We've both been hired on at a new 9-5 office job, which starts today! You might get to thinking, if they are photographers who are trying to build their photography business in one of those most competitive markets in the USA, why are they wasting their time with a 9-5?
A couple reasons, actually. One, to continue building out our photo gear kit. We have very good gear right now, but we have run into a bit of a lack of selection as we have been out there. If camera lenses are to a photographer as a brush is to a painter, we would very much like to have a couple more brushes, and lots of time to practice with them. This is a minor one, but we feel it's important that we have reliable access to whatever creative supplies we might feel we need. Hence, the dedicated darkroom in our small living space and the cabinet full of wacky vintage film cameras that we love to put some film through.
Two, better schedules than working in food service or similar industries, which all invariably ask for people to be there during the best times to photograph: late afternoon/early evening, and weekends. At this new gig, we will be done by 5 (It's actually an 8:30 to 4:30 once the training is complete) Monday through Friday, and able to run sessions much more reliably and consistently in the after hours. We're definitely excited about this, not to mention having days off together so we can go on more motorcycle adventures!
Three, continue networking and learning about business. This is more of a background activity for me (Anthony) but since I'm the one that does most of the behind-the-scenes kind of stuff (numbers, etc) here at Voir L'Amour, I need to continue pushing myself in this regard and learning about how to simplify and streamline our business model to maximize our fun and keep our enthusiasm high about the whole thing. So far that has been quite easy as we have had great clients (like you!), and haven't hit any real snags. But, as we expect to continue getting busier, the stress level may rise a bit and I'd like to stay running smoothly.
Lastly and probably most importantly, we will now be less than 3 miles away from our very favorite Indian deli/restaurant, Punjabi Tandoor! If you're ever in the area, let's get lunch!
