Website, website....why must you be so difficult?

Goodness!!!!! I wish I were more computer savvy. I wish it didn't take me ....well, I am ashamed to tell you how long it took me to figure out how to add a "Gallery" with pictures. Let's just say it took me a little while. I did finally figure it out though! I am so proud of myself! Now let's see if I can figure out how to add more than one category.

So, six months after purchasing my website, I finally have pictures of people on it. Yay! It's only 2, but it's better than nothing. I really do love my site. I think I'll love it even more when I've got more galleries up with more pictures. I have gone through my photos and selected some for my website. I just need to do some light editing and resizing so I can put them up on my site for all to see.

I also need to figure out my pricing. I was so worried about being too expensive, but there are so many things to consider when working out the pricing. How much time will I spend with the person/people? That one's easy because I can offer 30 minute sessions, 1 hour sessions, and longer sessions for special events and newborns. Here comes the hard part. I have to consider the time it takes to get to the site, the length of the session, and then I have to decide how much time I am going to spend editing and ordering and packaging the photos. Once I have a general idea of how much time I will spend on one shoot, I need to decide how much I want to make per hour. What is my time worth? As much as I want to be cheap for people, I have to realize that my time is valuable. I also have to get to the point of realizing that I am worth it. I'm still having issues in that department. Not that I don't think I take good pictures. I do. Out of the over 800 pictures I took last Saturday, I managed to find a few that I thought were fantastic. And then I found about 20 that I thought were good.

I can hear some of you gasping and saying, "800 pictures?!?!" Yes, 800 pictures. One of the hardest lessons in photography for me was understanding that I could take 500 pictures and maybe only have 2 that were great. The rest would be okay.....or blurry....or the person's eyes would be closed. Lots of things that could go wrong and do. Now it doesn't even phase me that I took over 800 pictures last Saturday and only found a few that I really liked when I went through them on my computer. When I told someone I took over 800 pictures, they looked at me like I was crazy. But that was nothing. I would have taken a lot more, but I was assisting Danielle so my main focus was to help with anything I could help with. Once things were set up, I would snap away. The more I shoot, the more I realize it's necessary to take a lot of pictures. I like to take a lot of the same pose, but I like to move around and get the shot from different angles. It's amazing what a difference moving a oouple of inches to the left or right can make sometimes. I also like to take a lot of pictures because when you are shooting people, there are so many things beyond your control. Some people blink a lot. Some people won't look right at the camera the whole time. When you have more than one person in the shot you have to get them all looking at the camera. With their eyes open! It's tough sometimes. But I do find if you take lots of pictures, and you talk to your clients as your taking them, you will get those great shots.

So I am off to work on a very important part of my website. Pricing.

Tomorrow I am helping Danielle with her Photography Class. When I say "helping" I don't really mean helping. I use that term very loosely because Danielle does not need any help with her class. I will just be there to assist Nikon users (YEAH!! NIKONS RULE!!!!) with their settings since Danielle is a Canon user (I will be nice and not make a comment about that). What I am really hoping to do is play with the new lens I bought for my full frame.

Wedding Dress shoot in Hiroshima

On Saturday I was lucky enough to participate in a beautiful wedding dress shoot in Hiroshima. Tom and Courtney looked so amazing!! I honestly can't wait to see Danielle's pictures!!!

We shot at quite a few different locations and did many, many poses. It was freezing outside and I felt so bad for Courtney as she was in a strapless gown. Brrrr!!!!! Courtney and Tom were amazing though. Never complaining about the cold or being dragged all over the place. Okay....I guess we didn't have "drag" them anywhere. They were both so excited about the shoot too and posed and smiled for us all day long. Towards the end of the day, it got even colder and I could tell Courtney was freezing, but the moment Danielle pointed the camera at her, her face lit up into a beautiful smile.

I took well over 800 pictures on Saturday and I did get some "behind the scenes" photos.

This was later in the day and it was really cold!!! Courtney had to put her jacket on in between poses and here she is getting ready for the next set of pictures.

Of all of the locations we went to on Saturday, this was my absolute favorite. It was later in the afternoon and the sun was started to set. The lighting was just amazing! I also learned something new while shooting in this beautiful lighting. I need to practice some more before I share the knowledge though. I certainly don't want to share bad information, and I am not that comfortable with my knowledge of all of the settings on my camera yet. I did get some really amazing shots at this location though....once I adjusted my settings a few times and got some great tips and advice from Danielle.

After we finished here, we went to take some pictures at a very busy crosswalk in downtown Hiroshima. This was another great location, but it was also pretty hilarious. People were stopping to see what was going on and whipping out their cell phones/cameras to take pictures of Tom and Courtney. It was pretty awesome!!

Look closely and you can see Tom and Courtney's image on her cell phone.

It was a very long day, but it was the most fun I have ever had on a photo shoot. I'm so thankful that I got to be a part of such an amazing day. I could really see and feel the love that Tom and Courtney share, and I hope I was able to capture that in my photos. I know Danielle got some GREAT shots. To see more pictures from this amazing shoot, you will have to wait until Danielle has posted them on her blog.

A huge thank you to Danielle for allowing me to be a part of this wonderful day!! And to Tom and Courtney also for allowing me to participate and take pictures! Thank you all so much!!!! I had so much fun!!! I think we should do it again!!! .......wait. I think I just heard Tom yell, "Noooooooooo!!!"

It's official!

I'm official!

I got my approved letter and I am officially in business! I am so excited! I have a couple of sessions lined up already, but they are not scheduled for a couple of months. That gives me some more time to practice and do some more prop shopping. Who knew there were so many props out there for photographers?! It's mind boggling! And I want one of everything!!!! SO many cute things!!!!

Anyway, I want to frame my letter.....or maybe I should shrink it and laminate it and carry it around with me! Hmmmm....ummm...I'll be back....