Who: The Extended Balsley Family
Where: The Old Stone Church ~ Rockton, IL
I met with approximately 55 members of the Balsley family this morning for group and individual family shots. It's so great to see the holiday season bringing folks together from all across the country!
Here's just a smattering of what we did!
Dear New Camera Owner,
Hey!
Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah....the Holidays are upon us! Eeeeeep!
Let me take you back. Way back. To Christmas 2007. I was working as an Insurance Contract Negotiator (I'll let you soak in how exciting that sounds)....I was also in college, 2 years from graduating with a degree in Sociology. I had a 5 month old Betty Baby and we lived in a teensy weensy house in Milwaukee.
I owned a point-n-shoot camera that was pretty crap at taking pictures of my baby girl. Or really anything else that wasn't stationary. But, I wasn't terribly concerned with it.
I wasn't a photographer.
I, honestly, had no interest in photography.
Christmas Eve I opened a box that, unbeknownst to me, contained a future radically different from the present I was living.
A Nikon D40X
I took my first picture with it about 20 minutes after opening the box. I had no clue how to even turn the thing on.
Truth be told, I'm pretty sure it was one of those presents my husband secretly just wanted for himself ;)
Here it is, in all its glory...the first and second shot:
Clearly....I was on my way to greatness.
I didn't take to the gift right away. I was working on other things. I was busy negotiating contracts and doing homework and taking care of my kiddo.
Here and there I would bust out the "big guns" and take "nice pictures" of the baby. But, that was about it. The thing intimidated me. I knew jack nothing about exposure, shutter speed, aperture or ISO. All I knew was "AUTO" and snap.
Then, April of 2008 I lost my job.
I was unceremoniously fired. Canned. Kaput. I came home, sat on my couch and wondered "Ok, now what"?
I had no degree and my skill set included arguing with Medicare over benefits and, apparently, pissing off my boss. Not exactly marketable skills. Plus, I was growing weary of sticking my kid in daycare and making minor pennies in a job that was completely thankless, among other negatives.
While I sat home and ruminated over what to do next with myself, I decided to fill in my newly found "free time" with the camera I had received. I started practicing. I started experimenting with the manual settings. I made a CRAP. TON. of mistakes. But, I realized the more I shot the more I really enjoyed it. I read "Understanding Exposure" and felt like I was learning a new language. My husband took me to a tent sale at Art's Camera Plus in Milwaukee and I was so intimidated by the salespeople that I couldn't even bring myself to speak to them.
But, I kept at it. Everything I shot went on Facebook. Just for my own enjoyment, really. You see, I had NO. IDEA. that "wedding and portrait" photography was such a prolific business. I didn't know any photographers outside of the guy who took my senior pictures and a girl from high school who took pictures of babies.
Had I really known there were about 4000 people in Wisconsin with the title "Photographer" I would have probably thought twice about my next move.
What happened was, people started seeing the pictures I was shooting of Betty and asking me to come take pictures of THEIR kids. Why the hell not, I said. Not like I had a job to go to.
Those few free shoots turned into people I didn't KNOW asking for me to come shoot. They asked me what they could pay me.
No idea.
It all started there. I realized if I worked this right, I could actually make money. How much? Uhhhh....good question.
I started researching, meeting other photographers. In 2009 I booked 27 weddings (I KNOW. Holy crap.). In 2010 I booked 32. To say it all snowballed would be an understatement.
So here I am, nearly 9 years later.....and I would have done it all again, because I have the best job in the world. But I probably would have done some things a heck of lot different.
YOU JUST GOT A CAMERA FOR CHRISTMAS, NOT A BUSINESS
Don't confuse the two, seriously. A hammer is not a construction business. A sewing machine does not make one a seamstress. You are going to be completely blown away by what your new gift can do once you start messing with it. It's going to trick you into thinking this is an easy peasy way to make some cash.
It's not.
YOUR FRIENDS ARE GOING TO TELL YOU YOU'RE AMAZING. YOU'RE PROBABLY NOT.
