Life, what’s that? Oh yeah, it’s the stuff we’re doing when we aren’t taking phone calls, answering emails, having meetings, attending events, or running work related errands. It’s the stuff in between, the stuff we actually work so hard to enjoy. The “life” part of my life is about to get more complicated with the addition of the Bean come February, so I’ve been spending some time researching work/life balance.

How many of you struggle with work / life balance? I would wager than anyone who has the kind of profession they feel a slight twinge of passion for takes part of it home with them, finds their mind wandering during down time… to what has to be done at the office, or genuinely would rather work than do most things. That’s where I’m at. I would rather do “work”  than do most things.

According to most of the things I’ve Googled on the subject, including Wikipedia (our most trusted source) and the Mayo Clinic… that’s pretty unhealthy.

Some of my favorite tidbits on how to manage a freelance, self employed life have come from the genius mind of local Seattle writer Michelle Goodman. She’s the author of the Anti 9-to-5 Guide, and My So-Called Freelance Life. Good friend and fellow freelancer, Liz Andrade turned me on to her books right after I took the freelance plunge in 2008, and while I’m completely guilty of not following a single word of her advice on most occasions, I think she’s got it right. I use Liz as my shining example of what to live up to when it comes to work/ life balance. She has a fabulous blog on what it takes to be a freelancer, and you can check it out here.

Things to consider when the Bean comes in February to maintain both a healthy thriving business, and a healthy thriving life:

- Taking actual maternity leave. Setting all autoresponders and voicemails to reflect that I’m taking legit time away from work. Every new mom is entitled to that.

- Working hours will likely change, and a lot will have to give.

- Learning to say no. I’m fully aware that I have a problem saying no. Anything and everything that isn’t directly contributing to the happiness of my life or the success of my business is going to have to get the axe. I’m only one woman. I’m going to have to practice this one over and over. “NO I’m too busy to help you” “NO I’m sorry, you’ll have to either hire me or find someone else to do that project for free”, “NO” “no” no” “no”. Next time you see me, ask me to practice on you. Trust me, I need the practice.

- Rearranging my priorities; Family first, then business/clients, then every other distraction.

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It’s going to take some work, as there are a lot of changes to come. Changes I’m sure I’m not even aware of, but in the end it will be worth it. Having a family, for us, is what life is all about.

What are some of your helpful work/life balance tips? Anyone have advice on managing self-employment with kids?

And because everything is better with a photo, here is a belly update! This crew photo is from a recent commercial shoot I did with Bella Signature Design for Event Solutions Magazine! We used the new space next to Sodo Park, The Oasis. So excited to share the details and rest of the images of the shoot, but it’s pretty top secret, so I even blurred the props out. You might recognize me  [Sidenote - I'd like to point out that this dress was a flawed purchasing decision and has since made it's way to the bottom of my closet, never to return. I think I look HUGE! It's either the dress, or I need to put down the bagel chips. I'm going with the dress (probably in denial)], the rest of these amazing people are Daniela and her Bella Signature crew. A team of very talented Seattle Designers.

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I’ve actually been relishing in my non-summer, and wedding season this year. It’s been a glorious 3 months of travel, beautiful weddings, personal projects, and family happenings (more on that later). All this fun was made possible by one thing. This summer I’m not stuck behind my computer with my wedding post processing. Friends, if you are still processing in house, let me share with you that there is a big big life out there to be lived. It’s possible for this to be taken off your plate, and in a way that won’t cost your first born child.

My wedding workflow has been simplified so much by just outsourcing, I now have more time to spend on my clients, my family, and myself. HECK, I even walked my dog!

Here’s the workflow I’ve worked out for this season:

Friday/Saturday.. or?: shoot

Monday: Cull, process and edit slideshow and blog selects

Tuesday: Ship drive, check off list until edits are returned 1-2 weeks later.

Not as hands off as film maybe… but working my way there. It was a tough decision to relinquish the control of editing my own images. I anguished over how to choose the right company to entrust my life’s work to. It wasn’t easy. After a few tests and trials, and running the numbers budget wise, I found my match in Pro Image Editors. They have terrific customer service (love you Tanya!), fast turnaround, incredible affordable price, and the best of all… the image quality. I can confidently say, they do I better job than I can do myself. It was a logical choice to outsource, take this portion of the “business” off my plate, and focus on what makes me a better person and better photographer.

disclaimer… The ONLY way this outsourcing thing works for the control freak inside me is that I cull my own, and I have final say over how the finished product looks because instead of sending back processed jpgs, my editor sends me the Lightroom catalog file. Admittedly, I’ve only ever had to tweak a couple of things over the course of the summer, but it’s a control I like to have.

