So admittedly 2020 isn’t going how I planned or hoped. For a couple months I was convinced 2020 was going to be the end of my photography business but in less than a months time I was proven wrong. It took the declaration of a pandemic to cancel my 2020 schedule seemingly overnight but one gloriously hot and dusty summer month to save it.
Back in March when we went full on pandemic with shut downs and closing the borders with restricted travel and mass unemployment the cancellations started rolling in. And I got it people were laid off, they were scared, they didn’t have the money for a luxury good which is what hiring a professional photographer is. You can live without gorgeous photographs, you want them, you will crave them but you can survive without them.
So I knew it was coming and I prepared how I would deal with with my clients, how refunds would be issued, how rescheduling would work. And when that dust settled and my 2020 looked like a completely blank calendar I processed how this could have very well been the end of Exposure One Studios. Yes I was angry at first, never at my clients but at the circumstances, and then I was depressed. I spent ten years building this business, four under the new name with new branding and it was hard to see that much work crumble away.
At one point I got the papers to dissolve my LLC, I was applying for any and all work because I’d need an income, and I was wondering like everyone else what was next. I nearly filled out the forms to dissolve my business, but I thought how can you let a few months or even one year set back everything you have work for in ten years? So I stepped back and re-evaluated what I needed to keep the business even if it wasn’t profitable anymore.
A way to pay the bills and the bills for the business— website fees, phones, etc. Nothing extravagant I managed to get the business cost down exponentially and I own my car, equipment, editing, programs and computers. It would be manageable.
Anyways June hit I returned to work part time at the bookstore I had been laid off from— I started at the bookstore in 2018 for winter work when the business slows down but loved it and stayed, they are great at working with my scheduling conflicts and business. At the end of June the summer camp I do marketing photography and general photography work happened so I was pleasantly busy with that.
And then horse shows were allowed to start happening and between a summer camp and three small horse shows in the month of July the generosity and support of equestrians basically rescued my business. Between digital and print sales I was able to pay off business costs for the year my part time just wouldn’t help me cover. My business is now in a survivable spot and I can decide whether I want to return to a hobby and work full time or if after this pandemic is over if I want to push to full time again.
Thankful for the equestrians at show venues like Belmont Saddle Club and Shenandoah Valley Riding Club. Thank you for the support in a time when spending money on photos isn’t the easiest thing to do. Thank you for supporting small business and helping give us a fighting chance at survival.
Check out the images from the second show I photographed at Shenandoah on July 25th below.
As Always Stay Safe, Stay Healthy and Stay Six Feet Apart!