Lifestyle

December 26, 2017

2017 in review

the blog

 

2017 has been one of the best years yet!  Jake and I had a lot of changes this year! To start out the year we got a dog! The next big change was that Jake sold his business. In July, we bought a house. The biggest change for me this year was quitting my full time job and going full time into my photography business!

The 2017 wedding season was pretty crazy. I was working full time and shooting weddings almost every weekend. I didn’t think I’d be making enough money with photography to leave my full time job until maybe the end of 2018 and I was beginning to wonder if I’d over booked myself. As I kept trying to take little steps to help my business grow, somehow I finally had enough weddings booked for 2018 to leave my full time job. I am so thankful to God for bringing me more business than I could have hoped for and helping me connect with some truly great couples for this upcoming summer! I have loved being able to work full time on my business and working from home. I finally have time to spend on marketing efforts and creating a better customer experience. Most importantly, I now have time to spend with Jake, family, friends, and serving at church.

There are so many changes that I made in my business this year. I bought a second camera body and more equipment. My favorite new additions are my macro lens so I can finally get really up close ring shots and my new iMac because of the beautiful screen! I also got my business organized with a new CRM software. That change has helped so much with staying organized with invoicing, scheduling, and contracts. I also finally got a consistent editing workflow down. This workflow has saved me so much time and helps me ensure that all my pictures are edited with the same style.

I’m looking forward to shooting 19 weddings (and hopefully more) in 2018 and I can’t wait! I’ve already met many of the couples during their engagement sessions and I can tell its going to be a great summer. My business goals for 2018 include elevating my customer experience, being more consistent with social media, and sharing more blog posts related to wedding day tips for brides and photography tips for beginning photographers.

And now for my favorite part of this post, my very favorite images from this year! If I had the chance to photograph your family, engagement, or wedding this year, just know that I am so thankful for you! Every session has been so fun and helped me grow as a photographer. It is honestly a privilege for me to be trusted to capture some of the most important moments in people’s lives.