Pricing for PIE is on a sliding scale, which means… the number of images you send either between 0-250, 251-500, 501-1000… has a set price. I almost always fall into the 501-1000 image price range. This costs me $155.00 plus my shipping costs to have someone else do my editing. I signed up for a slick FedEx account, so I get sweet discounts on very secure shipping, and they’ll pick it up from my front porch. I don’t even need to get out of my jammies! My cost per wedding to outsource averages $200.00 after shipping. My time costs WAY more than that.

Here are a couple before and after comparisons (forgive the resolution… I used screen grabs, but hopefully you get the point):

I strongly encourage everyone who has the desire to have a life in conjunction with your successful business, to consider outsourcing. Try it out, and see how amazing it feels to take this burden off your shoulders. You’ll be happier, your clients will be happier, and you can all hold hands and skip along together in your stress free environment.

For those of you who have read this far, I have a little reward for you. Clearly it’s something you’ve given some thought. Set up a new account with PIE, and use this code to save 75% off your first order: PIE_wants _U2_save

DO IT. Trust me. With all the time you save, you can write me a really nice thank you card.

xo,
Laura

Q:What lighting equipment do you use during weddings?

A:I prefer using the sun, my camera, and finding great light for most of my image creation.

However, I always have my lighting equipment with me when I go to a wedding. I have a Dynalite Pack with 3 heads. I love these lights because they’re small, compact and really simple to travel with. I also have a couple of compact lightstands and it all fits in a case the size of a carry on. Do I often need to use these lights? No. But I’m prepared.

I also use on camera and off camera flashes, synced with Pocket Wizards for lighting details and reception events when needed.

Q: How many images do you give your clients?

A:   We deliver 100 images per hour of coverage, so an average wedding for me equates to about 600-800 images. I remove all duplicates and blinks in my editing process and only deliver the best. I’ve heard lots of schools of thought on this one, but any more becomes overwhelming and unnecessary for my clients.
Q: Do you offer them digital files?

A: I feel that the service we provide our couples is more than individual image capture. It’s the storytelling of their family history. That’s why it is always my dream to have my clients view their day in an album first… rather than 700 individual images. Their story is best told through a tangible item they can hand down through generations, share with their grandchildren, and cherish for eternity. The reality is, our clients want their images in addition to this. I provide my clients with a digital record of their images as a gift with any album, or it can be purchased a la carte.
Q: Do you use any outsource anything?

A: This is an important and excellent question. YES. I’m not going to hide behind any charades here. I have to outsource parts of my business, because quite frankly I don’t like doing them, or they take me FOREVER.

• Processing. Let me be clear here, I know how to process my own imagery. I’m educated in the tools, I just choose to spend my time on things I’d rather be doing, like living my life. Much like we used to send out our film to be processed, I send out my digital negatives to be processed too. I use a FANTASTIC company out of Ohio called Pro Image Editors. I highly recommend them. You don’t have to be grossing a million dollars to take this off your plate, they’re affordable. Try them out, then thank me. I do about 100 artful edits in Photoshop for my clients, but the majority of the grunt work I leave to PIE. If you use this code: “PIE_wants _U2_save” it will save you 75% off your first order. Now you don’t have an excuse not to try it!
• Accounting. I went to art school for a reason people. Don’t hate.
• Album Design. The albums we offer are not the simplest to design. They have some crazy margin requirements, if you mess up, it can be a costly mistake. Queensberry (our amazing book binder) has a team of graphic designers standing by to create gorgeous designs for these albums, and they know their product the best so I let them handle it.
• Blogging… Just kidding!

Q: What softwares do you use to manage your business?

A: I use ShootQ to manage all of my leads, inquiries and bookings. It’s been a Godsend. Took me a while to get it implemented, but now I couldn’t go without it. It’s my organizational tool.

I also use Two Bright Lights to manage my publication submissions. This is a new tool for me, so I’ll let you know how it works out.

My print sales are all through a storefront hosted by Digilabs. I think it works great for proofing, but prints are also not my focus. I try to do all of my portrait orders in person with my clients, and don’t push the print sales for weddings a whole lot.

