One Last Exam

Well it's finally here! Tomorrow is my very last exam through my academic college! I am so excited finally have reached this milestone in my life. It's hard though because I am not one of those people who has a super stable and realistic plan for what to do next. My friends seem to either be going to graduate schools or know exactly what field or position they will be working in, where as I am a little different. Sure I might seek and office or marketing job and I might be totally happy with that, but the dreamer in me still wants to work on making my Etsy shop and (eventually) my photography grow into a career. I am planning to finish my photography certification now that I will have more time to devote, and really see where it can take me. I know it's a more risky path and I feel worried that I will be judged by it all the time. My friends are very supportive of it but I often doubt myself.

This is one of the most exciting times in my life, but also one of the most scary. At every other transition phase I had a safety net of school. The transition from high school to college was nerve-wracking but i knew I still had four years of a plan. It's different now, I graduate next week and it feels kind of like I am finally jumping without a safety net. The possibilities are very exciting but the unknown is a little stressful.

I want to thank all of my family and friends over their support through all these years in school. It was a wonderful experience and I can't believe it is coming to a close. My education won't stop here though, I will be working on the photography class, possibly working on my adobe certifications, and chasing dreams. Regardless on if this photography and design business is something I pursue right away or five years down the line, or if it remains just a hobby forever  I'm still going to work on bettering myself and enjoying it!

It will be very interesting to see what my post in six months to a year from now say...who knows where I'll be!

Graduation Incoming...

So it wasn't easy but it looks like I will be able to graduate in December after all. This semester will probably be tough, but I know it will be worth it to be able to graduate sooner. I am a bit worried about it making it really hard to work on my photography classes, but I'm just going to have to accept that I may progress at NYIP a little slower than planned but I will have plenty of time left after graduation to finish up as well. I am going to do my best to stay driven this semester and to make time to work on my photography lessons when possible.

I am so blessed to have the support of my family, my boyfriend, and my awesome friends, I am so excited to see what the future holds for me. It feels like I'm looking down a road to the real world that is getting shorter and shorter. The excitement is really building, I know the next few years are going to be filled with some very memorable milestones and I am  going to work hard now to make all those things that much sweeter!

Kacy Haydel, Certified Photographer?

I did it, I have officially enrolled with New York Institute of Photography for an online photograph program! I haven't gotten to do much work towards my first photo project yet but so far I am really enjoying the reading material and I am really excited to start applying what I am learning. (Note to self: stop being lazy and get out and shoot, shoot shoot!) I love the photo below but I can't wait to get some nice backdrops to use on my backdrop stand!

I start back at college (not NYIP, my academic college) for the spring semester in a couple days and am beyond stressed about it. I just found out that getting my degree in mass communications will take longer than I thought but if I do an individualized study plan I can likley graduate in December.

This is how I realized that I'd rather graduate early and follow my dream of opening my own design/photography studio than get my journalism degree. Tomorrow I find out if I can indeed graduate this December, I think if I find out otherwise I will be crushed but I am going to try to find the silver lining in whatever the outcome. Although this change will be a new challenge and people may judge me for making yet another tweak to my degree, I'm continuing to learn about myself and grow.

I hope to someday have a home studio complete with a nice office area with my mac, my wacom tablet for easier photoshop, and a nice printer so that I can start printing invitations and photos instead of doing digital only. I dream about having a cute little building in my backyard to give me the perfect separation from work and home life. I used to think of this as only a fantasy, something I would only do if I couldn't find a "real" career, but this twist of events has really made me think. I've decided I need to chase this dream. Sure, I may need to get a steady job in order to save up and make this studio possible but it will all be worth it to be making a living by doing something I love.

Here's an invitation I designs, available at my etsy shop along with a few of my favorite shots from this cute little man's birthday party. I want to thank his awesome mommy and my good friend for trusting me to design his invitations. It pushed me to create one of my favorite designs yet!

Halloween Sessions Part 2

Well, It wasn't a complete failure. I had 3 parents/4 kids show up to my second week of photos. Now I had fun, but I am far from content with how the shoot went overall. However, this week instead of sulking in my failures I am going to focus on what I learned and what I will be able to do better next time!

