Changes

About a year and a half ago I started out on this photography venture.  God has blessed me so much along the way.  I'm so happy with where my business is at right now, and can only pray that it continues to grow.  I have learned so much and met so many wonderful people.  As most of you also know, I work a full time job during the week. I am an ultrasound tech for a very busy OB/GYN group in Birmingham. I love my job so much, and don't plan on leaving anytime soon...in fact, this office is how I meet so many of my clients! So you can only imagine that between working 35-40 hours at my regular job, and taking on photography sessions on the weekends, I am stretched thin. My husband & I already have a "long-distance" marriage, since I work in Birmingham and live 1.5 hrs away in Crossville...long story but hopefully we will be in the Birmingham area soon...and when we do get to Birmingham there should be a home studio in the works! Who knows how long that will be though...so that will be announced when it becomes a reality!


So here's the part where the changes are announced...as time has passed, I have learned that newborns and children are really where my heart is at.  I knew when I started that this is probably where I would end up, but the last year has just reaffirmed that for me.  So from here on out, I will only be taking on maternity, newborn, children, and families.  I feel like this is where my photography skills shine, and where I want to focus all of my time on, so I can continue to grow into my full potential in these areas.  I am also not working Fridays at the office anymore starting in May.  This will leave Fridays wide open, and I encourage everyone to please book sessions on Fridays if that works with your schedules.  I'm going to be limiting the amount of sessions I take on each month to ensure that I'm leaving enough time for my personal life.  Which means please book at least 1-2 months in advance!  My schedule is already booked through mid May right now, and I'm sure will only continue to get busier throughout these coming spring & summer months.  There will also be some pricing changes...any of my clients that are on the books (and that includes if you've already contacted me about a newborn session & we're working around baby's arrival) will be on the old pricing schedule...all other bookings from here on out will be on the new prices.  Don't worry, it's not any big changes but as my costs increase, my prices must also reflect that. Session fees will stay the same, it's just prints & products that will be adjusted.  Also, most everyone that contacts me asks if I sell digital files.  And the answer was no.  I still have mixed emotions about giving people discs with their images...we live in a day where everyone wants those images for their computers & to print freely whenever they want, but when starting my business I didn't feel like that was the right move for me...I wanted all of my clients to have the highest quality images and products possible...and taking a disc of my images that I worked very hard on to CVS for prints was not the way I wanted to go.  Those images are basically also my advertising...if a friend or family member sees a beautiful image they will be interested...if they see a poor quality image they will not be so interested in booking me...see where I'm coming from?  But I want my customers to be happy, so I've come up with a compromise!  I will be offering discs with your images now, but only with a minimum print order.  This will ensure that you still have beautiful, high-quality prints and products from a reputable printer, and also can have your digital images to have on your computer and to be able to print gift size prints from at a later date if you wish.  Also, in the coming months I will be doing away with the online ordering gallery.  I will be changing over to in-person ordering consultations, which means we will schedule an appointment to meet and look at your images together...a lot of people are overwhelmed with the ordering process, so it will help to have me there to guide you through...and you will be able to actually see examples of products and prints to know more about what you want.  However, this will probably not take effect until we are moved in the Birmingham area, so more updates on that as it happens. 
Thank you to all of my clients over the past year, and I hope to continue to see you along the way!