Q: How do you choose what to blog and what to write about?

A: If you’re a regular reader of my blog, you know that most of what I write usually sounds like ramblings of a crazy person. I write the way I want to remember the events, people, or things I blog about. No offense, but the writing itself is mostly for me.

I have a terrible memory.

It’s something I struggle with daily, and I’m pretty sure it’s hereditary because two years ago my parents actually forgot my birthday. As in, the day I was born. I waited patiently for them to call me…. no call. Around 9pm I called my mother and asked her “are you forgetting something”, and she said “….ummm I don’t think so, no”. Yeah. Win. That’s what I’m working with here. I want to remember the stories I write about, so I write them.

The images I choose, tell the story as I saw it. Some of them are artful, some are sentimental, all are representative of the type of images I would like to create more of for my clients. You can’t show EVERYTHING, but if it speaks to the photographic soul inside me, and it’s on par with the direction of my brand…. it’s getting blogged.

Q: Which is more important, blog or website?

A: In my opinion you need both. I get a lot of Google traffic because of my blog (thank you readers!) but my website sends it home for couples interested in working with me. Best case scenario, you have someone custom design you a “blog-site” a site that integrates both seamlessly. Give Liz at CMD+Shift Design a shout, and she’ll hook you up. She is the fine creator of this blog, and super awesome WordPress specialist.

Whew! That was a mouthful! thanks for reading…. and because every post is best with a picture, here is a recent image of my pumpkin pie, Ladybug. She was modeling for me to test light on a shoot earlier this month. This is right before we took her in for her hair appointment, and cut off all these gorgeous curls.

Daniela Fagét of Bella Signature Design is going to be in Vegas this year styling an amazing shoot out at the Red Rock Casino, and I somehow have been convinced to “model” for her! :-) This is a great opportunity to practice with gorgeous decor and florals in a stunning location! You can get more information on the shoot on her blog and sign up using brown paper tickets. There are only 20 spots for the shoot, so hurry along before it sells out!

I’m mostly excited because I get to borrow a dress from a bridal store in Vegas, and have big hair done. It’s going to be amazing. Simply amazing.

See you in Vegas!

xo,
Laura

PS> I laugh with my mouth wide open…. my apologies, be prepared.

We had the most divine cuisine by Scott Staples Catering. It was so delicious, I had a really hard time capturing it before the crowd emptied the trays!

Events on Edge provided some thrilling entertainment by way of a murder mystery! Chesney Schmidt of All the Flutter, and Christy Weber from Junebug Weddings got roped into the fun as part of the list of suspects.

Check out a slideshow to see all of the images from the evening here! Music selection by the genius himself: Adam of Adam’s DJ Service

We had the photobooth set up and here are some of the rockin’ images from the fun that happened in the booth all night long!

The lovely ladies of Seattle Met!

BreeAnn of Pink Blossom Events…. and I must say, that mullet looks pretty ahmazing on you.

Team Awesome!

And the award for most time spent in the photo booth goes to Jillian from Wavelink Music, and Sheena of the Invisible Hostess. Between the two of them, their image total is in the hundreds. ;-) Love you girls!

To see more of Sheena and Jillian, and a little more of everyone else click here for a slideshow!

I feel absolutely privileged to be a part of this group. Thank you so much for allowing me to capture this months meeting!

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Puppy at my feet. Laptop on lap. Pete’s Dragon on the boob. Tissues to the left, Ramen to the right.

Things have been non-stop on the move at Laura Marchbanks Photography in the last few months, it’s really no mystery why I have a compromised immune system. We’ve wrapped up our summer weddings with a really fantastic Bend, Oregon wedding coming your way soon! We’ve been halfway across the globe and back, speaking on stock photography productions in Russia…. love love Russia. Did a little sightseeing in our nations capitol, and then set out to conquer New York for the PACA conference.

Oh yeah, and did I mention that we got married?!? I was pretty quiet on the blog/twitter/fb front during the whole shebang, because it was such a whirlwind! I can’t wait to blog the wedding images by the ah-mazing Jasmine Star. Sneak peak on her blog here. Our wedding was an absolute dream come true, it’s hard to believe sometimes that it was really OUR wedding.

So what else is new? The next few weeks we have some very exciting events!

