Renting a Studio, At Home Office, or Buying a building?

Renting a studio, staying home, or investing in a building is a fork in the road every business owner crosses in their career and it’s a big decision. Consider every time a new client comes to your home office, you prepare delightful snacks with hot tea and your decor tastes are second to none! However, do you ever wonder if your client having to walk through the ‘comforts’ of your home to get to the bathroom hindered your sales pitch?

Maybe, maybe not. You can research for hours and there are pros and cons to home-base and professional studios. Most boil down to the the separation/balance of work-family life and costs. Then, there’s the middle of the road option. The happy place and new trend for entry and mid-career photographers is renting a studio when they need them so that they can budget their costs while still giving their client a highly professional experience.

What does renting a studio look like? Glad you asked! Here’s a rental price sheet for Element Marketing Company:

 

Just like buying a home, there’s nothing wrong with renting a studio until you know it’s time for your to invest in your own photog castle. So what are the perks of renting?

Renting a studio offers:

  • -Fully controlled environment
  • -Access to props and equipment
  • -Creature comforts
  • -Experienced help

 

So as much as we all enjoy natural landscapes and how the weather can set a composition, let’s face it, Mother Nature enjoys throwing any curve ball she wants just because she can. Controlling your photography environment allows you to shoot without regards to time (unless you’re late for dinner, then that’s on you). Especially good for entry level photographers, some studios allow the use of their equipment which lets you try before you buy, and many of the studio owners are great wealths of knowledge and are willing to give you a crash course. Not only that, many times there are options for you to have an assistant while renting a studio.

Let’s not forget, modern commodities are luxuries we take for granted. Go camping just once and you’ll fully understand gratitude for bathrooms.

But, also, renting a studio can allow you to give yourself and your clients a:

  • Great location and a Great price

If your want to make it, you need to be professional from the get-go. It’s the same mentality of dressing for success. So how do you know you’re ready?

  • -You’ve taken the time to look around.
  • -You understand the costs, how it affects your business, and if your business can handle the expense.
  • -You’ve considered and discussed what is expected out of this partnership.
  • -You know where you stand on wanting store front visibility or just a space to work in.
  • -Your insurance reflects your added liability.
  • -You’ve evaluated the available space and parking.
  • -You embrace the potential to grow and go beyond your current boundaries.  

 

If you would like to discuss this topic more, visit me at 514 Broadway Street in Myrtle Beach and give me a call at 843.333.1212.

With that, I’ll leave you with my favorite quote, “What would you attempt to do if you knew that you could not fail?”

 

Wedding Hope, Faith, and Love

Gatsby Themed Wedding

“He smiled understandingly – much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced — or seemed to face — the whole eternal world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself, and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

wedding details of the rings and bridal accessory

first look before the wedding

While looking through Mallary and Travis’s wedding images, I pondered all that could be said of them and their wedding. I know that there is a gentle quietness of respect for all who choose to serve for their country and who marry and support that service. Thinking about Mallary’s bridal shoot, I began flipping through The Great Gatsby, wondering if Fitzgerald could spark my creativity, and then there it was – a quote that set the imagery for their wedding ceremony at The Cooper House.

wedding ceremony at the cooper house

bride places the ring on the grooms finger during the wedding ceremony

bride and groom kiss during the wedding ceremony

When Travis told us to “rock on,” the other side of this strong couple came out to play. Avid Clemson and music fans, there wasn’t doubt they knew how to party, and the crowd threw down at Inlet Affairs in Murrells Inlet. At the same time, I enjoy thinking back about how simple the two wanted to keep the wedding details. Nothing is better than for a couple to focus on what truly matters, that the two of you are marrying each other. That is the sacred memory you’ll share forever.

bride and groom party with friends at the wedding reception

bride parties in a clemson hat at the wedding reception

bride and groom party with friends at the wedding reception

bride and bridal party enjoy the photobooth at the wedding reception

bride and groom party listen to wedding toasts at the wedding reception

As Mr. and Mrs. Haynie begin their future together, I have much admiration for them both and give them my best. There will be challenges, there will be beauty. There will be calmness and there will be spurts of energy.

bride and groom walk out of the wedding reception and kiss after a sparkler exit

My wish is that every time the two of you are close enough to touch, you rest against each others foreheads, remember your wedding to each other and feel all that matters – Hope, Faith, and Love.

bride and groom pose for a couple's portrait before the wedding ceremony

Destination Wedding Photographer

What don’t I love about being a destination wedding photographer?

