Or a photographer? Or freelance writer?
Those are the three avenues of job hunting that I’ve been doing.
If you’re new to the Ratcho’s life you need to understand something kind of obvious: I’m a writer determined to have my way with the world.
Now that we’re all on the same page, you can understand that writing, unfortunately, does not come with any guarantees. It has the stability of, say, a 10 year old boy surfing out on Australian coastlines. It’s volatile, my friends. (No McCain pun intended there at all.) And so, that means I must find a way of finding a sustainable income. First there’s the practical part of me: the part that is a-d-d-i-c-t-e-d to all things academic and mental stimulation and books and theory and debating and learning. That’s the part of me that loves to counsel, fight for women’s interest issues, and psychology. The downside is that NO ONE IS HIRING BECAUSE OF THE LOUSY ECONOMY. Now, if I had fulfilled my mother’s wishes and my father’s demands to go into healthcare (Dad: Medicine is the ONLY noble profession. Or law, that’s ok too.”) (Mom: “Why not nursing? You’ll always have a job! You can do anything!”), I would be set here in Cleveland, home to approximately 298716 hospitals and medical centers. With Cleveland Clinic so close and Case Western around the corner, medprofessionals are cruisin’ the good life here in Brownsfanville.
Then there’s photography. Ahh, my third love (Nick #1, Writing #2)…photography is this artistic release for me. It’s the one thing that I seriously feel I could do all day and feel like I have not worked at all. It’s simply a joy to look through a lens and calculate white balance, lighting, exposure, ISO, and all these other acronyms that I have no idea of what their function is (but I sound smart so I use them like I know what I’m talking about). I started shooting photography the moment I could afford a camera. If you didn’t know this about art (especially photography and painting – my other obsession) they require quite the pretty penny; something without a steady income makes the starving artist/starving wife not very happy.
So, I’ve been doing a few weddings here and there just for fun and then Nick started getting on my case, “Why don’t you just do this as a side business?”
My standard reply, “Once I start doing it for money, the fun leaves. That means I’m responsible for someone’s wedding photos and I don’t want to be the photographer that forgot to turn something on and -oops- I missed the bride coming down the aisle.”
One thing you have to understand about wedding photography is that it’s just like trying to find a home – there are mansions, impressive houses, condos, and apartments – lots of variety and it’s all about fit. Some are definitely better than others and everyone has a price and quality they aim for (both customer and photographer). My pitch isn’t for the population that can spend thousands upon thousands of bucks on photos. I want clients who want good photos that capture a story and who can’t afford a great photographer. For folks struggling to make a wedding happen or just have a memory preserved, I want to be able to provide that for folks who may not otherwise be able to afford it. So, yeah, I’ve got a price, but I’m working on a sliding scale. As Nick loves to gloat, “You’re not only awesome, but cheap, too! You’ll be a hit!” I’m not looking for the mansion clients, just good people.
So after about, oh 3.5 years of shooting weddings for fun, I finally broke down and announced that I’m available for hire. Yep, I teamed up with a web designer to create: Lisa Factora-Borchers Photography
Preserving your memories since 2008!
Just kidding, that’s TOTALLY not my tagline.
If you’re interested and know of anyone needing portraits or a wedding photographer – go to my website:
lisafbphotography.com and you’ll see my current work in progress.