I’m taking a bit of a Sunday editing reprieve to comment on something that I found yesterday online. I’ve been thinking about this blog posting in particular for quite some time, gathering my thoughts in how to present this, but after discovering Ground Glass | The Journal for Better Wedding Photography, I just knew I couldn’t wait any longer. So here it is.
I am embracing change for my business. It’s something that has been brewing since the summer and came to a head when Jonas Peterson published A Mason Jar Manifesto, which was grossly misunderstood by a number of people in the wedding industry. Rather than getting into what that was all about, you can read the posting for yourself and follow everything that happened afterwards….on wedding blogs, on other photographers blogs, on Facebook, on Twitter using the hashtag #inmymasonjars, and even on Jonas’ blog himself as he wrote a second commentary qualifying the first.
It broke the wedding industry open. It was really good dialogue in some cases. In others, not so much. But the point of the matter is is that he got a lot of us photographers and others involved in the wedding industry thinking about what is truly important. After this all came about, I moped around for days, analyzing my business, analyzing myself. Wanting so badly to rise above the “stuff” of weddings and truly focus on the couple and the people there celebrating them. And I believe that I do. But there is always room for improvement.
Last night while checking my Twitter feed, I came across a note stating “All Photographers should read this.” So I did. I was completely blown away and it was exactly what I needed to find. So I read more. And more. And even more. And the further I went with each posting on Ground Glass, I found my spirit feeling more elevated and connected to photography as an artform. The writer, Spencer Lum, hits all the right issues in all the right places and has spoken all the right words that I have been feeling since June. I just haven’t had the time to sit down and string some of those thought pieces into a cohesive form. So thank you, Spencer, from the bottom of my heart for helping me realize once again that photography isn’t about the “stuff” but about creating something that fulfills me as an artist and hopefully can move others into some sort of emotional place or create some sort of internal flutter.
I came out the other side feeling hopeful, insanely inspired and ready for action. I am still working through a lot of thoughts while I get through the last of this season’s edits ~ and am looking so incredibly forward to a luxurious 4 months off during the winter where I will get to recharge by spending more time with my son who is growing up so fast before my very eyes, my husband whom I have seen on occasion since May and focus on completing and rebuilding some aspects of my business. Some of those things include finishing my business plan, creating a resource binder for my business, a new blog, new albums, outsourcing some of my workflow, new pricing for 2013 weddings (2012 is nearly full) and setting limitations on how much I take on which I am already stepping towards by focusing only on weddings and couples. My goal is to work towards a tighter business that will be sustainable and hopefully carry me into the future as a full-time endeavor. I admit to it, I love change ~ not all change though. Sometimes it’s painful but necessary to grow.
As I sit here in my small corner office where DVDs are spread about my desk along with other various paraphernalia that help make my business go, I listen to Murmuration by the Nomad Soul Collective and can’t help but feel that good things will follow. I am so thankful to be here, right now.
I wanted to post this image today simply because it’s rather dreary out and I need me some colour. They are dahlias of all sorts from a homegrown garden in Yarrow. Just by the side of the road, donate some money in a bucket kind of flowers. I love this.
Happy Sunday.