feeling lost

I wasn't quite sure where to post this but I need some help. I started out doing photography as a hobby my husband was a hockey coach and I needed something to do as I went to practices and games with him. So I have always had a passion for photography Started with the 5100 and a 70-200 and fell in love. I loved shooting hockey and getting "the shot". I started doing engagements for friends and then I did there wedding some seniors, in the mean time my husband being ever so supportive took off with the business side of it new website management software a lot of back end stuff ...that I am of course grateful for. HOWEVER... I feel as though I became a business before I was ready and felt a lot of pressure to preform (not his fault). Now I am lost I still love photography but he no longer coaches and 3 of my last 3 brides I had consultations with verbally committed then decided to go another way...what ever that mean lol I am by no means selling off all of equipment but I can't seem to find "fun" in it anymore I used to be doing something with my cameras everyday

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

I would advise you to take some photoshop courses or watch how to do photoshopping on youtube. Your logo looks kind of thrown together and too simple. There's a difference between snapshots and photographs. Snapshots look like something anybody could replicate. Photos look like they caught the moment perfectly and the light/composition/subjects are nearly flawless. Anybody can take a snapshot, throw their name on it and label themselves a photographer. The problem with that is people/customers can see the difference in quality almost immediately. So when a bride says "we're going another way" they are really saying "we think another photographers portfolio looks better."

Newlyweds win court battle with £1,500 wedding photographer after shoddy pictures include missing heads and car close-ups | Mail Online (Bad wedding photography)


Wedding Photography: 20 Top Photographers & Their Masterpieces ( a few of the top wedding photographers and examples)

That's the problem with turning a hobby into a business.

There is a lot more "business" than fun in it...

It sounds like you need to get your sales pitch down pat so you can allow your enthusiasm for the work to shine through more clearly and clients will Want to work with you.

After all, you are "selling" yourself as much as your services

The one issue I have with your web site is the menu staying visible. IMO a web site is simply a remote portfolio, keep it simple.

I won't get into critiquing your work aside to say I don't care for the white blanket in some of your shots. Either nothing or something patterned might be better.

Perhaps choose something that would become something of a trade mark ?

May I suggest you find something non commercial that you enjoy to shoot, that may help to maintain the "fun"..

Cheers, Don

For the Weddings..Get them to commit in writing and with a deposit..If they break the contract then you still walk away atleast with a profit..Continue to learn and hang in there..Stay busy shooting...I get alittle depressed when I have nothing lined up. Its like going to the GYM...It helps with stress etc..Keep your head up..

If your not ready, Don't go ahead with it. If you don't feel confident in what your doing it will show. Slow down and make it a hobby again. And get back into the business part of it at your own pace. If you don't truly enjoy doing it as a business, than maybe the hobby part is all it will ever be. Me, I love doing it. But I do not do weddings. Seems like allot of pressure that i'm not ready for. Plus I like my weekends to much. Good luck to you.

Photography is about our passion to record what we see thru our eyes. Forget the business end for a while and shoot pictures of things or people or scenes that inspire or move you. Then learn to make these photos the best they can be with good shooting technique and good post processing.
In short, get your mojo back. Then you can return to the business end of it if you don't decide on a different course altogether. Renew your passion and it will carry you forward to become who you were meant to be.

You already know what you have to do. If you're feeling lost, the only solution is to find your way again.

Don't do any jobs for awhile. Once you take the money element out of the equation, you can get back to what you really love to do with your camera. When you accept payment for your work, most of us feel a certain obligation to make images that the client wants. Other people's kids, weddings, families. Maybe they want a certain look, or saw something on Pinterest that they want you to re-create. That can get pretty boring, creatively. And the more you give in to it, the more pressure you feel to perform. It's like being a dancing monkey on a rope.

Do the photography that YOU want to do. What makes YOU happy. Then once people are willing to accept (and pay for) the looks YOU want, then it's time to get back into the game again.

What @Browncoat said ^^^^^

Business wise the website could be more unique and there are ways of doing that without great expense. Tell hubby he needs to step it up.

Some of the poses in the portfolio could be better, but (and this is a really big but) you have an eye for the moment. So, taking a breather or slowing down to let your knowledge and the business presentation catch up with your talent might not be a bad idea.

Above all, it needs to be your choice, because the rest of us are just guessing, when you know all the bits and pieces.