Now, I don't say that to be cruel. The word amazing is thrown around on Facebook SO often, someone should figure out how to copywrite it and monetize that shizz. Because whoa. You're going to start posting some random, in-focus pictures of your kid's eyeball, your dog sleeping or a macro of a snowflake and people are going to say "That's amazing. You should be a professional"
Trust me. They will. They said it to me. Someone said it, at some point, to every friend of mine who does this for a living.
They're not lying, exactly. They're friends. They're being nice. Supportive of your new hobby.
But, you're not amazing.
Not yet.
Don't get ahead of yourself.
I'm not amazing and I've been at this for nearly a decade.
Amazing people are out doing truly amazing things and shooting pictures some of us could only dream of crafting. They are special. Unique. And rare.
Don't let that word worm its way into your head and your ego.
BE SMART BEFORE YOU START
I say, looking back, to keep that Christmas gift with you at all times for 6 months. Document. Observe. Play. If after 6 months you're not completely sick of people asking "Hey, can you bring your camera to the next family gathering?" you may have something there.
But slow and steady wins the race. I wasn't slow and steady. I was unemployed, so I was quick and dirty. I took any "job" that I was approached with because I needed to freaking feed and diaper my kid.
So, I never 2nd shot until YEARS after I started. I didn't take ANY workshops until several years into my job (because those things cost money).
Someone asked me to shoot their wedding and I said "Why the heck not"!
I didn't really reflect on what the consequences could be if I completely SUCKED at weddings. I figured "Can't be that hard". I looked up other wedding photography online and I showed up with my little D40x and a D90 I had purchased used by that time and my one external flash and I made that work.
Be ye not so stupid. It just HAPPENED to work for me. By the grace of the photography gods.
If I could do it all over again, and the cards had been laid out differently, I would have second shot my patootie off. It's the only way to really immerse yourself in the world of wedding photography without taking on the huge liability of screwing up someone's big day.
My First Wedding EVER. Really, I look back and see the potential. I also see every error I made! But I cared DEEPLY about doing a good job for these folks. I knew it was a make it or break it situation. And in the end, I had happy clients....and so it began.....
IF YOU DON'T HAVE A HEAD FOR BUSINESS, DON'T GO INTO BUSINESS
Here's the thing, not everyone is meant to be a self-employed person. It's ROUGH. It's also wonderful. But ROUGH. It takes a certain fortitude with a dash of complete madness to want to basically live by the seat of your pants year after year.
If you completely SUCK at any business task, don't take this on as a business. Just ENJOY photography. Because, really, shooting actual pictures is what I do the LEAST of. Most of my day is administrative type stuff, talking to clients, editing, ordering, blogging, marketing, and hustling new work leads.
Because if you don't at least somewhat enjoy and gain a bit of knowledge on the business end, it will end up DESTROYING your love for the creative end. You'll gain a cold, steely, cynical heart and stop wanting to even pick up your camera. And you will lose your butt financially if you can't figure out how to charge a living wage for yourself. Trust me, I've seen it happen.
The only thing that really keeps me going year after year is I'm a nerd for the business end. I revel in spreadsheets and tax time and trying out new marketing ideas. I really do love that part as much as the creative side.
DON'T LET THE GRUMPY ASSES GET YOU DOWN
Here's the thing. I can be a grumpy ass. I think you do this long enough we ALL can....even if it's just in the cold, shadowy reaches of our offices as we edit our 10,000th image that day. We'll hop on Facebook and see some "newbie" who just rattled off some out-of-focus, over-exposed travesties for a family for the low low cost of $50 and a disc and are getting praised up the ying-yang for their efforts.
And we sit back and go "BLEEECCHHHHH.....really?" Admit it. We ALL FREAKING DO IT. If you're saying you have never scratched your head in amazement at some pee-stained garbage on Facebook and wondered what the hell people are paying that person ANYTHING for.....then, I'm going to call shenanigans. We are all jerks sometimes.
And we all seem to forget our own pee-stained atrocities rather quickly.
HOWEVER....I have found that through supporting others in the field, sharing information, and asking questions myself....it really does improve the industry as a whole. You have to respectfully enter the industry and LOVE the industry. Don't expect to stand on the shoulders of those who came before and blazed trails for you and then crap all over their work and ideals.
