My first gig!

On Sunday I will be photographing the daughter of my Editor-in-Chief! This came about back in April, before I even decided to make the big leap. But I had been thinking about it and it was always in the front of my mind, so when the opportunity came about, I decided to take it.

The company I work for had a team building activity for the Spring. They asked employees to place a "service" for auction and if other employees were interested in the service, they could bid on it, silent auction style. All proceeds would go to benefit local school libraries. Pretty interesting idea. I had coworkers who offered up baked goods, ready-to-serve meals, hemming pants, knitting lessons, poem writing, and providing someone with daily breakfast for a week.

I thought about what my strengths and talents were. It wasn't cooking. I don't really write poetry. I can't hem pants and I don't really knit. But I was in the midst of taking a Photoshop class. I finally learned the power of layers, layer masks, and selection. So I decided to offer to retouch photos. I also thought about offering up a photo session, but felt awkward about it. I thought it might be weird having to take photos from someone I vaguely knew at the office. Then again, I realized that the feeling was silly because if I wanted to take my photography to the next level, I'd need to practice, even with "semi-real" clients. Clients and potential clients nonetheless.

I decided to go for it. To my surprise, my auction item had a mini bidding war. My service went for over $100, which was on the higher end of what other items were going for. After the auction was over, I learned that the Editor-in-Chief has bid on my item. She even asked her assistant to proxy bid for her, if anyone had outbid her. How exciting!

Sunday is the big day. I will be photographing her 3-year-old who I have met at the office before. She's really cute. I will definitely be posting the results when it's done!