Shoot to Thrill

In case you didn't see my photography blog posting, Facebook pimping, etc. yesterday, here's the skinny on what's going on with me, in terms of Doing Photography For The Buck$:

First off, my business with Ben is basically done; I'm finishing off the weddings we have left for the year, and we're splitting up the gear and the debt. (yes, there's debt. Lucky me.) I know, you're probably thinking it's because we broke up, but it isn't. Our styles have definitely diverged in the three-or-so years since we started this thing, and we want different things from our photographic pursuits. As far as what genres we like and dislike, the only real overlap we have left anymore is ad/promo shooting.

Fact is, Ben needs to answer to his Explorer side to be happy, which (in my opinion) kind of runs counter to the stability necessary to build a business. And, well, even when we were still together, the same few problems cropped up repeatedly behind-the-scenes on the business, and the headache and stress was just not worth it. Still, it's been a sane and amicable parting of ways, thus far, so it's good. It was an educational ride. :)

I'd already started laying a bit of groundwork for my own studio, and I'd planned on doing it all by myself, but I began to discover that there's a severe limitation on what I can do on my own. I have a finite amount of time and energy, and these past few weeks have been so insanely busy that I'm barely surviving. It reminds me of times in the past when I was working so hard I literally made myself sick, and I know I can't go back to that. To really get my own thing going, I'd have to go back to working constantly, taking awful care of my health and sanity, and being a shitty friend, and I can't hang with that. The sacrifice is far too huge.

Right around the time I was starting to arrive at that realization, theamazingjosh threw an offer on the table: he and Melissa were looking for a new partner, someone who'd throw themselves full-force into the business, who'd be a prominent, distinct, and unique member of the team, who'd bring new energy and ideas into the fold. We talked a lot about it, about where we wanted to go, and found that we want the same things, have a lot of ideas, and a lot of desire to make things happen. And they're not asking me for anything crazy like quitting The Job tomorrow, or signing all of my work away to them, or becoming part of some monolithic brand that masks all of the individuals behind it.

So, long story short, I decided to throw in with them, and once that started to sink in, I already felt less overwhelmed and more optimistic. And, after our work session a couple nights ago, I'm feeling even more confident about this choice than ever. Being in the right place at the right time can sometimes make or break you, so I hope this is the Make, for all of us.

At the outset, my portrait and wedding work will be offered through my new partnership, and I'll keep doing the fashion and promotional work under my own label. We're throwing the majority of our energy into gearing up the senior portrait business right now, but I'm figuring we'll set up some kind of fashion/promo division at a later date, once the time becomes available for it.

I'm genuinely excited for the first time in a long time. This will be good. :)