You are ALWAYS going to have your outlying crabby asses. Your outlying rogue photographers who don't really WANT to participate in the industry. Again. Human nature.
But, you find your base. The folks you work among....and they can be the most supportive, helpful, and wonderful people in the world.
A rising tide, folks. It lifts ALL ships. Even the shitty ships with the bad paint job and the really mean captain who have no business on the sea.
I kid. I kid. ;)
THE HARD IS WHAT MAKES IT GREAT
You hold in your hand a shiny new tool. A tool that can elevate your snapshots to less-crappy-snapshots in a pretty short time. A tool that will do some thinking for you. A tool that if not taken on with reverence and contemplation, can drain your bank account and lead to stupid decisions.
Photography is absolutely incredible. Even now sometimes I click that shutter and I look at what I froze in time and I'm just dumbfounded that I caught what I did. It's a lot of luck. It's a lot of knowing how stories are going to unfold. It's a lot of repetitive work. And you have to love it. The loving it is what keeps me gone every weekend from March to November. It's hard. It's hard on the family. It's hard on my body. It's hard on the gear. But, the hard of it is what makes it so great.
I've tried other things. I don't want to do anything else. Not at this point in my life.
So welcome, new camera owner. Welcome to your newest obsession....welcome to a new WORLD. New people, new friends, new ideas. It's all out there....and there are a lot of us, yes....but if you're willing to scratch and claw and barrel your way in with YOUR vision and YOUR voice....there's room for you at the table. (Though, you may have to sit at the kids table until you learn to stop fashion-tilting everything like it's going outta style. Because newsflash there, Demarchelier, it's gone and not coming back).
A Christmas present changed my life 8 years ago.
The husband is never gonna let me live that down. :)
Love,
Amanda :)
I recently settled in on a cold, blustery Wisconsin winter night to take in a documentary on Netflix. It was called Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things.
Now, the husband and I have never really been about STUFF. We have our moments, sure. We are human. I blogged over on my finance blog (currently on hiatus, but PLUG...check out the Facebook Page!) about spending copious amounts of cash on things like Louis Vuitton bags and Chanel sunglasses when we were young and unencumbered by kids.
Not bright moves, but hey....everyone is allowed a little wayward-ness in their youth. Right?
To a degree.
At one point in my life I thought a college degree was THE most important thing for me to obtain.
That actual, physical piece of paper is framed and up in my office....but man, talk about a waste of $50,000 PLUS.
Yeah. I graduated in 2009. We are STILL paying for that piece of paper. I went after it because I thought I was supposed to. That was my "prestige piece". Not a BMW. Not a brand name handbag. I wanted to prove I was enough because I had an expensive degree from a pretty well-thought-of school.
I've purchased a new car. It drove the same as my used car.
I've purchased what I would consider overpriced items of clothing....and I was almost afraid to wear them lest I get them dirty or I don't wash them correctly and they get all messed up.
I don't really have the "spending gene" anymore. It was removed somewhere in the last 10 years.
As I sat and watched this movie (which was very good and I highly recommend it)....I started thinking of this concept of ENOUGH.
Do I feel enough?
Do we ever HAVE enough?
Why do we envy others when we sit and ignore what we have around us?
When is enough.....enough?
Every year, about this time, I start evaluating my "place".....where the business is, where the family is financially, relationship-wise, spiritually. It's part of my "New Years" census. Part of me consistently wants to quantify where I am.
The husband and I have been really trying to do well by the kids: keep our tempers in check even when they're driving us insane.....be consistent and fair....and inject positive thinking into the day so it doesn't go off the rails. I would say we succeed at this maybe 45% of the time currently.
Again. Human.
But we have found that SIMPLIFYING things has helped quite a bit. Turn off the freaking TV, put on a record and dance around the room. We have karaoke nights where we just sing to one another. We made cookies together and, let me tell you, these "simple fun" ideas are not always EASY. You scroll through your Instagram feed and see families spending such Rockwellian quality time together and your cynic-radar may go off (mine does, fo sho....I mean, cmon you parents curating the perfect Instagram feed.....get off it. I know your hiding your mess behind the bathroom door!).
