24-May-2010

Today I uploaded 312 photos from the wedding I shot a week ago! yay. that made me happy. :)

I've been reading Dane Sanders book, Fast Track Photographer, and, wow - it's good. I took the pDNA test yesterday, and it was pretty cool to see where I was.

-Susie

18-May-2010

Today I listened to more Escalate Live. I was doing a lot more things away from my computer, so I didn't catch quite as much, unfortunately. What I heard was really good, though!

I also had my call with Christina. Other than that I was doing more research on logo styles I like. [i'm changing my logo] I sent the designer some information, so hopefully we'll get it in the works soon. yay.

Susie

17-May-2010

Today I listened to the Escalate Live conference as much as possible. I was still working, so I had to do other things some, but a lot of my work is on the computer, so I could have it playing in the background. I heard Dane Sanders, Becker, and Jasmine Star. They were all great, and I am looking forward to listening to more tomorrow. :)

I think the biggest thing I learned today is that I have to make my photography uniquely ME, and then go from there.

Susie

16-May-2010

Yesterday's wedding went well! even though the bride was an hour late due to her hairdresser, it started raining while we were taking bridal party shots [thankfully it didn't last long!], and the unity candle just would NOT light during the ceremony, I got great shots, and the bride and groom stayed calm, relaxed, and in good humor throughout the day. I posted a few shots on my blog.

I've been updating some things on my website and blog to try and get them lined up with my 5 words. I am not sure how I'm doing yet...heh. I have a feeling it will be a work in progress for quite some time.

-Susie

14-May-2010

This week has been insane. I've gotten some photography things done, but I just didn't think about blogging at the right times. :P

I had my call with Christina on Tuesday, which was quite exciting. I'm always inspired.
Since then I've been revising my blog, thinking about branding, and editing photos.

When I was ordering my moo cards for the wedding this weekend, I got them all finished, but for some crazy reason, my order would NOT go through. I have no idea why. Anyway, I ended up ordering them from another site and got them in yesterday. They're pretty cool, and I'm excited about giving them out tomorrow!

Today will include:
1) Get ready for tomorrow's wedding
2) Make sure I have my business cards packed in there. haha.
3) Place a photo order for a client
4) Finish editing a shoot from several weeks ago

-Susie

10-May-2010

today was not very profitable in terms of photography, although I did get a few things taken care of for clients. I also managed to do another blog post. I need to do them more, though. :(

I am setting a goal for myself to do at least one a week.

Goals for tomorrow:
1) Go through process and figure out which ones I need help with
2) Rate website and blog according to my 5 words
3) Talk with Christina
4) Try not to go crazy. haha.

I've been working late tonight at my job, because with training in the new office manager, I haven't been able to get much done the last three days. I decided it was high time to attack my very messy desk. I accomplished a lot, so now when I take my lunch break tomorrow to work on photos I'll be able to stay sane.

-Susie

6-May-2010

Today I feel like I've done so many things it would take more time than I have to write them all down. I had my call with Christina, and wish I had about 5 more hours I could dedicate right now to working on photography!

A few things I've done:
1) researched a bit on what it will take to start a business in Maryland
2) Ordered moo cards for a wedding I'm shooting in a few weeks
3) Worked on updating my website

Now it's time for bed, so I can be sane for another day of training the new office manager tomorrow. i have a feeling I'll be drinking lots of coffee. haha.

Susie

4-May-2010

Yesterday wasn't too bad. I had a few goals, and I was at least able to make some headway on them.

1) Email invoice to Bride - done
2) Meet with another Bride to chose photos for album - done
3) Getting high Res CD ready for another bride - about 1/2 done

Today's goals
1) Do more research/thinking about my image branding
2) Find some logos I like - analyze why I like them
3) Work on/Finalize portrait reprint prices & Portrait shoots


-Susie

3-May-2010

Today was pretty much horrible. I had a nasty migraine all day that painkillers didn't touch. It finally subsided this evening, and I was able to get something accomplished. This list also includes what I got done over the weekend...

1) Emailed someone about possibly designing a logo
2) Started working on getting the High Res CD ready for the bride
3) Did more research on print prices in DC. FAIL. I can't find stuff online. No one has prices up.
4) Did research on Portrait Sessions...basically they range from 125 to 450. [some charge more for weekend shoots. maybe I will, too.]
5) tried to remember what my assignments were, but I don't think I did a very good job at remembering. heh.
6) Worked on my story some more
7) Tried to figure out Zenfolio. Does anyone else use Zenfolio? Do you have any amazing tips on getting it set up?

