The boys are madly in love with Canada. They love that we live across the street from a park and we go there at LEAST once a day (we just got home from our second time there today :) ) I love being home with them. Truly being home. We play. We laugh. They are on a schedule and I love that. My parents went to stay with my sister Laura for a few weeks to help her after her accident and so the boys have really missed them. They keep asking how many sleeps until Grandma and Grandpa get home? (Or Girl Grandpa and Boy Grandpa according to Sterling :) )
We went swimming with some of my brother's family one day. We get to see a lot of my siblings and their kids and we love it.
Brian found two jobs within 10 days of arriving back in Canada. Go him :) He's working part time at Costco doing night stalking (hahaha j/k stocking) and he's working at a company called SRI homes full time making modular homes. He really likes both but he's working 7 days a week right now and is very tired. I am so grateful I married a man that can work hard and doesn't mind it one bit.
Trying to start up my photography business here has been just as challenging as I figured it would be. The world of photography has taken an interesting turn when we went digital. Now there are a lot of what we in the industry call MWACs (Moms With a Camera) and they took a few cute pics of their kids, put up a website and BAM -- they are a professional photographer. Being in Southern Alberta where obviously stay-at-home-moms are the norm (gooooo SAHMs!) you always run into moms wanting to make a little extra, so why not be a photographer? Don't get me wrong, there are some VERY good momtographers out there. Very good. There are also a LOT of not very good ones.
The biggest beef I have is that they don't charge enough for their services. The ones that are good, that I would consider real competition, charge a flat rate and give the CD. The big studios in town don't do that. I wasn't doing that in Florida. So now I'm getting inquiries because everyone knows 6 girls at church that are photographers and they charge $150-$250 and that includes the CD and the session fee. Um...okay, my average sales in FL were well over, more like double that. And I didn't include the CD. How do I balance this? If I was going to charge a flat rate and include the CD I could maybe see myself doing it for $750? But who am I kidding? Every single one of my clients isn't going to do that? Ahhhh....anyway, there's the balance I'm trying to find. So I just ran a special on Facebook, and I've got a few inquiries. We will have to wait it out and see.
On other more happy thoughts, baby and mommy are doing great! I had an ultrasound last week and got to see hiim/her. Lots of moving around :) I see the high-risk doctor here on Friday, so that will likely determine whether or not I will continue my care here or go up to Calgary.
TTFN!
4 comments:
I'm glad you are all having such a great and happy move back to Canada. It really is home.
With regard to your photography, I'm sorry you're having a struggle to get it up and going, but I think you are looking at it kind of the wrong way:
The Moms With Cameras are filling a need for low budget photography. I don't know any of them who call themseves professionals - in fact, I've heard them several times repeat that they are not. They should not charge more than they do, becuase they don't have the credentials to back it up. Just as you would pay any professional more who has education than you would an amature. When you go to a laywer, you're not just paying for his services, you're paying for his education, his experience, his accreditation, etc.
If you have the real education to back yourself up as a true professional, than you SHOULD be charging higher rates without apology. That is what a professional costs. You are catering to a different market than the other moms. They aren't robbing your pool of potential clients, because your potential clients are a different set of people. They have $750 for family photos. The ones that the Camera Moms are servicing, don't have that cash. Even if they weren't there to fill the spots, those families still wouldn't be available for an expensive photo shoot. Am I making any sense?
Anyway, the point I am trying to make, is that you just need to market yourself as a professional, post your credentials and where you studied, to show the difference in level of service. Then advertise yourself to a different pool of people who have that kind of money available to spend.
That was long. Wow. Good luck!
Marie,
Yes, it's great to be home.
But I have to disagree. :) MWCs are filling a need for low-budget photography but they are also taking middle-higher-end photography jobs. Let's say you had a budget of $1,000 for photography. Why would you spend $750 with me when you can go get it for $250? Most people, unfortunately, don't take the time to realize someone charging more may actually be accredited, educated and have better gear (not that gear is as important as the knowledge). Most people, especially in this economy, see prices and that's it.
I know too many of them that call themselves professionals.
How, in Southern Alberta, am I supposed to charge $750 for a session and cd when there are a million other photogs out there charging $250 or less? Even if I go out there announcing that I'm now an award-winning published photographer, educated, etc., would you REALLY care?
I also think that there are a LOT of families out there with the cash to actually pay me well for my services, but there are too many who aren't charging enough and make me look like I'm trying to rip people off.
I think this is a different market entirely in Southern Alberta. Us LDS are known to be frugal. I don't think anyone is going to pay attention to my credentials when 10 women in their ward are MWCs.
Believe me, I want to be wrong. I want to make serious cash at this like I was in Florida. I'm just not sure Southern Alberta is going to be that market :(
Thanks for your input!
Welcome back! So glad to see you blogging a bit more. Missed ya.
As for the photography maybe while in Southern Alberta promote yourself more as a wedding photographer. You might have more success and would be able to charge more.
Glad you guys are settling in back in Canada.
We use a very educated, very professional photographer for our family pictures. He has some amazing awards and his work is shown in multiple galleries and even restaurants here in Calgary. We pay $350/session, disk included with partially touched up photos. We usually get around 100 photos per disk per 2-hour session.
Any photos I want custom cropped, etc., he also does for us after the fact (within reason, I'm sure. I only usually ask for a couple touch-ups each session and that's to get them the right size for certain frames.)
I would never pay $750 or more (plus prints or plus a disk) for just a family photo shoot for my little family. Our photographer always meets us at a different location within the city and sometimes we do two locations per shoot.
I think this price is very reasonable and because it's reasonable we get our family pictures taken at least twice, most years three times a year, just because we can at this rate.
I applaud all SAHMs that are willing to put themselves out there to do anything for some extra money whether that's take photos or babysit kids. There is enough work to go around and I'm sure you'll find your niche with time.
Everyone's time is valuable and everyone has to put a price on their own time/skill. Maybe those "mom's with cameras" are just wanting to get as much experience as they can, hence the low prices. Maybe those moms just want to be out doing something they love with hopes to bring in a little extra cash - yay for moms!
It will work out for you, you'll just need to have some patience I'm sure to wait for those willing to spend the big bucks on photos.
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