Christmas Freebie - Photoshop Storyboards!

Merry Christmas peeps!!

For those of you with photoshop, check out our 3 Free Photoshop Storyboard Templates here.

FREE PHOTOSHOP STORYBOARD

 

The templates are some of my favourite storyboards - ones Rob and myself use mainly for cake smashes, but there's plently of uses for them.

PS. if you post online, send me a link! I'd love to see what they get used for >.<

Love, 

Georgee xxx

Beautiful Autumn-y Colours

How much I love this time of year is crazy. I don't love it now because it's freezing and wet and windy, but a month ago? It was beautiful. Orange and red and yellow everywhere.

We knew it was getting prettier and prettier so we set out to do a week of mini sessions where met families in a park local to our house. Mini sessions aren't something we do often, but coming up to Christmas they are a great way to appeal to people who know of us but have never used our services personally as well as get to have some fun with a whole bunch of people :)

One of my favourite sessions of the week - though it was hard to choose - was this gorgeous family who we had to reschedule due to dark, wintery weather. And what a good job it was that we did - the next day was perfect. Despite it being a half an hour session we took so many photos it was almost impossible to choose - so here's 5 out of about 40!!

Love, Georgee

Less is More...

So I thought I would update you guys with a super secret tip to boosting your Facebook page profile. Something we learnt early on in the game which helped our marketing and saved us time.

We're very downhearted about Facebook nowadays (our fans see maybe 20% of our posts compared to when we first started thanks to FB's money-grabbing and my stubbornest to not pay them to boost every single thing) but there's still something very effective in posting recent shoots and seeing the reaction of their family and friends. 

How to Be an Exceptional Wedding Photographer

There's the obvious - take great photos. But that's not what I wanted to talk about today. You can take gorgeous wedding photographs - the best - and still be a sub-par photographer. 

I once spoke to a bride who told me about her sisters wedding where the photographer actually stopped the ceremony (THE CEREMONY!!) in order to get them to pose. It was pretty simple - no matter how gorgeous the photos were, they were not going to hire him again.

It's customer service that you need to pride yourself on, as well as the photos. If you want the bride's sister's wedding, her friends and family, then you need to be remembered as the wedding photographer. That person who made the wedding just a little bit better and took the best photos ever. My Dad was always naturally good at it, I think. He never advertised - it was all word of mouth because he's a brilliant at photographer and such a wonderful guy to have at your wedding.

So here's a few tips to making sure you are remembered for all the right reasons;

Regularly Scheduled Programme

So I've been a little bit slow to post the last two weeks, I've not disappeared or anything, just very overworked!!

Rob showed me this yesterday... (except the 'no we don't have time' we always make time) it's spot on!! 

6 Practical To-Dos for When Your Photography Business is Slow

Photography is such a seasonal service. One minute you can be up to your ears in shoots and weddings and editing, then the next you're looking at your calendar and there's nothing going on. Especially in winter months.

It's the same with us, we've been at this for just 3 years now and the trends are pretty clear. Photos are a great Christmas present for grandparents so we have a lot of family shoots up until mid-December. Summer is wedding season, which finished for us this year around late-August. Now weddings are one-a-month at best (which is super sad because autumn/winter weddings are so magical!!). There's March-April when everyone is enjoying holidays and Easter.

Then there's January.

January is quiet. It's not a surprise, because beyond beautiful winter weddings and newborns, most people don't have money to spend after Christmas.

I know January is a few months off, but if you're just starting or an old hand, it's always hard to not be busy so here are a few tips that we use to get through the quieter seasons.

 Plan.

Especially in January. We plan the entire year in January. Obviously it's very loose and usually veers off course, but it's good to have a goal. We plan everything from our future goals to our monthly newsletters.

Mini Sessions.

Mini Sessions are such a fun way to draw in business and new customers. It's a great way to meet new people who want to use your services but - especially in January - can't afford a higher price of a normal session.

Get Your Social Media on Point.

It's easy to let it fall to the wayside in summer and coming up to Christmas, but when it's slow you'll have a chance to pin, tweet, instagram and google+ everything you and other local businesses have been doing.
 

