It’s true, Email is going to be the death of me. I promise it is. You are going to find me one day flattened out somewhere by the weight of all things email.

I’m sitting here today working on emails and realizing that it’s never ending and I truly need an entire week to do nothing but email. As I was doing this I thought I needed a  little break and should blog about my email sorrows. So, that being said, here is finally a blog from me, Kimberly Jarman, on something other than pictures:)

Email. What was life like before email? Do you remember? It seems like so long ago, but I do remember somewhat.

I remember that I used to write letters. I had pen pals, well maybe not pen pals, but boys that I had met at summer camp and became “friends” with. We would write back and forth to each other every week or so and sometimes the letters would be 15 pages long. I think once email came around that’s when those letters stopped.

I remember that I would call friends and chat with them for hours. Now my best friends don’t hear from me on the phone.

I remember that I would read a book. I would sit down and read a book for hours. I would light candles, turn on music, and lay on my couch and read. (now I listen to audio books while I work).

Oh the good ole days when there weren’t cell phones, iphones, email, blogs, internet, email… back when life was slower.

Please don’t get me wrong. Now that I have it I will never go without it. I LOVE my iphone more than most probably do. I LOVE the newest tech gadget. I LOVE email. I HATE talking on the phone. I LOVE the technical advances that all this has brought, I just can’t keep up with it all and sometimes I wish I could go back to the days when it was a little less chaotic.

Now my life consists of 50-100 emails a day on top of running a business, working on client projects, answering phones, being a wife, being a mom, being a boss, and random other acts that must be accomplished through the day. It’s amazing how much life changes in such small periods of time.

I’m fully admitting to all of you that, while I do run a succesful business and try to offer the best customer service, i’m horrible at email. I really try. I try to answer every email as soon as I get it, but it weighs me down, I take a break, and then they are still there shouting respond, respond, respond… I want an answer right now…. come on, answer me!!! So, right now i’ve been answering emails for 5 hours. That’s all i’ve done, is sit down and answer emails from the top to the bottom. Sadly, as I answer one and file it away another one appears and then I answer that and another one appears again! I’m getting through them slowly, but surely. I will do it!!

So, now that you’ve read all of this you are wondering, ok Kim, what is your point? Why did you blog on email and why did I just sit here and read it? Well, that is a great question. The answer is…. I just wanted to blog on it.. no reason really. I just wanted you to know that i’m trying to get to all my emails, but i’m not the super girl who can answer EVERY email within 24 hours. It might take me a couple of days. It doesn’t mean I don’t like you and I don’t care about you, it means that I have a lot of emails and i’m trying to get to them all:) I also wanted to blog because I know i’m not alone. I’m not alone!!! I know that there are some of you super stars who are amazing at email and are organized and perfect and I give you total props. Please help me!!! I know that there are others out there who are like me and are suffocating by the email… know that you aren’t alone!!!

One day, when I find a solution I will blog again on email and how I conquered my inbox. Until then feel free to email me… but know that it might take a little while and I do still love you!!!

Until then, please enjoy a beautiful image of my inbox… and yes… that does say 1287 messages unread – it doesn’t mean they are all unread, just marked as unread… but now you get the point… it’s gonna be the death of me:)

Over the last 7 years I’ve learned a lot. A lot about life, business, and photography. I started my business while I was a senior in college. I used my grant money from my last semester to buy a camera and a laptop and then created my own website. I got my name out there, took a lot of workshops, was mentored by some of the best in the country and just pushed through. I had never 2nd shot a wedding before and I just jumped head in. My business grew every year and in the last 7 years I now have a beautiful studio,  3 associate photographers, an amazing office manager and 2 interns. It’s been kind of amazing but a lot of work.

It doesn’t happen over night and you have to be willing to work hard. I’ve learned and trained with some of the best photographers and business people, and it has changed my life and business.

There are a lot of photographers out there right now who have a dream to own a business and to be successful, but they want it all to happen fast, they aren’t willing to invest into their business or their equipment or work to make their dreams happen.

I’ve had the chance to train and mentor a few up and coming photographers and I value those who want to grow and become better. I love seeing how well they are succeeding and many of them have become good friends.

Sadly, I don’t have time to do a lot of mentoring and haven’t offered one on one sessions because of that. A lot of people have asked and I know the demand is out there, so I decided that if I’m going to do one it’s going to be for a great cause.

Many of you have heard about our Silent Auction that is happening this week to raise money for my cousin Christy. She has MS and it has completely affected her life. I want to raise money to find a cure, so we are auctioning off a lot of items this week in hopes of raising $3000.

My donation to the auction is a personal One on One mentor session for a day with me. Like, I said, I don’t do these often because we just don’t have time. This mentor session will be fully up to what you want to learn. We can go over photography, business, accounting, shooting, lighting, etc. We can do a mock photoshoot and I can walk you through things. Pretty much this day will go as you want. I’m dedicating it to your learning.

The bidding is starting at $300 and in all reality this is over a $1500 value, so I’m really hoping that there will be a good bidding war and that those of you who have always wanted to grown in your photography and business will take this as a great investment and opportunity… so come on, head over to the auction site and bid like mad!!! The more money you spend the more secrets I will share with you!!!!!!

