Everything changes

Lots of changes have been happening this spring and summer here in the backwoods.  As a family, we decided to no longer home school.  For those of you wondering why, as the kids got older, it became harder to continue.  More of a fight than fun every day.  I will cherish the memories of the four years we home schooled together, they were some of the best in my life.  I took the choice not to continue home schooling very hard this past year, but by God's grace, have filled it with something new and equally exciting.  Not home schooling three children has given me the time and passion to pursue my photography business on a more full time basis.
To that end, this summer has been one of growth.  New advertising opportunities, new clients, new equipment and I'm not finished with the changes yet!  I'm currently renovating an old TV cabinet into a wardrobe for all the props I've been accumulating.  (thanks Pinterest for the idea!) I'm still working on props and backgrounds here in the backwoods and I'm set to put in an order for my first studio lighting and backdrops ever!
 I am also busy planning my first mini sessions.  I've had a lot of requests to do these and I'm excited for an opportunity to give people quality photos and a discounted price through this.  I'm going to call them Backwoods Bits.  Small sessions in one location, for a smaller fee.  I'll do these based on theme throughout the year.  Our first will be in October and will center around fall or Halloween whichever the client chooses.  It will be here at my home in the backwoods and there will be at least 5 different backgrounds to work with.  You all reading this are the first to know the details and if you'd like to make an appointment early, feel free to call to schedule your slot.  You can find my contact info on my facebook site.  I will be offering 12 slots total for this first Backwoods Bits.  Backwoods Bits are for 1-3 people, you get 30-45 minutes of shoot time and you'll receive 10-15 high quality images to print as you please within a week.  The cost is $40 and for this special there will be no scheduling fee.  I will be doing the first Backwoods Bit on October 6 and October 28th for those interested. I was about to burst from not telling anyone about this yet, the actual release onto facebook is set for August 1st but I wanted to thank you loyal readers.  You come here and read whatever is on my mind each time I post and I thank you for letting me ramble.

thanks for reading!  Be sure to check us out on Facebook or check out our work on our website

Business Decisions

     I'm not exactly business minded.  I'd rather barter or give away than set a price.  This past year as Backwoods Photography has taken off, I've been forced to learn more about how I want to run my business.  That's what it is now, its not just a hobby anymore and that's so strange to me.  As I've moved more towards photographing the way I enjoy to and not pushing myself into a box to suit every taste, I've watched my pride and business grow.  I'm on the right track and it feels good.
     I get a lot of questions about what I do, and I'll tell you the truth, I wing it.  I've never paid someone to do what I do or even talked to another outdoor portrait photographer so I have no scale to base myself on.  Primarily, I try to think of what I would want as a mother, bride, grandma, ect. and deliver that.  Determining cost has also been a difficult choice, so finally, I sat down and decided to give myself an hourly wage for all the work I do that goes into a normal photo shoot.  When I did that, I realized my hourly wage IF I charged my regular rate (which at the time was not very often, as I've said I'm bad with talking pricing with clients) was $7.50 and with the massive amount of discounts I was giving, I was making $5.00 an hour.  That was not counting in the times I would spend an hour making one shot perfect or balanced my family time with dragging my kids to a new location shoot I needed to scout or the time I take to do paperwork and promote myself.  I'm getting better with the money side of things, frankly when I look at it that way, I'm worth more than minimum wage.
     To that end, after much consideration, I'm going to start uploading some of my new and favorite location shots onto facebook so that clients can decide where and when they want to do their photos.  I hesitated to do that because of the worry that clients or other photographers might steal the location or the idea.  I then decided I didn't care, its not like anywhere I shoot is a hidden location only available to me (except for the newer props here in my Backwoods)  and it goes back to my new business motto, if you like what I do, you'll hire me for my talent.  I'm hoping that doing this will build business even more, plus I like nature photography too!  Win, Win for me.
     Even with the little rain we've gotten lately, it is still very hot and dry in Northwest Arkansas so outdoor photography becomes very sweaty this time of year.   Even sundown is too hot for young children, they get cranky very quickly at nearly 8:00 at night.  Add in the heat and its too much for my little models.  To that end, I drug myself up and out of bed at 5:45 this morning to see about locations for early morning shoots.  It was a beautiful 68 degrees and the light was perfect.  My advice for any clients through August would be to wait until fall or do an early morning shoot.  By early morning I mean starting between 7-8am with the plan of finishing by 10am.
Here is an example of a photo I posted today

     Please check out my Facebook and let me know what you think of posting locations.  Will is help or hurt my business?


Thanks for hanging out in the Backwoods for a bit, have a great day!

Birthday Wishes

     Today is my youngest daughters 3rd birthday.  We never expected to have her; we'd tried for 7 years to have another.  We lost 8 babies during that time, most to early miscarriage.  The last one though, nearly ended my life and indeed ended our 13 week old baby's life.  I was told that I couldn't carry to term and to consider getting my tubes tied before the next pregnancy killed me.  It took me over a year to decide that yes, I was ok with not having another child.  My husband and I figured that God had a reason for not giving us the child we had wanted so badly and began to talk about the possibility of becoming foster parents.  About a week before my dr appointment to schedule the tubal ligation, I realized I was late.  That dr appointment became the appointment where I found out that indeed I was pregnant again.  It was not a happy day, we were terrified of losing another baby, my husband was afraid he was going to lose me.  I would not terminate the pregnancy to possibly save my life.  I could live with a miscarriage or hysterectomy but not abortion.  Though, I wasn't at all sure I could live through another loss like this.

     We lived in fear for the next two months; I took prednisone shots weekly and was not allowed to do much more than 30 min of standing at a time.  I cramped a lot and felt very sick all the time.  By 20 weeks we were very excited; it seemed that beyond all odds I would be able to carry this child to term.  The kids, my husband and my mom went to the ultrasound to find out if we would have a boy or girl.  It was a girl, but the tech was not acting happy.  I had a bad feeling; I'd seen that look before on the same techs face many times and knew what that meant.  My family was thrilled and my husband could not figure out why I wasn't until the call came later in the afternoon.   My Dr called to tell me that I was dilating and nearly completely effaced.  If they didn't do something, I would go into labor within the week and that the baby would not survive.  The next day, I went in for emergency surgery to stitch up my cervix.  The hope was with that and total bed rest, the baby would have a chance to grow enough to be viable outside the womb.

     For the next 84 days, I only got out of bed to pee or go to the dr.  Every time I went for my appointment he would say "If you can make it to 24 weeks",  "just make it to 28 weeks", "you hang on until 30 weeks" and we made it to 32 weeks.  I have never had to totally rely on anyone since adulthood but during the bed rest, I was at everyone's mercy.  I had to drink a gallon of water a day, endure nausea and headaches daily and try to keep my spirits up looking at the same four walls day after day. 

      Grace Abigale was born at 32 weeks, weighing 4.2lbs and spent 26 days in the NICU.  She received physical therapy for her first year and learned to nurse by 2 months old.  Grace is now 3 years old and to see her today, you'd never guess the struggle it was for us to bring her into the world and the struggle it was for her to thrive and grow.

     I believe that we can want something so badly that we hamper God's work in our lives.  I believe that I had to be happy with what He'd already given me to be able to appreciate anything more.  I know the 10 year struggle to have children was the hardest years of my life, but also some of the best as I raised another's children and my own.  I know that the pain and waiting is sometimes the best thing even on the darkest days.  The bed rest even taught me patience that I never possessed before.  I don't see these things when I look into Grace's big brown eyes anymore.  All I see is a beautiful, smart child, aptly named, she is the Grace God has given me.


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