Just from reading the title your probably thinking. “Whats your turn?” “Let what begin?” Well I’m about to tell you. It’s an amazing announcement that I’m excited to tell you!
That’s right as you can see there I’m ENGAGED!!!! I’m so excited to announce this to my photography family!! We have the daunting journey of planning a wedding. Even though it has only been little over a week and setting a date for over a year I feel that I need to get everything done. I’m kind of freaking out just a little. It’s ok my fiancé is there to calm me down a bit. With this year taking off with my photography (Which I’m enjoying every bit of it!) I’m glad that our wedding is little over a year from today, but I am glad that after little over 5 years my fiancé finally asked!
I want to congratulate all the newly engaged couples. Let us embrace this journey together!
Spring is here and all the plants come out of hiding and are blooming. The warm air has come and feels and smells good. Your plans are starting for outside like mowing and gardening. I know mine are like that as well, but of course my absolute favorite is starting my photography season! So far I have had one engagement session, a kids session, and a wedding. With a lot more to come! It’s crazy to think that my spring and summer session times are booking up (weekends that is!). And my fall sessions have just started to get bookings and even next year have started too!! The people I meet are awesome!! I love how my photography family is growing and growing! I also love how all my clients are satisfied with their photos and utilizing them in their homes and work.
I remember when I first picked up a DSLR camera. I was intimidated. I was scared that there was absolutely no way that I would be able to utilize it. There’s so much to a camera like that. Now, all I can say is WOW! I’m sure my clients and readers can see from my photos that they are beautiful. Being a Natural Light Photographer can have its ups and downs, but I can make it work for sure. I will continue to grow in photography whether it be tomorrow or 15 years from now.
I hope that you can find some time in the Spring, Summer, and Fall to get photos of your family, because photos really can last forever. Hope to see you and your family in the near future!
So I want everyone to know that I do more than just photographing wonderful moments. I also do personalized items to show off those moments. I’m talking about Christmas cards, save the dates, invitations, or even photo strips (photo booth). These invites are one of a kind. Yea you could get your personalized items at a third party like Shutterfly and use their templates. Which would be easy, but what I do is much cheaper and you still don’t have to do it yourself. I charge a small fee on top of what it costs to produce it with shipping and tax. Which is still really cheap!!
If you know me I love unique things. I like being different from everyone. I like things that you don’t see everyday. I like the ‘WOW’ factor. Plus, I like doing small projects like this. It’s challenging. I am slowly coming up with templates of my own to personalize these moments for my clients.
I put my heart and soul into each project. Once I have a couple of examples I will send the samples to the client and see which one they like the best and if they have any suggestions that they would like. If there are no changes then I go to a 3rd party photo lab and get them made up (at the clients expense), the photos at the best price are in the size of 4×6. If there are changes I will keep making the changes until it is satisfactory. I have them come to my house that way I will inspect the photos before handing them to the client. This is a little description of how the process goes. I do all this for my small charge of $15 per 50 made. If there is an uneven amount I round up. So if there are 52, then I charge $15. If there are 70, then I will charge $30. This charge does not include the 3rd party amount. I find the cheapest route for you with the 3rd party photo lab.
Some projects can be pretty difficult, but that is what I enjoy doing. I love challenges. Once I’m done with the project, it gives me a sense of accomplishment. So if you have a professional photo and want something made on it, I’m your girl. You don’t necessary need to have a session with me to get something made. If you have any questions please contact me on the Main Page at the bottom and fill out the form and we will be in contact soon.
It’s only been a couple months now since I started my official business! I feel like it’s been a good 6 months!! It has been such a learning experience so far. I have been figuring out ways to be completely paperless, especially with contracts and invoicing. This world has been advancing and I wanna be a tech savvy business owner. For one it will be good for saving money to utilize emails instead of paper and ink. Also I’m looking into ways to allow credit/debit cards. Here is my research that I have done so far, but if you (the reader) have a good idea I may just throw in a discount for you on your next session with me. *wink wink* I also found a good way for clients to pay for their sessions. Utilizing the invoice option that I send to my clients they can pay for their session or prints via PayPal! That way clients can pay at their own convenience.
Things I’ve learned so far have been time consuming. Just learning what all needs to happen before you can actually say that you have a business. Also doing the research into what sites to use to run your business. Knowing me I’m all about saving money. Finding out ways and things to use to lower cost. Of course, having a site that will help out in every section of a business is ok in my book not to skip out on.
The site I use for everything for other than my website is called Pixifi. It was recommended to me by a local photographer. I started the trial and found out how amazingly great it is! So when my two month trial was over I had to figure out if I wanted to keep it and pay a monthly fee or find anther site that was as amazing as this one for a free monthly fee. I was unsuccessful, so I continued this site and I’m so glad I did. I keep being surprised of this site. It tracks all my expenses, payments, can send invoices and contracts via email which can be digitally signed and electronically paid, and has a client portal for clients to view all documents such as contracts and invoices. Of course there is so much more that this site can do.
