G & N Maternity- Chico Maternity Photographer

This maternity session is close to my heart for obvious reasons. G is my sister! I'm not posting their full names due to N's job, initials with have to do. Normally I try to avoid using very well known areas, especially in Chico, but it's not really about what I want, it's about the client. Even though G is my sister I still treat her the same I would any of my other clients, except I may goof off a little bit more! We started the session off at Bidwell Mansion. This is the spot where N proposed to G, and they had yet to revisit it since. We made our way around the grounds and then drove over to Chico High's sport's field. Chico High is also where N and G attended school and G would watch N play baseball. I love when locations are sentimental! I think when a client is able to connect with their surroundings it helps bring out more emotion in the photographs. Their little girl will be here sometime next month and I cannot wait to take her newborn photos! Don't worry, I will be taking plenty photos of this little one!  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thoughtful Thursday- Word & Spend

 When I was living in Chico I felt as if I was moving at a good rate and business was getting pretty steady. I still had a lot of room to grow but I could see my business moving forward. Since moving to Sacramento I have had to think of new ways to get my name out, new ways to spread the word. Honestly, it hasn't been easy. Mostly because I don't know many people and I don't have a regular babysitter during the day. Obviously It's not very professional to tote your kids around trying to promote your business. One thing I have been asked many times before is how I've gotten my name out there, where did all of my business come from. When I was in Chico, the only money I had put towards marketing was for business cards. That's it! Almost all of my business was from Facebook and word of mouth. It's amazing how much word of mouth can affect a business. Now that I am in Sacramento, it's a little different. Everything is so spread out and I hardly know anyone. It's hard to have people you know spread the word, when you don't really know anyone! So, I have to go in a different direction, at least right now. I've heard it many times, as I'm sure a lot of you have also, that you have to spend money to make money. I am understanding that concept more and more these days. Marketing plays such a huge roll in running a business. You need to understand who your market is, their age range, their wants or needs. Once you figure out who your potential market is, you have to decide what is the best way to attract them. There are so many different ways to advertise but it's a matter of deciding which way is best for your business. This year I have decided my goal for my business is trying to focus on the areas I am want to specialize in. I really want my main focus to be on weddings and engagements. One way I am going to market myself for this is being a vendor in an upcoming Bridal Show. This is a great way to advertise myself because I am specifically advertising to actual brides looking for services like mine, instead of just a general audience. Even though it's not cheap, it would be worth it even if I only booked one wedding from the show, but I'm hoping for more! Another way I plan on advertising is taking an ad out in one of the local Bridal Magazines. Sadly I missed this issues deadline, to focused on the wedding show, but the next time I will. The other areas I want to gear my business towards is maternity and newborns. I'm still thinking of ways I want to advertise for this area of my photography but I know there are plenty of ways! The good thing about being a wedding photographer, is it helps me somewhat in this area. For most couples, once the are married they begin to think of babies, either right away or not too far after. In today's market there are so many photographers but I believe it's still possible to have a successful business. It's all about word of mouth and spending money to make money!

Destanie & Justin- Sacramento Engagement Photographer

In one of my recent Thoughtful Thursday posts, I talked about starting to focus my photography on the areas that I enjoy the most, Weddings, engagements, maternity and babies. Destanie and Justin were a great example as to why I love engagement sessions so much. We had originally planned to shoot our session in Downtown Sacramento at the ice rink and then to move somewhere more in nature. When I arrived at their home Destanie informed me that Justin wasn't really wanting to shoot where there were a lot of people. Being new to the area and still not knowing too many places to shoot I was a little frantic at first. Then I remembered this great location by the Sacramento Zoo. Sometimes things change and you just have to go with it. Honestly, I'm really glad we changed our locations. Even though I would have loved to do a shoot at the ice rink, the pictures wouldn't have turned out nearly as great as they did if Justin wasn't comfortable. Also I think the locations we ended up using, fit them really well. I really try to pick locations specific to each client that fits their personality and type of session. Justin and Destanie were so easy to photograph. Destanie was seriously a natural in front of the camera. Even though Justin was a little uneasy about pictures I think he did great too! I really didn't have to direct them that much and I could just feel the love they had for each other. I think that's one of the reasons why I love engagements so much. Being engaged is such an amazing time in ones life and it's filled with so much excitement and love, that it makes photographing a couple so easy and inspiring. I can't wait to photograph their wedding later this year! It's always so much fun to photograph a friends wedding! Thanks again Destanie and Justin for choosing me!