Hi
I know it has been a few weeks since my last post, but it has been a bit busy, and to be honest, I have so much going on in my head, I have not been sure how to get it down properly.

Firstly on the last day of May (ooh that rhymes) I attended a Seminar in London with Annabel Williams. It was entitled How to be a Successful Photographer in the Current Climate.
Now a shift in the industry was something I have been aware of quite a while now, at least for the couple of years, and I have been fretting about how to work with the fast and drastic change in the photography world that I have been seeing around me. Many photographers out there would have started to see a change to the rate of bookings and sales over the last couple of years. Many have attended weddings to be confronted with several of the guests sporting much more expensive kit, leaning over their shoulders to get the shot, and telling the happy couple that they dont know why they paid so much for a wedding photographer in the first place!
It is frustrating and scary. Suddenly everyone thinks they are a photographer because decent photographic kit is much more affordabable to everyone, and in that sense why should they pay someone else to come and do the job? Even the camera phones are producing amazing quality shots to be proud of.
The Seminar was focused on this issue, how to survive in this changing industry and take advantage of the new emerging trends. It was frightening to hear one of the biggest names in portrait photography say the industry as we know it is dead, and it is going to get a lot tougher to make a living from this industry. Her advice of not leaving a proper paid job to do this was particularly alarming. She also gave an insight into the short term future of the industry as she sees it, and how if you are smart you will adapt to take advantage of this.
I made a lot of notes (though it was very fast paced) and have started to look within, and at my work, and see how it can be changed and refreshed, but i have to say that it takes a lot of self belief and confidence to fully run with it and not be disheartened. I now find myself dallying on the sidelines, looking over the notes from the Seminar trying to remember everything that was said to read between the lines.

It coincided with the update and spring clean of my site and services. This went live on Monday.
One of the major changes is that I no longer offer wedding photography, and instead am choosing to focus on the boudoir and portrait aspect of it. I have updated and refreshed the galleries, and hopefully given the site a bit of a cleaner look. The packages have now been updated, and a products page has been added.

There is still more to come, and I am working on some new ideas.
So please check back, I would love to have some feedback on the site. Let me know if you have found it easy to navigate, if the photos on show catch your eye, and make you look further. I want to get this right, and I want to make it about you, because that is what photography is about. You.

Right well that is quite enough for now. I will be back on again soon, as I have just finished editing the photos from Spain, which is another reason I have been offline for a while, as I have been sunning myself overseas!
Hope you have all been having a good week.
Always..... Asmartartz