Pinch me

I'm starting to feel like maybe I really am doing this, I really am making this work, I really am a professional photographer! Not that I'm there yet! But I at least once a week get messages from people asking for meetings, interviews, and can I help them be successful, help them with social media, how have I done it? I suddenly get people asking me to use their props in my shoots? To give gifts to charities. I have people I have never met saying "Hi Tracey" and they know me from social media.I still find it hard to believe. I'm doing classes, teaching people how to do what I do, mentoring people, and people are asking me how to do things, Me, really?
All I can answer, when people as me how I have done it, is say, "I really don't know!" I work hard, that I do know, even when I seem to be not working, I am, I'm planning, thinking, working things out.
I wish I had done this years ago. I wish I had had the freedom to try find out what I loved, what I really wanted to do.
I'm going to tell you a little bit about myself. I kind of always hated myself, had low self esteem, I was the kid at school with the glasses, braces, flat feet and fat. I adored my late Mom, but she had here own issues, and let me get away with often missing school, never doing homework. Oh I was told often that I was bright, that I could do better, that I should do better.

I was brought up to believe marriage was a necessity and dutifully married my first husband at 27. I think we both knew we were wrong for each other but love would solve everything, right? I believe the patterns we learn in childhood are what we often repeat as adults and my marriage was a unhappy one, don't get me wrong I have 3 amazing kids from it, and this is my story so I will not bring up what others did wrong.
I think I spent most of my life running, trying different things, having kids, moving countries, changing jobs, keep moving and you don't ever stop to think. I got married at 27, had my first son at 28, lost my mother to cancer 2 month later, moved to England 6 month later, another son within a year, who was born ill, my daughter arrived 2 years after that, I almost lost her to bacterial meningitis when she was 4 days old, but I just kept moving forward. Like one a road where you can't look back, can't stop for too long.
By the age of 40 I was remarried and my husband, Ken, gave me the best gift anyone has ever given me.

He said "I want you to take at least a year and find out what you want to do work wise, no pressure no worrying." He also had brought me my first dslr a year or so before. Within a few months I was taking photos for people and charging for what I did. I felt like a fraud, I wasn't a "real" photographer!

And then the real work started and is still going on, I love what I do, but want to be better, want to give people the best I can, I am my harshest critic. I read all I can about things I want to do better, go to college then I can, workshop, network, read, watch videos, ask, and ask again.
I love what I do, really love it, love my clients, most feel more like friends, and yes sometimes I get fed up, but then I think of the lady who cried when she saw how pretty she really is in one of my photos, the Husband who called to thank me for taking photos of his wife and showing her what he sees when he looks at her, and the gorgeous babies my client give me to hold when they are just days old.
All I can say is just keep going, put one foot in front of the other and keep going, try learn something new everyday, no matter how small. Move on from mistakes, try repair the faults you make and keep looking forward.
And always make your family come first!

I need a office

I love my studio but every time I try to do a bit of editing between clients or and paperwork I end up having to do it on my lap, so a office was needed! My friend Rose also has been nudging me about it too. :-)  I really got inspired when I decided to make a old window I had picked up at a reuse center into a bit of functional wall art. I roped my son in to help me with that. :-) Once I had finished that and Rose offered me a old desk she had in her garage I was in the office making mood.

This is the Desk Rose gave me (she wants it back eventually now that she has seen how cool it looks)

 

I taper off the front of the drawers and sprayed them with chalkboard paint

The finished Desk

My Studio

I need to pay WHAT for a photographer?

I've given this post a lot of thought, us "photographers" have all thought about this a LOT! It's the question of money. And what we charge. In this world we live in of everyone having a "decent" digital camera, anyone and everyone can be a photographer. But once you start doing photography as a business you have to start charging and what is a "correct" fee? Surely charging for the amount of work you do, your training, equipment, leased building, utility bills, insurance, transport, not to mention props (OH Esty I love you but hate you so much too). The majority of clients don't realize the real price of being a photographer, yes we stand there making your kids laugh and playing silly games, laugh and look like we are having a great time (and for the most part we are) but lots of work goes into that before your shoot.

I personally spend a good few hours planning your shoot, making props, choosing the location, choosing backdrops, working out poses. And just thinking about your shoot, what you want, and how I can give you the best images possible.

 I think  because of places like walmart, portrait innovations, sears etc, who bombard people with flyers offering next to nothing shoots,that people don't really realize the true cost of GOOD photography, but if the truth be told it is very seldom that anyone walks away just paying that base cost. And then there is social media, every second mom who has a camera thinks she is a photographer. she does it "on the side" snaps a few shots on the camera her hubby brought her for Christmas, puts them on a disk and charges you $100. win/win right? Is it? Have you asked if the person wrapping your baby in fairy lights has any training, yes she saw this cute idea on pinterest, but are those lights safe if "little Billy" bites into them with his shinny new chompers? Or if she drops her big heavy camera on the floor is she insured?Ore better yet drops it on you or your baby. Or if your newborn, wedding, cake smash photos just "don't come out", what will be the result? Oh and what about paying taxes, is she declaring that "extra" money she makes, yes it doesn't sound like a lot a few hundreds dollars here and there, but if everyone does that???
And now HERE is THE REAL reason why we charge more...... editing! if you are a photographer or follow one you will know that most of us spend hours and hours usually in the late hours of the night editing. We often network with each other and often our posts say, " Who's still up editing with me?" We remove your spots, make all of you look like you have the best skin, white, perfect teeth, a sparkle in your eyes,that the world you are in is a perfect fantasy land. THAT is why you pay us, because we can make you look the best you ever have. We buy actions and soft wear, and special brushes, watch tutorial after tutorial, on how to do the latest looks, and then we get someone who says, "Can you remove the haze?", The very haze that cost $100 in soft wear, hours in training and lots of practice to get "just right".