I feel like I'm not "enough" because I RARELY take the time to curate perfection before hitting "post".....sometimes I look back and think "Man, should have probably picked up the living room before posting that picture of Bridget".....
I mean, what will those 500 or so followers I have THINK?!?!?!
It's never easy. Some nights I want to plop on the couch and watch really shitty TV and have no one talk to me. Sometimes I wish I knew how to curate perfection for the masses, sure to garner me praise and respect among the creatives in my peer group.
Human.
But, simple time with the kids is important. Because we need to teach them that, sometimes, listening to your mom rap a Broadway song (perfectly....I may add)....is enough. Even if no one sees it but us.
We've begun really evaluating our moving strategy. We are still moving. As soon as friggin' possible. It's my #1 goal for 2017. MOVE.
But, we are really looking at our expectations. Do we need MORE SPACE? Really? Does a family of 5 REALLY need a 3000 square foot home? I mean, that's ginormous. Our current home is 2400 square feet and I feel like we have a ton of wasted space (that the builders should have molded into a 4th bedroom, for reals).
Do we have enough....and probably need less stuff?
I'm cool with less stuff. I came to that realization. I'm cool with it and so is the husband.
We have everything we need and then some.
Enough is enough.
I look at the business.
I threw myself headlong into full-time photography again after resigning from the assisted living facility in February of this year. It became my prime focus (other than give birth to a healthy kid) for the year to get the business back to where it was pre-Record Store....pre-2015....pre-"the lost year".
And I did it. And then some. I'm happy to say I killed it this year. KILLED. IT. I'm proud of myself and don't feel like that's being overly "braggy" really. My "enough" where that is concerned is probably radically different than other folks "enough".
Do I have 10,000 "likes" on Facebook or followers on Instagram?
Nope. Probably never will either.
But you know what those likes don't do?
Pay you.
They don't pay your bills. They don't put food on your table. They don't really do much of anything except people can say "Heh, look at that number". And then they move on. If you look at the metrics, a very teensy weensy percentage of that number actually HIRE you. The hustle gets you paid. The combination of marketing and consistent, kick-ass work gets you paid.
The social media likes are a small cog in a bigger wheel of marketing that I'm just starting to scratch the surface of.
I'm ready to take on 2017 with a fire in my belly and a renewed, fanatic love for what I do. Weddings and Seniors. It's on.
My enough is going to be MORE than enough. It's going to be kill-ah.
I feel like I'm entering a place in life where I can breathe. And that feels REALLY. GOOD.
Not every day is like this. I still have some days where I'm stressed to all hell and I want to tear my hair out and sell the children to the nearest Gypsy.
Human.
But, it felt fan-tabulous to sit back, look around and say "You know what. I have enough. I am enough. I've done enough....for now."
2016 is getting wrapped up in a pretty little bow and ending in peace and harmony.
2017 is on the horizon....and I have great hopes that it's going to be enough for all of us.....it all just depends on our view.
Who: The Hajewski Family (Including brand new Baby Hazel!)
Where: Type A Studio
Currently Watching: The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (OMG. Where has THIS show been all my life? Seriously, like I've said before, I'm a chronic late-adopter.)
Currently Spinning: The Moana Soundtrack. I gave it a go because....duh...Lin Manuel Miranda wrote it so it couldn't be all bad. It's far from all bad. It's pretty damn catchy and wonderful, if you ask me. Bonus points for Jemaine Clement and Christopher Jackson's inclusion. PLUS, it keeps the kiddos entertained in the Baby Bus.
Currently Reading: #Girlboss by Sophia Amoruso. I was in DESPERATE need of some inspiration for the end of my season. I have a lot of plans bouncing around in my little brain for 2017 and I needed a kick in the shorts to get going on organizing them. This was the kick in the shorts I needed. When I read that Sophia's goal as a 19/20 year old was to hitchhike to Olympia and go to Evergreen State College I nearly choked. That was my EXACT dream as a wayward 20 year old. I even had the Evergreen State College brochure tacked to my bulletin board for YEARS.
