When anyone asks, I always say my dream is to do NICU photography and advocacy full time. From doing sessions for families admitted, following up with them post-NICU graduation, working with other organizations for their needs (such as March of Dimes, who I’ve worked with quite a bit both locally and nationally), penning human interest story books with proceeds going towards the cause, and of course, the big dream of traveling to other regions of the world documenting their approach to prematurity and how the families cope. When I see my future, that is what I see! That is what I whole heartedly believe I am meant to do.
I also have always said “One Day I’m going to do this” or “One Day I’m going to do that”, but when life is so busy, that One Day gets further and further away. And since the birth of my son Charlie this past Winter, I look at him and realize that life is passing me by way too fast and I need to make One Day be tomorrow, which is soon going to be TODAY.
The 5 Minute sessions started as a fundraiser for my NICU trip to South Korea in 2014. I’ve offered them a few times since and they are always a hit. By now you know that I am offering them year round, at different locations throughout the city, and for the crazy affordable price of just $60 which INCLUDES a handful of digital images (usually between 3-5, sometimes more!). I’m working heartily at shifting my business model towards these 5 Minute sessions for a number of reasons, including but not limited to:
• Shoot the mini-mini sessions on the weekends (and a few weekdays here and there) so I can work on NICU sessions and related advocacy work during the week while still providing necessary income for my family.
• Affordability and accessibility, every family can appreciate these two things! Budget friendly and time-friendly are essential because let’s face it, pretty much everyone these days is crazy busy and with this economy, borderline broke.
• Variety. We all have those spots we just LOVE and know would make an awesome backdrop, but do we need 30 pictures in different poses taken over the course of an hour with the same backdrop? Nope.
• Time. Working with small kids can be trying for everyone because their attention span is literally like two…SQUIRREL!… seconds. You can generally get most kids to cooperate for 5 minutes but more than that they just want to play. And every couple has that one of the two who really does not want to take portraits while the other is begging them to. 5 Minutes and $60 is an easy sell compared to the other options. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had spouses tell me “Yeah, that wasn’t that bad, I actually had…fun.” You’re welcome.
• It works for every milestone. Seriously. Families, kids, tweens, teenagers, high school graduation (yearbook photo anyone), engagement, pregnancy announcements, maternity, grandparents, holidays, sunflowers. I mean, it just makes sense because all these milestones only need a few photos. Do you need 30 images of your pregnancy announcement? Nope.
• It’s fun. It’s fast. It’s affordable (the price is cheap, the quality is gold) and it allows me to take care of my family and volunteer pretty much full time. Slam-dunk.
So there you have it, that’s why the big push. I am currently still shooting privately commissioned sessions but will phase those out by June 2017 to where I am only doing the 5 Minute sessions for portraits and concentrating wholely on my NICU work. By choosing to work with me, you’re supporting my family which enables me in turn to do more supporting of NICU families here, there, everywhere.
WIN-WIN.
Fall session dates/locations/themes (August-December), are coming out in July here at www.5minutephotoshoot.com, still spots left for June and July!
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