I'm constantly trying to improve my skills, pick up more freelance work, and provide better quality media to clients. Even though I have a lot to offer by myself, that's not what really brings in the work. 

 At first I was under the impression that I needed to branch out to different styles of media production, as I would always get the question "Oh you're a photographer! Do you do *insert style of photography*?" Then it became a question of not being visible enough online, so I setup a website, Facebook page, and learned how to get a following on Instagram. Finally, I started to do some research into why I wasn't getting as much work as I had hoped, and found some answers. 

First of all, it's not about generalizing; it's about specializing. As a photographer, it's hard for me to pick a favorite style since there are so many out there, and sometimes I just don't have access to the types of shoots I would prefer to be doing. So because I couldn't necessarily specify, I decided to have separate branches that could do that for me. In addition to my band and model work with Stay Heavy Studios, I'm building a site for wedding & engagement media, and another for real estate and product imagery.

Next, don't try to carry the entire weight of your business on your shoulders. I've realized that working with others is a great way of spreading out the workload. Don't be afraid to second shoot for others, pick up editing work in your downtime, and shoot stock images for online media outlets. Even better would be to work with your own distributor, who can cover posting images online, sending them to various outlets and magazines, and make your business more visible online. I've also come to realize the importance of someone who can handle the legal side of your business, as it's rare to find someone who is a master of both a creative craft and business law.

Using these avenues to free up time might sound expensive, but is it as expensive as not having enough time to actually produce? By increasing the time spend actually producing media and working gigs, you drastically improve your earning ability. By raising your earning ability that much you gain exponentially more experience, build a bigger online presence, and earn enough income to actually pay for support staff. With the right people and a little faith, it's possible to bridge the gap from part-time freelancer to full-time producer. 

That being said, I'm building myself a team. Right now I have to stay focused on the last year of my degree and improving my work at Shopify, but I'm keeping my eyes open for the right people to join my crew. If you're interested, drop me a line!

Thanks again for reading,

Stay

So it begins...

Between starting my year-long thesis project at Full Sail, producing our first music video as Vultures, and finding a way to work and go to school while on tour for sixteen shows across Canada this summer, I'm going to be fried.

At the same time, I've never been so excited. I've been given creative control over video production, which really allows me to work within our means yet still produce a high quality and coherent product. The guys are trusting me, people are getting involved, and the pressure is on!

What to expect from SHS:

We'll be shooting BTS photos and videos of our work over the next few weekends producing our video, and I've got a bunch of changes I need to make to the website in terms of merchandise, booking functionality, and just distribution of materials in general. I've got a TON of new clothing designs on the way for 2017, as well as a revised list of services, and some long overdue updates to my example material. 

On a more fun side-note, my school program is coming into its last year and I've been watching an absolute shitload of movies as I work on my thesis project. Since I already nerd-out pretty hardcore after every film end up babbling about it to the first person I see, I figure I might as well share my opinions with you. I don't plan to follow any specific theme, but I tend to get on genre or director kicks every now and then, but expect variety! I just posted the new blog, check it out here!

On the personal side of things:

I haven't been able to make it to physio since I'm saving my buns off for the production of our music video, two upcoming tours, and a possible move at the end of the summer, which is making the healing process move even slower. I'm working on some alternate methods to get some time there again, and adjusting my budget to try to accommodate everything.

Despite juggling those stressors, spring and warm weather is approaching and it's brightening my mood immensely. The constant rain and gray is giving way to sunny days and warmth, making it easier to sit outside to work, or just take a walk to get some fresh food at the local grocery store.

In addition, I'm finally passing my six-month probation at my job, as well as getting shifted into daytime hours! I'm still not going to announce the job, as I have that final six-month review meeting before I'm 100% sure they still want me around, but expect that in the next post for sure. Either way, the move from 4pm-midnight to 10am-6pm will make a huge difference, and allow me to actually do some socializing during the week!

Always changing, always adapting, always moving forward.

Out of all of this chaos and change, I'm sticking to one train of thought: the more work I do now, the easier things will be later. If I just slog through this period of madness, I don't expect to be done the hard work, but I expect to be better at dealing with it.

Expect lots of stuff in the next few months, this summer is going to be a doozy and I'll do my best to keep you updated.

Thanks again for reading,

Stay

 A lot has been going on lately; I moved into a much bigger house with two of my bandmates, setup a new studio, and made some fantastic new connections. With my freelance work I've started working more with Crop Master Seeds, Damn Good Cookies, and AAA Dispensary to strengthen their media and web presence. We even recently sold a spec on building an archive of blue-screen footage of a very special machine, mixed with commercial video of an actor; one of our most involved video projects to-date. 

On the personal side, I recently started working at Shopify as a Guru in Training. The company is extremely innovative and inspiring, and includes a lot of great features. 

In terms of Stay Heavy Studios, that means a new storefront, merchandise, and a platform through which I can offer services and bookings online. Also, the new place includes not only a music studio, but my own personal production studio (aka - "garage") where I can store my equipment securely, and produce new photos and videos on the regular. 

The next few weeks are going to be crazy busy between a full time job and full time school, but it's nothing I can't handle with a bit of time management. Expect some footage from Lyrics Skateshop and a modelling shoot with the lovely Jyoti Parmar in a vlog update sometime soon! They're going to be really sporadic for a while, but I'll do what I can. Most of the new posts will be backlog, but I'll be making new things soon!

Thanks for reading,

Stay