Day 1320 – Is It Ok With You If A Few People Don’t Like What You Do?

Posted on February 20, 2013 by 365 days of marriage

Today I read an article that really hit home and was just what I needed to read.

Back-story. I’ve been wanting to do a little updating of my website and blog. I’m continually trying to have a clear message to my potential brides. I want them to visit my site and know immediately what I’m about, what I believe about weddings, people and my faith in Christ. I want it to be clear because while you don’t have to be a particular type of bride to work with us, there are brides who mesh better with us. If I can make that clear, I can save everyone a lot of time. For example, if a bride is looking for a photographer that they sign a contract with and then don’t see until the wedding day and then maybe only see once after the wedding (or never again)…I am NOT their photographer. If a bride is looking for a photographer who will pretty much be on call before/during/after the wedding with any concerns…a photographer who meets with the bride and groom at least twice before the wedding (consult and a thorough get to know you session), laughs with you and your brides maids, that dances with your guests at the reception, who cries just as much as you when you see your groom, who has become like a family friend and hugs everyone at the end of the day…then I am SO your photographer. Now, don’t freak out on the faith in Christ part….I don’t run around your wedding giving guests tracts or telling them to find Jesus. I only want this to be a part of what I portray, mostly non-verbally. It is the absolute core of who I am. No questions asked. As a wife, friend, business owner, everything. If that makes someone uncomfortable, that’s 100% ok. If you know me in person, you know I don’t force anyone to believe what I believe. But I don’t want to hide it in any way, especially on my website.

Then I found this article over on Psychology for Photographers. It talks a lot about fear and wanting to please everyone. But when you try to please everyone, you aren’t fully yourself. I would say this has FINALLY clicked with me over the last 7 months or so. It has given me strength to stand behind my business. Most of the time it means not apologizing for my prices or what I want my business to be (not all photographers will sell themselves by saying they’ll be dancing with your guests and hugging everyone at the end of the day!)

The main thing I thought about when reading this article though, was my website. It made me realize, it doesn’t matter if I change my website once a year or a dozen times. As long as my message is getting across to my target client, then that’s what matters.

What about you? Is there a part of your business you don’t want to let go of because you think people won’t like you for it? Are you afraid you’ll lose out on business? Let me know!

And since we love pictures over here, here’s a picture from the conference where I finally started to let go of the feeling that “everyone HAS to love me!”

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Day 1319 – No One Is Perfect Or I Can’t Believe No One Caught This

Posted on February 19, 2013 by 365 days of marriage

So, I have this board I set up at weddings. It basically says, leave your email, we’ll let you know when the pictures are online. It’s a great way to connect with the wedding guests after the wedding. It also takes one more thing off the bride and groom’s plate! I’ve had pretty good success with this!

I’ve wanted to update this board for a while, and finally sat down to do that today. I came up with a great new board! New picture, updated the text, much cleaner look! I love it! I also changed the font, from a more italic font to a more basic font. When I changed the font, I noticed something a little off…I audibly said, “SHUT UP! No way!!” Ran to check and then the laughter…oh the laughter….I laughed SO hard at my unbelievable typo! I have used this sign at 13 weddings! No one has ever noticed it…or at least, no one has ever told me about it!

What did I do? Oh, you know, just misspelled MY OWN NAME!

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Day 1318 – Playing With Pets And Rented Lenses

Posted on February 18, 2013 by 365 days of marriage

As you know, we’re house sitting and I’m renting some lenses. Well, very early this morning…3 a.m. to be exact(!!)…I took some shots of our friends’ cats! I am seriously in love with the 50 mm 1.4 lens! Oh man!

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I took some pictures of the dogs at 3 a.m….but they aren’t really night owls like the cats. While the pictures were funny, they weren’t very good! So, I grabbed these in the morning!

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Day 1317 – Sneak Peek Of A Baltimore City Wedding Rehearsal Dinner AND Baby Gender Reveal

Posted on February 17, 2013 by 365 days of marriage

Our March 2nd bride and groom are happily expecting their first child. Originally, they were going to have a “gender reveal” cake cutting at their wedding. Thankfully, our couples know to let us know of surprises. Well, Mike and Katy had a great one! No one, except us, knew this was coming.

They ordered cupcakes with the icing color of the gender of their baby. They set them on a tray (in a box) after their rehearsal dinner (which was at the AMAZING Kali’s Court, oh my gosh, so delicious!) Since I knew it was coming, I stood in front of the box while things were settling down….that way I could block the view of the family and friends. Then Mike got up to speak and started by thanking everyone for coming out and their patience with the baby. At this point, there was a murmur in the crowd, someone shouted “Are we going to find out?? Are we going to find out!!?!?!?!?!” Mike turns around and pulls out the pink cupcake and utter pandemonium broke forth. The moms were crying and on their feet. There was a sister who threw her arms in the air in joy. There was screaming, there were tears, there was laughter. You would think they were celebrating the Ravens winning the Superbowl. It was one of THE greatest memories Bret and I have had shooting. I was crying too, of course.

I’m not at home at the moment (and writing this post 3 days in the future, if we’re being honest here!)….we’re housesitting for some friends until Tuesday….so you’ll have to wait a little bit to see all the pictures, but oh baby, it was fun!

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Day 1315 – Renting Lenses, Lessons Learned And Even My Dog Hates Pictures

Posted on February 15, 2013 by 365 days of marriage

Today I received some rental equipment! I’m testing out two lenses and a flash transmitter. My favorite out of the lot was BY FAR the 1.4 50mm lens. It creates amazingly, beautiful pictures. I hope I can purchase it like yesterday. The 1.8 85mm is alright. The auto focus was a little wonky, but still made nice pictures.

Then, I spent a few hours playing with the transmitter and my flashes. Try after try, video after video, manual after manual…nothing. I finally found a site that said, um, yea, you can’t use this transmitter with your flashes, you should have checked that dummy. Ok, so maybe it didn’t actually say that….but that’s how I read it. What really stinks, is they have the transmitter that IS compatible at the rental place. Thankfully, I didn’t spend an arm and a leg (which is a great aspect of renting equipment.) If you’re a photographer, a few bits of advice. FULLY research the product you want to rent to make sure it will work with what you have! (Ooops!) Also, do it! It’s a great way to see if something will work for you. After only 30 minutes, I know the 50mm will be a great addition to my bag, the 85mm, maybe down the line. I’m SO thankful I only rented the transmitter and didn’t purchase it. I spent about a 10th of the price.

Before I share the fun shots I got….this is a picture Bret took when messing around a few weeks ago…I found it when I downloaded my pictures!

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