Couple things….no pictures, but just a few things to report…or maybe 17 things to report. 

1. It’s Ash Wednesday and during mass I had to sit next to a guy that smelled like onions.    I know it was probably one of those “I took my coat into a smelly restaurant” situations, but man oh man was it strong!  It happens :)
2. I bought a sundress today in hopes that it would make Spring arrive sooner.
3. I tried that sundress on and realized how much I miss my dresses & skirts.  I love dresses & skirts.  I could live in them. 
4. I think I might go get some flip flops to up the ante on my early spring arrival.
5. I have lots of photos to edit before I leave for DC
6. We are going to DC on March 6th and I’m SOOO excited.   It’s a little over 2 weeks away….do you think all that snow will melt by then??
7. I might get my car next weekend, but I’m almost afraid to do anything with loans right now.  I think my last experience scarred me for life. 
8. I’ve been doing Jillian Michael’s 30 day shred for 3 days now and I’ve come to the conclusion that I really don’t like her one bit.  It’s her voice…it’s creeps me out.  BUT I do like the video.  It’s difficult (at least for me it is) and I can tell it’s working.
9. I thought I missed wearing heels.  Then I wore them today for church and you should note that we walked to church, we walked to lunch and then we walked back to my car.  My friend had on flat boots and was all about hauling a&* since it was so cold out.  Now I have little blisters on my toes and I’ve decided maybe I don’t miss my heels as much….but then again I do.  Such an unhealthy relationship.
10. I’m working on some spring specials.  Here is a hint….you will get a certain percentage off any shoot (minus a mini shoot) you book in March.  Details to come soon.
11. I think I might be getting the winter blues.  I’ve started tanning once a week just so I can feel warm and get some color.  It’s working.
12. I might start walking outside despite the frigid temps.  I WANT TO GO OUTSIDE!!!  I’m so sick of being inside.  Then I think of my poor friend Andrea (who is preggers) and how she hasn’t really been able to leave her couch, let alone her house, for over a month because she is so sick.  Seriously, I thought morning sickness was just supposed to be in the morning or maybe just a couple times a day….not every time you move.   I guess they get a baby out of the deal so it’s worth it, although she might think differently :-)
13. The Farwell’s are coming into town this weekend!!!  Yayyyyy!!  I’m so excited to have people come into town.  It used to be like every other weekend we would have family in town, but then we had more babies, more weddings and life got even busier.   The Pujols Pack got put on the back burner and now everyone really only has time to do one game a summer.  Maybe that will change this summer……….
14. The sunset is really pretty right now. 
15. SOOOO excited about Modern Family tonight.  LOVE that show!  I’ve also decided that I like The Middle and Cougar Town. 
16. Forgot to mention that Sara had this past Monday off, hence to Monday’s With Bella.  It actually worked out really well because Bella was sick and attached to her mom’s hip.  I think their day off probably helped a lot and hopefully she will be nice to me this Monday :-)
17. I get really sick of hearing other photographers whine about other photographers prices.  Seriously…it’s like a cult.  They bully you if you give away the rights to your prints for under $800.  They say things like, “we have to stick together as photographers” or “no one else will value your work if you don’t value your work (ahem…by “value” they mean charge insane rates)  and this one is my favorite, “a lot of people will want that expensive photographer.  They want that status and they want people to know how much they paid for you.  So go ahead and charge unreasonable rates”  That’s not an exact quote so I don’t know why I put quotations marks around it, but basically  they are saying the really rich and status focused people will pay for you because it makes them feel more elite.  Well…I don’t get along  with people like that so I’m just fine not having them as clients. 

They also like to tell you that you need to add in everything from uploading time & packaging into your prices. I’m sorry……I do other things and multi task while my pictures are uploading.  I’m not going to charge a client “uploading  time” when I do other things during that time frame.  Next, I don’t do fancy packaging because I don’t want my clients to have to pay for it.  It get’s thrown away anyway.  The prints get put into frames and hung on a wall, they don’t stay in their expensive packaging.  I’m not totally anti-packaging, I think it’s cute and I’m trying to come up with an inexpensive means to do it.  I’m just not going to do something that get’s added on to a clients tab. 

 My sister likes to forward me these articles and they just make me mad.  Yes, I do value my work.  I value my work a lot actually.  I agree with a lot of the things they say in those articles, but I don’t agree with everything.  I agree that what we do is an art and it’s my work, my time, my creativity and people have to understand that they need to pay me for that and pay me well.

 It is, after all, my only source of income.

I agree that sometimes people don’t understand the amount of time that goes into taking pictures.  They don’t understand the time you put in after the shoot and this is why they don’t want to pay you a lot.   I agree that sometimes people are just cheap and don’t value my time or work  and it’s not worth my time to work with people like that.  But I also realize that there are lots of people out there that do value my work and do value my time, but just can’t afford to spend $300 to get their pictures taken………..and then not actually be able to use any of those pictures.  They have to give more money if they actually want just a copy of that picture.   Then if they actually want to own the rights to that picture, well, it’s going to be another $200.  THAT is what I do not understand.  It’s somewhat sneaky & misleading.  A lot of people don’t realize it until they are at a point where they can’t get out of it.  If I’m going to put all this effort into your pictures, if I’m going to use my time & talent, if I’m going to get those pictures that melt your heart….I want you to have those pictures and I want you to use them!!!!  When I go into clients homes and I see my pictures plastered all over the place… that’s what I under stand and  that’s what I want. 

I’m sure lots of people think I’m wrong and lots of people think I will eventually fail at being a photographer because I don’t charge enough, but people are allowed to have their opinions.   I obviously have my opinion on this topic :-)  I’m sure I will eventually raise my prices again in the future, but it won’t be by any drastic means and it won’t be anytime soon.  No matter how experienced I get, I won’t let my prices go as high as some photographers do.   Yes my lower prices might provide a TON of bookings, but I won’t let myself believe that only the reason I’m getting more bookings is because I’m “cheap”.   That might be the case for some of my clients, but for most of my clients it’s because they like my work.  They wouldn’t keep coming back if they didn’t like my work.  

I’m not saying all this because I don’t like other photographers.  I love other photographers.  I love hearing their experiences, the thoughts, their tips, etc.  But I don’t like when they do articles like the one’s I’m talking about. 

WOW that was a long #17, but I’m glad I got that off my chest.  I’m sure most of you have no idea what I’m talking about and have never read such articles…but I’m glad I got that out.  Ha :-)

That’s all for now.  Happy Wednesday!!!!  You’re almost done :-)