When Shooting becomes overwhelming

Ever notice how often life gets overwhelming. I would like to give you a quick example of what a week for me looked like this past summer. I don't do this to complain, actually the opposite is true, we all get busy but when you are doing something you love it just doesn't seem that bad. So sit back read about a week in late August and next week we will get back to our tutorial on using your camera in manual.

DAY 1

 It started on a Thursday when just after 10 AM my cell phoned chirped an appointment alert. Now I wasn't that stressed about it cause anything important I give myself a 24 hour and 1 hour alert, so imagine my surprise when I checked it and discovered I had to be on location for a filming shoot for a pilot local cable TV show. No camera equipment in my vehicle I had to race home load up and head to the location arriving a mere 10 minutes late, which I blamed on traffic. We filmed all day and then I took my wife to YUK YUKS comedy club that evening for an entertaining time with friends.

 Day starts at 7:00 AM ends 2:00 AM

DAY 2

Now my day did start a little slower as I didn't have to do anything till 10 AM so slept in till 9. Then it's time to hit the computer and start work on the film that was shot Thursday.

At about noon I decided, all beit late and not smart, that the volunteer t shirt I would be wearing on Sunday shooting Chilliwacks Flight Fest should have my LOGO on it. Now if you have read earlier posts you may have seen the one about LOGOs and how important I think they are, well I also said that you should have professionals do that work and shirt logos are no different. I did not follow my own advise and due to the lateness of the hour I decided to go with an iron on printed at home. I couldn't find any iron ons in clear only white so the shirt did not turn out as nice as I had hoped but I learned from this mistake and will change things in the future.

That night I had the opportunity to shoot KAT at Party in the Park, a local Chilliwack festival. Now this girl is amazing. I have shot her in the past and love being involved in her career. She won EMI & MOA record recording contract 2012. She has been featured on Jan Arden's Being Jan  and continues writing and recording her own flavor of music. Look her up on Facebook, Twitter, You Tube. I was home about 9 and had to work the photos for her social sites that night. Post production done at 2 AM sent via WeTransfer to her manager. Off to bed.

 Day starts 9:00AM ends 2:30AM

Day 3

Preparation for Friday nights Hangar dance shoot and following airshow shoot. Now if you've never been to the Chilliwack Flight-fest hangar dance and dinner you are missing something amazing. The food is incredible with a full steak dinner with baked potato and Chilliwack grown corn on the cob. After the dinner there is an evening mini performance by some of the performers flying the next day. Shoot into the evening, have a few beverages, home late , do post on photos that are needed for the next day bed.

 Day starts 8:00 Am ends 2:00AM

Day 4

Start the day shooting the Flight-fest volunteers setting up for the day. A pancake breakfast for the community and then on with the show. Now this is my second year covering the event and it is a true honor to be the exclusive photographer for the event. Between B25 Mitchel bomber, spitfire, wing walker and stunt planes this was a photographers dream. The weather was amazing and the photo ops even more so.

Day starts at 6:30 AM ends 10:00pm

Now comes all the editing and when you shoot that many venues in that short a period of time it is very critical to get the best from your manual settings as you can so there is very little editing to be done. By Thursday, and after working at my other full time job 36 hours, my editing is done and all photos are in the hands of the clients. They are happy. I am happy. Now onto a new photographic day.

Getting Social Media in Gear

Over the past couple of weeks, I've been talking with friends and colleagues about blogging and its importance. A couple have been surprised to learn that I blog about my work, but I'm more stunned to discover how many professionals don't use social media at all, and the excuses they have. No time, poor writing ability, the infamous writers block. In reality, there are a ton of things that can stop you from using social media to its full potential. Excuses have never been more easy to come by.

But a social network is just that, a network, and if you're willing to use it that way it will only benefit you.

Today, having a social media presence is so very important and is often underused. Personally, I've been working pretty hard at improving this aspect of my work, and you're right -- it's not always easy. But it is important. Anyone who believes starting up a photo business is just taking a few shots will soon learn how much more there is to the business the second they try to market their work. Clients want to know what to expect, they want to know what you've worked on, they want to know you're both serious and passionate about what you do. and perhaps most of all they want to know if they're going to get along with you. These are all elements that social media is practically designed to help you ace.

That being said, it can easily get overwhelming; there are many social media sites begging for new members, and the first task is differentiating the useful ones from the ones that will just waste your time. Social media is important, but by no means should it be taking up the majority of your time.

My three go-to must-haves are Facebook, Twittter, and this personal/professional blog. I try to give the three of them my attention at least weekly, Twitter and Facebook probably even more frequently.

The thing you'll want to work towards (something I'm only putting together now, myself) is a dedicated website. It goes without saying that this is a ton more work than just updating a Facebook status once in a while -- you'll want galleries of your work, an incorporated blog, contact and pricing information, and not to mention the fact that content needs to stay fresh and current so clients are interested in going back to see it and search engines will continue to monitor it.

I recommend sticking mainly to those three: Facebook, Twitter, and a blog/website. If you're a social media whiz, you can dive into Instagram, Pinterest, 500px, Reddit -- the list goes on. Just remind yourself that updating social media isn't your job, although it is a great excuse to procrastinate doing any real photography work.

Even if you hate taking advice and you hate change and you hate social media, I still highly recommend that you make the leap into it if you're serious about your business. I was a stubborn hold-out for quite a while, and when I decided to finally get into the game I felt (and still do, some days) that I was a long ways behind. There's definitely a learning curve, and I stumbled sometimes and took a while to catch on to the way some things worked. But in the end, it's absolutely worth it -- even if you hate it, it's a great way to keep eyes on your work, including your own. You'll find yourself keeping to a schedule and multitasking better, not just within social media but also in your photography projects.