New Year

For the last post of the year I would like to wish all those who look at this blog from time to time a very safe and happy New Year. Take this time to reflect on the 'decade of change' as I call it. I look at how my business has changed over the past 10 years with digital taking over from film, how computers have changed life and how life has changed my being.
Things to look for in the new year: a re-designed website will appear (hopefully) early in the new year. A re-definition of my business will evolve. Making more time for friends and family will be high on the priority list.

Pets

This past Saturday I had the honour of photographing Pets with Santa at Top Crop Too our local garden and pet supply store. It is a worthwhile fun raiser for the local SPCA. Pets get to tell Santa what they want for Christmas and in return their owners receive a 5" x 7" print of their pet sitting with Santa. A good time was had by all.

Almost Done

Working through the new wedding price list is almost done. Some prices have gone up marginally while one package has gone down. It is all part of the process of developing a wedding photography price list. It will not be released until the end of the month therefore any weddings booked before the end of the year will receive the current price list pricing.

For samples of my wedding photography please visit the website.

Weddings

It is the time of year again when the wedding photography price list is reviewed and adjusted. This is a painstaking experience to say the least. In order for a business to grow and prosper and aging equipment be replaced, prices have to rise. The balancing act is to raise the prices enough that the company is able to update equipment, pay insurance, update education, yet not raise the prices so much that it turns clients away. It is a tough act to perform and it takes many hours of reviewing all costs involved in running a business to finalize a price list. It is not just throwing a dart at numbers to come up with a price list. But it shall be done and by the end of the year a new price list for weddings in 2010 will be available. Now where did I put my coffee!!

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.