When I started my business I photographed anyone and anything that would let me. I put my own website together with my information and about 6 different galleries. Babies, Families, Dancers, Pets, Couples and Seniors. My “big break” was when the dance studio I used to dance at needed a new photographer for their annual dance photos from there I gained two other dance studios and expanded my clientele for other portrait sessions. It wasn’t till I photographed my first wedding that I developed a true passion for capturing the most important day in someone’s life.  After photographing about 4 weddings I myself became engaged and started planning my own wedding.  I was OBSESSED with everything wedding. The flowers, the dress, the details , the colors literally EVERYTHING.  After seeing how hard all of my vendors worked to make my day special and how much passion they put into their work I knew this was an industry I wanted to be a part of.  About a year ago I decided the love that  couples share and weddings where that love is celebrated,  was where my heart and passion was and where I wanted my business to end up.  Since then I have made some changes that have really helped my dream of becoming a wedding photographer come true one day at a time.

1. Choosing to specialize in weddings.

This was one of the hardest choices I made. Its a scary thought when clients come to you asking if you will take photos of their newborn baby and in your heart you know you want to spend your time photographing weddings and couples. To turn down someone who wants to pay you in a time where there is no guaranteed work seems silly right!? Wrong!  When you turn away a client for something you don’t want your business to show, it shows you take yourself and where you want your business to go seriously . The first time I said no to a client I honestly was like OMG what did I just do?! Then about 10 minutes later I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. I was able to send them to a photographer who specialized in babies and I knew they would get a great experience.  In turn that same photographer has sent wedding clients to me. It was a win, win for everyone involved.  Once choosing to specialize I also took everything off my website that had anything to do with families, babies and dancers.  As clients look at my site they will now see that I specialize in weddings and engagements.  I of course still get inquires to photograph other portrait sessions but I always send them to a photographer I know who specializes in what they are looking for. And to be completely honest yes I do photograph families once in a while but they are always friends or family of mine and I still never show them or advertise them on my website or blog.

2. Rebranding with a professional designer.

Once I learned more about myself and where I wanted my business to go I knew it was time to work with a professional who could provide me with a new brand that was true to me and showed off my work in the way I wanted it to. I worked with a good friend of mine Cara of Cara Rufenacht Creative to accomplish this goal. We met multiple times going over colors, textures and elements I wanted as part of my new website. She then created a branding board and made our ideas come to life. I could not have been happier with the end result.  Since changing my website I have had many compliments and have doubled the amount of wedding inquiries I get.

3.  Creating a styled shoot.

When I was in the process of redoing my website I knew I somehow wanted to show my passion for weddings. At the time I only had a few weddings under my belt and in my wedding portfolio but I wanted more.   This is when I decided I was going to have a “Featured Gallery” where eventually I will show off one complete wedding that I will be photographing later this year but until then I decided to do a styled bridal shoot. I was able to build relationships with multiple wedding vendors, and photograph a bride and table set up at my leisure.  Doing this allowed me to take my time, try things I wouldn’t normally try on a wedding day and learn.  Planning a styled shoot itself could be a blog post of its own, so I will save that for Kaitlin lol but I would suggest every photographer to plan their own or even get a group together and plan one it’s a great experience and allows you to connect with others in the industry.

4.  Staying organized.

I am a huge notebook and planner person. I have tried just about every planner there is out there and have never stuck to one for more than 2 months. This year I discovered the Erin Codren life planner and my life was turned upside down.  Ever since I started using my life planner I have easily been able to schedule sessions, plan blog posts, set myself weekly goals and stick to a weekly schedule.  I also have a “workflow” book created by my friend Robert that has helped me keep track of my workflow of weddings. It’s a chart that I check off as I accomplish things and helps me know what I need to do next with each client. Photographing the engagement session, collecting payments, sending gifts, editing and posting their blog post it covers it all.  By staying organized I have been able to increase my productivity and ensure each client receives the experience they deserve.

5.  Continuing  my education and Networking with other photographers and industry peers.

Photography is an industry that new stops there is always something new to learn. Weather it is new poses, shooting techniques, marketing tools or sending gifts to your clients. There is always something new to learn. This past year I made two choices to continue my education.  1. A one on one mentoring session with the one and only Kaitlin Noel  and 2. Attending United in California.  When I did my mentoring session with Kaitlin I was soo excited and nervous at once. Kaitlin has been a huge inspiration to be as I have made my way through this world of wedding photography. I learned so much about flow posing, and shooting with natural light while with her I came home with a who new look on how to interact with clients as well as a huge to-do list. Most of which has since been accomplished!  Attending United was a little bit different of an education. At United we had the opportunity to be part of styled photo shoots, take classes from some of the best in the industry and meet and connect with so many different photographers around the world. I can’t say enough how important it is to continue to learn in the industry and how important it is  to connect with other photographers.  Through both of these experience and a few more local ones I have gained some great friends in the industry who I know I can go to with a question, gain inspiration from and just laugh with Uncle bob gets in our way at a wedding.

Through all of these changes I was able to expand my wedding cliental from 3 weddings in 2013  to 10 weddings in 2014 with all of the weddings being extremely awesome couples, GREAT locations and amazing details I am extremely excited for wedding season to get started!   Next year the goal will be 15 weddings.