Scaling Back Photography
Every year in January and February, then again when it's hot in the Summer, I have a lot of down time with my business. It's as to be expected, since I mainly shoot outside and depend on the nice weather. Every year, when the downtime comes around, I say I'll end up with a full time job when our daughter is older, but I stop those thoughts because I don't want to quit photography! Well, our daughter is older and something fell into my lap, where I won't have the downtime, but I can still continue on with photography! Starting in June, I will be working with my husband and father in law at their automotive repair shop when their bookkeeper retires. We've all talked about it and I'll have the option to skip work to work on editing if it's needed. I won't make a habit out of skipping work and I'd like to see how I do with two jobs, so I plan to scale back this year to see how everything goes.
What does this mean for my clients? Starting June 2, 2025:
I will only shoot what I specialize in. In short, aside from my regular, yearly headshot clients, anything shot indoors will be phased out from what I offer. I've always been uncomfortable shooting events (even small events!), baby sessions aren't at the top of my list and I never like the way my indoor headshots turn out. Those genres are going to be phased out.
Little to no weeknight sessions. It may be best to shoot on the weekends, instead of trying to shoot on weeknights after a work day.
Editing time is going to take a little longer. I'm used to 4am editing and coffee marathons, before my house wakes up. I'll continue to do that that, I just won't always be able to come back to my computer during the day to get as much done as I usually do. Up until now, I've made it a point to have all sessions edited within a week of shooting. After I start at the shop in June, editing will probably take at least 1 week/under 2 weeks (which is standard for a lot of photographers).
Sneak peeks may take longer. I make it a point to get sneak peeks edited and emailed to my clients the morning after shooting. If we shoot on Sunday evening, there's going to be a chance the sneak peeks don't get delivered the very next morning anymore though. This mainly applies to mini sessions, when I have multiple sessions to go through, pick out the best from and edit the sneak peeks for. There's always going to be that chance I won't get to the computer before work.
Mini sessions will be scaled back. I usually shoot minis on the weekends, yes, but I edit all of them throughout the week. Since editing will mainly take place in the morning, before my workday at the shop, I know I'll have to scale back on the amount of time slots per mini session marathon day. Christmas minis 2024 were 6-10 families per Saturday and/or Sunday afternoon, which left me with 12-20 minis to edit throughout the following week. Knowing the hours it takes me to meticulously edit, I'm estimating that I'll have to cut the amount of time slots in half going forward. This means, no more squeezing in extra slots and dates at the last minute! When I send the mini session email to my email list and you want a spot, please don't hesitate to grab one when they become available, if you can!
I'm hoping that both jobs will work out because I really want to do both, help out my father in law and my husband with their amazing automotive repair business, while continuing with photography too! We've all talked about my schedule at the shop being flexible when I have a large editing workload, so if I'm falling behind, it won't be a problem to take a day, or a few hours to edit if I really need it. *I will not be bringing a laptop to the shop for editing! I do all of my work on a large screened desktop computer and I'm too particular about how the room is lit up! I'll stick to editing in the cave with my morning coffee. 🙃
I just want to say thank you to my awesome clients throughout these 12+ years! Because of all of you, I was able to be a work from home mom AND do a job that I love! This is not goodbye!
Please enjoy our Christmas pictures from 2024. No hair was cut for these photos! 😆
