As much as it pains me, I'm seriously considering closing up Shop and just doing photography for the fun, and the challenge of it. It's been a nice ride for the past seven years in business. The clientele is just not there and the competition for photographers in my area is brutal. So I will do on request shoots when people ask, but that's about it.

My collection of equipment allows me to provide photography for just about any situation and with Adobe CC (which I'll still keep) the options are almost unlimited.

I'll still enjoy reading the daily Hog, so I'm not disappearing completely. I enjoy this forum and what I've learned here is amazing. Maybe I can share some of that knowledge to help out some other folks. "Keep shooting".

Condolences and Congratulations! Making a change this drastic is hard, when I quit doing paid people shots and started back shooting nature, when and where I wanted, the FUN came back into photography. I told a budding photographer last week I had rather crawl around on the ground all day chasing a bug to shoot than do another wedding in a nice clean air conditioned church. After nearly 50 years as a graphic artist and free-lance photographer I've seen the businesses go to the dogs with the amateurs and their computers with a CD full of clipart become instant 'designers' and newbies with digital cameras doing paid gigs, then having to go online and post questions of what settings they should have used to get better pictures. Hey, to each their own, they have to start somewhere, anyway hope you're as a content in a few months as I am now after making my change.

Condolences and Congratulations! Making a change this drastic is hard, when I quit doing paid people shots and started back shooting nature, when and where I wanted, the FUN came back into photography. I told a budding photographer last week I had rather crawl around on the ground all day chasing a bug to shoot than do another wedding in a nice clean air conditioned church. After nearly 50 years as a graphic artist and free-lance photographer I've seen the businesses go to the dogs with the amateurs and their computers with a CD full of clipart become instant 'designers' and newbies with digital cameras doing paid gigs, then having to go online and post questions of what settings they should have used to get better pictures. Hey, to each their own, they have to start somewhere, anyway hope you're as a content in a few months as I am now after making my change.

I understand about the competition being brutal. I see folks posting all the time here on Facebook looking for reccomendations for photographers for an event such as a wedding or family portrait with the stipulation that they don't want to pay "an arm and a leg" for it. Then a dozen people jump in and say either they know someone or they themselves can do it for a cheap price. How can a professional compete with people who want cheap, quick and easy rather than professional and creative? I have a feeling this same attitude is widespread these days and it goes beyond photography. I work in manufacturing for a company that was bought out by a very large corporation thats known for their low cost first attitude. We used to make all the parts here in our location but now most of our parts are bought from china completely machined and shipped overseas cheaper than what we can buy the raw material.
Sorry, George, for getting off topic. You said you were seriously considering closing up. Does that mean you haven't come to a final decision? I'm sure it has to be hard on you to end something you've put so much effort into.

Walt

As much as it pains me, I'm seriously considering closing up Shop and just doing photography for the fun, and the challenge of it. It's been a nice ride for the past seven years in business. The clientele is just not there and the competition for photographers in my area is brutal. So I will do on request shoots when people ask, but that's about it.

My collection of equipment allows me to provide photography for just about any situation and with Adobe CC (which I'll still keep) the options are almost unlimited.

I'll still enjoy reading the daily Hog, so I'm not disappearing completely. I enjoy this forum and what I've learned here is amazing. Maybe I can share some of that knowledge to help out some other folks. "Keep shooting".