Even though this business adventure is a lot of work, it is definitely worth it. I’m excited to continue on this journey and photograph my client’s special moments in life.
I would like to thank all of my 2016 clients for amazing year. I really have enjoyed our time together and hope to have more in the near future from all of you. I’m very excited for the future sessions and events that are coming this year in 2017!
As we come into this new year there are new special times happening. Is your little one having their first birthday? Did you just get the ring that will start an amazing journey? Have a new bundle of joy that entered this world? Just want to get some photos to hang in your home? I can cater to your need at a GREAT price! I love capturing these moments for families.
If you are not needing any services now, but know someone that is looking for someone. Have them get in touch with me and if they refer you, then you get a discount on your session with me at a later time when you do need some photos. I keep track of all my clients on their profile with me when someone refers. Once that person has their session I will then reach out that that referred client to let them know what their discount is. This will be based on a tier of how many referrals they get.
Being an Event Photographer there’s nothing I would like more than to help brides and other event planners (parents or yourself) SAVE MONEY & TIME! Who has the extra cash to spend on little cards or postcards with stamps on them? Invites and Save the Dates are already expensive. This site is called ‘Splash That!’. Sounds fun!!! Cause it really is!! Here is the direct link: www.splashthat.com. One of my relatives used this awesome free event RSVP site for his wedding. You can also use this for birthdays or any other special event. You put the site on the invite and tell your guests to RSVP on there. The link is pretty short so it’s an easy fit. You can also give them the option to call you as well if you have some non-techy relatives/friends that are invited.
It isn’t that hard to set up. It’s kind of similar to setting up your Facebook. You set it up with your email and password. The rest is pretty simple. You can use a picture that you absolutely love as the background picture on the site. I offer to set this up for free for my clients for their special events. I get the email and create an easy password and give this to the bride or planner, so they can utilize and see who all RSVP’d or they may play around and add more things onto the site page.
I like the idea that it is easy to use and can help the environment and your wallet. It’s less paper that goes out, not much but a little can do something. Right? Oh and those pesky stamps. I certainly will use this site for my future wedding. I would rather spend the extra cash on other items instead of stamps and extra little cards to send with the invite. Also those little cards can be misplaced so easily. For me anytime I get an invite to any party I put the invite on the fridge and enter it in my iCalendar on my iPhone, but those little RSVP cards sometimes get stuffed back in the envelope and get forgotton. Having this option of putting a website ON the invite that gets put on the fridge there’s no way to lose it. Take a look at this awesome site. Plus its free!!!
Just like how the title of this post is New and Improved!!!
I have submitted my paperwork and I have started a business!!! I am so excited for this step in my Photography. I have grown over this last year and will continue to grow in this business. I have been working diligintly updating all the necessary things to put my business name out there. Speaking of getting out there I have one more exciting news!!! I have come to the decision of having an IN HOUSE STUDIO!!!! That’s right!! In the near future I will have everything set in place to have my studio up and running. My plan is to have it ready in 2018-2019. I love destination sessions like going to the nearest park or Arboretum, but winter can be so tough. I have noticed a lot of people looking for someone who has a studio. Like for last minute senior photos to having newborn sessions. This is what prompted me to start thinking about having my own studio. Now of course I couldn’t do this without talking things over with my supporting boyfriend. Of course I had to have him on board to have this be a for sure thing. Which I’m so grateful for. I will keep everyone updated on how things are going with the planning of the new studio like photos of the ideas to the actual renovation. Until next time, I hope everyone enjoys this beautiful weekend we will have.
This is my very FIRST WordPress Blog Post! If you know me, I am always into doing new things. As I’m working out all the kinks in my Photography Business I’m also trying new things. I am also always up for making things easy breezy, especially since running your own business isn’t so easy sometimes. So… now all my old blog posts that I have done previously will be transferred over to WordPress due to this is a much better platform than what I was doing before. (Which is still in the works of transferring) Another cool thing is this is my FIRST time using BlogStomp, which was highly recommended by the amazing photographers in the area.
I will tell you what BlogStomp is the Bomb Diggity! It made collecting all the photos I want and arrange them for this Blog! I can’t wait to start blogging Weddings, Families, and Engagements next year! I hope all of my Couples and Families enjoy seeing their blog and know that I put my heart and soul into my photography. So as this year comes to a soon to be closing I am geared up for my 9+ Weddings and all Families next year! I hope you all will enjoy this next step as I blog about my awesome clients!
