TWO whole years?! How is it possible that 2 years have gone by since JustB Photography officially opened? It some ways, it has flown by! In other ways, it feels like JustB Photography has been a part of our lives forever! "Time flies when you're having fun!" Yeah? Well, I say, time flies when you're doing something you love that challenges you! And that is exactly what JustB Photography is to me! It's an absolute passion and I can't believe how much God continues to grow me and bless me through it!
What started out as a desire to take good portraits of my own babies, was piqued by the challenge of those portraits being professional quality (I'm really competitive) and turned into a passion to provide that quality for others around me. It hasn't been an easy road. There have been many a nights sitting behind my laptop studying lighting or camera settings when I felt it was wasted time. There have been plenty days of no "hits" or not a single session booked that left me feeling defeated. I have questioned my sanity more than once in thinking I could run a successful business. And I won't even admit the countless times I've felt down-right foolish for embarking on this endeavor.
That's why I say "thank you"! If it weren't for all you: my family, my clients.... my friends; YOU are the reason JustB Photography is soaring through it's 2 year anniversary stronger than ever! Had it not been for your prayers, encouragement, support and business, JustB would have JustBeen a fantastical dream! YOU have helped me turn this dream into reality. YOU continue to be the reason I strive to grow better with each session, each edit, and each blog! YOU are the reason I am passionate! Thank you!!
I'm a goal-setter. It must come from my competitive side. I LOVE setting goals and love even more reaching those goals! There's just something about looking back and seeing that you challenged yourself and stepped up to the plate! With that said, I want to shed light on some "goals" that I set this time last year for JustB's year number 2:
1. AsSIStant Photographer/Self-Promoted Partner- Okay, so this one wasn't really a "goal", per say. I didn't sit back and think, "Man, JustB really needs an assistant". It just sort of happened. Last Thanksgiving, we were sitting at Mom and Dads, and I was talking about how difficult it was carrying around everything for my sessions while I was 6 months pregnant. Hannah, jokingly I'm sure, said "You can pay me to do it!" And, BAM, there it was! JustB had an equipment assistant, turned co-photographer, turned partner...apparently! ;) And, now, I couldn't imagine doing a session without her! Hannah brings her OCD side to poses and how outfits should lay and where hands should go that I tend to not even think about in the moment. Her images get better with every session and I find myself being happy and challenged each time I like her image of a pose better than mine. Don't tell her I said that. (See? Competitive!) But, more than anything, I LOVE having someone to talk all things JustB with! Someone who can be real with me about how images turn out; who can share in the excitement with each goal reached; who shows the same passion to get better with each session and who simply makes it more fun! JustB Photography wouldn't have been as successful in year 2 without you, Hannah! I'm so glad to have you as "partner"....who I still get to boss around! ;)
2. Editing With Photoshop- So, the more I studied and followed other Photographers, the more I saw that ALOT of what made their images better was in the time spent editing! I knew I needed to invest more time in myself and in simply sitting down to learn how to take already great images and turn them into gorgeous images! Y'all.... I have spent a whole year with Adobe Photoshop and STILL feel like a total stranger to it! Haha That program is INTENSE! BUT, in that year, I have mastered using Adobe Lightroom- A branch off from Photoshop- and I can see a WORLD of difference in the editing! I'm still spending every free moment watching Youtube videos, following blogs and researching Photoshop. And, one day, I'll be able to look back and mark Photoshop as another goal reached...because y'all deserve the best editing that I can give!!!
3. Community Service- The first year JustB Photography was open, I wanted so badly to use this passion to be able to give back to others. In all honesty, though, I spent most of the year just trying to keep JustB afloat enough to justify it, that I ran myself dry! This past year, not without several attempts, I still did not get to do a charity-event like I wanted. However, as of last month, JustB will officially be partnering with Seneca Choices for Life in Columbus, GA to provide free photo sessions to Moms2B who CHOOSE LIFE for their unborn child. These sessions will either be maternity sessions or newborn sessions! I can't imagine being in a situation where you feel you have to make a choice between life or death for your unborn child...but I so greatly rejoice for each Mother in that situation who CHOOSES LIFE! Seneca is an incredible organization located RIGHT beside an abortion clinic in Columbus, GA. They spend every day prayerfully seeking every way possible to help young women by providing services and support. You can learn more about Seneca here. I am so excited to get to be a part of this amazing organization and can't wait to see how God uses it!! More to come on community events that JustB will be doing this next year!!!
