Locals Rule
It has been longer than I've hoped for since my last blog post and it has me worried about my goals to post once a week as summer approaches. I've already decided, though, that I'm just going to do my best and not beat myself up for failing. That's all I can do :|
Needless to say, I have been busy since my last post just before the Something Blue Wedding Expo at Mont Bleu. It was my first time getting a booth at a wedding expo so I wasn't sure what to expect exactly and I can't say for certain (at this point) whether I will see a profit from it. I will say, though, that regardless of my profit margin I think it was a great experience and I believe it was worth the investment. Above all else I thoroughly enjoyed meeting with couples and the whole process of getting to know each other before the wedding is not something I get to do all the time. I had no idea how much I would appreciate and enjoy that time like I did and I think that alone will bring me back next year; and I'll possibly look to get in to some other area wedding shows too. The second part about that process that is cool for me is that the couples are coming up to my booth because they liked something they saw. They see my style in the photos I have on display and they like it and want to know more. Admittedly, after writing that it sounds very common sensical. My reality though is that a lot of the weddings I've shot come from resorts in the area where initial contact at best is my website, and probably often times I am booked simply because I'm recommended. So to have the opportunity to talk to couples about what I do and share my passion for photography with them is a cool opportunity for me and I'm thankful I was there to have the experience. And one last benefit of all this is that the couples who do book with me are now excited for their wedding photos and I can't put it into words how much fun that makes it for me. It's a big deal to me.
A highlight for me in the past couple weeks was having the opportunity to shoot two 'locals' weddings; As in, people who live in Tahoe getting married in Tahoe. That also doesn't happen as much as I would like but I hope that maybe, just maybe, this is the start of a trend. I'll keep my fingers crossed. It's just a ton of fun being apart of those weddings because I know that there is a much higher opportunity to grow lasting relationships (for personal or business) with people who share the same community with me -- and that's another thing I feel I miss out on sometimes being more of a "destination" photographer.
The first one was John and Greta at the West Shore Cafe. I've known John for a couple years and have worked many of the same weddings together (he's a videographer). I was stoked when they asked me to shoot their wedding and more so when I started to cull the images... There are a lot of great images from their wedding and I don't want to make this post unnecessarily long so if you want to see some more check out the post on my Facebook page posted on April 1, 2017.
Then just the other day I got to capture this mid-week-on the bank of a river-with a fairy-tale vibe wedding. The weather was perfect and the light was beautiful and Scott and Macy were down to adventure. They were also real naturals in front of the camera and they made my job way too easy at times.
Congratulations to John and Greta and Scott and Macy! After seeing these images again I can't help but feel honored and blessed by you guys. I love my job :).
That's it for now. Thanks for reading the blog and please post a comment if you'd like me to answer any questions. Cheers!
-CJ