down, but not out, and asking for grace

If you know me personally or follow me on facebook, then you most likely know that I have been down with the flu since early Wednesday morning. I will spare you the details of the many, many ways in which this illness stinks, but I will say that it really is awful – A W F U L. And as pricey as it is, I can’t even imagine what it would have been like without my new best friend, Tamiflu. 

But I am actually sitting semi-upright today, so I thought I’d take a second and let everyone know that I am alive and kicking. I missed my son’s first Kindergarten field trip to the Pumpkin Patch today and am right now, at this minute, missing Girl’s Night with some of my favorite ladies on the planet. So, I’m pretty bummed about this whole mess. To make myself feel better, I am sharing some favorite photos of Jack that I have snapped over the past several months and just never got around to posting. Sounds like a good deal to me.

I read a lot of photography blogs. A lot. I think I have at least 20 bookmarked and it feels like I find a new one that inspires me almost every day. It’s funny to me that a lot of the photographers I love the most are just like me. Moms of great kids, self-taught, love what they do, and extremely overwhelmed. It feels good knowing that I am not alone in my overwhelmed-ness, but I also wanted to talk about my own personal situation here, in light of how is is affecting and will affect my business as it continues to grow. These last several months have been a complete & total whirlwind for me. I feel like my mantra has been, “Oh, I am so behind!” or  ”Please forgive me for not getting back to you!” or how about  ”No, I am not not quite done!”. You get the picture. I never, ever, ever anticipated the response my little ol’ camera and I would receive, therefore I was ill-prepared to handle the demands on my time. I AM SO GRATEFUL for each and every click of the shutter. Each and every night with less than four hours of sleep because I just can’t stop looking at your beautiful faces. Each and every person who emails just to say, “Hey, have you forgotten about me?”. Because that means I am connecting with YOU. In some way, what I am doing is resonating with you and I could not ask for more. As a person who is rather introverted, it feels really good to find a way to connect  in such a meaningful way with so many people. It blows me away and I seriously often pinch myself just to be sure that this is actually my life! The frustration comes in when I simply run out of hours in the day to do all I need to do. It is very overwhelming to know how many people are waiting on sneak peeks, discs and responses from me, right now. I couldn’t get to them all on a good day, much less a day where I spent 88.6%  of my waking hours horizontal or taking care of a sick child.  I feel like I am always behind, but right now I am a little extra behind. 

I want my mantra to become, “Hey, your sneak peek is up EARLY!” or “I can’t believe I am done in time to watch a movie with my hubs” or maybe even “I responded to every single email in my inbox today!”. Wow. Revolutionary, isn’t it? So, how do I make that happen? Right now, there isn’t much I can do. I am booked solid thru 2009 {with a few openings in December that I am likely going to fill}. Since this is my first year in business – and my first Holiday season – I think I seriously overestimated how much I could take on and still be a functioning wife, mother, daughter and friend. I honestly figured that would happen and I am totally fine with it. In fact, I am really, really excited about each and every session I have booked this year. My brain is always whirling with ideas and I know that there is going to be some seriously good stuff happening this fall!! Starting in 2010, however, I am going to be changing the way I do a few things. And those things I believe will greatly benefit both me and my clients.

My number one goal as a photographer is to provide my clients with one-of-a-kind photographic art for their home. I want their time with me – from start to finish – to be stress free and ridiculously fun. Right now, I am not sure that is happening because I have overloaded my plate. So – in 2010 I will be limiting the number of sessions I book every month. I have been saying that I do that now, when in reality, I have no idea how to say no. {I recently did have  to say no to a few sessions and it just about killed me.} I am also going to be updating my prices to better reflect the quality of service I will be able to provide. I will likely be offering packages for Maternity & Newborn sessions as well as Baby’s First Year. I am also likely going to stop giving out high-resolution digital copies of my images on disc. While I want my clients to have printing flexibility, it is more important that they have the BEST quality prints that their money can buy, and I now have the ability to provide that. I will still offer low-resolution digital copies of session images for sharing on sites such as Facebook and blogs. They will be the same quality as the images I use here on my site – fabulous for web use, but not suitable for printing. 

I am really, really excited about these changes. I believe that they will allow me to feel good about the work I am putting out there while giving my clients the peace of mind that they are receiving the absolute best quality product that I can provide. I think limiting my schedule will allow me to be more creative and less stressed and do a much better job of maintaining a business that functions and lives up to all of the incredibly kind and generous compliments I am receiving from all of you. I really have no words for how all of you who have hired me, plan to hire me or have simply encouraged me have blessed my life.

So, there it is. I just felt like it was important to get this out there since there are so many people waiting on things from me right now. Please know that I will be back up and running in the next few days {as soon as the doctor clears me to re-enter the general public}. I will be responding to emails, posting sneak peeks and mailing discs ASAP, and in the meantime, all I need from you is a little grace and some prayers. I look forward to serving you in the way you deserve!