Thursday October 28th – GHGH

We’re supporting the fight against cancer in style with Get Hitched Give Hope this Thursday. If you are getting married, this is the place to get the BEST goods from some of the BEST wedding professionals in Seattle, and the proceeds go to the Making Memories Foundation to grant wishes for breast cancer patients. Get your tickets HERE! Today is the last day.

Friday October 29th

Jonathan Ross, our founder and CEO of  Spaces Images will be speaking on a panel with Lee of Microstock Diaries, Sarah Fix, and Ellen Boughn at PDN’s Photo Plus Expo in New York. If you’ll be at the conference, this panel will be an excellent source of knowledge on the microstock industry.

Saturday November 6th

The Oregon Ducks play Washington. We look forward to this game all year because it makes living in Seattle so much easier when we’re #1 in the polls. GO DUCKS!

Sunday November 7th – It’s a Matter of Taste!

Simply Seasoned Catering is hosting a tasting event at A Manor of Wine in Snohomish. If you haven’t had the pleasure of tasting Edie’s food, you must come! We’ll be showing off some of our new work, and the photobooth. There is an all star lineup for this event including Jennifer Taylor from Taylor’d Events, Wave Link Music (one of my all time FAVORITE DJ’s in the area) gowns from The Gown Up, and flowers from The Petal and The Stem.

Best of all, this event is FREE! You can learn more and RSVP here. This showcase is not just for weddings, anyone and everyone is welcome! Don’t be shy!  I would love to see you there!

And because everything is better with a photo, here’s a snapshot from our DC adventure. Our nephew took this photo… pretty good huh!? Budding photographer maybe?

I’ve never been to Russia, and my first opinion of the country is amazement. The architecture is striking and beautiful, the city was SO clean, the language – smooth, the people friendly, and the fashion… well, interesting. The women wore the tallest shoes I’ve seen outside a strip club… for sightseeing. I’m not sure how they were able to walk in them. In 10 years, it will be a great profession in Russia to be a podiatrist. I’d gamble on that.

Friday before the conference, I set out to see some sights, first stop was Red Square!

St. Basil’s Cathedral…. sigh.

Inside the Kremlin… or “Kremm-elle” as the Russian pronunciation goes.

My incredibly kind tour guide and new friend, Kate. I plan on many many skype dates in the future ;-) She works for a wonderful stock agency based in Russia, PressFoto.

One more week of crazy adventures!

xo,
Laura

PS> We’ve changed our image format for blogging and I’d love to hear your opinion on the new look! Send me an email or leave a comment below, love it? hate it?

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Here is the deal. Our new wedding date is August 27th, 2010! Hooray! We get an almost entirely free wedding, the only catch is… Jasmine Star HAS to be our photographer (which we are really really upset about…. insert sarcasm here :-) And our wedding will be broadcast LIVE through the CreativeLIVE website as a workshop for photographers who want to learn more about how to shoot weddings from Jasmine. We’ll be out there for the world to see, or not see. Tune in if you can’t make it or we didn’t invite you! Ha!

We really only had ideas in place for our former wedding,  we’re starting fresh. CreativeLIVE is working with the lovely and ever so talented Daniela Fagét of Bella Signature Design to create a wedding that is uniquely us. She really understands our aesthetic and what we’re going for with our wedding celebration. It is a major point of emphasis from everyone, that this process be about Billy and I. That our wedding remain in our taste and style, which is SO amazing. We feel so taken care of in this process. We genuinely connect with everyone on this team in a way that it makes it very easy for us to call them friends.

Here are just some of the things we’re working on this week!

Venue, Invites/Paper, Wedding dress, Wedding bands, Bridesmaid dresses, Cake, Decor color palette, and rentals… I’m sure more to come!

Friday we went dress shopping to a couple of stores here in Seattle, and the CreativeLIVE team followed me around at La Belle Elaines! BILLY DO NOT CLICK ON THIS VIDEO ;-)

We also checked out some wedding bands at E.E. Robbins, a really really great jewelry store here in Seattle that is very customer service focused. We have some great prospects there.

Honest concerns about this process: getting everything done in between, My clients, my family, my tan, they all deserve the attention they are used to getting. I’m only one person, one person who generally speaking is already stretched too thin. Hoping this doesn’t put me over the edge. Not sure what we are going to do about our bridesmaid dresses, and my girls call me every day to remind me that it’s important that they have clothes on at the wedding. Oy. My general disdain for Friday weddings, which I’m pretty outspoken about… and here I am, having a Friday wedding.