Don't get me wrong, I'm a mom with camera too! I also started with my husband buying me a nice dslr. But I have art training, and I have worked HARD to learn all I can, I have been back to college, I do online courses, I read, and read, and practice and make sure I know all I can, both for my art and legally. I network constantly and ask advice. Basically I live, eat and sleep photography.

Then printing. OK cvs/costco/target have great prices on prints, but have you ever printed a photo at a professional printer and one at these places and compared them? These photos are going to adorn your walls would you not rather have something that looks exceptional than mediocre? Also professional printing is usually guaranteed against fading for 20+ years, are your cheap prints? And yes you do have them on disk and you can print them later, but remember those old floppy disks......
I am always amazed at clients who spend a fortune on outfits, haircuts, nails, for a shoot but then try cut me down on price. You should hire a professional who knows what  they are doing, who can make you look awesome in just normal clothes, who works with you, knows what you want and who would be more inclined to try do more for you if you valued them enough to pay me what  they are worth.

Professional photography is a luxury, it is, but why shouldn't you have a keepsake of someone you love, isn't good photography going to last longer that a expensive pair of shoes, or a new purse?

Come follow me.....

Learning....

About 2 years ago a friend asked me to "do a shoot", her family was visiting and she wanted photos of all of them. NO! I'm not a photographer! She's a very convincing friend and eventually I agreed, I loved, she loved the photos, I loved everything. I'm going to be a photographer!
Now just so you know, I studied art for a long time, I'm bossy, I know how to use my dslr, so I wasn't starting totally from scratch, but I had a LOT to learn.
It's been an adventure, I've made tons of mistakes, cried a lot, screamed a lot, laughed a lot, made some great friends, and lost some.
I've lost important photos, not had enough memory cards, not had enough batteries, and vowed to give up this career.
I naively though "I'm good on a computer, how hard can photoshop be?", my supportive husband brought me cs5 and for 2 weeks I ignored it, then installed it and cried, and cried I didn't even know what a layer was. I left it alone and did a mini course at my local community college, I now knew what a layer was, and I was off, courses, YouTube, Lynda.com, friends, I worked and worked and worked.
The biggest thing I have learnt is don't compare your work to others, yes admire there work, get inspiration, but don't compare. It just gets you down.
There have been so many times, when I'm still up editing at 3am, when I have no money left in my business account, when what I thought looked amazing wasn't what my client wanted that I have wanted to give up, often thinking "I could make more money working as a cashier somewhere.", when I have tried so hard, I'm so tired, stressed, worried that I wonder why I do this? I loved photography when it was just for fun, when the results didn't matter, but then I get a email saying, "I would like to schedule a appointment with you, 2 of my friends had their photos done with you and they raved about you, I have seen the photos and all I can say is , WOW!" Or I get a review on facebook/yelp/my webpage and it keeps me going.
Almost weekly I get someone saying I wish I had your job, I want to be a photographer, YES, do it, but be prepared it take Hard, hard work, you can do it!It's not just a case of knowing how to take a good photo (I originally thought that!) You have to know how to edit those photos, watch the latest fashion trends, find great locations, have good props, be part of the local community (This really helps for locations), using social media ( I have Facebook, twitter, tunblr, flicker, LinkedIn, blogger, a website.....), managing your time, dealing with clients and resolving problems, and still trying to keep it fresh!
I love people to be happy, I love the art in photography, I love having so much more to learn, I love my job.

Cape Town Township

South Africa is beautiful, we as tourists, even though I was born in this beautiful country usually only see the affluent side, my children and us live in America and have a great life, the worst thing that happens to them is we have a storm and loose the internet. With this in mind I felt I needed them to see how less fortunate children live and are happy. As a artist I have always loved finding beauty amongst poverty, I love to see the human spirit, to see despite having nothing we still see beauty, we still keep trying, we still have pride. I sat in this home, the walls were peeling, the floor had long ago lost it's covering, but it was spotless, it had been swept and swept again, the dust being swept out to join the dirt outside, a woman was washing her clothes in a basin in the corner, looking out the window as she did it, seeing her neighbors clothes flapping in the wind outside, the gorgeous sun peeking in her window, the room was sad, gloomy and depressing, but there  was one window, "a window of hope", with plants growing on it, a attempt to make the room look better, a symbol of pride, something to look at to ignore the sadness around you.

 My children were scared to go on the tour, they had heard the stories and thought they would be mugged. The opposite was true, we were welcomed. The children played with them, the families welcomed us into their homes. I loved seeing so many people trying so hard, the lady running a creche in Langa, so Mom's have somewhere safe to leave their children while they go look for work, kids playing with Dad's in the street, yes people are so very poor but they have hope, they are resilient, they find a way. These people need a change, they need opportunities, they need teachers in the schools, There are thousands of children going to school here each day, but most of the schools are under equipped, their teachers under educated or overworked, This is where help needs to go. I looked around and saw, genius, people making a home out of nothing, of entrepreneurship, they want to learn.

Our guide, Jimmy Matthews, via our tour group, had himself been born in Langa, he had bettered himself, he wanted to do more, and more and more. He was extremely knowledgeable, and despite his start in life has risen up to be a amazing person.