Host a giveaway. 

Facebook is a great way to get people to share and like for a free family or engagement shoot - although specify that they are in your location! This is a great way to get yourself noticed, share your content and not be bored!

Note: Don't do too many giveaways as people will wait for these instead of booking your normal shoots.

Get Networking.

Chances are, businesses local to you are feeling the same after-Christmas blues. Shops and anything retail is crazy because of the sales but some other service-based businesses are in the same boat as you. Ping them an email, set up a little meet and greet.

Rob and I want to do a post-Christmas dinner in January - for other self-employed people who work all through Christmas - it's fun and a great way to make friends with other people on a similar path to yourself. (So if you're in Kent, give us a call, you'll be welcome!! :) )

Take Time off.

I know this sounds like a filler tip, but it's a very practical one. Sometimes you can forget - as a self-employed person and especially in the early days of your business - that you need a holiday. It really helps to take a step back sometimes.

Lastly, enjoy it!

It's easy to stress when you're not busy every day, but - as much as you love your job - you'll miss the lazy mornings when you're setting your alarm again.

Hope this gives you guys a few ideas! Let me know if you have any great ideas, I'd love to hear them :)

Georgee xx

Liebster Award!

Happy Sunday Folks!! 

So, I got nominated to take part in the Liebster Award, a super fun way of finding new bloggers with great content and getting to know each other. Thank you so much the lovely Steph from Autumn Dreamer for nominating me <3.

Here's how it works:

1. Link back to the person who nominated you

2. Answer the 10 questions set by the nominator

3. Create 10 new questions for 10 bloggers you nominate

4. Comment on your nominees blog with a link to your blog to let them know they've been nominated

It's that easy! 

So my questions were...

♥What's the inspiration to name your blog as you have done

If feels a little bit corny to admit it, but it's photography/design related. Pixels are what makes up a photo on a screen and pine is one of the soft woods used to make paper.
♥Why did you start blogging?

A very marketing-savvy person told Rob and myself to share only work photos on our social media sites, so I wanted somewhere to share our photos. I've been posting a lot of advice and tips too, which was a surprise to me but a really fun way to share what little knowledge I have :)
♥What is your favourite memory

A recent one - getting engaged, it was all very romantic and unexpected

A childhood one - playing video games with my siblings
♥If you had the chance to learn something new, what would it be and why?

I would like to be fluent in a few languages - I can get by in Italian and Bahasa, but I would like to be able to actually think in another language.
♥What is the one dream that you wish to achieve before you die?

Go back to the Philippines - possibly to live - and re-visit all my favourite places. They have a slogan over there 'It's more fun in the Philippines' and it's most definitely the truest statement ever.
♥What is your favourite book or film

My very favourite book series is Mark of the Lion by Francine Rivers. Such an unbelievably beautiful series.
♥What do you like to do in your free time?

Cinema is my favourite place to be, but it's sad to say a lot of my free time is out taking photos or designing things :)
♥What makes you smile?

My future husband's stupid jokes
♥Sunrise or Sunset?

Ooohhh Sunset, I think
♥Favourite season?

Summer - sunshine and flipflops are my very favourite things

So my turn to nominate, I've choosen...

1. PerhapsBananas

2. Rose

3. TheSpottedFox

4. Bloggerandthegeek

5. ACupofT

6. Little Sunny Kitchen

7. TeaStainedLauren

8. FaultierBeauty

9. TheGirlAndThePaperCastle

10. AprilsHomeMaking

My Questions

1. What made you start blogging?

2. Do you sleep on your front, back or side?

3. Name three things you couldn't live without

4. What is your favourite place in the world?

5 What's your favourite tv series?

6. What would you change in your life right now if you could

7. Windows or Mac?

8. If you could go back in time, what time period would you go?

9. Most inspirational person to you?

10. If you could only eat one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Ahh, this was so much fun!! 

Don't forget to comment below with your post so I can read your answers everyone :)

Thank you again Autumn Dreamer for nominating me!