Honesty from a business woman

January is my month off. After a fall full of weddings, travel and family photos, I take January as a chance to catch my breath and rest. Sure, I answer e-mails at a leisurely pace and do a couple of shoots here or there, but it is a time to reflect and collect myself for the year ahead.

All the Arnold cousins together

This past month, I started to think that I really didn't want to be a photographer anymore. Of course, I love taking photographs, meeting new people and capturing timeless images, but the business of photography was taking it's toll on my enthusiasm. I kept telling myself to buck up and find the initiative to pull myself up by my boot straps and get back to work. Where else could I find a job where I decided my own hours/pay/vacation time? The month is coming to a close and I am getting excited about starting back and stepping behind the lens again, but before I do, I would like to share some honest thoughts from where I sit.

K. Barber Photography is a business, not simply an artistic venture. It would be a whole heck of a lot easier if I simply did what I do for the love of art and earned a little extra pocket change on the side. But I have bills to pay, taxes to report and expenses to keep my business functioning. Sometimes the business side of things does suck out some of the artistic fun, but it is a necessary part of the gig. Most of my time is not spent behind the lens enjoying the great outdoors and a beautiful family. The majority of my time is spent sitting at the computer writing e-mails, editing images, ordering prints, blogging, promoting my business and the list goes on and on.

A shot from my brother and sister-in-law's maternity shoot.

My first year in business felt like a clawing match to keep myself in the public eye for natural light portraiture. There are many talented people in this area who do what I do. Many, many, MANY people in central Florida. As a newbie photog, it was intimidating to establish my prices, what that includes, if I would offer prints or simply include a CD of images. Do I have my clients sign model releases? How do I advertise without loosing all of my profits? There were many questions and hardly any answers. In this business, people are reluctant to share their tips of the trade. Along the way, I stopped looking at what everyone else was doing and began thinking about what I wanted to do. What shape should by business take? What branding would be effective? If I was my client, what services would I want to receive and what would be fair to charge for them? It has been a great time of discovery and I am sure as I continue on this business venture I will learn a lot more.

This new year, my goal is to treat my business like a job and not an all consuming force that eats every moment of my spare time. As a new business owner, there are a LOT of things to learn and do to be competitive and profitable. Because of this, most of my first year in business was spent thinking, planning and doing things for my business. Now that we are further along on that process, I can put some boundaries on this thing (Example: business hours, work hours, vacation time).

And with addition of 2 extra people in the house, I have to put some boundaries on this sucker or else everything will fall apart!