The Latest Happenings with Toni Jay Photography
If you are the hyper-aware type, you’ve probably noticed that I haven’t been super active with posting on Instagram or Facebook. There are a number of reasons for this that I’ll share, just so y’all know what’s been happening! A lot of people have no idea the behind-the-scenes that goes on with owning a photography business. There’s the back and forth client emails, scheduling, sometimes rescheduling, planning the shoot, helping with wardrobe, the actual shoot, editing, invoicing, setting up profiles and galleries, ordering prints, blogging, and all while making sure it’s all entirely organized so you aren’t missing anything. And this is just for a lifestyle session! Don’t get me started on a wedding day! The amount of time invested is soooo much more than that hour we actually spend together. Then…there’s social media.
When we were on vacation in April, I had taken a ton of time prior to leaving to schedule out posts, and make sure that “my face” was still out there. It was stressful and time consuming, and I hated it.
The week we got back, I was exhausted (more about that in a bit…) and I decided that I just was going to do my usual daily business tasks, and not worry about posting on social media. You know what happened?
I still got a flood of inquiries in.
So, I did it another week…
Same thing.
I essentially just stopped sharing except for my weekly blogs! And you know what? People still call and email me! And my life actually seemed more fulfilled!
Most of you know that I am a work-from-home mom. I run my business entirely from my house. It’s our desire that I stay home and take care of William, and I wouldn’t trade the ability to have both of these things for anything else. I love that I can respond to clients in the morning before he wakes up or during his nap so that I am free and available to him when he walks up to me with his big, beautiful, blue eyes, holding his sticky hands up in the air, saying “mama,” just BEGGING to be cuddled. I wanted these moments more than a scheduled post. Those moments aren’t going to last forever…
…and come November, I’ll already be having to divide my time because…
We’re expecting!
I mostly wanted everyone to know that just because I haven’t been sharing a ton online each day like I had been, we are still here, going strong. I’m just taking on extra baby cuddles in place of scheduling posts 🙂 I mean, can you blame a girl?! As far as the baby news, for any currently booked clients, don’t worry! This news doesn’t really mean much for you at this point, just that I’ll be a little, uh, rounder! 🙂 As for any clients looking to book this Fall, I’ll be taking a leave of absence starting around the middle of October through the end of the year. We will play it by ear for the sake of Fall colors, but I’ll let you know now that slots will be limited, so don’t hesitate to start booking!
I’m so thankful for this life, and that I get to share it with all of you!
Warmly,
Toni Jay
