This post has been a long time coming. Be warned…there is brutal honesty ahead. 🙂 For several months, I have been contemplating what I am about to share. It did not come easily to me. I don’t like to “give up” on things, so mostly this journey has been about finding myself and my true happiness. I learned that change is not failure, nor is it surrender. And once the decision was made, it was as if a weight has been lifted.
The last several years, I’ve been proud to serve all types of clients: families, new parents, children, babies, seniors, couples, engagements and weddings. I find joy in every single session or event I photograph. I truly love to do it all. But, as both my family and my business has grown, I have found myself pulled in too many directions and coming up short, especially at home with my daughter. You see, in addition to the time spent photographing and editing images for my clients, there is four or fives times as many hours put in on administrative tasks: managing websites, travel, meetings, consults, blogs, responding to emails and phone calls, placing orders, designing albums, etc. My average work week is 50-60 hours, with only about 10-12 of those actually behind the camera. And when your focus is pulled in so many directions at once, something (or someone) will suffer.
I took some time to reflect on my business, my goals, and what my heart was telling me. I listed out pages of pros and cons of the various paths I could take, and I kept coming back to the same conclusion. So, moving forward and keeping with my business model and dreams, I have decided that I will no longer be photographing weddings. In many ways, it breaks my heart and it is so difficult to say that, but it is necessary. A wedding is much more time intensive than even 10 portrait clients, and often my weddings and the administrative side of them was taking me away from my other duties.
I am proud to say that this change will allow me the time I’ve been looking for to focus on my growing senior portrait business. I’m very excited about finally having the time to expand into this niche that I find so fulfilling and rewarding! The work I have done with my seniors these last few months has made my heart grow three sizes larger, and I realized that the rainbow leading to my dreams is filled with senior and family portrait photography. So, I’m following my heart, chasing after my true calling and dreams. We all deserve to reach for that golden ring that holds our true fulfillment. For some, like myself, that may be career-related. I will continue to second-shoot with some of my photographer friends, because I do truly love weddings. Seconding and assisting will allow me to return to a time when every wedding I photographed was absolutely magical and invigorating.
Moving forward (I love the sound of that…forward), there will be some more changes you will see on the website, to my blog, and yes, even to pricing (for the benefit of all!). Stay tuned as I roll out these changes over the next week. And if you are looking for a wedding photographer, I have a list of preferred photographers and videographers I am more than willing to share with you! I’m looking forward to working with all my future family, maternity/newborn, and senior/graduate clients!
Just a little note, at this time I will continue to offer my mentoring and workshops on a limited basis, as it is just too rewarding to stop!