-Susie

30-April-2010

Today was another day I didn't get much done. Pretty much all I did was edit my sister's engagement photos. I guess when you consider an evening of editing, it really is getting something done, but it seems like if I can't do any of my assignments I don't feel like I've accomplished much. :(

Susie

29-April-2010

Today, the only thing I got done was meeting with a client. We met at 7pm and I didn't leave until 9. We chose all her photos for her Blurb Album, and she bought High Res CD of her photos, which means more money in my pocket. :) yay.

Now I have to get all the photos found and burned, and the album designed. I may just give them to my sister to design. She likes it, I pay her, and then I don't have to worry about it. It's a win-win situation. :)

-Susie

28-April-2010

Today was busy - but not with photography, unfortunately. :(

I did go through and delete some of my photos off my website. I decided that I really need to go through and get some more of my more recent work on there. [something else to add to my to-do list].

I also signed up for a free trial Zenfolio account to see how I like it. They only charge 12% to process the order, and, honestly, I hate when people order photos and I have to deal with it. haha. It's just so stressful to me. I have to go through and try to find the photos in Lightroom, match them up with the photos they want, make sure everything is the same...then upload them to mpix, and order. [and a lot of times, they wait too long and I've had to remove them from my computer....so then I have to go hunt them down on an external drive, yet, too.] So, yeah, Zenfolio is looking really good to me about now. :)

That's pretty much it....oh, I did arrange for two meetings with previous brides to get their photo orders. [haha. it would be so much easier if I would be going through Zenfolio now...;)] One of the brides bought the CD with the copyright release, but her Mom thinks it's too much trouble to order it herself, so she pays me regular prices for all the photos. I guess I can't complain about that. :)

Anyway, that's pretty much all that I got done today.

Tomorrow:
-Meet with one bride [from June 2009!...which means, I have to hunt down her photos]
-Find some more magazines to look through for inspiration


-Susie

27-April-2010

ok...having my call with Christina over lunch break is not a good plan. I didn't want to go back to work! i was so inspired I wanted to start working on my assignments right away.

I did manage to get a few things done this evening - mostly research and working on my package pricing again. I'm trying to come up with better names than "digital album" when I'm talking about a Blurb album. But, of course, I can't let my customers know I'm designing a Blurb album for them, so...any suggestions?

I tried to find out what reprint prices were in the DC area, but I wasn't that successful. Most of the photographers didn't have their print prices on the sites. annoying. Anyway, what I did find was one photographer charges $20.00 for a 5x7, and the prices go up from there. Another starts their reprint prices at 45.00. ouch. Around here you can't charge more than $10 [if that much] for a 5x7. I have some serious restructuring to do.

Goals for tomorrow:
- go delete all photos I don't like from website
- think about pricing, do more research
- research Zenfolio and see about signing up


-Susie

26-April-2010

Okay...so, I don't know about the rest of y'all, but I'm kind of enjoying this whole being a bit more interactive on our blogs. :) Feedback is nice...and I feel a bit more motivated when I actually comment on blogs rather than just read them. [maybe because I have to think of nice things to say. haha!]

Anyway, today was stressful. I didn't think I was going to be able to get any photography done, but this evening I managed to tear myself away from work at 8 [oh, don't worry, I still have lots left for tomorrow. :P] and come home. So, I've managed to get about 1.5 hours of photography stuff done. I revised some of my wedding packages I put together, trying to build value into them. I also was doing a bit more research on what I like about other photographers in the DC area. Unfortunately, there were a lot of websites I went on that I thought were cheesy. [I guess that's actually not so unfortunate, because now maybe if I get my website all nice and cool than it'll make more of an impression. ooooh, yeah...] I also looked through a magazine for inspiration. I tried an Outdoor photographer magazine instead of a Home and Gardens or Bridal Magazine. It was definitely not as inspiring. :P

Besides all of that, I started writing my "engagement shoot" part of my client story. I didn't get very far, though...but, hey, at least I started it. I also mailed a bride her photographs [exactly 4 weeks and 2 days after her wedding...yay!]

Tomorrow I have my call with Christina from 12-1. Besides that, I don't really have any other things that are pressing, so I am going to try and be working on assignments later on tomorrow evening.

