This is a topic that’s in debate and to be honest with you, there’s really no one definite answer. Nevertheless, (love using some good vocabulary/transitions words sometimes) I will tell you what I personally think.

First of all, what does specializing mean? When I first started, I did family, children, newborn, senior, small events and then weddings. I loved it all at first, but then when I tried to focus on marketing, I felt overwhelmed. I’ve decided to get into weddings end of April, and until then I was focusing only on portraits and was doing pretty well. I was busy almost every other weekend, but wedding is totally different. This was kind of same as trying to eat 10 different types of food at the same time, and then not being able to enjoy either one, and having a hard time digesting each one. Not such a good example, but that’s how I feel. I know, I always use food as a reference.

Then I really started thinking about my approach, strategies, and what I enjoyed the most. Finally, only a couple of months ago I realized that I really enjoy shooting weddings, and children. Seniors are fun too, but newborn sessions? Not me. There was still a big questions, now what? How do I market myself? What is my brand. Then Julie Story came into my life as a blessing. She helped me focus solely on my brand, and finally I have a focused brand now.

Now my main focus is wedding. Marketing and business side of wedding is very overwhelming, but I am able to focus on that now since portraits are not one of my primary focus. Of course I will shoot portraits, but won’t market myself for it.

Since I’ve narrowed down my focus, I can really think about who’s my ideal client? Budget? Location? Ideal wedding?

There are a lot of super man and women out there who are capable of focusing on all different parts of photography and still rise above others. If you are one of them then go for it, but if you are like me, then think about it carefully, what do you enjoy the most? Then think about branding. I’ve learned a lot about branding, I will share more about branding soon.

Can’t believe 2 nights ago I didn’t know what to write about, and now I am on a roll. I think since I am a teacher and love teaching what I know, if I focus on educating others then I will have enough to write about. I would suggest finding out what’s your strength, who are you. Then focus on topics related to that side of you. Let’s see how it goes.

Here’s an image from my first styled shoot.

AZ Showiteers are the coolest people. No Kidding ! Check these out. Showiteers are the people that are somehow connected to showit either by getting their websites through them or working for them or any other way. It was a lot of fun hanging out with these people last week, and we didn’t need any booze or dancing to have fun because we are just so awesome ! Some of the big names of the wedding industry were there too which made us even cooler than we already were such as David Jay and Promise Tangeman-Wurzell.

Thanks to Trevor Dayley for setting up the photobooth. I wish I had the funniest picture of all. The one where it took I think at least 3 or 4 showiteers to attach a lens to the camera.

The girls came up with this idea then the boys followed us. Who do you think did better? I think the guys win, but we modeled for them.

I’ve been thinking about different approaches to photography business for quiet sometime, and that’s why I haven’t been blogging. I am not done with my thinking yet. There are many different approaches, and it’s really impossible to say which approach is right or wrong and better or worse. Jasmine Star’s approach is widely accepted, and I tried to follow it too. She does put a lot out there, and without any doubt we all can say what a wonderful writer she is. Her wonderful writing portrays her wonderful personality so beautifully. This approach is working for so many other photographers, but then I’ve noticed how this approach is not working for some others that have a similar personality like I do. I’ve always been an introvert person. I should call myself an introvert social butterfly. I talked to other photographers about this and many photographers said that they are not sure what to write about on their blogs. The problem is not what to write about. The problem is we are not too comfortable sharing everything through our writing.

There are those that share a lot through their photos. Most people are visual, and if a person is not a wonderful writer then sharing their lives through pictures is a great approach to marketing and branding. I don’t have the time or opportunities to take pictures everyday. I have a full time job, and I can’t share too much about my job since a lot of the info are very sensitive, and I don’t have a husband to write about how wonderful he is or a kid that’s very funny and cute, or a dog.

David Jay said that most people are on facebook, and the number of blog readers are declining. If you think about where you get more traffic, you will notice facebook. Then photographers that are very new are afraid of quiting blogging because you never know. One of the best clients might be a blog reader.

Then what is the best approach? If you are in the same boat as I am then we don’t fit in either one of the above categories, but doesn’t this mean that we are doomed? No. Hang in there, and wait for my next blog. And to be honest with you, I have no idea what my next blog will be about, but it’s coming very soon.

I’ve known this girl since she was only 3 months old. I can’t believe she’s five now and goes to school. Where did the last 5 years go? Isn’t she a cutie? She knew exactly how to pose in front of the camera, how to smile and look, AND how to make Faria get her excercise for the week by chasing her. I had to play peek a boo so that she would do some tricks for my camera. Check these out.

This next photo has a cute story. She was trying to give me a model look for awhile. After I showed her the photos, she didn’t really like how she looked without her beautiful smile. So, she wanted to retake the photos. We ended up with a whole bunch like this one.