Some things I improved on from last week:
-Set up of the backdrops, I moved some things around on my backdrop to be at more appropriate heights for a child shoot.
-I doubled up the backdrop on one of my "stations"

Things I need to do better:

-Backdrops: It was my first shoot so I used tablecloths and scene setters instead of appropriate backdrops. This was one of the hardest parts of the shoots for me, there was really nothing I could do about it. I was forced to try to edit glare and wrinkles out of my images which really hurt my productivity and overall images. I will definitely be investing in a better material backdrop for my next shoot to save me editing time and also the embarrassment I felt when showing off poor attempts at removing the wrinkles in editing.

-Positioning: Although I tried to make sure I got the entire backdrop in frame I sometimes had it crooked. In my group shots I had children too close to the edge which made it hard to crop and edit effectively.

-Being Aggressive and Overall Interaction:
I need to KNOW what show I want to get and take charge. I let the parents have the run this time, and although it was for the most part okay, its my JOB to get the shots that they want. I need to give directions better and be less shy in my interactions.

I am really hard on myself and felt that both of these were just inexcusable mistakes, but looking back I'm feeling a little less defeated. I haven't had any formal classes and I was honest with my customers about this and charged a very low price. The only thing that worries and saddens me as that these clients may not be repeat customers because of the quality of the backdrops and some of the final images. Also I worry that other people will not want to give me a chance if I do Christmas photos because they will think that these weren't that great and conclude that the Christmas ones won't be much either.

Some of the better shots:

I really want to enroll in an online photography certificate program so that I can really start to learn the technical side of photography and really begin to improve. I just have to see if I can afford it and also if my current college will allow it.

Failure is Tough to Handle

I realize that  you are supposed to learn from your failures but sometimes it seems to push you down to a lower point than you started. That's how I am feeling about my latest photography venture.  I decided to do some cheap ($25) Halloween Mini Sessions thinking it would be a good way to get some practice in, and since it was affordable I figured I would get a decent amount of people to come out--even if it was just family and friends.

I planned to do photos on two Sundays, last week and then this week. Last week I only had three people planned but two didn't show up, I was disappointed but not worried. I got my "test-run' in and thought that once people saw some of my shots they would be more willing to come out to this week's shoot. So far I have been wrong.

Very few people are showing interest and I may have to cancel if I don't get more interest. I just feel terrible, not only do I feel that I'm doing poorly in everyones eyes, but I also feel bad for letting people down. My mom really got behind me on this photo session idea, she even paid for some of my props and I just feel like I have wasted her money and time.

Although I am not ready to give up I am just feeling a bit down on myself. I just gotta keep working and learning and see what happens.

Photography Lesson 1-Intent

I have been having a DSLR for almost a year but it saddens me to say I don't feel that I have LEARNED much. Sure, I am a bit more comfortable with my camera and its functions but I am still not confident when I go out and shoot on deciding on camera settings. Recently however I have really started to get into photography and am starting to dream of opening my own photo and design business after graduation...BUT that means I have A LOT to learn about photography.

Since I am already a college senior studying Mass Communications, I am hesitant to spend a lot on photography programs at the moment. (Although the New York Institute of Photography is tempting me) So until I really decide on what's best, I have found a free resource to use: Best Photo Lessons. I thought it would be cool to document my lessons here so that I will have a cool and accessible way to see my progress. If you decide to complete this course as well be sure to discuss with me in the comments!

So here we go, Lesson 1:Intent

1. Things I like about photography: I like that it is capturing a moment, freezing a moment in time that can never be gotten back, a photography really gives you the best look back into that moment. I like the challenge of getting that great shot, of capturing that emotion. I also like the feeling of pride I get when I share the images and receive positive feedback. I like that photography provides a possibility for a different kind of work environment. I don't see myself content as a 9-5er...maybe I will have to be, but chasing dreams never hurt anyone either.

2. What I want to achieve with photography: Starting small I would really like to gain confidence behind the lens. Right now I am nervous about posing and interacting with my clients. I would like to get a solid grasp on my camera settings so that I can build confidence by knowing that I have the technical knowledge and then be able to feel more secure when posing and shooting my subjects. Dreaming big I would someday love to pursue a career in photography (and design). I would like to have my own home studio that I can decorate for each occasion and just be creative with. Making a living off of photography would be amazing. Through that photography business I would want to interact with people and capture their emotions and traits. I don't want to be some uptight photography that poses people to the "T" (at least not in every shot) I want to be laid back and make people feel comfortable and allow us both to have fun because I think that will capture much more real emotion.

