Catching-Up

I started this blog in late 2019 as part of an effort to get my photography business off the ground.  Like many of you, much of the time between then and now has simultaneously dragged on and been a blur, with one Covid day bleeding into the next.  Despite having had more free time than ever, I barely did any photography in 2020 and most of what I did do was not portfolio-worthy.  The image above was from a brief trip I took to the Capitol Reef area of Utah in March, 2021.           

Before Covid, I met with a realtor about leasing a gallery space in Glenwood.  At the time, there was nothing on the market that met my location, price, and space requirements.  Looking back, I feel very fortunate that that was the case, as I could have ben stuck with a lease and very few customers for several months.

Later on in 2020, I ended up getting accepted to sell my images at Glenwood’s Downtown Market.  The prep for the market was a whirlwind of applying for tax licenses, buying gear for the tent, and getting images printed.  I didn’t expect it to be easy, but it was quite a learning experience to see how involved setting up and breaking down a farmers’ market display can be.  I did pretty well in sales at the market during the first two weeks.  On the day of the third instance, Glenwood was having some pretty strong winds.  I thought that with the sand weights on my tent I would be ok, but it turned out they weren’t enough and a wind gust lifted up my tent like it was a sail.  It took three people to hold it down, and in the end, I lost 90% of my inventory to damage from falling on the pavement.  As I didn’t have the time or the finances to replenish my inventory, I decided to quit the market.

The market accident was a big blow to my plans, but things took a turn for the better in August when I got a call from Cooper Corner Gallery in Glenwood.  I had applied to become a member back in February but at that time they chose someone else.  Things had changed since then and they now were ready to welcome me as a member.  I started selling my images there in September.  I got off to a slow start in terms of sales, but I’m now at the point that I’m covering my cost of membership and making a little bit extra.  As part of the deal, we have to work at the gallery a couple times per month and it has been a lot of fun to be there and talk to customers about my work.

Realizing that I likely wasn’t going to be able to make a career out of my photography, I returned to my old position at Frontier Airlines in November, 2020 with a new appreciation for the stability that it offers.  What started as a temporary remote arrangement due to Covid has transitioned into a permanently remote role, providing me with more flexibility to pursue my photography hobby than ever before.  I tested this freedom out in May, 2021 with a two week trip to Eastern Washington that I'll share in my next post.