Directions

One of the advantages of being in business for yourself is that you can re-define yourself whenever you want. The thing about a photography business is that there are so many directions one can take. All you have to do is find a market for what you wish to offer. Up until now the main focus of my business has been wedding photography with a few other items being offered such as: commercial, sports, event, portraits. The wedding business has changed quite dramatically in the past few years. "Uncle Joe" with his $1000 digital camera has all of a sudden become competition to those of us trying to make a living at wedding photography. Plus in my geographical location there have been a number of new photographers offering their services. Competition is good as it improves what can be offered to clients. The problem is there are not more weddings taking place here so everyone gets a smaller slice of what is available. So alternatives must be found for those of us making a living at this business.
Back in the film days I used to be represented by a stock house in Edmonton. It was a good business and provided a good portion of my business. When film started to die out and digital was taking over a lot of stock houses closed up or where bought out by larger companies. For the past few years stock has become an item again.
I am in the process of submitting images to various stock agencies and waiting for approval on those submitted. So far I have been accepted into the following agencies: The Photo Storage, Dreamstime, Microstock Photo, Most Photos, Can Stock Photo, and 123RF. I am waiting for approval from iStockPhoto. This will add a much needed addition to what Kimberley's Photo West can offer various clients and add to the stability of my business.
Further updates will follow.

Into Fall

As we are approaching Fall it becomes a time of reflection over the past summer and of planning for next year. Did everything go according to plan this summer? Not exactly but I was happy with the number of weddings photographed, might have been able to squeeze in one more but that's fine. Was I happen with the commercial work this summer? The truck shoot basically got rained out which we couldn't control so they are going with one of the images created last year and we are already planning for next years session so can't complain about that. Overall it was a good year.
Changes to the business? Yes I am looking into changing a few things about the business and how I do business.
Updates to follow.

Upcoming

Tomorrow I have a pregnancy/family photo session that I am quite excited about as it is at a new location that I just discovered. It should make for some stunning images!
On Thursday I have a family session, outside again, and I hope the weather is great.
Then on Friday I have another wedding, smaller this time but should be equally stunning. A busy week but that is the way I like it.

Updates

Here are a few samples from the past two weddings. Both were quite different in style but both were very beautiful and unique.
First off a couple from Catherine and David's:


And now a few from Lori and Geoff's:

Wedding on the mountain

Catherine and David had an absolutely beautiful wedding. The day was perfect. Everyone rode the ski lift up to the top of Fernie's ski hill and after a short hike the ceremony took place in an open field that was just amazing. The only hitch to the day was when it was realized that the flowers were still at the house. So two of the guests took the lift down, got the flowers and came back up the lift. Life is like that, if you expect the ceremony to be perfect and therefore the marriage to be perfect then you might be disappointed. This little hiccup in their ceremony only means that there will be hiccups during the marriage. This too shall pass.
The rest of the day went off without a hitch. The only rain that we saw was while traveling to different photo locations. Island Lake Lodge was absolutely beautiful. The waterfalls were absolutely beautiful. The reception, a lot of fun. It was, in short, a wonderful day spent with a wonderful couple.
Although I am still working on their images to be posted for all guests to see, and will post a few here and on my website and on my facebook site and probably on flickr as well. We have created a lasting memory that Catherine and David will have for many years to come.

Fantastic

The trip to Quebec was great although too short. The truck session went well despite the fact we had a lot of rain. And although we were not able to get to all the locations that we wanted the end result was a good selection of images.The high school reunion was a lot of fun. It was great to see former classmates that I haven't seen in 30 years and also touring around my old stomping grounds. It will definitely be sooner than another 30 years before I go back. I love the Eastern Township region of Quebec. It will always be home to me.

Now on to getting ready for a wedding this upcoming Saturday, July 25th which promises to be a wonderful day. Catherine and David are a terrific couple and they have a great day planned. Their ceremony will take place at the top of the Fernie Ski Hill, followed by some family portraits taken on the hill before coming down the hill to take additional photographs at a nice waterfall at Mount Fernie Provincial Park and also at Island Lake Lodge. Island Lake Lodge is a hidden gem of a location. Breath taking is the only way to describe this spot. Watch for a few photos to be posted here sometime after the wedding. With the temperature forecast to be in the 30's, it should be beautiful blue skies, terrific vistas, a beautiful bride and her handsome husband. Couldn't ask for anything better!

T-minus

9 days and counting until I jet off to Montreal and then the Eastern Townships. What once seems like an eternity away is now very close and looming. The first three days there will be consumed with a photo shoot for Manitoulin Transport, whom I do a shoot for every year. The main purpose behind the shoot is for their yearly calendar but some of the shots for used for display in their various terminals along with their website. This year will prove to be somewhat more technically challenging over previous years due to the fact we want Canada Day fireworks going off over the truck. So locating a spot to park a 75' rig in an area where we will see the fireworks along with some of the city has proven a bit of a challenge then the cost to park the rig all day was outrageous. It will have to be parked at 7:00am with the fireworks going off at 11:00pm. So there is a day shot because we cannot do any other shooting that day of the truck. So on the 2nd and 3rd we will be travelling into the Eastern Townships for the remainder of the images to be taken. We like to get in about a dozen different shots to choose from and it should be a good challenge.
Results and updates to follow.