As I sit here sipping my morning coffee after a 4:30 wakeup call by my daughter who now sits next to me singing "I'm a sunny patch" over and over again, it strikes me...my first wedding of 2013 is only three days away. Oh my, where did winter go? I had such high hopes for this blissful time of reflection and checking off to-do lists. Where did all the extra "catch up time" disappear to? When did my endearing toddlers turn into demanding children? Wasn't I supposed to have started exercising and lose a little weight? Why didn't the bathroom wall get fixed? Where is the office I was going to build myself? The list goes on and on and on and on... does yours?
Instead I did what came along, I worked countless hours at my other job, I took the kids sledding and skiing, I started re-branding JNP Images, I met with new brides and grooms, I prepped for my editing and posting process, I bought some new equipment and cleaned my old equipment, I spent time eating and talking with a great group of photographers from the Catskill Photography forum and I thought...I thought all the time...what is this year going to be like? What do I need to do differently to make my photography skills grow even more, what do I need to do more of or less of to make each client's experience an amazing one...this list of what I did definitely looks different than what I thought I should do. But hey, I roll with the punches. Shouldn't we all? I guess we all do this, set ourselves up to accomplish the things we think NEED to get done, but in the end what we actually do may look slightly different.
This is EXACTLY how it works for me when I am shooting a wedding. I prep and prep, I visualize....yup I do...just like I did when I laid on the gym floor with the lights off before really important soccer games in high school and played the entire game in my head. I picture what every single wedding is going to look like from beginning to end, I study my clients, get to know them as much as possible. I go to the wedding site or reception site beforehand (if I can) and if I can't I ask for pictures. I review past weddings I have shot and put together a list of do's and don't do's...yup the don't do's usually win out. I find by avoiding things that didn't work in the past I catapult myself forward each time. BUT...no matter how much I plan, the day always ends up being slightly different, unique and creative. My visualization of the day may not be exactly what happens but it prepares me for what could happen and that is what matters to me and the wonderful people I work with. They want to know that no matter what happens, I've got it covered. It's a tough job, it's a stressful job, but it's MY job and I love every minute of it. Here's to shooting 17 weddings this year with style, grace and a little laughter to boot. :-)
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