But What Will You Do All Winter they said.

When I announced that I was taking this winter off from all things photography my inbox exploded.

What will you do all winter?

What will you do for income?

Won’t you be bored?

I actually laughed a lot at this. And then it got me thinking. What will I actually do? And maybe I will actually be bored. Does being bored even exist in life these days?

It definitely got my wheels turning and stressing. But then I took a step back and realised why I made this decision in the first place.

Summers can be busy. Heck I would say from May until November is busy. So taking 6 months off really is not that long at all. I made the decision to do this because of a few reasons.

1) My son.

Mason is my #1. He always will be. I remember when I started specializing in weddings. I pictured it being the perfect job to have while raising a family. I generally only work evenings and weekends where he would either be sleeping or with family and friends or his Daddy. I would only work half the year and not during the week during the day. That is a ton of time with him. Teaching him and helping him grow. Building a bond like no other. I thought how fortunate I would be if I were able to do that. And here I am with my 2 year old spending days in the snow and sunshine. Or days cuddling and watching Frozen on repeat. I get to do that because of the job I have. So this winter, that’s what I did. My days were full of making memories with him. My mind wasn’t a million other places. It was right there with him. Focused and Present. If you follow my personal Instagram you will see it has been such a great winter for us and for that I am thankful.

2) A recharge.

I will admit that I am exhausted when wedding season is finished. It can be taxing. Some will say, well you only work half the year so why are you so tired? But those are the people that don’t really know what goes on in this industry. Once the season starts it is go time. From start to finish the days are long, the nights go on forever and there are a million things to do. You are running on fumes and you are being pulled in so many different directions. Not to mention, for me, the season ends with a TON of family sessions while still finishing wedding season. It is AMAZING and exhausting (disclaimer NOT complaining one bit). So the winter months for me is to recharge my batteries. Take a breath. Step back and look at what worked last year and what challenges I would like to give myself for the upcoming year.

3) Remember how I said I take the winter off. Ya, that doesn’t happen haha.

Contradicting to #1 and #2. Yup! But hear me out. In my eyes there is never time off when you are in the creative field. Your mind will never stop running. Ideas will always be coming in and you will always be looking for more. You will always have ideas on how to grow. Ideas for projects. Your mind will always wander. So this winter I chose a few things (ok way too many things) to focus on. I chose SEO to be a huge focus of mine this year. Since Facebook is being terrible with posts I am definitely looking at other resources to get my name out there more. One being setting up my NEWSLETTER so that people aren’t missing out on upcoming dates and promotions. You can sign up for that HERE!  I also made a focus on my customer experience and making a few special things for my booked clients.

So as you can see, I have things to do. I am not bored (well most days) and I still have income coming in because of the way I do my contracts.

This winter has been about family, the business part of photography and just being me. I wouldn’t have it any other way!