Wootness | the blog of christine walsh-newton

#14 in the series, 30 Ways of Wootness.

One of the early lessons I learned was about overshooting. Oh. My. Gosh. My early years where one hour sessions resulted in 400 captures kept me busier than I wanted to be on the computer and session proofing became a chore I greatly despised. I don’t know what the heck was wrong with me, but I wound up with 6-8 shots of each variation of each post. What a horror! In the beginning, I remember being hard put to come up with 50 proofs. Oh man. The memories are bad.

But, over the years, I’ve vastly improved, so the number of viable captures has increased, but I’ve also started shooting with a purpose. I will refine the pose, background, lighting etc before I push the shutter at all. It results in way less images captured per session, but darn near 100% are saleable. It results in less images to cull through for the final selection and the opportunity to present the best of the best. Less work, less stress.

In order to keep myself in-check, I use 2G cards for my sessions. They only hold 120 or so images from my camera, which is way more than a one hour session should result in using the shooting method I now employ. If my camera stops shooting because the card is full, I know I’m overshooting. 2G cards help me reign in my “spray and pray” tendencies, you know?

 

#13 in the series, 30 Ways of Wootness.

While I’ve been on my Facebook/online break, I’ve done some extra things with the time I’ve saved. One of those things was a session just for the heck of it. I wasn’t trying to learn something new, I was just having fun with Amy, an old friend visiting from out of state. She had recently celebrated her 2nd year as a breast cancer survivor, so we had an afternoon of shopping, sweets from the bakery, chinese food from the deli, some local wine and a session in the studio just for the fun of it. I only wish I had thought to take one of us together. Oh well, maybe next time.

So, put all the stressful stuff aside and make time to just shoot something for the fun of it. This was pretty much a spur of the moment idea a few days before hand, so it doesn’t have to be elaborate. It was a lot of fun for me and reminded me of what a joy this profession can be when I forget about sales, marketing and some of the other not-so-fun parts of being a photographer.

#12 in the series 30 Ways of Wootness.

Yes, I’ve been missing in action. No, I did not get banned from Facebook. Yes, it just so happens that Facebook had me under a 7 day restriction (not allowed to send friend requests or PMs to people I didn’t know) because someone reported that they did not know me outside of Facebook when I friend-requested them. Yeah, whatever, like we all personally know every single person we friend request. Whatever. I’m over it.

But, in the midst of all of that, I was already on a self-imposed Facebook restriction. As of 8AM on Friday, March 29th, I decided to go offline as much as possible and just take a break. I found that I was letting things I read on Facebook hype me up. I was getting angry, sad and frustrated with a lot of what I saw scrolling through the news feed. And I asked myself, “What do these people matter?” These people, most of whom I don’t know “in real life”, that Facebook introduced me to, who says I’m not supposed to be friends with them, well, heck, maybe Facebook knows what it’s talking about, you know?? 😉 I was letting their political, religious and sometimes just stupid rants and stati updates throw me into a tizzy.  Time to nip that in the bud.

So 17 days later… where am I?

Oh my gosh. I am so de-stressed, it’s a miracle. My work is caught up, my house is clean, my office is clean and Christine is a happy camper. I have found so many more hours in my day that weren’t there before. I still catch myself doing a quick catch-up with friends via the smart phone, but the hours and hours I spent online with the laptop have been greatly reduced.

So, try it. It’s brought me more Wootness in 17 days than I’ve had in the past year.

#11 in the series 30 Ways of Wootness.

You know, there comes a time when lines are pushed and tweaked and bent and flexed and finally… they’re crossed. And you just gotta say “I’m sorry, that’s against studio policies.”

And that shall bring you Wootness.

You designed your packages and pricing around your financial needs and goals. There are certain costs you must cover and overhead must be accounted for. The next time you discount a package for someone, remember that. You have a reason for your pricing, and it’s valid. If you tweak things for one person, you’ll wind up tweaking for everyone. That’s a decision you are going to regret.

The same goes for your hours of operation. Perhaps you’ve decided that Sundays are for family. Period. Then for crying out loud, don’t shoot on a Sunday when asked. If you start making exceptions now, you’ll make them down the road, too. You may as well have saved the time you spent deciding on your business hours.

If you only shoot a certain type of photography, you have definitely made a conscientious decision, as those choices are not made lightly. So, if you don’t photograph newborns, don’t be tempted to bend your rules just this once for a friend. What, do you think it will come out better for a friend than for a complete stranger? What exactly is the mind set on that one?

If you went so far as to develop policies, guidelines, pricing menus, etc. for your studio, stick to them. Do what you say and say what you do. That’s just good common sense and will serve you well in the long run. It will lower the amount of stress in your life and enhance your Wootness quotient.