I hope everyone had a great Monday. :)
Susie

25-April-2010

This afternoon I had a relaxing time at a coffee shop working on my assignments. After that I had a photo shoot. It went well! I was happy. :)

My goals for tomorrow:
-Post on business blog
-Work on more assignments
-Work on inspirations box


Happy Sunday!
Susie

24-April-2010

This week has been a busy, busy week. This was the first week that I am working full time with only the new girl in the office, so besides training her, I'm having to do pretty much everything the other girl did until the new girl gets trained. My desk at work is so full of papers right now I don't even want to think about it. :/

Besides working I managed to get the photos sent to one bride, and finished editing another wedding [yay!] and I'm currently exporting the photos so I can mail them on Monday. Wow, how exciting.

I have a shoot scheduled for this Sunday - a dating couple who sings. They want photos for their singing, so they want pictures that are more of a look like good friends than a couple. It will be interesting, but fun. :)

Lately I've been having a hard time trying to fit everything into my life, and as a result I've had to put a few things on the back burner to make sure my relationship with God stays as a priority. It's so easy for me to skip time with God because I'm so busy, but I always suffer for doing that in the long run.

-Susie

21-Apr-2010

Yesterday I was able to get quite a bit done in the evening. I worked on research for my client, wrote most of my back-story on how my client found me, and looked through magazines for things for inspirations box.

I need to write a longer post soon, and it's coming, but I've been so busy it's hard to do. Someday I'll sit down and do it.

Susie

17-Apr-2010

Yesterday and today were very productive for me, photography-wise. I finished sorting the wedding from March 20th, and got 400 photos edited and up online as a preview for the bride. :) yay!

I was happy to get that done.

-Susie

15-April-2010

I'm finally starting to feel better. yay.

This evening I worked on doing pricing breakouts for my Collections. Then I was researching more photographers in the DC area. There are so many it's overwhelming, honestly. I was trying to figure out what attracted customers to these photographers, and what I found was these tended to appear more than others: friendly, calm, flexible, professional, courteous, & prompt.

Then I edited photos until my computer battery died. I forgot to bring it with me this morning. This weekend I'm going to hit editing hard...

-Susie

14-Apr-2010

routine. I am always reminded how much I love routine when I get back from a trip and my life is anything but routine. It's even worse when you have a nasty sore throat/head cold. :(

This past Friday I flew to DC and spent the weekend with my fiancé. We had a wonderful time, and even got our engagement photos taken by the fabulous Abigail Vander Hamm while we were there. Now I just have to be patient until I see them. haha. It was great being on the other side of the camera and being able to relax and let a professional do her job.

As far as photography, on my trip up I did some wedding photo editing, but that was about all I managed. Yesterday I did place a photo order, and follow up with a few brides. This evening I have my call with Christina, and I've been working on Photo stuff since 5:30, and I'll be working on it all evening.

I will be getting back to regular posting now and more photography work. yay.

-Susie

7-Apr-10

Today I had a client meeting. It went really well! I have really been struggling lately with my client meetings, and wanted them to become more personable rather than just me talking about what I do and my prices. This one was about 80% talking about her and 20% talking about my prices/photos. yay! She love my work and thinks my photography is cool, and is pretty much already booked. She had on her facebook status this morning that she was "meeting with my photographer", which I thought was great--the fact that she was already considering me hers before she met me.

anyway, that's all I did. it was good though. well, I also did revise my collections for the millionth time. haha. i'm never satisfied with them. :P

Susie

6-Apr-2010

Accomplished:
1) Wrote the "Client Meeting" in the chapter of my story
2) Worked on converting 5 phrases into words
3) Talked with Christina
4) Scheduled bridal consultation for tomorrow evening [yay!]
5) Uploaded a "guest gallery" for a wedding I shot for weeks ago and contacted Bride to let her know about it. Hmm...now my website is extremely s-l-o-w, and my email doesn't want to send. You think there's a connection?
6) Posted photos on FB group

Tomorrow:
1) Meet with bride - get pricing together for her, and client presentation packet together
2) Think. about. stuff. [wow, I'm so specific, eh? haha]

Susie

5-April-2010

Today was insane. It was one of the first hot days here where people turned on their air conditioning units, and the phone was ringing off the hook. Of course, this was also the day that the other girl who works with me was sick, and I was training in a new girl this afternoon. By 5pm my brain was jello.

