When I finally took the plunge and decided to start KC Photography, I didn’t really know what to expect. I had a tiny Canon Rebel and a couple kit lenses and hardly any education on how to run a business. You always hear that to make money you have to spend it and that’s definitely the truth when it comes to any small business. Today I’m going to talk to you about my three biggest investments that I’ve made in the last 5 years and how they have helped my business.

1. EDUCATION
I’m a true believer that you should never stop learning, especially learning new things about your skill. The more I can learn about photography the better! I attended a workshop by Katelyn James back in 2013 and it was definitely the moment where I felt like I could really do the whole “wedding photography” route. I don’t think I would have fell in love with weddings if it wasn’t for that workshop. I learned so much from Katelyn and I’ll never able to thank you enough for giving me the courage to keep doing this. I also attended another creative workshop in St. Louis too and it’s so nice to keep those creative juices flowing. I hope to attend more conferences and workshops in the future and I cannot wait!

2. EQUIPMENT
Like I said before, I started my photography business with a Canon Rebel. In the beginning I only wanted to shoot portraits and what I had was definitely working just fine. I was still able to achieve great portraits with that camera and kit lens. But the more research I did, the more blogs I read, I was seeing better quality images and I wanted the same for my clients. I actually purchased my first Canon 5D Mark ii and a lot of L-series lenses from a guy off of Craigslist. I know that kind of sounds sketchy but he was a really nice guy who shot sports photography and was giving up his passion for a while so that he could spend more time with his family. He gave me a great deal and that’s how I couldn’t have been happier. From then on, I noticed how great my images were from the glass (lenses) I now had. From then on, I purchased another Canon 5D Mark ii for backup and I’m in the process of saving for a new 50mm 1.2 lens and maybe a 35mm 1.4. I feel like I’m giving my clients the best work possible now and I owe that to a LOT of blogs and other photographers in the field.

3. WEBSITE/BRANDING
A first impression is everything and if you’re trying to represent yourself and your brand online in a cheap way then you’re just asking for trouble. I learned from Katelyn’s workshop about a brand called Showit and it is a software where I could design my own website, access and modify it any time I want and be able to deliver custom websites to my clients (+sites). I fell in love instantaneous and the minute I hit publish on my site I felt like it gave my business and brand the edge I needed. I felt more professional with my new website and I actually just had a redesign on it. My new branding and images that comes across is totally ME and I love it. Face it, if people don’t like your brand/website they are not going to contact you.