Happy New Year!

2009 has sprung, and with it, a new direction for me and my photography.

I have finally taken to heart the thoughts and words of my friends and peers, as well as the advice of my accountant, and have decided to make 2009 the first year I actively persue making money with my camera. I have a reasonable and measurable goal that I am confident I can achieve from my local market for portraits and events.

I am keeping my market narrow - down to a few communities around me, and not in the larger market of "Atlanta photographers". I think there is enough business in Canton, Cumming, and my home city of Ball Ground, Georgia to get me to my goal.

I am *this close* to having a revamped website, removing my personal work from it and making it a sales tool. My nude, glamor, roller derby, and other personal work will be moved to my Model Mayhem page and my Flickr page.

So what does this mean for my model/pretty girl photography?

It means that it will be taking a backseat to money making opportunities. The 2 days a week I have for shooting will be heavily weighted to small weddings, events, and portrait work; however, I don't want to get away from pretty girl shooting. I have a half dozen personal projects that I will continue to work on with pretty girls, but I will no longer be shooting plain old simple portfolio shots for free.

It is a simple proposition - if a model will be part of on of my personal projects, I will shoot portfolio work for her. If she isn't comfortable with the content of those personal projects (and yes, they do all require some level of nudity), then I will charge her for a shoot.

I cannot do "favors" for friends. Yes, I will shoot your sister's wedding, but it will cost. No, it won't cost as much as hiring a full-time honest to goodness Wedding Photographer, but there will be a fee.

The Saturdays and Sundays I'm not shooting will be spent on the business end of photography - getting my name out, cultivating contacts, following up on leads, and working on deliverables, and when I'm caught up on those, I will work on expanding my photographic skill set to product photography (my wife is launching her own creative career this year, and she will need me to photograph her creations).

So that's the news for now. Stay tuned for future rants and raves sure to come follow!