But, here's what I managed to accomplish with photography [even with jello for a brain]
1. I almost finished editing the wedding I shot on March 6. [yayayayayayayay!]
2. I'm exporting a 'guests' gallery of about 200 images for the bride to show guests.
3. I had taken a few snapshots of families around the wedding time and I got them uploaded on a site so they can download their photos. [i get myself into weird situations. heh.]
4. I posted on my blog!
5. I thought about how great the engagement shoot went on Saturday, and it made me all happy inside. :)
6. I looked forward to being the client this weekend, when I get MY engagement photos taken. :D
7. I thought about all the stuff on my list that I'm supposed to have accomplished by tomorrow will still be waiting for me tomorrow. :P

-Susie

2-April-2010

Today was a whirlwind of pretty much nothing I planned...which, I'm okay with, it just means I don't get any photography stuff done. I did spend quite a bit of time, though, trying to do some research for my client profile. I am a bit of a loss on how to do research, but so far what I've done is read the blogs of lots of other photographers who are shooting weddings that I want to shoot someday. It's been pretty helpful. I am also discovering there is SO much available out there with photographers, and branding, and editing...and just, everything you could possibly imagine with photography. It really is inspiring to see photographers who are so different in their approaches having great success. It means there isn't just one 'box' that photographers have to mold to, which means I might have a chance. :)

Anyway, that's my rambles for the night.

tomorrow: engagement shoot! yay. :)

-Susie

1-Apr-2010

I guess my goals for yesterday were an April Fool's joke. haha.

I came home from work and was in a meeting all evening with extended family members. My Grandma had a stroke on Sunday, and when she comes home from the hospital in a few weeks, it definitely looks like she'll need 24/7 care.

The only think I did with photography is look at lots of engagement photos. I'm going to do my sister's engagement photos this weekend and I'm getting inspired. The thing I really need to work on is to bring lots of variety into my shoots. I tend to get stuck on a few different poses, and then I leave the shoot thinking of all the other poses I should have done. :P But this weekend I'm going to torture my future brother in law and take photos of him all afternoon, and force myself to be creative.

Susie

31-Mar-2010

Wow, April 1st is almost here. I'm very much looking forward to this April, because in 8 days I'll be flying to DC to see my fiancé - and we're getting our engagement photos taken while i'm there, which makes it even better. :)

I've been trying to think, but the last two afternoons I've been training a new girl in the office, and I am just so ready to s.t.o.p thinking by the time the day is over, it's pretty sad.

Today I did research on DC photographers, and tried to find several low, medium, and high range photographers. It was interesting for me, because it seemed the lower the photographers were, the more they tried to almost justify charging as much as they do, instead of them feeling good about their creativity and charging for it. i did find one guy who charges 8000 to shoot a wedding. It would be nice to be able to do that. haha.

Here are my goals for tomorrow:
1) Edit more photos
2) Write down processes
3) Follow up with several potential brides
4) THINK.

-Susie

30-Mar-2010

Wow, I have done such a horrible job at posting! Ack! Last night I do have an excuse, because I basically had to leave right after work to stay with my Grandma in the hospital, but other than that I pretty much have just forgotten about it. :( So, I've been proactive, now, and I just finished putting a reminder in my phone for every weekday evening to post on my blog.

This past week I've been editing a lot. My process is slowed down because my silly computer is so full it's so slow. [i really need to just move everything to an external hard drive.]

Other than that, I've been working on my client profile. I've been struggling with it, because it's been tempting to make my client into a girl I've always dreamed of being, rather than making her a girl I want to be one of my clients. BUT, after talking to Christina this evening, I think I have a clearer picture of how to do that. [can anyone say Google? ;)]

I'm working on my procedures and processes, too, and trying to figure out how I do things. I think I'm discovering I really have more illusions of what I want to do than realities of what I actually do. ha. I guess i really do have a 'dream' business. :P

Tonight I had my call with Christina. It really went well, and I felt like I was clarifying some things I needed to get done. Of course, I was also off the hook about completing my assignments because I forgot to write them down last time and she forgot to send them to me. [hehe]. I had actually done quite a few of them, though.

Well, I'm off to research photographers in the DC area.

-Susie

27-Mar-2010

Ack! this week has gone by waaaay to fast.

