Hey YALL!!! It’s been quiet here for a while, I know…I’m so sorry about that. Sometimes as a business owner and a woman it’s hard to be able to separate life and work, balance life and work, kids, husbands, house and friends. More often than not we, or I should say I, lose track of the fact that I am human not a superhero.
Y’all like what I did there, didn’t you it’s ok…That’s part of my new direction with this blog and my business. I’ve struggled with intermingling personal posts and just business posts. But in the grand scheme of things I want for you guys to know me not just as the photographer but me as the person, the mom to three beautiful children, the wife to an amazing husband, and more importantly the person that just like everyone else is just trying to make it in this world doing what I love the most. The line between this being a hobby and a living or a job can be blurred at times, and the avenues that we take to make sure we get to where we are going may not always be crystal clear. However at the end of the day finding that direction, forgiving yourself for the mistakes that you’ve made and pressing on with the dreams you have are way worth all the struggle.
For those of you that are just reading I’ll introduce myself, I’m Dana, owner and photographer of d.l.b. photography.
I’m very passionate about what I do for a living, after all it is the GREATEST job EVER! I will admit in the beginning of my journey I wanted to dabble in everything, and like most things you can’t perfect your craft if you are just giving tiny pieces of yourself to several different areas. On September 20th of this year marks 2 years of me taking that step in faith and becoming a photographer full time. In these 2 years I’ve learned to look at myself, notice the good, the bad, and yes even the ugly. I’ve struggled with this blog post because honestly laying everything out on the table for people to read makes someone very vulnerable. I talked to a fellow photographer about blogging personal things as well, and her response was,” Why not? What do you have to lose? You are human, it will show people who you are, where you’ve came from, and where you are going.”
In January of this year, with the love and support of my family, I took the leap and signed the lease on a studio space. Nervous about making it and excited at the same time, I just felt that it was the next step. I was tired of loading and unloading, meeting in coffee shops and not really feeling or having what I needed or wanted to offer to clients according to the direction that I wanted my business to grow. The day the sign went up in front of the building I stood in the yard and cried. God has been so faithful, he has clearly reassured me over and over that he and only he knows the plans he has for me. In July of this year I started feeling that the time to expand the little space that I was renting was coming. I signed a new lease to include a little more of the building.
When you have growth, you will go thru changes. By adding a little more of the building I have started adding to the rest of my vision for d.l.b. photography, by not just putting the props that I’ve wanted for like ever on a “wish list”, but making them readily accessible to you guys. It seemed like I was adding to the never ending “wish list” saying “one day”, or “I love that, but so in so has it”, when my husband so bluntly sat me down and told me, “Honey, it’s business, prop makers are banking on you seeing something that someone else has and wanting to purchase it. If it is going to serve your client’s needs and what they are looking for, make the choice, make the change, add to your business and to the service that you are offering to your clients.” The man is a genius, but don’t tell him I said that 😉
When I first started d.l.b. I wanted to be competitive, wanted to make sure I was offering what the photographer next store could offer and if I’m being honest, that can and will make a person crazy. Another amazing photographer that I look up to more than she knows told me and it still is ringing loudly in my ears “I’m not worried about what my neighbor is doing, it’s not hurting my checkbook if I’m running my business in the way that I want, offering the products I want to offer to my clients, and they are happy. You can only be the best you. Look at where you started and where you are now and move forward from there.” Once that clicked decisions and paths become clearer.
As much as I LOVE everything about photography, I know that I’m not great at it all. So I let the idea of having to be the best go and focus on what stirs my soul, what shows my best, and how am I going to achieve that. I’m moving in the direction of becoming a full service studio, from offering pre session consults, studio/prop tours, and offering certain gowns, dresses, and outfits to meet a stylized shoot if needed. Also offering in person proofing sessions and custom packages with canvas collections. Which means this isn’t a hobby, while it is my passion, its a commitment to being something you want to tell your friends and your family about. It’s an experience from beginning to the end.
After a few months of building, design, a few little melt downs because after all I am a girl…HA I’m excited to be able to show you the addition to the studio.
Thank you to those that have been here from the start, and to those that are just joining in the growth process of my little dream. I’m excited to be able to share with you my dreams and not only my plans but my prayers for the future. I’m excited to see what happens next. I say it all the time My clients ROCK, that’s past, present, and future….
xoxo
D
Photo credit to my awesome photographer friend Virginia Powell with A Cherished Moment Photography