Their really is only one thing about being a destination wedding photographer that I don’t love – hauling lots of equipment through airports and hoping it arrives safely. But the rewards pay that off from the minute I check in.

There are plenty of reasons for couples to consider destination weddings: A mini vacation, family resorts and maybe beaches or mountains that you don’t live close to. Not only that, they can mean more exciting wedding pictures for the bride and groom! Who wouldn’t want that?

As a veteran photographer, I’m going to be honest and confess that I am guilty of shooting at designated spots that I know all wedding parties will love. I call them my “frequent flyer zones”. They are beautiful spots, have great available light and they always work! However, after 15+ years in this business, I can tell you from personal experience that I value new and inspiring locations that offer exciting challenges. Being a destination wedding photographer and traveling to a new location offers an opportunity to break out of the box, open your eyes to a fresh terrain, and tempt the visual senses. If you are one of our wedding couples planning your destination wedding, you have challenged us to work with this blank canvas and make it awesome. It’s thrilling and of course we accept!

One of the best things about being  a destination wedding photographer is that when we get home, there’s a sense of newness to everything around us. Those frequent flyer zones? Well, all of the sudden we have a new set of eyes for those too. We find ourselves seeing everything “for the first time” again. Experiencing the magic of your wedding day makes its impact on us. We are able to serve you more dynamic and incredibly creative memories just because we’ve restored our mind, body and spirit. It drives the heart of every destination wedding photographer to guarantee you a successful wedding with photojournalistic and fine art images.

As water is the essence of the body and wisdom the essence of mind, then travel is the essence of spirit. To book your destination wedding with us please contact us via email – [email protected] – and we can make the travel arrangements!

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St. Augustine, Florida

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Norwich, England

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New York, New York

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Allahabad, India

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Airlie Gardens, Wilmington, North Carolina

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Montreal, Canada

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Loveland, Colorado

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Belin Methodist Church, Murrells Inlet, South Carolina

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West Point, New York

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Winter Garden, Colorado

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Dunes Club, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

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Pawley’s Island, South Carolina

 

Give Away For 2017 – Vote for Your Favorite Couple!

This past year plays back like video film of my life, spotlighting some great friendships from my personal life blended with prosperous business growth. 2016 was a great year for us and I can not wait to tell our couples about this special give away to celebrate our success!

 One of the biggest lessons that keeps being ingrained each year is: Quality comes from separating the person from the contract.

 

Each year I fall in love with my couples. To each of you, I want to let you know that I recognize your love in it’s many shapes and forms. Each year there seems to be a theme with my couples. This year yours would have to center around the quiet calmness that comes from deep intimacy. I have heard more heart felt speeches this year that rekindled and impacted me in such positive ways, and I think you all are amazing individuals.

So I want to say a special ‘Thank YOU’ and I want to pay it forward.

 

When you guys met me, I wanted to provide something for you that is so dear and special to me, something that goes beyond the business/client relationship. It’s called a ‘human experience’ and I have been creating more emphasis on building a friendship with my couples because I want it to be that personal. Getting personal allows me to get closer with confidence, to get to know who you are, and to be able to tell your story instead of only handing you pretty wedding images.

So let’s have some fun together to start off 2017.

