New Years Resolutions…

2012. When did that happen? I can’t believe we’re done with 2011… I’m pretty sure I blinked and it was gone. Poof. Gone.

With a new year comes new resolutions… and I have a lot of them with my business and in my life this year… and along with resolutions comes a ton of reflection on the year past.
Here is what I know….

I’m on the brink of no longer being the new kid in town… and at the same time I feel like I have a long way to go to be where I want to be. I know there are things I have to change and things that are certainly not ideal about how I run my business… And I of all people understand I cannot offer the attention to my clients that I should… things shifted unexpectedly in my life priority-wise this past year, and put some things into perspective for me… and it is super important to me that my kiddos and family come first. I have struggled this past year with trying to find some sort of balance… and the life of a wedding photographer isn’t as amazing and glamorous as some people think. Its long hours… being busy every weekend when your friends and family and husband are free… and sitting at the computer designing albums and editing and answering emails and keeping up with blogs and websites and accounting. (P.S. We cringe when people tell us … “wow, that must be an awesome job… you just work a few hours on the weekend and then you’re done”… avoid saying that to all photographers you know.) Throw a little unexpectedness into that and it all derails pretty quickly.

With that being said… I am the luckiest person alive. Seriously. I get to work doing something I completely love. I get to be creative. I don’t have to sit at a cubicle. I get to be a big part of one of the biggest days in peoples’ lives. I would not trade it for the world. I have an amazing husband who puts up with my hours and work and constant busy life… and the best kids ever. I have an amazing support system of friends and family and everything I could need. I cannot believe on a daily basis everything I am so lucky to have.

So, 2012… you are here. And I am here to kick your butt. You’re mine.
Here is what is changing… Here is what I am doing… Here is what I want from you.
2012 Resolutions

I am only taking 12 weddings this year because of the family ties I have. It’s a good number. It gives me more time for my family AND more time to take on sessions.

I am changing the way I process my wedding albums. From now on, I pick the photos… You get the proof before you get the gallery so its the first thing you see… and the blog goes up after you see the gallery. In 2013, its changing again. Cracking open a wedding album and seeing the pages will be the first time my 2013 clients see their photos. Bam. Amazing.

My branding is changing… I want Valerie Demo Photography to be more Valerie Demo. I want it to feel like me. I want you to know who I am just by reading my blog… I want to live my brand… rather, my brand live me.

I will stop comparing myself to other photographers. I don’t want to shoot what I think I have to. I want to shoot how I WANT to. I want people to want me for me…I want you to want me ( …cue Cheap Trick…) and not for something I felt like I had to do to keep up with someone else.

I will conquer SEO dagnabit. I don’t understand it at all… but gollygee I am determined to. (P.S. If anyone else wants to help with this category I’d love you forever.)

I’m going to blog more. I think I said that last year… but I am getting a little better.

Film is getting thrown into the mix. I will never downplay digital… what my camera can do blows me away all the time. What I can do with my image instantaneously is amazing… but film, my friends, has soul. Lovely, subdued, grainy soul that I will never ever tire of staring at.

A referral program is coming back… and economically attainable couples sessions for those who cannot afford the full-price, full-blown sessions.

I want to go out and shoot for fun. Don’t get me wrong… everything I shoot is fun… because I LOVE photography. I want to shoot simply for the joy of shooting again… not because I’m getting paid to do it… or because I have a deadline… I want to shoot something once a month “just because”. And I already got a start on that one…

Thank you to Kelly for traipsing around in nature with me… and letting me kick off my new years resolutions… I love being able to shoot and edit things completely for me… and not worry about if a client is going to like it, or if it makes sense, or if its technically 100% pure awful or not. Here are a few of my favorites from our session today on what was a beautiful 67 degree day.