Saturday, July 21, 2012

It's all about the photographs!

Forget-Me-Nots - growing in my garden
With all the promoting I've been doing for my shop Dragonfly Photography, it's real easy to lose sight why I started this little adventure - my love of photography.  Somehow, carving out time to go out and take photographs takes a back seat to the day job (that pays the bills), my activities of daily living (aka:  housework, yard work, cooking dinner, sleep and paying attention to the cats), maintaining relationships with friends and family (Facebook can only take you so far).  I have mentioned my other shop, Dancing Monkey Jewelry, which has been sorely neglected, along with it's blog, The Dancing Monkey Jewelry Chronicles.  My husband thinks I have too many irons in the fire, and I'm inclined to agree with him but I don't want to give up any momentum I've gained by stopping now.  And then I've been toying around with the idea of starting a life-style portrait business.  Why am I doing this?  I want to start living my dream life - the one that currently exists in my mind.  

Cherry Blossoms - from the cherry tree in my front yard
I've been laid off three times in the last three years - I'm now in a secure position and have no fear of being laid off - the job is demanding and the hours are long. Factor in a substantial pay cut and there are days where the stress meter is through the roof.  I would love to make enough money through my photography and jewelry  to quit the day job in Seattle (and get rid of the 3 hour daily round trip commute), and get a part-time job in Tacoma that has benefits.  It's a work/life balance thing - and it's not as easy as it sounds to achieve.  

I'm hoping that I'll be able to get back out in the field and take some photographs soon.  Right now I'm preparing for a visit by family, a baby shower, and a fundraiser in August where I'll be selling both my jewelry and photography, and I'll be shooting my first Wedding in September. So with that I'm going to sign off for now and accomplish some things off line.  Wish me luck.

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