MONDAY
Started the day with a swim. This is incredibly obvious but regular exercise is proving quite life-changing - I feel like it’s completely changing my energy. Long may it continue.
I’ve been waiting for my phone contract to run out - I got hoodwinked into a three year contract when I was just post-partum with my youngest (i.e. feeling absolutely mental/not paying any attention to the person the end of the phone) and have regretted it ever since as they customer service was absolutely shite. They also charged me £800 when I was shooting in Morocco last year when I had a cap on the contract and then refused to pay me back so… I’m out. I spend two hours on phone trying to sort cancelling the contract and honestly feel like I’m about to punch a wall. I feel like the day is wasted but actually turns out to be a bad start to a great day.
Interviewed incredible make up artist Ciara O’Shea for the newsletter. I’ve had the good fortune to work with Ciara twice last year and she’s just great. An incredible artist, but also so funny, warm and down to earth. She’s worked with all the biggest photographers in the world so is a great person to talk to about the industry, and give great tips for photographers on how to interact with the make up teams. At the end she told me I should start a podcast which is something that has ben on my mind. I love the audio side of things, and love interviewing people so it’s been bubbling away in the back of my head. Just interviews with incredible photographers… what are your thoughts? (* Interview coming on PP. later this week).
The release of the shoot I did in Sicily is slightly delayed because of product delivery but the brand very kindly said they didn’t mind if I posted a teaser. Feels so good to get something out there as I feel so proud of the pics. At the same time I get a confirmation that the Sicily travel photos will be printed in the Spring issue of an amazing travel magazine which I love - amazing news. Then a contact I made last year (just by reaching out on Instagram) got in touch to see if I could be in Copenhagen next week to shoot for a bucket list client. TBC but feels amazing to be asked especially since I journalled about this exact brand this morning. The overseas production I pitched to an existing client last week is looking really good - they’re v interested and are talking dates already so feels like it will go ahead. A good day in the end!
TUESDAY
Kick off the morning editing some photos I shot in December last year - we shoot two collections over two days so the delivery is always staggered. These are for Summer ‘25.
I invoice my first two print customers for my first official print orders. They are both previous clients and i’ve given them a discounted rate with the hope that I can come and shoot them in situ for marketing/promotion purposes as i’m hoping to launch the whole thing next month.
I’m planning to get back in to the dark room tomorrow so do a bit of an inventory to see if any supplies are low. I order more paper (two boxes of 8x10” which I use for test strips and then a box of 10x12” for finals. Generally, I find 10x12” ok for fashion and travel work and only use 12x16” for the prints I make for the print shop and bigger campaigns that will need lot of retouching work), and a new negative sleeve holder for 2025. Mix up 10 litres of fresh chemistry and load up the processor ready for a day of printing tomorrow.
WEDNESDAY
Printing some frames from a shoot in Morocco I did this time last year. I had the dark room then, but was still in the process of figuring it all out (this was around the time I was having sleepless nights and dreaming about mixing chemistry wrong) so I never got around to printing any of these at the time. Feels so good to be back in here, listening to old music and just pottering around all day.
Availability requests are coming through with a couple of brands I really don’t have any affinity to… There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the brands but I don’t feel like they really fit with my aesthetic or the direction i’m going in. Do I do them? Or not… It’s always a difficult decision as it requires total faith that you will get something better further down the line. I am feeling very positive and have a great feeling about the year ahead - so do I back myself and say no (and pass the job onto the Job Board!) ?
Ive been working on the illustrations for the Sicily video. When I say illustrations I really mean handwritten titles and stuff like that - it’s actually super easy and so i’ve put them on there and am just waiting for the logo from the brand to finalise the whole thing.
THURSDAY
Service day for the paper processor. Another hidden cost of having a Colenta in the dark room is the annual warranty and service cost. It’s £1500/year for the lowest type of coverage (a service and two free visits in 12 months for any issues that might come up). It was all built in to my payment last year so i hadn’t flagged it on my annual budget but will bear in mind next January as it will be up for renewal. Nick from Capix gives me a few tips for how to keep the rollers clean inside, and exchanges one of the gears mostly all functioning ok.
The rest of the day I’m doing little admin bits - I have a two day shoot confirmed in February so get assistant lined up for that as well as kit/lighting lists and delivery options as it’s in the middle of nowhere and not near a big city/rental house. I send deposits for a couple of confirmed shoots in February and March, and I apply for a new bank account with Starling - they offer ‘pots’ (a bit like Wise/Monzo/Revolut) which I think will really help to keep VAT separate from the main account, and generally keeping my money organised something I need all the help I can get with.
FRIDAY
Moodboarding for an editorial shoot I want to do in London. It would be quite a big production if I can pull it off but I love the idea. Spend all day pulling reference imagery and potential styling picks from Vogue Runway. I would need to get a seriously creative stylist on board so really racking my brain for who that could be.
*THINGS I DIDN’T DO*
A big outreach email - still! I’ve done a bit of ad hoc outreach on Instagram and to clients who I spoke to about doing something in 2025 (like the client who I nearly went to Sicily with, who then ran out of time to pull it together but said ‘get in touch next season') - people who already know me and my work so I don’t need to do any specific pitch deck or intro PDF for, but I need to do a round of outreach that’s a bit more professional and systematic so that’s the goal for next week.
P.S. Do you have any assisting opportunities you need to get great photographers for? Or are there jobs you can’t do that you want to pass onto someone else? To list them on our Job Board and tap into this amazing community of creatives, just send the details to studio@aliciawaite.com.