New Year + Thoughts On The Year | Sophie Grace Photography
Its that time of year that we restart + recharge for the upcoming year. 2017 is in the past and 2018 is amongst us. It has been an amazing year. Never in my life would I have thought that I could be a small business owner and get to where I am today. Never in my life would I have thought I could be a full time wedding photographer. Never in my life did I think I'd be doing something I love so much. Here's a little bit about how my first year in business went.
Being a business owner is awesome for the most part (besides to obvious paying a boat load of taxes and not having benefits, its great!!). But over this past year I cant help but notice some of the things people say when you don't have a desk to go to every day.
"Ugh your job is so fun you just take pictures all day", "ALL you do is take pictures?!", "It must be so nice to just get to sleep in till noon everyday", "I wish I was doing something I loved", "How can you travel SO much?", "must be nice to not have to clock in every day", "did you even finish college?", And the list goes on. . and on. First off, YES I finished college... sheesh. In the midst of job searching after graduation I found myself booking more & more weddings, numerous seniors and even some newborns. After awhile I realized it would be almost impossible for me to do photography AND agronomy. So I chose what I love.. more. If you don't know anything about agronomists; they basically work their butt off year round to make sure farmer's crops are healthy. During the summer months they find themselves working a majority of weekends. I knew I would not be able to be a wedding photographer & agronomist if I needed weekends and long evenings for shoots & weddings. I would still love to be able to combine photography and agriculture in some way although someday.
Yes, my job is fun, yes I am doing something I love but it did NOT just get handed to me. People tend to forget that I have hustled my butt off. I'm not here to sit and say photography is the hardest job ever, because its definitely not. But I feel as though people tend to undermine small business owners. I worked my butt off this year and I saved my money to travel. Traveling is something that brings me so much peace. I have found a new appreciation for the world, and for nature. What better way to spend your money than seeing the world, exploring cultures and enjoying what God created for us. How great is this Earth and all that he created?!
I don't feel as though I need to justify myself, but I feel as though some people need to be educated. And this goes for a majority of all business owners. I don't judge what you do so don't judge what I do.
On a lighter note. HAPPY NEW YEAR. To continue on how amazing this year is I would just like to say THANK YOU to all my clients. Seriously, I could cry. If it weren't for you guys I would be absolutely no where. This is something I always had in the back of my head growing up but never actually thought it would be a reality. Going in to the New Year I am SO excited. I have so many amazing brides & couples; we are going to rock #weddingseason2k18. Logan and I plan to move back in together somewhere in the mix (hopefully this spring), I have a few trips planned and I'm hoping *crossing fingers* to have an in-home studio sometime this year.
I have goals set, and my eye on the prize. 2017 was amazing but 2018 will be even better. I can't wait to celebrate marriages with friends, there is really nothing that makes me more happy than seeing my friends happy. These photos are my 100 favorites of 2017 (lets be honest there are 108. Disclaimer: most of them are couples, lifestyle & portraits). I hope you all enjoy. I encourage you all to take this time to reflect and love. Happy New Year my friends.