Concessions we’ve had to make: Bridal shower? Not sure when that will happen or if it will happen, bachelor/bachelorette, same deal. Some family won’t be able to make the event, which is good for the guest list, but bad for the heart.

So there it is! Thank you for tolerating my stream-of-consciousness ramblings. We don’t know much so far, but I know it will come together just fine.

Hope you’ll follow along with us during this process, and if you’re curious about more join us on Mondays at 12:00PST every week on CreativeLIVE for a live conversation about the wedding and where we are with everything!

xo,
Laura

Sunday morning I arrived and took a cab straight to the Las Vegas Country Club for the photoshoot I produced for Portrait House Fundraising. I talked a little on the blog about what an amazing thing my friends Justin and Mary Marantz are doing with their goals for Portrait House shortly after I met with them while they were in Seattle. Portrait House is a charitable outlet for photographers to give back. They have an ongoing project list, and first up is Habitat for Humanity.

It’s just so hard to put into words how amazing it felt to address all of the participants at the shoot and realize that all of this hard work for the past 3 months was finally coming to a head. The monumental feeling that everyone there felt the same way I did about the cause. Mary spoke about their reasoning, about the larger purpose, and yes I’ve heard it before…. but this time I heard it. I heard it loud and clear coming from the crowd of eager faces staring up at me. They all got it, they understood what I understood. What we were doing here today was much more about getting the shot. We all felt pretty great about that too, trust me. I went back to my hotel room that night and had a big cry-fest by myself. This was the single-most-hugest-most-best-feeling thing I have ever done. EVER. SO much work, but so much payoff.

I also want to give a HUGE giant shout out to all of our amazing sponsors and talent. Without them, this would not have been possible:

Las Vegas Country Club, Thomas Meyer Designs, Couture Bride,  Tux One, Megan Mulligan Makeup, Bella Vita Design, Sami and Joey, Amanda and Mike, Megan and Mike, Jenn and Tim, Chantal and Jared.

I didn’t get a ton of shooting done because I was running around like a crazy person (more than usual). But I thought I would share with you some of my favorite images from that day.

No matter how savvy you think your design skills are, there is a reason why this is a separate career path photographers. There is intensive research and training involved to get that amazing typography and logo of your dreams. You stick to making awesome photos and let someone else make awesome type. I’ve seen too many silly camera logos and comic sans brochures to not have an opinion on this one.

2. MISTAKES ARE COSTLY

I’m actually inspired to write this because like a chump I decided to take it upon myself to design my most recent brochure….. and am having to reprint them because of a silly mistake that could have been avoided had I just picked up the phone and called my designer. And in case you were wondering, YES she laughed at me, and YES I almost cried, until she told me she would make it all better.

3. YOUR BRAND IS YOUR MOST VALUABLE ASSET TO YOUR BUSINESS

Your brand is represented by whatever typeface and logo you choose. You want to make sure it says what you want it to. Many times you might not be sure what that is. A GOOD designer, one that you click with  will help you answer those questions and give you a branding system that reflects your goals and where you’re going. Don’t just stop at a logo and a business card though. Keep it consistent and have your designer go the whole shebang. Even if you can only pay for one piece at a time. Make sure that card, letterhead, dvd label, website, portfolio, promo, thank you card, are all CONSISTENT. That is the key to successful marketing using a brand. Consistency.

4. INSIDER DEALS ARE KILLER!

Most often, a professional award winning designer, like Kristine from Cognition Studio, will have established and long standing relationships with vendors that will lower the overall price point making the really-awesome-show-stopping-jaw-dropping business cards an attainable amount of money for you to spend. They might be higher than Kinkos, but trust me, you’ll reap the benefits when whoever you hand it to decides it isn’t destined for the bin.

5. RESOURCES GALORE

They keep up on design trends, it’s kinda their job. They know what the latest and greatest promos look like, they know what promo is going to be original and wow the Art Buyer when it lands on their desk. They’re also extremely well connected with their industry peers. If you’re looking for something in particular that your designer isn’t familiar with, they probably know someone that is.

Now go get um Tiger!

I should have written this in reverse and had it overflowing with sarcasm, but I think Pi Design Blog did it better than I could have dreamed. Check it out for a good laugh.

©Kristine Johnson, photos courtesy of Cognition Studio Design.