I never made it there....I guess the universe had other plans....but I most definitely related to 99% of this book. It's one I'll read over and over again, I'm sure.
- It's been a typical holiday season in photography land. LOTS of portrait session, my fundraiser for Hospice, finishing up albums that will be wrapped and placed under the tree. It's been a feverish pace getting everything done, but I've been caught up all year and I don't intend to fall behind now. It's not the Type A way, I tell ya!
- I spent the last few days designing a full on magazine to give to my Wedding inquiries and Senior inquiries. We are stepping up the fancy big time in 2017. I worked my little tooshie off on these documents and I have to say I'm quite proud of the results.
I've always struggled with having my "voice" come through in my branding....mostly because I think I was never quite comfortable with what my "voice" truly was. It didn't exactly fall in line with the current trends in my industry. I'm not hipstery-fashionable by any means (though I am trying to improve on the current jeans-and-tshirt wardrobe as of late). I'm not a globetrotter....so much so that I get REALLY excited when I get to go anywhere that isn't in Rock County. I'm a bit of an introvert. A homebody. I can be sarcastic and I like dark humor and British insults. I really like turn-of-the-century period-dramas, hip hop Broadway musicals about Founding Fathers, TV shows about time traveling aliens with great hair, and CARBS. I guess I can thank that last one for my less than perfect physique.
It's really easy to look around at other folks and wonder why you can't pull off that amount of "cool". How you can reach the clients that are perfect for YOU?? My tribe IS out there...and I think what made 2016 pretty great was I finally started to attract them. I had just the BEST wedding clients this year.
Great things are on the horizon....I just have to keep putting myself out there!
- Mega Molly turned 6 years old and I about had a sad-mommy meltdown (internally, anyway). How can she POSSIBLY already be SIX? That's a KID. That means I'm going to blink and Bridget is going to be driving. This is all going way too freaking fast.
- Did anyone else try to watch that abysmal version of Anne of Green Gables on PBS that aired on Thanksgiving? I think the whole of the PBS company should apologize to the world for that atrocity. Shame, Martin Sheen. Shame.
- Since I lost all of my Bridget Baby Weight, it was my complete intention to start going back to the gym and toning. Things ain't where they used to be, if ya catch my drift. I won an auction for Planet Fitness but I haven't quite gotten around to using it yet. This girl needs some motivation. Big time.
There's just SO many good things on TV!!!
- SPEAKING of Miss Bridget Frances, girlfriend is crawling all over. She's a high-achiever, that's for sure. She also outweighs what Molly was at 7 months by a whopping 8 lbs. She's a bruiser, a regular ole' Chunker Munk.
- I'm eagerly awaiting the end of the year and tax time. Have I lost my ever-lovin' mind? No...not quite. But, being self-employed, our mortgage company can't complete our pre-approval without 2016's taxes....so I'm trying VERY hard to be patient.
I think we've decided on building....but who the hell knows, that could change in a nano-second. Ya'll know how we are.
But, we are most definitely moving. SOON. Hopefully.
- Stay tuned THIS WEEK for the Wedding BEST OF 2016 CONTEST. Yes, I'm bringing it back! Chance for one of my wedding couples to win a 16x20 gallery wrap and one "voter" to win a copy of #Girlboss. Win/Win!
- Coming up before the end of the year? Newborns, Family Sessions, Molly's Holiday Program (which should prove to be all sorts of hilarious. You know how she rolls), Betty is doing a Living Wax Museum as Taylor Swift. She balked at my idea to go as Alexander Hamilton. An Anniversary Party, Christmas, and 2 weddings.
Holy Crapola.
Then, we are on to 2017....which I am going to slay. Just watch me!
Who: Jackie + Derek
Where: St. Vincent de Paul Parish Chicago, IL & City View Loft Chicago, IL
Florist: Flowers for Dreams
Pies: Blue Sky Bakery & Cafe
DJ: Electric Blue Entertainment
Special Appearance By: Stormtrooper #1 and The Blues Brothers
Big HUGE thanks to Rebecca from Rebecca Marie Photography, Bridesmaid Extraordinaire, for ALL of your help!! You were amazing!
