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2021 was full of surprises and I am so happy I shared so many amazing memories with all of the beautiful clients I have photographed this year <3 I am so grateful for all of those that have supported my growing business and have trusted me in photographing their true beauty, whether it's for a family session, children, newborn, maternity, you name it!
I would like to start by talking about the start of my business, and how I landed to where I am now. I tried to start my business my sophomore year of high school and nothing really took off, but that changed when the pandemic first hit the world. At the time, I was a junior in high school with nothing to do (seriously, there were no Zoom classes to attend, and I was only given one homework assignment per class). During this time, I ventured into my hobby some more and created a huge business out of it by photographing porch portraits of people within the community. Porch portrait sessions were such a success and seriously grew my business more than I could ever imagine. I never planned on creating such a huge clientele for this business, but I am so lucky that the timing worked out perfectly and in my favor. 2020 was an insane year and very unpredictable, to say the least, and well, 2021 was as well!
This year things were a bit different than last year - I was now a senior in high school when the year started and had a very busy schedule to maintain. Now here I am writing this post on Christmas Eve, as a freshman in college and having just finished finals and my photography season for the YEAR! I am so glad to look back on all of my accomplishments and memories created through my photography business and would love to share a few of my favorite moments and statistics...
THIS YEARS STATISTICS:
412 sessions photographed
Most times when people ask me "how many sessions have you done?", I honestly don't know the exact answer and typically say over 500 (including last year) since I have lost count! However, while writing this post, I counted EVERY session I photographed this year (including each mini session, so each mini session would count as one) and got a total of 412 sessions this YEAR! Honestly, I think that is quite shocking LOL - I've done more sessions than there are days within a year!
11 mini-sessions this year
This year, I photographed a variety of sessions such as my individually packaged sessions, but also mini sessions which happened from time to time. Mini sessions are shorter sessions and oftentimes, are at different spots or have different setups. I was able to offer 11 mini sessions this year which include:
- SPRING MINI SESSIONS WITH SET UP
- EASTER BUNNY SESSIONS WITH LAWRENCEVILLE MAIN STREET
- CREEK MINI SESSIONS IN LAWRENCE
- PRINCETON HOLIDAY MINI SESSIONS
- SPRING SESSIONS WITH CHERRY BLOSSOM TREES
- HAMILTON MINI SESSIONS AT JOHN ABBOTT II HOUSE
- FLOWER FIELD SESSION AT MERCER MEADOWS
- ROCKY TOP DOG PARK SESSIONS
- FALL MINI SESSIONS AT WASHINGTON CROSSING
- CHRISTMAS TREE SET UP SESSIONS AT SAYEN GARDENS
- FIRETRUCK MINI SESSIONS WITH THE MONMOUTH JUNCTION FIREHOUSE
3,065 miles traveled
In total, I traveled 3,065 miles to and from sessions (which is INSANE)! It’s times like this when I’m extra thankful for my trusty Kia Soul that I love and adore LOL!
My farthest location was in Holgate, LBI for a beach session, and my closest location this year was at a creek within my neighborhood which was the location for creek mini sessions!
39 locations visited
Within the year, I visited 39 locations! Most of the time, I would be frequenting popular photo spots such as Sayen Gardens, Mercer Meadows, Washington Crossing, or the campus at Princeton University! Last year, the majority of the spots I visited were people’s homes for porch portraits. This year, I did a few home sessions which are included within the 39 locations!
This year, I did find some great spots that I added to my list since last years such as Washington Crossing (used for Cherry Blossom sessions and Fall Mini Sessions), the local creek (which was used for creek mini sessions), and the John Abbott II House (which was the location for Hamilton mini sessions). My favorite location of the year may have been the John Abbott II House, even though it was quite buggy!
$5,165 raised for the community
This year, I offered multiple fundraiser sessions to give back to the community. These sessions were a win-win for everyone: clients get a slightly discounted session and get to get a taste of some of my work, and most importantly, some of the portions for the sessions go to the community! I pride myself on being in a good spot to offer these fundraiser sessions because I know they are a great way to fundraise, and a fun experience for everyone.
This year, we raised a total of $5,165 among the following organizations/schools that I offered fundraiser sessions with:
- LAWRENCEVILLE MAIN STREET
- SAND HILLS PRESCHOOL
- PERRY L. DREW ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
- FISHER MIDDLE SCHOOL
- INDIAN FIELDS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
This year has been an amazing year for fundraising, all thanks to the many clients who have signed up to support the community and to get some awesome photos out of it! Without people signing up, we would not have been able to reach such a large amount!
As I enter the new year, I am unsure if I will be doing fundraiser sessions :( There is a lot of planning and hard work that goes into planning and photographing them. However, if you may be interested in working with me to schedule fundraiser sessions for an organization/school you work with, please feel free to reach out via email to jennakardaszphotos@gmail.com so I can add your name to my waitlist if I do decide to offer these sessions <3
182 new clients THIS YEAR
Most of my sessions this year have been with clients who had a session with me last year! However, I gained 182 new clients this year which is insane! When I looked into this number, 39 of these new clients booked more than one session this year, which is super exciting! It makes me so happy to gain new clients and to make memories with more families, but even happier to know that so many people have come back from last year, and some from this year for more than one session!
Over ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND PHOTOS CAPTURED
While this statistic is not exact, I definitely have captured more than one hundred thousand photos this year (and have gone through plenty of SD cards LOL). The trickiest part of a session is the editing process, which is where I narrow down the photos to the best of the best shots and edit them to fit the aesthetics of my brand. During sessions, I am known to be an over-shooter (I spam the camera a bit much just to guarantee I capture the best shots), which in the long run, is a pain when I narrow the photos down LOL. Most times when I am narrowing down photos from the session, a good chunk of photos are not usable either because they are blurry, people are blinking, settings are incorrect, out of focus, etc. However, within the culling process, I am able to set apart the best shots that you are later on presented with <3
Thank you...
To all my past clients and for everyone who has followed along with my photography journey <3 This year has definitely been my busiest and it is so crazy to look at all of the memories I have captured for so many families so far... I cannot wait for many memories within the next upcoming year and to start planning more sessions... :)