I did it .. I found my perfect space for my studio. Its a unique area of little shops that look like cottages in Sebastian. The price is right, the owner willing to work with me to build it out how I want it. Pretty much perfect.

BUT .. I’ve decided to put it on hold. I’m trying to learn from our past, when we jumped into making our home investment. At the time, we were doing very well, the economy was good, but house prices were just falling .. so when we found a good deal, we jumped at it. Things change so quickly. So learning from that mistake, I’ve decided to wait longer. And I’m seriously proud of myself that I came to that conclusion on my own. Realizing that my product is a luxury item, and facing a recession in this country, portraits could be a tough sell in the near future.

When Sean suggested I find a space to grow this week, I realized that I had no direction, no idea of what I want my studio (referring to my entire photography business) to do. For instance, did I want to take traditional shots, posed with props in a studio, or something else entirely. Once I realized that I want to specialize in natural light photographs (the anti-JCPenney/mall photo studio), that made this decision alot easier. Now the studio space is less of a necessary, and more of a ‘it would be a nice place to meet people and show them my work’ .. I still think the space above would be perfect, and would give me the space for natural light photographs in a controlled environment, as well as studio lighted portraits, but .. I dont need it to make this business work.

Now onto redesigning my site (AGAIN) .. building my portfolio & finding some places to advertise (local parent/wedding/pet magazines), maybe this time next year I’ll be in a position once again to find my own space.  I’m really excited that I’ve finally figured out where I want to take this business