Treading water once more

Welcome to the Peter Wade Photography newsletter; it has been some time since we communicated and with there now seemingly being more hours in the day due to the coronavirus I no longer find myself having any excuses to not put pen to paper!

Since last I wrote I have invested in a much more robust IT structure — one that ensures all images are now safely backed up both in the cloud and across a number of physical platforms — and rolled out a more professional and user friendly website that not only better showcases my work but also provides an outlet that enables me to sell my images. Having dealt with IT related issues in my professional career I should have realised that rarely is it a straightforward journey…

The last 12 months has mostly been taken up with researching — and installing — the new backup system; 2019 was almost over before I was comfortable everything was working as it should and my output was secure. It was only when I had reached that point that I was prepared to move forward with changes to my website.

Over the years I have had a number of false starts with websites. After variously using Squarespace, Wix, and now, WordPress versions I am finally very happy with what I have; importantly, it is working well and has received positive feedback from clients and practitioners alike. Although only early days, I have already sold some images, something which I seriously doubt would have occurred if I was still using one of my earlier iterations.

Whilst, by necessity, my focus had remained on the operational side, I was fortunate to be able to pick up a few pieces of work in the last quarter of 2019 that convinced me I was on the right path and there really was a sustainable business to be had. In the space of just a few weeks I worked for a number of clients across different fields — portraits and headshots for a start up recruitment business, a shoot at Hyams Beach for a client requiring social media images of their rental property, and as the “official” photographer for a school basketball team. So, with the wind at my back, I was really looking forward to what 2020 might bring. After a family break in Byron Bay I returned to Sydney raring to go…

The year started out well — I continued covering the basketball and, as a result, was offered the opportunity to follow their tennis team and to take a few group shots of their Premiership winning Summer sports captains. It was around about then that the wheels fell off…

The dreadful bushfire season forced my Hyams Beach client to cancel a promised follow up shoot; three different sporting groups had expressed interest in my working for them but all conversations ceased when COVID 19 appeared; and a long-awaited private visit to Lord Howe Island which would have offered many photo opportunities was postponed when the island was locked down to all but locals. So a year that had started with much promise suddenly became a dud! And now, with all sport suspended indefinitely, the prospects of my returning to the sidelines with camera in hand any time soon do not look great.

Until things return to “normal”, I am using the time as an opportunity to go back through the archives and to post some older images to both the peterwade.photography Instagram and Facebook pages.

 

If you are not already following me, all my social media links can be found at the bottom of this page. Whilst there you can also sign up for future editions of this newsletter which I intend to publish on an irregular basis and not make it something that gums up your inbox.

 

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