Change

When life hands you lemons, you make lemonade, right? This year, we’ve seen our fair share of lemons. As a business owner, I’ve been taught the philosophy that you have to look busy and do your best to be positive that you’ll survive the economy.

What am I getting at? Well, we just haven’t been able to produce results with our focus and efforts in the photography business. I’ve been so fortunate to have supportive people in my life helping me out this year. I couldn’t imagine it any other way. But, it’s time to shift the focus because, let’s face it, bills have to be paid.

I have made the decision to downsize my photography business and focus my efforts where things are profitable, design. No, we’re not closing up the photography business — we’re just shifting the focus of the business.

What does this mean? We’re going to an all-digital format — that means no studio work. Appointments will be available the first and third Thursdays of every month. By doing this, I’m able to still do what I love, shoot – especially for my clients who have expressed how much they value custom lifestyle photography over DIY and shopping mall studios.

Some questions you may have:

• What does all-digital mean? It means, one flat fee for your session and my time. You’ll get a disk in the mail of your high resolution files with a print release and suggestion of where to print. Fees start at $700 for 30 minutes and go up from there. Details may be found on the website under the “Investment” page.
• Will you still do weddings? Yes, we will! I will entertain inquiries for weddings. This too will be a time and digital disk only option. Our current wedding price is $3500 for an e-session (20 images on disk), 8 hours of continuous wedding coverage, two shooters, and 500+ digital images with a print release.
• What about head shots and mini sessions? We won’t be offering these anymore. My services are best suited for the person who values a full on photo shoot. We won’t be shooting in the studio any more.
• If I want to order prints, can I still do that through you? Not at this time. We are trying to make time for where our income is more predictable. Therefore, we are making this as simple as possible. By providing a disk only, it’s easier on our workload.
• Will you ever go back to doing this full time? I sure hope so! I hope that the economy will turn around, and we’ll see some changes in what people value – making precious memories. I firmly believe we overspend on what doesn’t last. I value my family so much. There is never a bad time to do photos that will be a keepsake for generations to come.
• So, what does this mean, you’re designing? I’ve always designed since that’s where I focused my studies in college! I just don’t do custom design work. I will focus on templates and design products for professional photographers. I have owned Pink Ink Studios since 2007, and we’ve been very successful there. I’m also working on a new subscriber-based program for photographers called Two Pear Designs.
• What about your email list and Facebook? Well, if you are fans of ours on Facebook (seniors or portraits), I will be closing those. I just don’t want to actively promote my photography business outside of my blog at this time. So, if you want to know when things are changing for us and we’re ready to attempt growing again, sign up for our newsletter, or subscribe to our blog. I will form a Facebook Fan Page for my photography design followers. Or, if you’re a photographer, you can currently follow Two Pear Designs & Pink Ink Studios on Facebook.
• Why do you always write like you’re more than one person? I really don’t know! HA! Probably because I involve my mom so much in my business and I value her opinion and help…I’m subconsciously including her in these posts.

So, there you have it. I’m sure we’ll have to modify some things as we move through 2011. It’s not the way I really wanted this to work out, but I feel fortunate that I’m still able to keep my business going and not have to struggle by making this focus change. You’ve been so supportive of me and I hope you will continue to support me through the next phase of my business.

UPDATE: Yes, current clients on our books are still being honored at contract agreements.