Resuscitating Andrew Morrell Photography
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My business - Andrew Morrell Photography - is in the philosophical transition state between death and reinvigoration. My name is Andrew Morrell, Owner and Principal Photographer.
My life has been shaped by turbulence. Like fertile river valleys carved out of the extruded time of geological conflict, my life - and my career - has been shaped by the turbulence occurring around me but out of my control.
The professional path I chose to walk was guided by equal measures of talent and circumstance. Success was based on performance and creativity, the final product as a work of art up for judgement on its ability to move the souls of the people digesting it.
For nearly 15 years, I ran a wedding photography business that my clients adored. For 8 straight years, Andrew Morrell Photography (hereby called AMP) won WeddingWire’s coveted customer service award, the Couple’s Choice award. Awarded for the top 5% of wedding professionals for super-serving clients. It’s an award that, year after year, I was thrilled and humbled to have won.
Yet, as a creative professional, I wondered if my actual product resonated with other artists. And after 14 years of service in the industry, AMP started to win the highest caliber awards from the pinnacle of wedding photojournalism, the WPJA - Wedding PhotoJournalist Association. AMP has - to date - won 14 major awards, from competitions among tens of thousands of the world’s top wedding photojournalists.
Which brings us to early 2020, fresh off of 3 magnificent turn-of-the-decade wedding shoots. The pandemic arrived, turning my modest year of bookings into a calendar of erased dates. By the time I would have had 8 weddings already shot, I had none. And now, as the holiday season rolls toward us, I have shot a single wedding since January. My business expenses have long since disappeared into a shocking visual of minus signs, accenting red numbers. All but one wedding has rescheduled or cancelled.
On one day alone, in June 2020, I had FOUR weddings that i was centimeters from booking, cancel. It was that day that I decided to roll up the carpet and close down my business.
But Katherine and Pierce’s wedding on October 11, 2020, changed my world. I worked the day with a technical filtered mask, and a neck gaiter on top. I gasped for air. The images were superb. The guests were magnificent, and I was struck by lightning much the way I was on the very first day I shot Connie’s wedding, the first of my career in 2006. I wanted - NEEDED - my business to transition back to the living.
So I am asking for your help. If you’ve read this far, you should know how my business works.
I have considerable expenses, as you might imagine a sole-proprietorship in a tech-forward business might accrue.
I charge a base fee of $3,000 to cover an 8+ hour wedding, and 30-40 hours of post processing. That fee is split into two payments: 50% for a deposit, 50% when the wedding is completed. My goal has been to shoot between 35-50 weddings per year.
I have considerable equipment expenses. Considerable marketing and advertising expenses. Considerable service fees for backend services. In order to be competitive in one of the nation’s most active wedding markets, I have to stay visible to stay competitive.
And my monthly business expenses are close to $1,500.
I am reaching out to bridge the gap between now and the time I can see the start of my business returning to pre-pandemic activity.
Your help would be eternally appreciated and your generosity will be forever in my heart.
Thank you.
My life has been shaped by turbulence. Like fertile river valleys carved out of the extruded time of geological conflict, my life - and my career - has been shaped by the turbulence occurring around me but out of my control.
The professional path I chose to walk was guided by equal measures of talent and circumstance. Success was based on performance and creativity, the final product as a work of art up for judgement on its ability to move the souls of the people digesting it.
For nearly 15 years, I ran a wedding photography business that my clients adored. For 8 straight years, Andrew Morrell Photography (hereby called AMP) won WeddingWire’s coveted customer service award, the Couple’s Choice award. Awarded for the top 5% of wedding professionals for super-serving clients. It’s an award that, year after year, I was thrilled and humbled to have won.
Yet, as a creative professional, I wondered if my actual product resonated with other artists. And after 14 years of service in the industry, AMP started to win the highest caliber awards from the pinnacle of wedding photojournalism, the WPJA - Wedding PhotoJournalist Association. AMP has - to date - won 14 major awards, from competitions among tens of thousands of the world’s top wedding photojournalists.
Which brings us to early 2020, fresh off of 3 magnificent turn-of-the-decade wedding shoots. The pandemic arrived, turning my modest year of bookings into a calendar of erased dates. By the time I would have had 8 weddings already shot, I had none. And now, as the holiday season rolls toward us, I have shot a single wedding since January. My business expenses have long since disappeared into a shocking visual of minus signs, accenting red numbers. All but one wedding has rescheduled or cancelled.
On one day alone, in June 2020, I had FOUR weddings that i was centimeters from booking, cancel. It was that day that I decided to roll up the carpet and close down my business.
But Katherine and Pierce’s wedding on October 11, 2020, changed my world. I worked the day with a technical filtered mask, and a neck gaiter on top. I gasped for air. The images were superb. The guests were magnificent, and I was struck by lightning much the way I was on the very first day I shot Connie’s wedding, the first of my career in 2006. I wanted - NEEDED - my business to transition back to the living.
So I am asking for your help. If you’ve read this far, you should know how my business works.
I have considerable expenses, as you might imagine a sole-proprietorship in a tech-forward business might accrue.
I charge a base fee of $3,000 to cover an 8+ hour wedding, and 30-40 hours of post processing. That fee is split into two payments: 50% for a deposit, 50% when the wedding is completed. My goal has been to shoot between 35-50 weddings per year.
I have considerable equipment expenses. Considerable marketing and advertising expenses. Considerable service fees for backend services. In order to be competitive in one of the nation’s most active wedding markets, I have to stay visible to stay competitive.
And my monthly business expenses are close to $1,500.
I am reaching out to bridge the gap between now and the time I can see the start of my business returning to pre-pandemic activity.
Your help would be eternally appreciated and your generosity will be forever in my heart.
Thank you.
Organizer
Andrew Morrell
Organizer
Winchester, VA