Yesterday I was editing yet again. And that's about all I did with photography. Editing just takes up a lot of time!

I'm currently working on my Client profile, Business Values, and converting phrases into words.

This afternoon's goal: think.

-Susie

25-Mar-2010

Wow, this week has gone by so quickly! Basically this is what my photography week has looked like:
Tuesday: phone call with Christina
Any other spare moment: edit photos. yup. with 2 weddings to get done, an engagement shoot next weekend, and several other shoots to line up, I'm looking at a busy spring.

-Susie

22-Mar-2010

Monday. almost bedtime. this is good.

My weekend consisted of LOTS of photography. The outdoor wedding I shot on Saturday [10 hours of shooting] was great...and it only rained for about an hour. thankfully! It was gorgeous, and I have a few photos up on my blog.

I wasn't feeling the greatest Friday night, and was really worried I was getting sick. Thankfully, Pepto-Bismol and tums helped me get through Saturday without any glitches.

Besides shooting the wedding on Saturday, this weekend [including today] I've managed to:
1) Revise the 5 phrases about myself
2) work on revising my values
3) Finished sorting the wedding from two weeks ago
4) Started editing the wedding from two weeks ago
5) Posted on my blog
6) Scheduled a meeting with a bride to collect payment for a wedding in May [yay!]
7) Worked on my story
8) Slept. [this was especially helpful for all of the above. haha]

I've definitely had a busy weekend, and can feel it in my legs. I still get sore every time from shooting a wedding. :P I guess I just do weird things when I shoot a wedding. I'm just glad I don't have to watch myself. haha.

Well, I'm still not feeling the greatest, and I think I need more sleep....so, I'm off.
-Susie

17-Mar-2010

another busy day.

1) Sorted through the wedding I shot two weeks ago. I am almost finished sorting! yay.
2) Worked on procedures and processes...
3) Worked on writing my story. [this time i got more than one sentence written. haha.]
4) Met with the bride who's wedding on Saturday, and collected the rest of the payment, and finalized photography details. yay!
5) Posted on my blog.

I can't seem to start working on photography stuff until 7 or 8 in the evening, and then I don't get to bed until late. I think I'm going to have to start working faster, or I'll die from getting to bed late. :P

Susie

17-Mar-2010

My sister was freaking out today at the amount of lists I write. haha. I think I'm a list-a-holic. :P

My accomplishments today:
1) Did some pricing research on albums
2) Started writing my Procedures and Processes [can I just mention I love doing this? haha. I've actually been doing this a LOT in my other job in the past two years...and have gotten to where it has really changed a lot in our company, and I can see so much benefit in doing this...so, yeah, it's exciting to do that for my photography, too. :)]
3) Started my story. got one whole like written. haha.
4) Confirmed time I'll be meeting the bride on Saturday to shoot her wedding! yay. :)
5) Ensured my cool new lighting setup works. I got some remote flash triggers for my flashes - now I don't have to rely on the sensors on the flashes [yay], and I have a lot more flexibility. I'm very excited about using it for the wedding Saturday.

signing out,
Susie

16-Mar-2010

Today was a good day. I bought my ticket to go see my fiance in a few weeks, and get my engagement photos taken! Long distance relationships stink, let me just say that. It's been 8 weeks since we've seen each other, and it's going to be another 3 1/2 weeks until I see him. :P

On a photography note, however, I did manage to get a few things accomplished:
1) I had my call with Christina. We sent out a nice to-do list for next week. yay!
2) I talked with several people about photo sessions, and am scheduling a consultation with a bride for two weeks from now.
3) I spent about 20 minutes sorting wedding photos from the wedding last weekend. I always have to get motivated to sort wedding photos. haha. Thank goodness for Lightroom!

-Susie

15-Mar-2010

Monday. Wait, is today Monday or Tuesday? I have been so confused about days of the week lately I keep second guessing myself.

Today was a profitable day for me, in several ways:
1) I wrote more of my dream business. It's getting to be a pretty cool business, if I do say so myself. ;)
2) I wrote down more phrases that are unique to me.
3) I contacted a client about a possible photo session.
4) I also spoke with another client about a photo session they want to schedule within the next 3 weeks. yay. :)
5) Wrote a to-do list for tomorrow. ha.