3. Subjects I want to shoot: This is tough, I'd really like to capture a lot of different subjects. I want to travel and capture some cool landscapes or just places from my journeys. I'd like to try and get some nature photos, and animals. Of course I'd also like to get photos of people. I am specifically interested in children as subjects, I think that children just give a lot of room for creativity and provide a unique challenge. Pet photography could also be fun. Oh and I love sports so that could also be a fun venture.

4. How I feel about those subjects: Travel/landscapes-Since I haven't traveled out of the gulf coast area in quite awhile these photographs would represent adventure to me. Exploration. I feel anxious but excited about these types of photos, it would be me widening my horizons and capturing that in a photograph seems very exciting. Nature photos-again these photos can open the door for exploration, but this time I don't have to go very far. Just taking the time to look closer and appreciate the things around me in nature, even in my backyard. They are all miracles and that is pretty inspiring. Things in nature can also be scary such as lizards and lighting...but just because they are scary doesn't mean they wouldn't make stunning photography subjects. Children- These make me nervous. Although I love children I don't have much experience with them and it can sometimes make me uncomfortable, that being said with a little work and loosening up I think I would love children's photography for the creative and fun aspects to it. Pets-I LOVE my pets, and just animals in general. I think that pets are very intriguing because they can't speak to us, yet we form this incredible bond with them. I think the challenge of capturing a pet's personality sounds incredibly fun and rewarding.

Well sorry this was lengthy and text-heavy post, but I really liked how this exercise made me really think through all of my goals and thoughts on photography and helped to bring up feelings about various subjects and aspects that I may have not reflected on otherwise. Did you try this exercise? Did you discover any new feelings?

Next time: Lesson 2 (Basic Exposure)

My Portfolio

This summer I decided to open an Etsy shop. If you don't know about Etsy you MUST check it out, it has pretty much all the wonderful handmade items you could want! At first I was very discouraged because I had kind of got my hopes up too high, but I now usually sell an item or two a week and things are starting to get going. I haven't had as much time to work on new items as I would like to, but with some more hard work I do think it can become something. If you are also starting an Etsy shop or any kind of small business I wanted to share some of the things I have done, and plan to do to get off the ground.

1.) Clean up your listings Whether you are using Etsy or another online shop you definitely want to take the time to make your listings look professional. This means photos AND text. I still have work to do on some of my listings, its not the fun part but it is definitely an important one. Buyers want to be CLEAR on what they are buying so you really need to spell it out (this will also cover you later if they say "I didn't know" Put your policies right in the description to avoid trouble later. For example, I sell digital invitation files so I state the item description, time it will take to be completed,what size the item is, and also clearly put that I recommend sending it to a photo center, that the item is not physical etc. So far so good.

Also the pictures need to clearly show your items from different angles. Since my items aren't physical I usually post my JPEG item photo and also another photo of the item on a faux background because it makes it look more real to the buyer but I plan to eventually take photos of physical prints too.

2.) Create a Facebook page dedicated to your business  Although my business page hasn't gotten many followers yet (I haven't paid for advertising yet) it is much better to start with a small following that cares rather than try to bug all your Facebook friends with frequent business posts...trust me they will get annoyed. This also gives you a link to share with your customers so they can keep up with your items in the future. It hasn't lead to many new sells for me yet, but once I get more items I will probably promote my page with FB advertising and hopefully it will spark some new sales.

3.) Business Cards this is particularly important if you are shipping out physical items. You can get some basic cards printed at places like Office Depot or online via Vista print and they start out rather cheap! Vista print often offers x amount  of basic cards for $10. I am currently working on creating my own design but most sites will give you a template to customize if you aren't into making your own. It would be a great idea to attach a business card to a nice thank you note when you send out physical items. Since my items are digital I will probably use my physical cards to tap into the local customer base by doing some personal handouts and maybe attaching some sample files for them to see. 

4.) BLOG While the purpose of this blog is not for me to promote my business, it does offer me ways to network for it. Posting "how to" videos and subtly promoting my items can generate interest. Also if you get a decent following you can start networking with other bloggers and doing guest post for one another. I am no where near that point now but I really hope to be there after some hard work and a few successful posts! Blogs do take time and effort so don't think it will quickly bring in lots of customers, but if you are in it for the long haul it is definitely a worthwhile time investment. 

There are many more options and ways to promote, but I think this is a good starting point. If you have any questions or tips for me please leave a comment! If you want to check out some of my designs you can  view my shop here!