4. Sessions: Now, trust me, it's NOT about how many sessions we get... but, let's be honest, the number of sessions booked DOES show how much JustB has grown in a year! Rather than looking at HOW MANY bookings we've had.... I want to look at WHAT bookings we had! This time last year, my goal was to book the following (and I was happy if we just booked ONE of the following): Senior Portraits Session, Engagement Session, Wedding, Boudoir Session, Birth Announcement and Newborn Session.
Can I please just pause and say how amazing God is?! "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart!" Psalm 37:4. God has truly taken these "goals" and gone above and beyond with them! He really has blessed this little passion of mine and truly blessed me in the process! That's what it is...it's a BLESSING to get to share in all of these exciting seasons of life with my clients! And here's all the exciting seasons we got to be a part of in year 2:
Seven Senior Portraits Sessions! SEVEN! Seven High School Seniors who we had the privilege of meeting, planning out a session unique to his/her personality and hobbies, and capturing the exciting accomplishment of completing High School with!!
Four Engagement Sessions! We LOVE love!! And we have had the pure blessing of capturing 4 different sweet couple's love stories! Getting to meet these love birds, hear all about their love story and share in excitement over wedding details has been such a blast!! We wish them all the happiness and can't wait to capture more love stories!!!
One Wedding. We had the absolute joy of capturing our sweet friends, Michelle and Todd, on their beautiful day! I can't tell you how exhausting it was, how exciting it was and how much we learned from our first wedding! We truly grew so much in one day and we look forward to using what we learned when capturing many more Best Day Ever's for future Brides!!
One Boudoir Session. Our old-timey themed boudoir session was definitely one for the books! I was so nervous about doing such a risque shoot while staying true to JustB's family-centered, christian-based heart. But it was beautiful to see how we could do this session and bring out CLASSY, timeless images for the client! We ALREADY have some booked for next year...and I'm SO excited!!!
Two Birth Announcements. So... I'm REALLY bad at keeping secrets! But there's something SO exciting and such an honor about knowing that I am helping my clients tell their family some of the best news they will ever hear!! Birth announcements are so fun to cater to the couple and I'm excited to see what future clients want to have done for THEIR announcements!
Two Newborn Sessions. We got to capture TWO families falling in love with their newest addition this year...and I truly feel that there is NO greater thing to capture than THIS moment! That moment of FINALLY getting to meet someone you've loved unconditionally for the previous 9 months. That moment of Dad admiring Mom and their newest addition. That moment of capturing a baby creating a family! I LOVE IT! I'm hooked and hope to have the blessing of capturing more birth stories and newborn sessions!
5. Last, but not least, JustBPhotography.biz- I poured my heart and soul for months into my baby (i.e. JustB's Website)! I still spend countless hours updating it with the newest images and blog posts. It was a risk a commit to a monthly payment for our website, but it has truly become such a wonderful tool to reach clients and book sessions! JustBPhotography.biz is a product of late nights, frustrations, and countless hours.... and I'm so proud of it!
So... there you have it! 5 goals reached in year 2 with JustB Photography! 5 down....1000s to go! Haha Ok maybe not 1,000. Who knows? The sky's the limit!! I'm just so excited to see what more God has in store for us and YOU at JustB Photography!!! Looking back over the year, though, nothing compares to the blessing it has been to meet so many new clients turned friends and capture forever memories for them! There's no greater honor than having return clients. And there is no greater joy than having clients who turn into friends! We love our clients at JustB Photography and we LOVE capturing our friends! ;) A million times THANK YOU for joining in this journey with us!! We love y'all!
2 Comments
Nov 16, 2016, 1:11:29 PM
Charity Wade - Thanks!!! Love you!
Nov 16, 2016, 11:24:06 AM
Pam Williamson - Great article! Congratulations on a successful Year #2! Hard work and persistence pays off!