie I guess. I try, and I mean to, but I always end up too busy. So Here I am after midnight- on date night (baby is with my parents)...blogging ;) I just received an email from a repeat (and one of my fav's) client asking why I don't keep up with my blog- and that she and her husband love to read my posts and would love to hear more about the business side of things. Really?? Well "A"..you asked for it! :) Photography is a very "catty" business. But.. a business none the less. As well as an art. So sometimes I am swimming in sessions, which, in all its glory, leaves me swimming in a nice paycheck-which most of goes right back into the business. It is a business that requires constant training, workshops, learning, and upgrading. BUT. Being an art as well.... sometimes I am twiddling my thumbs for a week with no sessions. (Undoubtedly catching up on editing from previous sessions- but there isn't an extra paycheck for that). And- a lot of people don't count any art form- unless you are extremely famous...or dead- a "job". So there is that aspect as well. "Ohhh so you get to take pictures all day??" (Please dont ever say that to me by the way) Oh and the "competition". Everyone is so concerned with what other photographers are doing, and while it is a great learning tool, they don't hold your camera in front of your clients, so it isn't THAT important. I have said it before, but I am from a small area where "professional" (and I use that term loosely here) photography is seemingly a growing trend- and that is a breeding ground for snide remarks and whispering. But I don't feel any competition. I feel like my clients are loyal to me, and I am comfortable enough with my work, that I don't feel threatened by anyone else around me. I practice my weaknesses, and I know my stregnths, and I play to them. So that is the business side of things for now. (I know it ended a little abruptly, but it was sounding too serious for me) So on to regular BLOG things. To shoot, or not shoot. THAT is the question...I am talking about weddings by the way. They are what I started out with, and I had an amazing mentor. And I recently did my first wedding under my own name, and I loved my clients, and I loved their wedding. And after they booked with me, the weddings came rolling in. One after another. Some I turned down, some I kept. So I have quite a few lined up. And while it is great money-is it?? I can;t bring myself to charge people $4,000-$5,000 per wedding. I can't and I won't. But how much of my fee gos to prints? A good chunk. And then there is weeks and weeks and weeks of editing. And I love it all. But I feel like I am centering more around a certain "genre" if you will. (To be discussed at a later time) Not that I dont LOVEEEEEE my weddings-because I do. But I am thinking about only taking on one or two weddings a year, that way I can give them a million percent of my attention. This will not in any way affect my 2013 weddings, so noooo worries. Just something I am thinking about, :) What have I been up to lately? Lots of sessions, lots of editing, dealing with a new attitude from my 2 year old- mostly. He is so my child that it scares me. :) Off to bed now- I hope that saitisfied your itch to read about my awesomely interesting (not so much haha) life "A" and I cant wait until your Holiday session, which I will FOR SURE be Blogging about ;) xoxox