As a token of appreciation, I want to offer a special give away to one of my remarkable wedding couples:

 

Abigail and Yosi

Myrtle Beach wedding, portraits, bride and groom fine art photography, bride looking lovingly at her groom under a blossoming tree's branches, sun shining through branches, groom leaning against fence at Hilton Myrtle Beach

Melody and Nathan

Kerri and Jeff

Rin and Jeffry

Lisa and William

Happy groom and bride on the beach walking away from ceremony

Yvonne and Brian

husband and wife posing for couple portraits after their myrtle beach wedding at myrtle beach state park

Megan and Adam

Lisa and Ryan

 wedding give away photo

Brandon and Anna

 wedding give away photo

Meredith and Mike

wedding couple pose in the library for wedding photos, wedding give away photo

Annah and Joseph

wedding couple pose for a portrait by a sail boat in murrells inlet harbor, wedding give away photo

Kelly and Scott

Christina and Nathan

wedding couple's first look at the dunes club, wedding give away photo

Rachel and Alex

Tina and Scott

bride and groom share a moment at marina inn at grande dunes on their wedding day, wedding give away photo

Mallary and Travis

Tessa and Andrew

Alison and Jamie

bride and groom in front of rosewood manor after their wedding, wedding give away photo

The rules are simple: the couple with the greatest number of voting comments on this post will receive a large 20×30 retouched fine art canvas delivered in time for Valentines Day. To all my readers, feel free to leave some love too because your are equally valued to me.

 Every individual who comments will be entered into a separate give away for a $25 Amazon gift card. Share to Facebook and Instagram, Tweet about this post, and get creative with spreading the word!

I love a good laugh and I’ll be counting comments on ONLY this page’s comment section – one per person – until January 31st.

The Winner will be announced Wednesday, February 1st and will receive a personal Valentine’s Day gift for their newly wed year!

Everything isn’t about the perfect pose or the magazine-style shot. For me it’s about creating a memorable experience, one that my couples and clients will remember forever. I do this in hopes it will lavish a future that distinguishes between a photograph and a memory.

Rustic Romance at Devil’s Thumb Ranch

When you venture into Rachel’s and Alex’s world, you are met with so much love and acceptance. It’s hard for it not to be contagious. Their “Rustic Romance” bloomed for 13 years before they took the plunge to say I Do’s. It is my pleasure to call them dear friends and a part of my family.

Devils Thumb Ranch, Colorado – There’s no better place to have captured the union of these souls. Their rehearsal party was hilarious! The mic was opened to all the guests to choose a roast or toast to the couple, and we heard some pretty hilarious stories. From mischievous parties to heartfelt memories, the connecting theme was how the couple are “designed for each other” and it was clear they are a product of many lifetimes together. The wedding day was full of mountain sunshine, delightful scenery, wild horses, the most incredible night sky and a party that went on well passed my bedtime…

Why is ‘Rustic Romance’ the exact definition for this marriage?

Sure the wedding setting was in the countryside in a rural part of Colorado, but the definition holds so much more. Their romance is so grand yet, “made in simple fashion.” All aspects of their wedding and love for each other is in its purest form. College sweethearts, they met while sitting together at orientation. They had rings fashioned in simple elegance, attire simple in it’s beauty and presence. Their vows described their lives together even more than I can. They, “love each other enough to let them go if that was how they needed to grow,” and here they stood at their wedding day. After 13 years, they are simply inspiring.

As individuals, they uplift everyone around them. They encourage others to live life as vibrantly as they do. There’s a renewing sense of “all and everything” when you’re surrounded by this couple, their families, and friends. As I try to find the sentences that describe these moments best, words fail me. There no vocabulary that encompasses all that this was and will continue to be. One guest reminded me that the essence of this rustic romance might just be a moment when we all were close to God, all His wonders, and how beautiful it will always remain.

I wish the happiest of everything to one of the most beautiful couples I know. May the world show you every bit of love that you bestow to it.

 

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Vendors:

Location & Catering : Devil’s Thumb Ranch

Event Planner: Jolene Greenbaum Peterson

Music: Syndicate Band

Florists: Fawns Leap

Hair/Makeup: Bre Ortola Morris & Tina Merli from Alchemy Face Bar

Wedding Dress & Shoes: Anna Be Store & Badgley Mischka