I am going to write alot this blog post….which I normally dont do since its a photo blog and all….so if you get bored I wont be offended…just dont forget to enter the big give-away at the end!
People always ask me…both photographers and clients….how LONG I have been doing photography. Well, like everyone else I have been taking pictures my entire life with my powershots, and in college I received an AA degree in photography with film and the dark room when dinosaurs roamed the earth. And you want to know something really funny? My photography teacher HATED me in college. I was from California going to school in Rexburg Idaho and my teacher thought I was “not serious” about my work and “too cool” and a total slacker. Well, honestly I probably was. I could care less about photography except that sometimes it was fun to take ridiculous pictures of my roomates (i LOVED my roomies)
4 years later, after I had gone on an LDS mission to Portugal, and then married my sweetheart from Ricks, had a baby, I then looked around for something to do. All moms I believe need an “out”, they need a hobbie, a project, something/anything to make them feel accomplished and that they created something beautiful or different. And THAT is why the photographer world is BOOMING like crazy with young mothers. They want to do something with their talents, and why not make some needed money while doing it?
Most of all, I wanted money. We were so dang poor it was so sad and pathetic. My sister in law, Jocelin, is a photographer and is solely responsible for talking me into trying a photography business. (seriously THANK you jocelin) I got curious, then pulled a $3000 loan from Grandpa to buy a camera, computer, photoshop, and a website just HOPING that I could by some miracle make any money at doing photography.
I am a huge goal setter….and I am extremely driven when I put my mind to something. I gave myself one month to build my entire website so I could advertise. For one month, I took pictures for free. I asked EVERYONE I knew if I could take their pics for free. I even met random people in the grocery stores and asked them. (i am brave that way) well, one month came, and I had my website ready. I started charging $20 for a full family session and a disk. pathetic? YES…I am so pathetic. This lasted two weeks and NOBODY emailed me for a shoot. My brother in law Chris Ruddy is a huge business man and he sat down one day to look at my website and scolded me for charging $20. He said he refused to tell his rich friends about me unless I raised my prices. Well…even though I was COMPLETELY scared to do it, I went out on a limb and charged $60 instead of $20. Then I started getting clients….few and far between but they came little by little.
I remember my brother in law told me that one day, I would charge $400 just to show up to a family shoot….and I laughed in his face! I seriously thought he was the craziest man alive and that NOBODY would ever pay that much to have me do their pictures! Well…. 2 years later… I charge $475 to show up at a family shoot….all because my brother put the idea in my head.
To the photogs out there….I promise you if you dont feel worth it…fake it till you make it has always worked for me! If you show up super nervous….pretend you are not. If you dont feel like you are worth what you charge…pretend you are until your confidence gets you there. The more you learn, the more confident you will feel about charging more.
I have to just say ONE THING….. and that is I owe EVERYTHING to my clients, my husband, and the Lord. (and my brother in law)
I advertise solely through word of mouth, and I cant believe how LUCKY I am to have the clients that I do have. SO much love and support have come from all of you, I seriously have to hold back tears talking about how you have all made it possible for me to support my family during a time of serious need. When hubs didn’t have a job, YOU guys made it possible for us to survive…I cant thank you enough.
to the hubby….who literally learns EVERYTHING technical I need to know, then teaches me. I have never had a photoshop class, been to a workshop, had lessons, because of him. He upgrades my equipment, knows WAY more than me about everything technical that goes with photography….and even tonight he made me a nice lovely Spreadsheet with all the Excel stuff I dont get to keep track of all the expenses in a better way.
The Lord….who just gives me everything I need to survive each day. I pray before every shoot that I can capture things in a way that can make my clients happy. And ya want to know a secret….I still get a tiny nervous before every shoot. ( i know i fake that i dont) There were days we were not going to make bills and we would pray….only to have someone book a wedding or a family shoot last minute that would pull us through. AND for giving my husband a job so I am not a crazy person working my brains out all the time.
Here are a couple of my very first sessions two years ago… I kept all the photoshopping the same….its sentimental to me 
My very first family session EVER… 
My very first wedding EVER…
the BEST things that have made all the difference in my business were…
1 – upgrading my equipment…. a full frame camera, fixed nice lenses, using reflectors, flash, and most of all shooting in RAW which I have just started recently
2 – learning photoshop….. i watch you tube videos…play with the actions I have (you can see all this stuff in MY FOTO WORLD section above) and i always try new things. its easy to get comfortable doing the same thing over and over. trying new things has made me a better photographer.
3 – loving my clients, making friends with them, and showing them how beautiful they are through pictures. clients are what make and break you. If you have a bad client who tries to cheat you, talk your prices down, or are never satisfied with your best work, you need to let them go and focus on the keepers who love your work, how you do it, and appreciate real art.
the things that i am TERRIBLE at….. that i am trying REALLY hard to improve on…(this part is hard to share)
1- being organized
2- saying no to clients when i know i am overbooked
3- BALANCE between this and my real life
4- and millions of other things that will take too long to mention all of them
So in a nut shell that has been my photography experience…. even though its been a hard day today I can honestly say I am so so grateful for it!
HOW TO ENTER…
1. Leave a comment in the comment box below wishing WINK a happy birthday
2. Become a follower on the Mommy Models Blog
3. that is all
I use a RANDOM NUMBER GENERATOR to pick the winner from the comment box. If you win and are NOT in my mommy models follower list…I will use the random number picker for someone else.
-anyone is game as long as they have an email address
-you must put your first and last name to be valid
- yes you may use your husband,wife,children,cousins whoever you want to increase your chances, as long as they put their email, leave a comment and become a member of the mommy models blog.
-if you have already won something this year you CAN still do this, only you must give it to someone else as a gift.
THE ONLY CATCH IS THAT THIS GIVE AWAY SESSION IS ONLY VALID FOR THE YEAR 2010…IT MAY NOT BE USED THIS YEAR AT ALL. YOU ALSO MUST COME TO UTAH COUNTY TO CLAIM IT…OR GIVE IT TO SOMEONE WHO CAN MAKE IT TO ME.
luv and hugs,
emily
ps…. this blog post will be up until next monday night at 10……. so no bloggin until then. all your sneak peeks will be uploaded in a private online gallery for those in waiting. thanks!
hug from mom before heading out
