You can afford your favorite family photographer

Sometimes I like to delve back into the psychology of things, especially over the past few years. Being a business owner means you have to take a good hard look at yourself, your thought processes, your mental blocks, and your habits. You can't just default or react through your days if you want to build a sustainable business.One thing that's been on my mind a lot is choices. Since the move to the US, I feel like people around me feel choiceless. And I wonder if it is because of how the English language kind of makes it sounds like choices live outside of us.

"We can't meet up this weekend."

"I can't go to the gym tonight."

"We can't afford photography right now."

"We can't hire our favorite photographer for the wedding."

It makes it sound like there are external boundaries set on what we can do or buy. We talk about not having a choice. In truth, we have options and we make choices.

"We made the choice to stay at home to rest up this weekend." 

"I'm not going to the gym tonight because I choose to go grab a few glasses of wine with a friend."

"We chose to spend our money on a vacation this summer, instead of hiring a family photographer."

"We chose to not budget for our favorite photographer, and are spending most of the money on the venue, the decorations, the booze."

You might say that our options limit what we can do. YES! But we have to acknowledge that we are still the one making the choice between the options we have.

Sometimes these options aren't presented to us at the same time, which makes these choices seem like they have nothing to do with each other – for example, splurging on an iPad in March and not being able to afford a flight to our friends' birthday celebration in August.

Let's face it–when we really want something we often figure out a way to get it. A pair of shoes, a new phone, that glorious piece of furniture from Pottery Barn, a daily cup of takeaway coffee. All things that we will be done with within a span of an hour to a few years, while photos of our memories would be held onto forever.

Those are all choices.

Sure–a legit self-employed photographer will cost more than let's say that new phone. But unnecessary purchases here and there really add up.

I recognize that some families really truly cannot afford an independent photographer who charges enough to be in business as well as make a living – that’s just how it is.

Why don't we see photography as an investment?

When we make choices, we tend to choose whatever gives us the fastest hit of gratification. It takes effort to choose the option that will be better in the long run–an investment in our future–whether that's around how we eat, exercise, save money for a larger purchase, or prioritize family over work.

We might not see the value of photographs/family time/a trip to meet family until something terrible happens to a family member, or simply until some time has passed and we've gained perspective on phases of our lives.

We could all stand to evaluate what we choose to spend money on on a regular basis, so that we can work towards what really matters to us. We can afford anything we want, as long as we prioritize it over other things. And it’s ok that everyone values different things ❤️