I’m excited to actually be making this happen. I’ve been building up my portfolio, learning how to use a 50mm lens, learning about workflow options for all the things, learning a lot about what kinds of photography I’d like to focus on, getting experience shooting in our little make-shift studio, branding a little bit, and getting the books organized.
To elaborate on each one-
- Building up my portfolio. I’d really like to hit the ground running and sucking at anything I do is not an option I can handle without massive anxiety, hard hits to my self esteem (that are hard to bounce back from), and unwillingness to put myself out there… SO… while I’ve had a serious interest and an occasional good shot over the past 6 years, I’ve really been focusing on figuring out what I want to do, and how to do it well. For now, I definitely know I’m diving in to portraiture work mostly because of interest, and partly because I can’t really leave the house, but it works out really well for me because I’d put single-subject work as my first choice niche. It makes the most sense for me to work with families right now- maternity, newborn (tough category!), babies, toddlers, children, families, engagements, and seniors. But I most absolutely want to make headshots, boudoir, and fashion work a priority.
- 50 mm lens. I have a Nikon D5000., nothing fancy, but its respectable for entry level. I know I’d like to get a full frame camera as soon as possible, but for now I need to learn/practice how to use the lens and what my limitations are w it. I can now see why having the 1.4, instead of the 1.8, would be pretty nice to have, but the 1.8 seems perfectly fine for now.
- Workflow. From the front end to the back end, I need to finish getting all of my workflow processes nailed down because right now everything feels like a clustereff. Between all the computer stuff (efficient and consistent storage and filing solutions that work for my life and work, to export settings, file delivery, etc) to the first moment of connection, greeting them at my home, making sure I keep up with correspondence (something I already struggle with), to how to maintain a polished internet presence with my “brand” and keep my personal satisfaction with the work I’m doing (like, I care about the artistic endeavors and opportunities to create something special in my work. If I get too business-y I worry I’ll burn myself out. I want to know exactly what I’m doing on all fronts. Figuring all these things out has been the most time consuming part for me. And by “time consuming,” I mean, “the 4 minutes per day” that I actually have available to devote to business planning is mostly always in this category. I guess having a 3 year old and a newborn doesn’t allow much wiggle room, and I’m trying to not let this time slip away too quickly.
- My photography- do I want to specialize? Not sure. I’m just going with the flow of the universe right now.
- Home studio. My poor son. I’ve taken over his bedroom lol. He seems to love it, though, and always wants to help, take pictures, and set up photo ops with his stuffed elephants. So, for now, he doesn’t seem to mind all of the equipment in there. I really hope we can get into a house soon.. It’s not so bad with the black background because the lighting set up is tight and that works well for the small space but to get the (my beloved) white string lights background to do it’s thing requires at least a few more feet of space if more than 1 or 2 people are in the shot. I learned the hard way that group shots with adults is hard enough- so, throw in a toddler and/or a baby and it all goes down hill with my confidence in my ability to get a candid shot that is perfectly in focus. It’s surely a matter of experience (lack of), but the window of opportunity *is* pretty narrow with a 1.8 aperature, a camera that lacks ISO, a smallish lighting kit, and my inexperience.
- Branding. This is stressing me out because I just don’t know what to do. I don’t want to do a brand makeover (or even an update) for a while because I want to get it right the first time (says everyone ever). So, for now, I’m dragging my feet on a logo and focusing on getting the important stuff (like how to be a photographer… you know.) nailed down. Maybe putting the logo on the back burner for a few more weeks, while getting more experience, will help me with my scope and what kind of online image I want.. Oh! I’m finally on the instagram train. Very late, I know, and I regret my tardiness because, really, it’s the best thing ever.
- The “books”. Getting so official! I officially have a Pretty Portraits binder with fresh label on the side, sitting beautifully on the bookshelf next to our desk area. It has 8 tab dividers and empty rings waiting to be filled up. I need to start tracking all the things. Ive been using google drive, but that’s not really working for me right now. I need something physical. Considering going in mega mode and diving into bullet journaling. And I seriously need some Excel in my life to make some beautiful spreadsheet magic <3
The website is still very much under construction because I need time to learn WordPress. I finally managed to get a theme installed. And here I am writing my first post! Yay me!