Motherhood & Small Business: Our Personal Photos || Lynchburg, VA Wedding Photographer

I’m ashamed to admit how horrible I’ve been at this- but I’m making it my mission to catch up and be better about it! What am I talking about? Printing out our own personal photos. I know, I know- something I preach about with my clients. It’s SO important for our memories and children to have these photos to be able to relive and talk about important moments in our lives! We had a handful of little photobooks printed out and it’s one of Emmie’s favorite things to look through and talk about certain moments.  

The problem, I did not have all of my personal photos in one place. In fact, quite the opposite. Why this is the case, I have NO idea because I am beyond careful to have triple backups of all of my client photos and should be treating my own with just as much importance!

So, I’ve been working hard on getting everything in one place, organized by year and then by month. And from here, I’m creating chatbooks- about 3-4 per year as an overview and then a full book for special occasions- like vacations, family photos, etc.  It’s not anything too special or expensive- but it’s at least PRINTING out our photos and make sure we’ve got everything in a place together!

First thing I did was take a few days and collect all of our personal photos- from cell phones, instagram posts, a few different computers and external hard drives. Do you see why I’m embarrassed to admit how bad this problem is? It was SO fun going through all the photos- Emmie as a little baby and all these memories that I had totally forgotten about! That in itself was SO motivating to finish up collecting all these photos!  

Once I had them in one place, I sorted through by the years and then the months, making it super simple to then upload them to chatbooks by months!  I’m still working on getting all the books organized and ordered & can’t wait to update once I do!!

Are you good at printing your personal photos? Tell me your favorite way to organize and get your items printed!

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Ashley Eiban is a Wedding & Portrait Photographer based in Central Virginia. Serving the Lynchburg, Charlottesville, Richmond, and surrounding areas. Available for travel world-wide.  Ashley is passionate about cultivating genuine relationships built on mutual understanding, trust and lasting friendship.  

Currently booking a limited number of wedding and portrait sessions for 2018 and 2019.  Contact Ashley today for additional information!

Planoly: Getting my Time Back || Lynchburg, VA Wedding Photographer

Okay, I know I am late to the game here and so many other people have been using Planoly for years, but I honestly didn’t think I really needed to schedule my social media posts- because I could just pop on and post each day. But, as I’m planning for maternity leave, I wanted to make sure that my business accounts were still being active and I wasn’t having to think about it- because having a newborn takes up all the brainpower. But oh my goodness am I kicking myself now for how long it took me to try this!

I had no idea the time I was spending each day trying to pause my workflow to pick out a photo and a caption and post it to Instagram. And then, it’s just WAY too easy to get lost in scrolling or checking out a story or two, which we all know turns into 15.  But with Planoly, I can sit down and batch schedule a bunch of posts at one time and not have to think about it any more.  It takes me less than an hour on Planoly now to schedule a full month of posts so I can focus on my important tasks during my office hours instead of breaking up my day and spending about 30 minutes or more of my office hour time to post something.

So, maybe you’re like me and dragging your feet on trying out something else new- but trust me with this- you need to at least try it! It’s super user friendly, you can answer comments within the app, see it planned out on the calendar, and even see the number of likes and comments you get on each post at a quick glance so you’re able to know what posts get more engagements than the others.  

Do you use Planoly or something that helps you get so much time back??

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Ashley Eiban is a Wedding & Portrait Photographer based in Central Virginia. Serving the Lynchburg, Charlottesville, Richmond, and surrounding areas. Available for travel world-wide.  Ashley is passionate about cultivating genuine relationships built on mutual understanding, trust and lasting friendship.  

Currently booking a limited number of wedding and portrait sessions for 2018 and 2019.  Contact Ashley today for additional information!

Sign up for Planoly here!

Working ahead to be productive || Lynchburg, VA Wedding Photographer

Why is it that some days are just so much more productive than others? Anyone else run into this problem? I am constantly trying to figure this out for myself and whenever I find somewhat of a solution with my workflow, I like to share it!

First off, having set office hours is SO helpful for me. When I have a full day with nothing planned, I procrastinate and find myself quickly filling the time with everything BUT what needs to be done. Ha! So, planning ahead and knowing that I will be working tomorrow from 10am until school pick up at 2pm, then I need to be serious about my time working! 

I keep my paper planner cleaner with just the important dates and appointments, but I also use my iCalendar on my MacBook to block off time ahead for office hours and then will add some of the big tasks that I need to make sure happen during that timeframe! 

I’ve also found if I can plan ahead the night before or first thing that morning, I can stay on track a little bit easier.  I always have a running list going (hello Trello!) but each morning, writing down what needs to be accomplished that day, and being able to prioritize those tasks helps me so much.  I’m such a firm believer in getting things out of my head and onto paper so I have the mental capacity to think about other things instead of all the little things that need to get done!

For me, having it all written out and on paper is also so important to me! There is nothing like physically crossing off something to make you want to get more done!

So, I want to know- what tips have you found make you be more productive?

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Ashley Eiban is a Wedding & Portrait Photographer based in Central Virginia. Serving the Lynchburg, Charlottesville, Richmond, and surrounding areas. Available for travel world-wide.  Ashley is passionate about cultivating genuine relationships built on mutual understanding, trust and lasting friendship.  

Currently booking a limited number of wedding and portrait sessions for 2018 and 2019.  Contact Ashley today for additional information!

How to have FUN at your wedding! || Lynchburg, VA Wedding Photographer

It’s SO important to me that my wedding couples are able to let go of the planning stress on the day of their wedding and actually enjoy the moments- big and small- and have FUN on their wedding day! It sounds like common sense, but sometimes it really can be difficult to let go after you’ve been planning for so long. Your wedding day should be so much more than a pretty event- but something that you look back on forever!

