I am new to OSP and pretty new to photography. I picked up my first SLR camera almost a year ago to the day...my mom enrolled me in an Intro. to Photography class at the local community college as a Christmas present. It has been a crazy year since. I welcomed my second baby boy into the world in April and started a business in May. I have already learned so much from this forum and am looking forward to learning more. I was going to wait to post until I had an avatar, but decided to go for it today. I have 7 weddings booked this year...one this weekend and one the next. I think because everything is happening so quickly I feel very overwhelmed and am lacking confidence. Though this forum is so helpful it is also a little intimidating - YOU ARE ALL AMAZING!!!! I was curious how some of you handled similar situations.

Welcome to OSP! Sounds like you're on the right track.

Bentley

Welcome to OSP! The best advice I can give is to learn, learn, learn! You are definitely on the right track and if you keep going down that path, you can do great things. With 2 little ones myself (not as little as you - a 6 year old and a 4 year old), there is probably NO way you can avoid being overwhelmed right now!

Keep working at it, if it is truly what you want to do and you will make it work.

Welcome and congratulations on all of the exciting things that have been going on in your life lately!

Please do not be intimidated by this forum....you'll find people literally all across the spectrum of experience and expertise!

Just keep shooting, reading, researching, surfing, etc. That's what I've been doing for about a year now and my business has taken off like I never expected! Never stop learning and giving back. No matter what level you're at, you have some wisdom to give.

For example, you may see a gal on here named Jillian Kay - well, she is a WONDERFUL photographer, full of wisdom, etc., but one of the greatest contributions she's made here is what we call her "Dear Silly Lady" letters. Basically, we'll get on here and gripe about some client who's being totally unreasonable and Jillian will write a perfect response for us to use in communicating with those clients. She's amazing at it! But anyone can have a gift like that - and it's rewarding to contribute!

welcome

Thanks for the welcome and the encouragement!

What are the differences and meanings between the envelopes on the far left (next to each new post heading)?

Welcome, Ashley!

Hi there!