Hi Friends,

I hope your week has gone well. If you’re like me there was some disappointment that snow never arrived at my house. Last week I began telling some of my journey as to how I became a photographer. We will continue on the journey today. If you missed last week and you would like to start at the beginning click here https://shellyfryphotography.com/my-everyday/shelly-fry-photography-battle-ground-wa-2 . But first a story about Lucy.

What I’ve Been Doing

Jeff, Lucy and I headed to the beach for the day last weekend. Lucy’s very favorite toy is a Soda Pup frisbee. It’s made of rubber and indestructible which is a plus. It does have one fatal flaw. If upside down when dropped into a body of water it will sink. One of Lucy’s favorite activities at the beach is to play fetch with her frisbee. She won’t stop begging for it to be thrown, over and over again. She will be busy fetching and then, suddenly she will head for the waves. Normally she is very obedient when called but in these moments no amount of yelling will stop her from her mission of taking the frisbee out to the water. She heads for the waves jumping over them with the frisbee flapping in her mouth. Until she drops it….Many times she is in shallow enough water and we are quick enough that it can be rescued. Because this super smart dog of ours will not retrieve the frisbee once it has been dropped into the water, that, it seems, is our job. 

Frisbee Fun with Lucy

She has dropped the frisbee into rivers and deep ditches along trails and of course the ocean.  The last time we were at the beach was in September. We were walking along a swift creek that was about 3 feet deep. Lucy had been happily playing fetch with her frisbee until suddenly she was overcome with the need to drop it into the creek. Neither Jeff or I were willing to get wet so after we got home we ordered another one. Previously she had also lost a frisbee in the ocean. 

So here we are at the beach with a new frisbee (her 3rd “indestructible” one) and she is headed for the waves. We had been on the beach for 10 minutes and plop there it went. After trying to convince her to grab it, and our feeble attempts to get it out of the waves without getting ourselves wet, I was frustrated and began walking down the beach. I was muttering to myself how “dumb” our smart dog was! Clearly she loves the thing and now for the rest of the day she won’t have it to play with!

I noticed after a couple of minutes that I was walking alone and I looked back to see that Jeff had taken his boots and socks off, rolled up his jeans and was wading out into the frigid ocean. All the while Lucy was just watching him.  Thank goodness she has a dad who is a hero. He was able to rescue the frisbee and we moved further up on the beach away from the waves for the remainder of our walk. Yes, we know she’s a spoiled pup!

Being a Grown Up is Hard!

I don’t have to tell any of you how hard it can be to be an adult. What I’m referring to today are the things we are told we must do for our health. Like going to the dentist, annual exams and flossing. There isn’t anyone lording over me telling me I have to do it. I have to make myself. This week’s task was especially challenging for me! Last September my Dr. was gently reminding (harassing) me to get the Shingles vaccine and a colonoscopy. Being 52 I was a couple years past the recommended time for both of those. I agreed to the Shingles vaccine only to find out it was a 2 shot series and I would have to come back in a few months for the second shot. 

I’m not especially afraid of needles I just don’t enjoy getting poked. There were some circumstances that I won’t go into here regarding how I got the shot at the Drs. office that day. I will say I wasn’t given any warning as to any side effects. As a result of the vaccine I spent the next 3 days wondering if I had the dreaded virus. I felt like I had been run over and then dragged by a very large truck. Eventually I asked someone and they said “oh yea, some people have that reaction to the vaccine” Yeah me! It’s one thing to go through it the first time but this week I knowingly (and VERY reluctantly) showed up for my second shot. And yes, I’m miserable today (Wed). My only hope is that it won’t last as long this time.

And yes, the colonoscopy is going to happen in the near future…UGH!

Those First Obstacles – Shelly Fry Photography – The Journey Part 2

I mentioned last week that I stumbled onto owning my own business. In other words, there wasn’t a moment when I said “I’m going to start my own photography business”. I believe if I had said that I probably wouldn’t have made it this far.

I just decided to do what was next. But that makes it sound too easy…

My Biggest Obstacles 

FEAR – Who was I to call myself a professional photographer? I had a History degree and teaching credentials (not to mention years of experience) to back up my claims of being a teacher but I didn’t have anything proclaiming I was a “Professional Photographer”.  As people began asking to hire me my first hurdle was to set my price. How much was I worth? Up to that point my life’s experience had been that when I was hired, I was told how much I would make. Never had I needed to tell people how much to pay me. Furthermore, working where I had there was a huge expectation that you really shouldn’t expect to be compensated well for the work you do. You just work hard and serve others and be grateful for whatever is offered. 

As I started to establish myself as a photographer the expenses started mounting up. Insurance, website design, business cards, camera equipment, professional memberships, editing software, rent, etc. Naturally for my business to actually contribute to our household it needed to add to the bank account and not drain it.

How Much Was I Worth?

8 years ago when I was just starting out I didn’t know any other photographers. I had the impression that photographers were a bit like dogs, peeing on bushes and establishing their territory. I didn’t have any reference as to what photographers were charging in our area. So I began Googling. The price range was ridiculous. You can find photographers that are basically doing it for next to nothing to those who charged more for a single session than I had paid for my camera equipment. I had no desire to overcharge but I also needed to make money, not just cover my expenses. 

I knew I needed to factor in my level of experience (I had some as an armature but not as a professional) and balance that with the level of quality and service I knew I would give each client.  Eventually, I settled on a pricing that sounded fair and balanced to me for where I was at that time. My prices have risen since the beginning but I haven’t raised my pricing in 3 years. There are still those who are way cheaper and those who are much more expensive than I. It’s never fun when someone tells you that you are too expensive. But I honestly have learned not to take that as a criticism to my personal value (it has been challenging for me to separate that). I am a person who follow a budget and I too have to walk away from things that are too expensive for me as well. Seeing posts of people asking for a “reasonably” priced photographer always makes me grind my teeth a bit. What is reasonable? What does that mean? It means cheap. 

The Value of Photography

There is also the factor that simply put, there are those who don’t value what I do. Pictures are not important to them so naturally they would never spend money on something their phones can do for them for free. I have learned that not everyone is my ideal client. My ideal clients are those who value photography and are looking for a photographer who connects with them and delivers quality, quickly and efficiently. I’m a photographer who will listen to your ideas and/or boss you around. I am a photographer who listens and strives very hard to deliver more than you asked for. 

Next week I will share a bit more about this journey.

What I’ve Been Reading

The Marriage of Opposites by Alice Hoffman

The Gown A Novel of the Royal Wedding by Jennifer Robson

I will be moving my book reviews to my newsletter. If you would like to see what I thought of these two very different books you can read my reviews of them on February 1st when my next edition of SFPNews hits inboxes. You can sign up for the once per month newletter through this link http://madmimi.com/signups/f92831e48f4c4758a38ad3779e2d9f9b/join

 

 

Wanna Help?

Small Business Owners really need the love and support of their communities. There is real truth in this image! See how you can help today.

Thanks for stopping by I really appreciate you!

Shelly