Motivation Monday: Ruby Joon Part II
Ruby Joon the Interview Part II — Michelle and Rebbecca share what makes them special and provide even more inspiration!
What made you take that journey from being someone who took photos to being a photographer?
MICHELLE: when i realized that taking photos made me feel alive again, and inspired and happy. i realize now that being a photographer has done so much for me personally. i love the high i get after a shoot, or delivering a package to a client. or getting their emails after they see the images.
REBECCA: The thing is, I don’t know! I just know it happened. I decided at a very young age, that I would be an artist. In high school, my best friend and I pretended to have our own commercial art company and we’d design logos and signs and all sorts of fun things. Somewhere along the line, I chose photography (or it chose me) and for years after that, I would dive into it half-heartedly, then go back to ‘safe’. Then dip the toe in again, then…back to ‘safe’. About 8 years ago, I guess I got serious. And I found that ‘safe’ was no longer appealing. And I was surprised that I was still at it without faltering, this time FULL heartedly. I noticed I was improving! I was learning some business skills! That was it. I was hooked. That was the beginning of the real journey. Finally!
What’s your favourite blog/flickr stream/place to go for fun?
MICHELLE: i have so many. i think i have about 100 in my favorite list. depending on my mood i click and check. i don’t like subscribing to blog posts. i like it to be random. i love to click on my favorite list and see if its updated. but a few that stick out and they all shoot with what i consider life, emotion and real moments…. are stace, tara whitney, sheye, i adour anna kuperburg. love the bebbs. i am totally inspired by richard and amy of redleaf. i could go on and on, i like i said i am really a mixed bag. it truly depends on my mood and what i am shooting at the time. in the summer i love looking at wedding blogs and couple work. Fall – it’s families and kid stuff.
REBECCA: Hmm. I do have my favorites of inspiring blogs and sites, but only a small handful. I know this is going to sound silly, but it’s true! Beyond Images is one of my favorite places to go. Because it’s a safe place where we can get great feedback and constructive criticism from other professionals. There’s so much support and sooo much to learn there. It’s a small forum and I love that!
When you are laying in bed brainstorming about your business, what aspect of your business do you think about most often (other than how behind you are)?
MICHELLE: another crazy good question. i do not think of our shoots coming up. i mean i used to stress about them but now… i don’t. I feel secure enough in my art that spontaneity can be a big part of it. at night though, i think about where we can go with our business. i brainstorm about how to package our stuff. how to present it on the blog. ways to grow and branch out in our business and then i am dying to wake up and tell rebecca in the morning… LOL
REBECCA: This is an annoying aspect of my ‘night before a shoot’ time. It is not stressful or nerve wracking, it’s just on my mind. So, all these great ideas, locations, poses are flying through my mind and keeping me awake! Clearly my days are too jam packed to allow thinking! So, it all comes at me at night. Some of the greatest ideas come at 4am!
Do you do anything special for your clients to show them that you appreciate their business?
MICHELLE: we do do special things for our clients. we do random things. we always include gift prints in their packages. never tell them its coming. just package up some stuff and surprise them.
REBECCA: Yes, definitely! We truly appreciate their business and will spontaneously send our clients a gift or include goodies along with the final product. We love to do that! If it’s fitting, we try to make the treats specifically geared towards the couple themselves.
Just for fun, what phrase or phrases do you find yourself using all the time with your clients when you are photographing them?
REBECCA: Oh, this is funny! As I think about it, it makes me laugh, because there are definitely some good ones at times. Often times clients are nervous and we constantly hear: “I’m not photogenic”, so because we know they actually are photogenic, we’ll take a shot of them and ask: “Wanna see how gorgeous?” and show them the back of the camera. Either they’re being polite, or they’re really impressed. Hard to say! LOL! But really! They ARE gorgeous!
This can be photography related or not… but what do you want to be remembered for? In the photog community – with your clients – amongst your friends… any or all.
TOGETHER: We really, really want our clients to have an experience with us. Planning a wedding can be stressful and all consuming. We want to take care of everything photography related, so our clients can let go of that part and trust us completely. We want them to have fun, above all, and we want to be remembered for all the little things that we bring to that experience! (This goes for commercial work too – not just weddings.)
We never, ever want to add to the stress of someone’s big day. Ever. Depending on certain factors, from initial consultation until last delivery, we can see our clients up to nine times. Then we cry when we leave them, because we’ve become attached! J
What ‘boundaries’ have you had to learn to set as you have continued to grow in this profession?
MICHELLE: i am learning boundaries. as i get busier i am starting to realize that my time has to come at a price. i am spending more and more time away from my family and friends and for that… there has to be a reward. it has to be joy and it has to be financial. otherwise there really is no reason. i could have stayed working in the job i was in, with the cushy paycheques and benefits. but now i realize that i can not give my self away for free. because my husband and children pay that price. they have been so amazing as i have figured out this business and spent way too much time figuring it out and now its time to make it work. it is working, i have a wonderful partner. AMAZING partner. amazing family and i love love love what i do.
REBECCA: I say this all the time: Being nice, doesn’t mean working for free. Being nice, means being nice. But this is business and it’s an expensive one! You can work for what you’re worth, still pay your bills, and still have a great connection and a good relationship with your clients. It’s fun to give gifts and bonuses to your clients. It is not fun to take out a loan to pay the hydro bill.
I think developing boundaries is difficult for so many photographers. In this day and age, where digital cameras are everywhere, and there are photographers on every corner, we need to remember that we have experience, and expertise and talent that we’re bringing to a client. People also assume that digital photography is less expensive. It’s not! It’s more expensive – digital technology changes so quickly that camera, lenses, computer and software upgrades are necessary much more frequently than the old film camera that lasted 20 years. And location photographers still have insurance, fees, advertising, marketing materials, peripheral equipment, utilities and more that count as overhead. So, the boundaries are necessary, if you want to have a successful business. Also, turning it all off at 6pm is also a good idea. (yeah right!) And one of the wonderful things about having a partner, is that sometimes, we need to straighten each other out! When you love your job this much, it’s hard to believe you can charge money! How lucky are we?
This entry was posted on Monday, July 27th, 2009 at 9:02 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
