Hi all! This is my first time blogging, it has been an interesting experience so far. From the day I started my photography business I have been self-teaching myself everything from advertising to learning photoshop. A journey it has been for sure.
A quick bit about myself before I post. My name is Poppy Clark. During the summer of 2007 I had a gentleman ask me to take a business photo of him for his newsletter. I had no idea who this man was (he knew my mother) or why he wanted me to take his photo being that I didn't even own a decent camera or have much knowledge about the photography business (luckily my in-laws were photographers for 20 years, few).
Well I ended up taking his photo with my mother-in-laws camera and then I was asked to do a session for a friend with her child. At that point I got the idea that photographing as a hobby would be a great way to get me out of the house (I stay home with my children). My husband and I agreed to invest in a "good" camera, the next thing I knew I was asked to photograph a wedding for another friends mother, all this in a 2 month span. It was at this point I decided I was going to make a business out of this, I started taking classes on-line, I have purchased over 20 great photography books that teach everything from posing to lighting, photoshop to printing. I joined the New Hampshire Professional Photographers Association, have had some great help from some veterans in the field. Gosh, I am so thankful for those who have helped me.
It was 6 months later that I started booking my 2008 summer for weddings and was surprised and grateful for the response to my work and the trust I was building. I also booked 2 senior portrait sessions, a handful of family sessions, had a special on mother's day that got a couple of clients, and at the end of the year was able to celebrate the new year by photographing couples at a New Year's Eve ball.
Operating my own business is not always an easy task, but it is fun. When the job no longer becomes fun I will stop, but I hope that for as long as my husband and I want to photograph weddings, to meet new people, and hear those sacred vows from couple to couple we will always have fun and that comes out in our personalities and our work. At this point I refuse to join in competitions and such, the pressure is tremendous and the judging in competition is far different than what clients look for when it comes to "personal" photographs.
2008 was my businesses first full year photographing weddings. Together with my husband we photographed 11 weddings. Not bad for photographers new to the wedding industry. Due to the fact that we have two small children we have limited our services to two weddings per month so that we are able to have family time, which is another reason why it was 11 and not 22.
I want to thank you brides and grooms who trusted us to capture your wedding day. We had fun at every single event, we felt like we knew you before your day arrived, and even have become friends with some of you, and some of your family. Because of you we were able to travel the state of Maine, allowing us to go to places we wouldn't normally go. It was a fantastic journey and we are so looking forward to working with all our 2009 brides and grooms and travelling to more places.
There is a lot of competition out there, from the professionals that have been in the industry for 20 some years to those who are able to buy a nice camera and shoot in auto. There is a lot more to photographing a wedding than just pressing the button, something I have learned through my education in the past year, which by the way I continue to this day (there is always something to learn).
The competition part is the hardest part of this industry for me because I HATE sales, I hate to be pressured or to pressure anyone else, I hate to be deceived or be deceiving in anyway. I believe in order for my clients to trust me I have to be honest about all areas of the business, but this doesn't help me when trying to capture a potential clients heart. This is my weakest point in my business right now and hopefully through the next few seminars I attend within the next week I will learn more about approach, what and how to say, etc... so that each client I greet will want to talk with me again.
I am so glad that 2009 has arrived, I am more confident then ever in my abilities as a photographer and the business I strive to make a good name for and see succeed. I am a perfectionist but realize in order to learn mistakes will be made, errors will occur, Yet great things will happen as well. I look back at wedding number 1 and compare it to wedding number 12 from the work to my social skills and am thrilled to see how much I have grown all around.
I hope that anyone who has a chance to read this will be delighted to meet with myself and my husband. There are great photographers everywhere, as a previous bride I know that overwhelming feeling of who to go with, payments etc... I just want you all to know that I understand, I can relate, I will do my best to work with you the best I can, and note that my prices are lower than the longer term photographers 1. because they have been in the business for 20 plus years so have earned that right for their prices and 2. it was my goal from day one, when I considered opening a business, to be as affordable as possible so that more brides (and families) would have the opportunity to have their memories captured in a way that those who can afford to splurge on more expensive photographers recieve.
I hope all of you have had a great start to 2009, it is the year of hope they say. If you are a bride to be or even a groom to be I want to personally send along my congratulations to you and wish you the best with all the planning of your big day, through the rough patches all marriages have, along with all the great times you have together. Marriage is not to be taken lightly, it is a commitment, a convenant. The vows you say to each other are not just words to be said on your wedding day but a promise you make to yourself and to each other. God Bless.