In other news, I took a personality test with the Meyer's Briggs personality profile, and discovered I am an ISTJ....and then, to make things better, I realized I'm also in "Catastrophe Mode" right now. haha.
["Under stress, ISTJs may fall into "catastrophe mode", where they see nothing but all of the possibilities of what could go wrong. They will berate themselves for things which they should have done differently, or duties which they failed to perform. They will lose their ability to see things calmly and reasonably, and will depress themselves with their visions of doom."]
There have been some things that have happened at my job that are stressing me out...mainly the fact that I need to find two people to hire and train in the next six months to completely run the office. yeah. a bit stressful.

Anyway, it's off to bed for me.

-Susie

[this is for Friday]

I did nothing with photography today. After a busy, stressful week, Friday afternoon I took off work and did wedding planning with my wedding coordinator, mom, sisters, and my sister's fiance. It really is amazing how after an afternoon of wedding planning my brain turns to mush, but it does. I sat down on the computer Friday evening to type up more about my dream business and write down values, but somehow nothing at all came to mind. not one thing. :P Very sad, if I do say so myself.

-Susie

11-Mar-2010

Today I was writing 10-Mar-10 all day...it was that bad. I was the only one in the office today, since the girl I work with took the entire day off. Of course, that's when everything happens, plus I have my family needing more things from me today than usual...nice. [For those of you who don't know...I am the Office & Service Manager in an Air Conditioning and Heating company, owned by my Father. This can be a blessing [most of the time] or a curse [when it gets difficult to separate work and family].

Then, tonight after work, I came home and we had family over because my Aunt is visiting from Honduras [she's a missionary down there], and, of course, since I get to see her about once every two years, I didn't do much photography this evening. heh.

I did manage to do a few things today:
1) Download Tweetdeck. ha. marketing...marketing....
2) Got my Graphistudio album ready to order! yay. :) [AND, I just got notice that Graphistudio shipped my sample pack, so I'll be ordering as soon as I get that in and can decide on what I like best. I'm quite excited.]
3) I also began researching design/colors/web layouts in order to better refine my blog and website.
4) Updated a few things on my website.

10-Mar-2010

Wait, it's Wednesday already? Where has my week gone?

So, yesterday evening, I did another blog post, and posted a link to it on my facebook and Photography facebook pages. It's amazing how many more hits I got than when I don't link it...heh. Yesterday I had 39 hits, and today I had 55. Much better than 2. ;)

Here's what I've accomplished today....
1)I thought a lot about my dream business....what fun! I also started writing my story of my dream business, and got quite a bit accomplished. I like dreaming big. and I especially like dreaming big about photography.

2) I started writing more specific values of my business. I like digging deeper into things...and I really do enjoy putting practical applications to my thoughts, so it works out quite perfectly to be doing all this. yay.

3) I also started an Excel spreadsheet with my goals for each day and week that I'm doing. I'm a Spreadsheet junkie, and anything that can be spreedsheeted [wait, is that a word? haha] I will put on one. So, yup. that made me happy.

4) I also uploaded some photos to the FB page. I had totally forgotten about it until Christina sent out the reminder email today. bad me.

5) I worked on getting my sample GraphiStudio album designed. I'm almost finished and pretty happy with it! I can't wait to actually hold one in my hands...that will be quite amazing.

6) I also learned [late last night...]how to compress a link so I can post it on Twitter. I am determined to have more internet networking in my business, so one of my steps is to learn how to twitter...

7) I also began writing down five statements about myself that are uniquely me. I have two done so far.

I like this keeping track of what I do. It makes me feel quite accomplished, and I can go to bed knowing today was profitable.

Susie

9-Mar-2010

Wow...this weekend went fast, and yesterday, I totally forgot to post. in fact, I think I forgot most things. haha.

Saturday I shot a wedding from 9:30 to 7, and it went well! I'll be posting a few photos, hopefully, in the next few days. The bride wanted a LOT of the photos on the stage of the church, so I set up my flashes and went for it. I didn't officially have an assistant, so I grabbed whoever was nearby to help hold a flash. It worked pretty well, but since I prefer shooting outdoors, or in places other than a stage of a church, I definitely felt a bit restricted. heh.

Last week I also took the strengthsfinders test, and came up with my 5 top strengths:
Achiever
Learner
Input
Relator
Focus

They were pretty much all dead right. yup.