Thanks everyone:)

From time to time I get people who email me and ask me questions about photography, how I started, what equipment I use, how to do certain things, and just general things.

I decided that it would benefit more people if I went ahead and shared my answers on the blog. Hopefully this will inspire more people.

If you ever have a question please feel free to shoot me an email… it might take a little time to respond, but I will get to you, I promise!!

Cori emailed me a little while back and is an aspiring photographer. She had a great question that I thought I would share with everyone.

1. When you discovered this was something that you wanted to do, what did you do or what steps did you take? How did you get started? Did you start out with a studio and such or did you just photograph people until you began to get enough money to make it a business? Who are the people I should start talking to if this is something I am serious about?

Photography has always been something I loved as well. In High School my grandfather let me use a brand new 35 mm camera he had just bought. We were on a trip to Oregon and all I did is take pictures. I LOVED IT and was addicted. Later on he gave me the camera and told me to make good use out of it! I took a few classes in college and learned the basics of photography. I loved photographing people and just started grabbing friends to go out and do photo shoots. After awhile people knew I liked photography and some of my friends who were getting married asked me to be the photographer at their wedding. I was scared to death to do it, but I agreed. I did 4 or 5 weddings for friends and the last two I did got me addicted. I was in-between jobs at the time and was having a hard time finding something else to do, so I decided what the heck, lets go for it and start my own company. I had nothing to loose because I was finishing up college and about to get married. I figured that I would try it out and if nothing came out of it I would look harder for another job.

Well word spread and I got a few clients, then a few more, then a lot more. I had already booked 30 weddings in my first year; people wanted something different for their wedding, not the traditional posed pictures; they loved what they saw.

My story is similar to others that I have talked to, sometimes you have to take a leap of faith to see what will happen. My best advice is to take that leap with professionalism and quality. I made sure that I had a wonderful website and I had great work to show people. The more work I was able to do the bigger my portfolio got. I went into my photography with the mindset that it was a business and I ran it as such.

For some people it is harder to take this leap because there are other things holding you back, such as providing for a family or even just yourself. My suggestion is to do photography on the side for awhile, still create a professional business and work hard. Once you realize that you can provide through photography make the jump.

I did not start out in an actual studio. I worked out of my house for 4 years and just recently got a studio. Studio’s are a big expense, so you need to make sure that you are really going to stick it out and do well before you jump into a studio space.

Talk to people that you know or respect and ask them for advice. Show your work to professionals and ask for critiques; however, be willing to take constructive criticism and learn from what people tell you. There is always more that you can learn, no matter what stage your photography is at.

Stay tuned for more Question and Answer time with Kimberly Jarman!

From time to time I get people who email me and ask me questions about photography, how I started, what equipment I use, how to do certain things, and just general things.

I decided that it would benefit more people if I went ahead and shared my answers on the blog. Hopefully this will inspire more people.

If you ever have a question please feel free to shoot me an email… it might take a little time to respond, but I will get to you, I promise!!

Cori emailed me a little while back and is an aspiring photographer. She had a great question that I thought I would share with everyone.

1. When you discovered this was something that you wanted to do, what did you do or what steps did you take? How did you get started? Did you start out with a studio and such or did you just photograph people until you began to get enough money to make it a business? Who are the people I should start talking to if this is something I am serious about?

Photography has always been something I loved as well. In High School my grandfather let me use a brand new 35 mm camera he had just bought. We were on a trip to Oregon and all I did is take pictures. I LOVED IT and was addicted. Later on he gave me the camera and told me to make good use out of it! I took a few classes in college and learned the basics of photography. I loved photographing people and just started grabbing friends to go out and do photo shoots. After awhile people knew I liked photography and some of my friends who were getting married asked me to be the photographer at their wedding. I was scared to death to do it, but I agreed. I did 4 or 5 weddings for friends and the last two I did got me addicted. I was in-between jobs at the time and was having a hard time finding something else to do, so I decided what the heck, lets go for it and start my own company. I had nothing to loose because I was finishing up college and about to get married. I figured that I would try it out and if nothing came out of it I would look harder for another job.

Well word spread and I got a few clients, then a few more, then a lot more. I had already booked 30 weddings in my first year; people wanted something different for their wedding, not the traditional posed pictures; they loved what they saw.

My story is similar to others that I have talked to, sometimes you have to take a leap of faith to see what will happen. My best advice is to take that leap with professionalism and quality. I made sure that I had a wonderful website and I had great work to show people. The more work I was able to do the bigger my portfolio got. I went into my photography with the mindset that it was a business and I ran it as such.

For some people it is harder to take this leap because there are other things holding you back, such as providing for a family or even just yourself. My suggestion is to do photography on the side for awhile, still create a professional business and work hard. Once you realize that you can provide through photography make the jump.

I did not start out in an actual studio. I worked out of my house for 4 years and just recently got a studio. Studio’s are a big expense, so you need to make sure that you are really going to stick it out and do well before you jump into a studio space.

Talk to people that you know or respect and ask them for advice. Show your work to professionals and ask for critiques; however, be willing to take constructive criticism and learn from what people tell you. There is always more that you can learn, no matter what stage your photography is at.

Stay tuned for more Question and Answer time with Kimberly Jarman!