Staying focused, staying positive today.

Editing a bunch of newer photos for the website update and deciding where I want to go with this studio. The possibilities are actually endless, but it's a matter of what I want to do. We'd be very successful with promo work, workshops, studio rentals (I saw a huge building in a shady part of town for sale), etc.

I know for sure that change is coming our way. We're very successful now, but 70% of our clients are the wrong client base for us to have. There is so little job satisfaction anymore.

Last week we were shooting chocolate bars for a client - very small job, very simple.

I uploaded the photos and I felt great about myself because I shot them the same day he dropped them off (which is rare).

His response was not surprising, but made me bone weary nonetheless.

He complained that I completed the photos too quickly and that within the next couple of days he was going to email me directions that he wanted a 'shimmer' effect on the logo, etc etc. You know, the things he was supposed to write out IN HIS CONTRACT. But that became my fault because he forgot to mention it.

So his next angle (likely to trick me into giving him a free reshoot) was to write out this insanely rude message that the colors were "way off" on just two of the products. Yeah, right.

Knowing that I use a pantone color chart and a Spyder 5 pro calibrator on an IPS monitor, I knew this was BS.

So I took a side by side screenshot showing that the color tones are (of course) perfect, sent him a very nasty email and then even called him to explain how color works and how everything from manufacturing variances to the angle and color of lighting you're viewing something under will have a slight effect on color tones. light wedding dresses

He started mumbling some nonsense about his customers and I broke it down to him that he's selling chocolate bars and his customers don't give two farts about the particular shade of blue. He knew this, he was just trying to trick me into giving him a reshoot.

He accepted that and I will of course never work with him today, but imagine the frustration I felt from that one client.

Now multiply that times 10, because that's currently what I go through every week. Every. single. week. I deal with scammers, jerks, frustrating people who send me broken merchandise and expects me to 'clean it up' in Photoshop.

I'm constantly closing 'loopholes' in contracts and scanning everyone's submissions to ensure they aren't trying to pull a fast one.

If a client seems the least bit difficult, I will decline their projects as a precautionary measure. Some, like this guy, slip through the cracks. Some just want to feel important and they think that rejecting shots and demanding a reshoot makes them feel like a 'boss'.

If I refuse a client, or if I cancel a contract, I have to see which ones will go running off to Yelp (seriously, people really do try to review a commercial studio via a CONSUMER review site.....that is the level of business savvy some of these people have).

None of this makes me feel like a very good photographer and none of it gives me any satisfaction as a professional or a business owner. If I allowed it, this would all be very damaging to my ego.

But this is a positive post, correct?

Moral of the story: When the world feels like it's against you, sometimes it's just the desire for change and the knowledge that you WILL change things is enough to keep you moving.
Because 'moving' is what you need to do, constantly.

Even if it's just to get out of bed and shower, never give yourself a moment to focus on the bad, never wallow in self pity or grief.

Feel anything - feel happy, make fun of the things that bother you. FEEL ANGER if you need to.

Happiness, joy, even anger - All of these can be constructive emotions if you channel them properly.

Every day - EVERY DAY I make a plan in my head of what I need to do in order to switch our business plan and drop the greenhorn clients.

Every day I remind myself of the good experiences I have with real companies. I put out some work a couple of weeks back that I thought was a little 'meh'. I wasn't that crazy about the model, the shoot didn't have a great flow, etc.

I was waiting for the inevitable dressing down that I get from the rookie eCommerce sellers and preparing a response, but then the client (who is VERY well established) flipped their collective lids with excitement.

Do whatever you need to keep yourself motivated. Focus on getting through the current day and then do the same thing tomorrow.

Lastly, build yourself up. Kevin Smith once said that "in this life, if you don't celebrate yourself, then nobody will". Remind the world who you are and why you are great. The more you build up your self esteem, the more of a 'buffer' you will have against anything that tries (and fails) to pull you down.

Today, I have boards to whitewash for tomorrow's shoot and more photos to edit for the portfolio.

Onwards and upwards, friends!!