Outsourcing
I’m the type of person who likes to do everything myself. I’m a control freak. I want it my way or the highway. Especially with my business. But, there comes to be a point where you realize you can’t do it all. You’re not super mom (or at least I’m not). And you might just need some help.
With my photography business I like to outsource the things that I don’t like / don’t have time to do. And one of those things is RAW processing. It’s tedious and time consuming and I’m just not all that great at it to be totally honest. In the past I have just shot RAW for my weddings. I’ve used two of the big RAW processing companies and they’ve been okay. My biggest complaint is that it’s just not consistent. There are different people processing my images each time and it can be a bit frustrating. Especially for a control freak like me.
If you follow me on Facebook and Twitter you probably heard me talking about editing a lot this past Fall. Okay, fine. I was complaining. A lot. I was drowning in my editing all while still nursing a newborn and taking care of my crazy 3 year old. A very nice Mom*tog reader, Marissa Lynn, emailed me telling me that she wanted to help me. To offer her services so I could start spending more time with my family. See, Marissa is a Navy wife. She’s the mom to a little girl and loves photography, but because they move so often she’s not able to really establish her business. In the mean time she has started editing for other photographers just because she loves to do it. I decided to give her a try and I was so impressed. She’s FAST, super great and accommodating, and her prices are so reasonable. And she’s a mom. So she gets that you would rather be spending time with your kids rather than sitting in front of the computer. I’m so glad she reached out to me because her help has really freed up more time for me to spend with my family! Really.
Marissa is looking to take on a few more clients and if you are drowning in editing like I was, I would really suggest contacting her. Because she’s awesome. And you’ll be happy to have more time to do what you love.
Check out Marissa Lynn’s website to learn more about her services!
About DrewB
I’ve started this blog as a way to connect with other moms who love photography. Whether you are a professional photographer who is looking for advice on how to manage your own business and your family or if you are a mom who is looking for tips on how to take better pictures of your kids, I hope that you can find some good information and be inspired!
Super sweet post. Really and truly – one that you totally didn’t ignore a stranger and took a chance, and two, because I am 100% about supporting mom’s who are building a business.
Marissa is AWESOME! She edits my images, too, and I couldn’t be happier with the results! I second how fast, precise & amazing she is!
Thank you for being so open about the back end of your business! There are so many photographers who won’t share, but your openness is so refreshing, and has honestly helped my confidence grow as I opened my own photography business last year. One question about your RAW processing. Could you explain the “processing” part? I know that sounds like a silly question coming from someone who just said she’s a photographer, but until I purchased my 7d last month I only shot .jpg, not RAW. But, when I load my RAW files into LR3, there is no processing for me to do, and they export as .jpgs. I guess my question is, am I missing something that I should be doing with those files? Thank you again, Drew!
I’ve known Marissa since the third grade and it pleases me so much to see these kind words written about her on a public forum! Thank you!