Yesterday I totally forgot about posting. I worked all day, had to drive an hour for some appointments in the afternoon, and got home after company arrived at my home. I did manage to:
1) downloaded the photos from the wedding and back them up.
2) Edit a few photos I took of one of my cousin's little girl and send them to her.




Today I managed to do the following:
1) Had my call with Christina - I like these... :)
2) Set goals for next week - in my strengthsfinders test, I learned that I'm a goal-a-holic...pretty much. :P I love setting goals. and achieving them.
3) Emailed several brides and asked for them to write something about their wedding photography experiences that I could put on my "Raves" section of my website that is currently non-existent, but I want to develop.


-Susie

5-Mar-2010

Well, I managed to make it here in time to go to a coffee shop with free wifi before I have to be at the rehearsal, which means I get to update after all. yay.

Today consisted of driving, driving, and more driving.

Brainstorming was definitely my photography accomplishment today, and I was thinking of everything from processes to inspiration to values to marketing. A very wide range, but I really do love planning out practical ways to grow and improve my business.

Once I made it to the coffee shop I refined a few of my pages in my album. I feel like I'm always almost there with designs, but like I still haven't quite gotten it. :P

-Susie

4-Mar-2010

Everytime before I leave for a trip, it seems like there are a million things that pile on me. I managed to get most of them knocked out by 7, so I could then began working on photography. My evenings are definitely spent on my computer.

Since I have now been told I love lists [yes, it was in my Strengthsfinders results] I'm sure you'll see lots of them here. haha.

Here's my accomplishments today:
1) Finished packing and getting all gear cleaned and ready to use on Saturday
2) Finalized Photography Schedule for wedding
3) Spent 2 hours alternating between updating my website and designing my album [i'm actually getting a few pages to where I finally like them. heh.]
4) Tried to think, but I was so busy doing that I rescheduled it for tomorrow while I'm driving 10 hours to Missouri.
5) I also put a few things in my "Inspirations" box.

I don't think I'll be able to post this weekend because of my travels, but I'll be back with normal posting on Monday.


Signing off,
Susie

3-Mar-2010

Today was a busy day, and I'm going to be glad to hit my bed in a few minutes!

If you want a little glimpse of what's going on in my life check out my other blog.

As far as photography goes, here's what I've finished today:

1) Got Camera Equipment together for wedding this weekend - which is quite a task since some of my equipment is at my house and some at the shop where I work. Of course, I'm still missing a few memory cards which always seems to happen. I'll have to hunt them down tomorrow...

2) Updated blog

3) Refined a few pages in an album I'm designing

-Susie

2-March-2010

Today I managed to accomplish the following with photography:

1) Upload engagement gallery

2) Find and export a senior session, got it ready to burn on CD & send to client

3) Take Strengthsfinder's Test

4) Work with off camera flash and the setup I just got - and discovered I need more work. haha

5) Researched off camera flash

6) made a list of everything I'll need to take with me for the wedding I'm shooting in MO this weekend

-Susie

1-March-2010

My first day of photography mentorship began with me wanting to turn my alarm off and go back to sleep. I think this was because last night, after my first call with Christina, my mind couldn't stop turning as I thought of all the new ways I want to invest in my business. I don't think late night calls are good for me....

Nevertheless, I did manage to get up, and go to my "real job" [an Office Manager in my Father's Heating and Air Conditioning Company].

As far as photography goes....here's what I've accomplished today:

1) thought about how I want to work my new Photography blog for my business [ok...so I didn't get actually think of anything I liked, but don't tell anyone].

2) Wrote down a list of values that my business has to offer. [now I can feel good about charging people lots of money to take their pictures. yay!]

3) designed another two page in my amazing, cool Graphistudio Sample album that I'm about to order. [I only had on my list to design one...so I was happy to do two.]

4) Thought about how amazingly cool my wedding is going to look at this place: [oh, woops! that wasn't part of my photography building....]

5) I now have a place to store all of the things I find that inspire me.

6) I also have uploaded a few preview photos of a bridal shower I shot for a Bride who's getting married in a few weeks.

7) And, besides all that, I'm also currently in the process of exporting an engagement gallery to upload for my clients - which I'll be uploading to the internet as I sleep. Ah...it's wonderful to be able to work and sleep at the same time.

All in all, I had a wonderful day, and can only hope that tomorrow will be even better. [if it will just stop raining.....]

-Susie

Mentorship Program

This is my first post. yay!

;)