You "do" Photography?

Here I am ... I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, I haven't taken time off, and I am still very happily running a busy Photography Business.

This post was prompted mainly by 2 things.

1. The other day I ran into an old acquaintance, they are not on facebook and we do not see each other often at all so it's not that surprising that they maybe didn't know that I was a Photographer but the question "oh, you do photography?" that they directed at me made me both question WHAT can I do to make sure that more and more people know what business I am in, and it also made me CRINGE that people still use the term "do photography?" I mean really? Is that even physically possible? I apologize now for the image in your head but ... maybe now you see my point :)

The other instance was this ...

My husband (who runs a successful business in town and whom I am very privileged to have readily available for business advice) and I started talking about MY business the other night. He mentioned that he has noticed I haven't been blogging as much, posting as many updates to my page, reaching out there and taking advantage of the over 1900 "fans" that I have on Facebook. He was absolutely right. *yes I did tell him this, which he made me repeat twice ... and Im not saying it again haha*

He was, ahem, "not wrong" and that is ok. This point didn't upset me or make me feel like I have failed at anything, it's simply a fact. One that I have hardly noticed because I have still been incredibly busy which is something that I do not take for granted especially in this industry and in this city with so many amazing fellow Photographers. However, the fact is that I haven't been blogging, I haven't been drumming up as much new business as I can, I haven't been reaching out to my clients and "fans" and taking them along on my Photography journey as I normally do and that is something that I know people appreciate about me and about my work. I add a very personal element to my business and that is partly why I did post so much and also mainly why I stopped ... for a while.

2011 was an incredibly successful year in business for me, and a very stressful year in every other aspect. Certain circumstances took a very heavy toll on my family, on my friendships, on my youngest kids, and on my marriage. I blogged about a lot of it on my personal blog and I am glad that I chose to do that. However I also needed a break from it too. My kids needed some extra attention from Mom, my home needed less stress and my marriage needed more love. I am happy to tell you that all of those things have been successfully accomplished!

My business is the final thing that I am sorry to say was impacted by all of this ... I simply didn't have the energy or the mindset to focus on marketing and advertising. I worked, a lot, and I am very proud of the work that I produced, but that was as far as I could go.

I'm ready now to set the "pendulum in motion" again as my husband would say. I love my clients, I want to share them all with you whether that is via my Blog, my Facebook Page or my Website. I also love the kind of clients that I attract and I have worked SO very hard to achieve that.

So no, I don't "DO" Photography ... I AM a Photographer. A hard working, high energy and passionate one and I'm sorry to those of you who did not know that yet, let's change that starting now!

Thanks for reading this, it let's me know that you are still checking in even if I haven't been and THAT is so very much appreciated.

xo