Being Productive is Hard

[spryng]

Also I want to write an entry, but I feel that now I have to include a recent photo. So, even though this one is from the weekend photoshoot with Lady, here's a bird. There you go. You're welcome.

I kid, of course, but it's something that will be a bit of a necessity for the website/blog. I've been trying to think up things for posts all night, and I've only come to the conclusion that the first post should serve as a sort of who-am-i post. Which brings me to the eternal and oft-debated question - who am I? Thankfully I have the context of photography and wanting people to pay me to take their picture to answer that for the site/blog (slog?), so it's a mite easier than usual. But I've definitely been slugging through just what sort of image I want to project over the past few weeks.

Speaking of slugging, been trying to figure out the whole starting a business thing as well, and all the legal and such-what aspects thereof. I still don't fully understand it all, but at least it's a little less daunting than when I started out. I'm still on the fence as to whether I should just hire myself a lawyer for a few hours when I move to AZ or if I can glean all the needed information from the interwebs instead. Because oh interwebs, how I love thee, but sometimes you are misleading. But lawyers are expensive. But people deserve to get paid what they're worth.

Which leads me to revelation number 39 of this past month - photogs charge a lot because of - shit damn - overhead. There are so many costs and little things that add up in running a business that just never occurred to me but which I'm glad did because I can easily see how ignoring them would cause a business to fail. I remember the first time I looked at a wedding photog's asking price and how flabbergasted I was - how could they charge so much? Ah, naivete. At least it makes me feel a little more confident about pricing. Well, up until I have to give my first quote, at least. Gah gah gah.

In non-business related news, it is my top priority to acquire an adorable dress prior to Katie's wedding. Problem being, dresses are expensive and both Lady and I are socking away as much money as possible for the upcoming move and (possible) unemployment. Second problem being, no dress fits me. Because of my shape and my size, dress-makers assume I have big boobs, too, which is not true, and leads to awkward amounts of fabric sagging in the chest-areas. Gah. I'm kind of sick of finding a cute dress only to try it on and find they've gone and assumed big boobs again, so if anyone has suggestions for this dilemma, I'd much appreciate it. I recognize a lot of girls have the opposite problem, but, well, you know, someone has to stand up for us small-boobed girls. So. Small boobs represent, yo!

Also: Reading. Going well. I finished Liar yesterday and picked up The Hittite and Conspirata from the library today. I like me some ancient historical fiction after all that YA.

So in conclusion I have a lot going right now what with exercising and writing and reading and researching and photo-ing, but I love life and it's pretty swell. :D

Comments

[ministerofgrace.livejournal.com]

So. Dresses. What I've done recently is look for dresses that are skimmy/floaty in the hip/tummy area and grab one that's a size or two smaller than what I wear. They normally fit my top nicely and I don't have to worry about my hips breaking the seams. <.< Maybe we can hit up the mall in MN and do some dress shopping?

One week and one day! :D

[spryng.livejournal.com]

OMG ONE WEEK. I know this superficially and I have it on my calendar and every once in a while I've been squeeing and going "zomg MN and Ana!" but it still surprises me that it's so soon. Yay though! Maybe you and I can go while Lady is off being harassed by her dad and sis'. :D
Also also I am going to take many photos of you, just so you know and are, y'know, not taken by surprise. >>

[therealbenni.livejournal.com]

I tend to do the same thing with dresses. Almost anything with an a-line cut looks nice and makes the hip measurement irrelevant.

[audesapere.livejournal.com]

I've been thinking of starting my own business , too, at least officially. I guess unofficially I already do. If you ever need any proofreading or random writing, call me?
also once you have your blog up send me the URL and i'll link from my public blog. hardly anyone reads it, but ... maybe that'll change.

[spryng.livejournal.com]

I thought so from your recent posts. :) You should do that times ten, especially since it seems to be working for you so far. If you want, I can share some of the websites I've stumbled across recently re: starting own business. Although they're mostly photography-related, a lot of them have decent advice on more across-the-board stuff, like zomg taxes and pricing in general.
If (when!) I need proofreading I'll keep you in mind. Actually, I wonder if that might be a good idea for a blog in general, but I definitely will have other things.

[rocket-jockey.livejournal.com]

Just a quick suggestion - the IRS, state tax departments, photographer's associations and local business groups in most places typically have seminars (often for free!) covering taxes, record keeping, running and starting a business, licensing, and professional practices. Plug into those and you can get a lot of useful information and guidance.

[themegaloo.livejournal.com]

re: the dress issues.

I work in Bridal these days so this is a problem near & dear to me, if only because I encounter it in various forms, oh, daily. The trick, I've found, is in alterations. If you absolutely cannot find a dress to fit you properly, get it to fit your biggest part and get the other bits altered down, is what we tell our customers. Also, if you're not overly endowed in the chest, sometimes you can make a smaller size work in a dress that flares away from the body, allowing the space for your waist/hips while still being a close fit at the bust. But otherwise, yeah-- alterations are your best bet. Not to toot my own store's horn, but David's Bridal DOES have in-house alterations at fairly affordable prices, so you may way to try that? It's only for their own dresses, but the selection isn't half bad.

Best of luck!

(Also, I do enjoy your photo posts but I am a horrid LJ friend who never comments to...like, anything.)

[spryng.livejournal.com]

I hadn't even thought about alterations, mostly because most of the dresses I've looked at so far are pretty cheap things. But yeah - if I find one I really like but doesn't fit I'll have to keep that in mind. What kind of pricing does DB have?
Re: commenting - neither do I! I've gotten so very lazy with comments, even though I read my entire friend's page still. And I know intrinsically most people are the same way. :)

[themegaloo.livejournal.com]

There's typically a clearance rack where things run ~ $80, a few dresses that have been marked down to that, some on special value for $99, and everything not-on-sale is between 115 and 135. (Prices, I have them memorized ._.)