In 2010, after photographing my first baby since birth as a hobby, I decided to open a photography business. I was so scared and really wasn’t sure how to proceed but pushed myself to charge on. Fast forward and here we are in 2018 and I’ll be celebrating 8 years in business this coming June!
My work has evolved so much in the last 8 years and I’ve loved learning and perfecting the craft which has admittedly not been easy. Along the way, I have met the most amazing clients and many have become dear friends to me. I’m blessed beyond measure to do what I love and I have to say 2017 was a great year for my business!
1- My first exciting news was winning Main Line Parent’s Best Family Photographer award for the 2nd time! I previously won it in 2015 and was a runner up in 2016. I can’t thank everyone enough for believing in me and supporting me so whole-heartedly (and taking the time to vote for me)! 😉
2- In 2017, I also got a new website and changed my logo. Have you looked around at my little spot on the world wide web? Please do and let me know what you think. Drop me a line!
3- My logo was born out of a long awaited search for something just right that fit my imagination, my style and was an illustration. I found this artwork on Etsy and it was available for commercial use so I decided to incorporate it. My tree swing at my home studio, situated under a gorgeous 30 year old cherry tree, is a sought after prop and something Bonnie Raley Photography is known for. This adorable piece of art jumped right out of the website and into my heart. I knew from the moment I saw it that it was perfect!
4- Oh and I digress, but I was super busy with shoots in 2017!!! I put together a quick video of quite a few of my sessions this year (I am missing some because the holidays were so busy I didn’t have a lot of time to devote to this project). But, hopefully it gives you a good idea of what I was up to. In numbers it goes something like this:
- 56 newborns
- 8 sitting up (6 month olds)
- 28 first birthdays
- 10 maternity
- 43 child/family
- 9 commercial shoots
- 3 headshots
- 54 mini sessions (spring, fall and tree farm) and 2 First Communion parties which each had about 8-12 children in attendance.
That is over 200 sessions!! wow. So, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU all from the bottom of my heart in trusting me with your family’s memories. I big puffy heart each and everyone of you…….
Lastly, and I certainly don’t mean to end on a sad note, but I lost several very dear clients this year who moved out of the area (you know who you are). I will miss photographing your beautiful families. But I’m so grateful to have gotten to know each of you and am glad we connected and can stay in touch and continue to watch your families grow. xoxo
<3,
Bonnie