#10 in the series, 30 Ways of Wootness

Today’s WOW is brought to you by Martha Stewart. Sort of.

The other day, while I was futzing around with the living room, I accidentally put together this NO. Mr. Wootness noticed it, mentioned it, and as I was on my way to retrieve the items and deposit them artistically elsewhere, I changed my mind and decided to leave it that way as a reminder.

I need to say “No” way more often than I do.

One of the first things I began to say “no” to were requests for donations. Oh my gosh, when I first went into business I was inundated with requests for freebies for charities. Gift certificates, sessions, etc. That’s dwindled off. I assume it’s because I started turning down these requests and was removed from the “sucker” list, or more likely, because there are 30+ other photographers in my area that can be hit up, instead

I decided that each year I would choose a non-profit agency to help. And that agency must be one I was familiar with. Right now, Hospice is on that short list because of the care they helped my husband’s family give his parents. There are a few other agencies I would help, if asked, but for the most part, I turn down these requests.

One of the reasons is budget. There’s only so much free stuff I can give away before it starts impacting my bottom line. So, there’s a budget in place and once I exceed that, I’m done donating for the year.

Another reason is that sometimes the “winners” of the donated item are not clients that I normally would get. If the item is “won” in a rafle or door prize situation, it will be valued way less than an item that they bid on in a live action. Sorry, folks, but silent auction items aren’t that cool, either. So, you’re much more likely to get a donation for a live auction that is well publicized. At least I’m guaranteed that the client coming through the door has attached a value to what I donated and they respect my work and time. That’s WAY less stress than the other type of client and is much more likely to bring me Wootness.

Things I need to learn to say “No” to:

• Requests for types of work that I don’t do
• Requests to shoot session on days that I am closed
• Requests from friends that ask for something outside of what I give clients
• Requests for my time that will be uncompensated

So, what it is that YOU should learn to say “No” to more often?

#9 in the series 30 Ways of Wootness

Yep, the secret is out. I watch Grey’s Anatomy. I really don’t have all that much time for television shows, but ever since season 1 of Grey’s, I’ve been a pretty regular watcher.

So, what does that have to do with anything?

Because of my business and the schedule I keep, I regularly miss out on fun stuff. I made it a rule a long time ago that every television season I would pick out ONE series and make the time in my schedule to watch it. And that time was sacred. One hour a week that, without fail, would be mine.

So, Thursdays at 9PM EST has been my little oasis of selfishness since 2006.

Now, I’m not a die-hard fan and don’t go crazy if I miss an episode, but I make sure, as much as possible, that I am available on Thursday evenings. It is the only day/time that I will turn down a photography gig. Even when I shot evening events in the past, Thursday evenings were off-limits unless I could get home by 8PM or so.

Yeah, that’s kind of stupid, but I don’t care. In the grand scheme of things, nothing will happen if I miss it. I can catch up with it online if that happens. It’s not so much the show, but the fact that I have carved out a space in my schedule for something that brings me pleasure.

So, if you have something that brings a smile to your face, make time for it. Make a regularly scheduled date with yourself and don’t let photography interfere with it.

#8 in the series 30 Ways of Wootness

This article originally had a completely different title and message. But you know what? Screw that. Sometimes, when there’s no Wootness to be had, you just need to take a break and calm down.

So, the next time you feel inclined to Wootness somebody’s ass, which is pretty much how I’m feeling right now, take a break and step away from the computer. And Facebook. And Twitter. And email. And your phone.

Just. Step. Away.

Sometimes, to get Wootness, you’ve got to create a path for it to enter your life. And if you’re too busy being pissed off about something, Wootness ain’t gonna find ya.

Take 5 and come back tomorrow.

#7 in the series 30 Ways of Wow

It’s Sunday. Some of you have already decided to take the day off because that’s what you do on a Sunday. But some of us, nay, most of us, will find our ways into our studios and offices today to do a little catch-up work. Or a lot of it.

Give yourself a break, take the day off and treat yourself to some much deserved “me” time.

The easiest way to lose the joy in what you do is to do it every single day, all day long. Take a break to strip off the”photographer” label and just  be you.

Go to church, go to a yard sale, sleep in, hang out in the hot tub. I don’t care what it is, just stay the heck out of the studio and off the smart-devices so you can’t be contacted by clients.

See you Monday!

#6 in a series: 30 Ways of Wootness

Remember the new skill you learned as a result of WOW#2 ?

Practice it. We all know you didn’t get it perfect the first time and in fact, you may have only barely learned it. So, get back out to the studio and try it again. This time make it harder, or refine the shoot you did the first time. Just do it again. Your goal should be continual improvement. Skills don’t improve through osmosis, they improve through practice, so get on with it!