“Imagine we are 5, playing on the playground and some little snotty kid comes up while you are playing a game you made up with your buddies and then runs off, starts the game up with their friends and then claims it as their own. Pretend we are in 6th grade and I lean over to copy your history exam that you studied all night on the last day of school so I can leave first to jump on the bus only to have you walk on and hear me accuse you of copying me. Fast forward 5 years to prom…and I run into you at the formal store while you are shopping with your mom and comment on how awesome you look in that dress and how I love how it looks on you…only to have us both show up and I am wearing the exact same dress.
Work with me here. I am TIRED ..more like exhausted from all this crap. I am 41 and I have worked my whole life to live this dream. I have had to evaluate what has been making me so distraught lately and it’s a blessing and a curse. It’s name…Facebook. All I ever want is to be creative, grow my business, help provide for my family and give my clients amazing images. What I didn’t want is to have to wake up day in and day out only to find that I have to come up with yet another protection policy for my work in order to continue being able to do what God has allowed me to do. When Facebook first started, it was new, fresh…it was exciting to share my work with so many people and have them share it with their friends. Over time, it grew into a monster that has broken my heart more times than I can count. This isn’t just a “business” that I run …it is my heart and soul. It is impossible for me to not take it personal when what is created is a part of me.
I want my work to be about the images… I want word of mouth to continue to be what drives my studio. I strive to give my clients something to talk about so really …I shouldn’t need Facebook. I don’t want it to be about all the crap that goes on between this industry and everything that goes with it…I don’t want my studio to be hinged on how many “FANS” I have and how I am going to get the next one. I don’t want to be so focused on what someone thinks or says on facebook or come across a session posted because my client or friend decided to go to another photographer for whatever reason…which I completely respect. I won’t lie…it doesn’t hurt any less…but I would rather not know about it. Ignorance is bliss. I don’t want to have to bombard people with contests and specials to make them notice my work. If they notice my work it is because it speaks for itself…if they don’t seek me out then maybe it’s time for me to hang it up. I leave that in God’s hands. In the end….he gave me this job and he will be the one to take it away…not a number on facebook. I know first hand there are positives and I wish it stopped there but Facebook is so all consuming…it is zapping my energy, creativity and focus. I think my studio can be better served being represented by my website and bringing back my blog. Get back to basics. So at the end of this week I will shut down Photography by Elena’s Facebook page. I can always be reached through my website and any specials in the future will be released there under the “studio news” button or on the blog once it is brought back. HUGE thank you to everyone who has been there for me, supported the studio and helping me gain exposure here on Facebook. It has been a wonderful ride but I am ready to get off. (-:
I know I am passionate, up and down…drive my husband BATTY but I can’t help it …its who I am…it’s how God made me. I love hard, live hard…fall hard. Some would avoid that ride all together…but not me. I wouldn’t have it any other way….all I can say is I ALWAYS feel alive.”
