Ok, I almost forgot how to blog! Seriously, I have not blogged in such a while. Also, I have not been flickring much either. Actually, my flickr flame was almost snuffed out. Something happened to my photography interest lately. Within the last couple months, I have agreed to take on a few wedding assignments. These weddings were commissioned by another photographer who has a busy studio front. He told me that he liked my work and wanted to book me for wedding work as an associate photographer. I agreed and immediately he began to book a few Saturday wedding dates for me. I was thrilled about that prospect because I so enjoy photographing weddings. I will come back to the wedding stuff because I have more to say about that.
At the very same time that the wedding work opportunity came up, I had met with a couple ladies (mom and daughter) who wanted to collaborate efforts to create a new three-way business venture. Oh, boy...the tug o' war began. When I say, tug o' war, I mean in my own mind. I had to figure out what really wanted to do and what suited me best. I knew that me and the two ladies were all on the same 'page' with our ideas. It seemed that we came together so organically. We brainstormed, and had brilliant pow-wow sessions where we bounced inspiration back and forth. It was so thrilling to imagine putting feet to all of our ideas and begin marketing asap. But, the voice of realistic long term planning had to come into play. Realistically, we had to look at the actual cost of doing business vs. the profitability split three ways! ...not the optimal results we hoped for...Dang it all! One evening, for funzies, we had a mini-photo shoot in the space that we wanted to designate for studio photo shoots. Our photo shoot was a ton of fun. We laughed, giggled and did some character role modeling...Fabulosity Baby! It was indeed a blast until I got home and had to crop the ceiling out of every image. errrrrrch! that is me hitting my brakes hard! I already knew before we did the Fabulosity Photo Shoot that the low ceiling was an obstacle. We needed a good 10 feet plus of ceiling height for a proper studio space. We were wanting to use a space that was attached to their store front. But it was too low. Suffice to say, I was disheartened. It was not the optimal studio space and collectively, we weren't prepared to rent a larger space. So, I told them that I was going to back out for now. Along with my blessings, I wished them all the best success if they were to find another photographer. She said they didn't want any other photog. So, the conclusion of the story might remain, TBD. For now, our business plans are on hold....
Now, I have to talk some Turkey about the other business opportunity. I have completed my first wedding assignment and absolutely fell for the bride, groom and family. My mom came to assist me as my 2nd shooter. She did a great job. She actually captured one of my favorite pictures of the day during the wedding ceremony. I would show it off here in the blog but I don't think I should. The wedding was commissioned by another studio. I agreed to be a contract shooter therefore, those files will become the property of his studio.
This is where I think my flickr flame began to diminish. Gosh, I don't really know how to explain how I feel because I do not know how I feel. If you know me, you will know how I feel about my images. I get a personal attachment to them because they are MY BEAUTIES! In a weird way, I feel like I created them so they are mine to protect and hover over like the mother hen that I have always been to my 2 kids. Weird? Yeah! I admit the weirdness!
Keep that weirdness in mind when I say that somehow I feel like a surrogate. Do you know what I mean? I feel like a surrogate photographer. I knew, going into the wedding assignment, that my mission was to provide my time, talent, & energy toward a wedding that was not my own. I put my heart & soul into a wedding that was not going to be mine. I labored with sweat pouring down. Yes, sweat literally pouring down in the sweltering September (only in the south) outdoor wedding. After all said, and done...I can honestly say I loved it. I loved every minute of it. I fell in love with that wedding. I loved all of the images that Mom and I captured.
Alas, tomorrow, I am scheduled to turn over all of my wedding BEAUTIES! I am grateful for the opportunity to work. I will always give my all to each and every assignment My problem is letting go.
So, for me, Surrogate Photography is quite the Turkey!
*This posting was prompted by a flickr challenge today. The topic of the day was Color Clash. I saw this colorful JIVE Turkey at a flea market.
