I’m back in NZ! The Gold Coast was beyond amazing…. slightly warmer over there (!!) But it’s good to be back in the land of the long white cloud. I’m so excited to photograph Philippa & Justin’s Matakana wedding tomorrow!

A week before Christmas, I had scheduled in a portrait shoot at the Devonport Jetty in Auckland. The couple had paid a deposit, confirmed the date and time….but didn’t turn up and I was unable to contact them. This is the first time I’ve had a client cancel, but instead of dwelling on what could have been an annoying situation….my sister Lydia (who is my amazing second shooter for most of my weddings this summer) and I did a little workshop. I took photos of her, she took photos of me…and the situation was turned into a learning experience and something fun!

Babe.

xx

Happy 2012!! I hope you had a fab last few days of 2011 and are ready to embrace all that 2012 has to offer! It’s only the 5th day in, and January has already been a whirlwind for me… I’m typing this from the sunny Gold Coast, Australia! I’m here to attend and photograph my cousins wedding on Saturday (so excited!!) and staying with my family for a week.

Taking inspiration from this lovely photographer, I’ve decided to change my monthly goals posts to ‘snapshot’ posts. It will still include all my goals for the month, but also what I have planned, what I’m excited about, and what my life looks like at that moment in time. I’m also going to commit to having a self portrait for each month! Hopefully I can get my sister Lydia or someone else to take it for me, so I won’t have to turn on the self timer too much… I got this idea from US photographer Gail Werner. So often, I’m the one behind the camera so this will definitely be a challenge! I’ve always encouraged other photographers to have portraits taken of themselves. I think it’s definitely a vulnerable thing to do as a photographer, but it’s so important! Not only so you can have your photograph on your website profile page, but also so you know what it’s like on the other side. I don’t ever want to forget what my clients are feeling when they are faced with my lens, so I think this is a good way to remind myself monthly. It’s also good to have 12 half decent photos of myself (hopefully) for the year!

JANUARY 2012

This month is the official start of the busy wedding season for me! I’m so excited for all the loveliness ahead. Because we moved to Melbourne in the middle of last year (read more about that in this post) most of my weddings are still in NZ, which means I will be living in NZ from January until April. Luckily, I’ve structured my business to be very portable. While Sam will have to go back to Melbourne (soon!), we are going to be seeing each other every month and thank goodness for Skype!

SOME JANUARY BUSINESS GOALS…

- Finish all outstanding 2011 Queensberry album designs and send to print.

- Create a decent workspace in my Mum and Dad’s office (which they don’t use anymore luckily!)

- Get weddings edited and sent quickly! Don’t get distracted! Luckily, my parents live in the country so there aren’t many distractions…

- Perfect and stick to wedding system!

- Train Lydia to take on more post production.

- Design some custom stationery and get printed.

- Keep blogging consistently!

- Send photographs to wedding vendors.

SOME JANUARY PERSONAL GOALS…

- Eat healthy!

- Keep running every week day… I need some new shoes, maybe that will kick start it!

- Stay in regular contact with Sam and friends in Melbourne.

- Find a mentor! This comes under business too.

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I think that’s more than enough to keep me busy for now! I’ve just downloaded this Goal setting app… I haven’t tried it yet, but it looks great! Here’s to a happy and productive January wherever you are xxx