1- Have a wedding day timeline. This is not something that only Type-A Brides should have- but every single couple!! Your wedding party, vendors, and the bride and groom should know ahead of time where and when they need to be somewhere! We have to make sure we don't miss that gorgeous Lynchburg, Virginia sunset! Make sure you send this timeline out to everyone that needs it about 2 weeks before your wedding and again the week of the wedding- especially if you’ve made any changes to them!  (ps: I love that this is a service I provide with each and every couple because I know how important it is!)

2- Hire tried-and-true vendors that have great recommendations from other Bride’s you know that have gotten married and from other vendors as well! By hiring vendors that you trust, you can let go of the stress and know that they are going to get their job done! Especially in the Lynchburg, VA Wedding Market- vendors work with each other often and can give you some amazing recommendations! I even have a list of vendors that I've loved working with over the last 6+ years, so feel free to reach out and ask me for it! 

Also, If your venue doesn’t include a wedding coordinator or planner, see if you can make it work in your budget. Even if it’s just a day-of coordinator, this will be so helpful so you don’t have to worry about answering everyone’s questions!

3-Have all your important wedding day details, your dress, shoes, etc. already packed together and see if your venue will let you drop that box off at your rehearsal the night before.  I always recommend that my brides have their getting ready details in the getting ready room and set aside for me as soon as I arrive so we aren’t searching for anything while you’re trying to get ready!

4-Bring an extra change of shoes! A comfy pair of flats or even flip flops so you can kick off the heels and change for dancing at the reception! (I also recommend rain boots for if it’s raining & snow boots and socks for if it’s snowing!) I warn my couples that sometimes we do a bit of walking around for their portraits- and you don’t want your fancy shoes to get muddy or anything! You never know what the weather is going to do in Central Virginia, so making sure you're prepared with your shoes will help a ton!! 

5- Only allow your best friends and people that you want and do not stress you out in your getting ready room. Sometimes, that includes Mom or your future Mother-in-Law and sometimes that’s just your wedding party.  Be sure to communicate that with your Maid of Honor and your Coordinator and they can help make sure your room is shut down and you don’t have tons of people coming in and out stressing you out.  

6- Finally, take a step back on the wedding day and allow yourself to relax and have fun! When your wedding party, friends, families and guests see you guys having fun, they are going to be able to have fun as well!

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Ashley Eiban is a Wedding & Portrait Photographer based in Central Virginia. Serving the Lynchburg, Charlottesville, Richmond, and surrounding areas. Available for travel world-wide.  Ashley is passionate about cultivating genuine relationships built on mutual understanding, trust and lasting friendship.  

Currently booking a limited number of wedding and portrait sessions for 2018 and 2019.  Contact Ashley today for additional information!

Defining your own success || Lynchburg, VA Wedding Photographer

Oh man, this is a hard one for me to write. I don’t want to come across as “preachy” as I’m talking straight to myself in this one, but I know as much as I need it, there has to be others that do as well! Especially this year as I'm only booking a limited number of weddings with baby on the way.  

In this industry, and paired with social media, it is SO easy to look at what everyone else is doing and compare it to what I am doing. To see that other photographer posting wedding images from what seems like being booked every single weekend. To see their gorgeous home, that never seems to get dirty and have piles of unfolded laundry in the corner and stacked up on the living room couch. It’s so easy to constantly be comparing how many shoots another photographer shoots compared to how many you shoot. We compare what other people are charging, trips they go on, social media followers and comments. It is exhausting. And not accurate.

It’s extremely difficult not to get wrapped up in how everyone else seems to be doing better and booking more weddings than you. Then it can seriously spiral from there, that you must not be as good and talented as they are. But really it needs to come down to your own personal definition of success. Your definition of success shouldn’t be the same as anyone else’s- it should be what is success for you and your family specifically.  Everyone’s journey is different and unique.  

There was a time in my life where shooting a wedding every single Saturday (or most of them, anyways) was what I genuinely wanted to do. There was a time when I was working full-time and trying to build my business and my definition of success would have been to shoot more than 10 weddings a year.

It’s so important when running your own business to take everyone else out of the equation and ask yourself- what is success to you? What makes you happy at the end of the day- that says, I feel fulfilled, content and am doing what I need to do for my family.

For me, my definition of success always focuses on my family. I am able to do what I love to do, but also be available for my family. When Michael has a Friday off, we can go on a lunch date (always El Jefe downtown for tacos and margaritas! Can’t wait to go after this baby is born- I’ve missed those margaritas!!) or I can go on field trips and volunteer in Emmie’s classroom.  I love that I’m doing something I am so passionate about, can love on my couples and have my family stay a priority as well! I haven’t always been able to balance everything well- especially when I was first full-time with my business, or balancing both working full time and trying to build my business up. It takes some work and learning to adjust, but you can get there!

Keep your eyes on your own paper. Be encouraged by looking back at what you have accomplished and how far you’ve come- not how far you feel that other people are in relation to where you are. It’s totally okay to grow at your own pace, and be as busy as you want to be!

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Ashley Eiban is a Wedding & Portrait Photographer based in Central Virginia. Serving the Lynchburg, Charlottesville, Richmond, and surrounding areas. Available for travel world-wide.  Ashley is passionate about cultivating genuine relationships built on mutual understanding, trust and lasting friendship.  

Currently booking a limited number of wedding and portrait sessions for 2018 and 2019.  Contact Ashley today for additional information!