If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll remember that I chatted about this in my stories over the weekend. As a client, you’re probably wondering: what does it mean when a Boston family photographer says they are ‘fully booked’? Why can’t they squeeze one more session in for me? Surely they aren’t photographing families every single evening?

What does ‘fully booked’ really mean for a family photographer in Boston?

The answer to this question varies for every family photographer. Factors that determine what ‘fully booked’ means for each individual might include: childcare needs, editing process, length of sessions, weather and more.

A major part of owning one’s own business is figuring out what your “magic number” of clients is. Without finding that magic number you can either feel totally overwhelmed, or conversely, not be profitable/busy enough to stay in business.

Lot’s of people wrongly believe that photography is my side job that I do only for fun while being a stay-at-home Mom. While I do 100% love what I do and have fun, it is a full-time job with a six figure income! Balancing a full-time job while ALSO trying to care for young children can feel impossible. This is why finding the balance is vitally important.

Let’s chat about what fully booked means to me!

I can only speak for myself on this topic. As I said above, the magic number is different for every business. For me, fully booked means that I have 3 sessions per week, which comes out to 12-14 per month. From the outside, that might seem like a low number. Only working three days a week? Sign me up!

What this really means is that I am working ON LOCATION 3 days per week. On the other days I am doing some of the following tasks:

• Blog Writing
• Website Management
• SEO tweaking
• Editing
• Client Communication
• Accounting Tasks
• Education
• Social Media Management
• Location Scouting
• Session Prep

In the effort of full transparency, I wanted to share what a sample work schedule looks like for me based on last week.

Sample Workweek for a Boston Family Photographer

Monday:

• Solo parenting from 8:30-5:30, sneak in emails when I can, post to social media.
• Sunset Session #1, gone from 6-8:30

Tuesday:

• Babysitter from 9-1. Cull and start editing Gallery #1, post on social media, write a blog post, catch up on any unanswered emails, review accounting software for last week’s costs.
• Solo parenting from 1-5:30
• Potential Rain Date for Monday’s Session
• 8-10pm: finish editing Gallery #1

Wednesday:

• Babysitter from 9-1. Create custom slideshow for Gallery #1, finish any Photoshop retouching for Gallery #1. Post to social media, update galleries with proper SEO for new content, client emails. Start culling and editing Gallery #2
• Solo Parenting from 1-5:30.
• Sunset Session #2, gone from 6:00-8:30pm.

Thursday:

• Babysitter from 9-1. Finish editing Gallery #2, create custom slideshow, and start photoshop retouching; post on social media, emails, start culling Gallery #3.
• Solo parenting from 1-5:30
• Potential Rain Date for Wednesday’s Session
• 8-10pm: start editing Gallery #3.

Friday:

• Solo parenting from 8:30-5:30, sneak in emails when I can, post to social media.
• 8-10pm: finish editing Gallery #3.

Saturday:

• Family time 9-5
• Sunset Session, gone from 6-8:30

Sunday:

• Family time 9-5
• Rain Date for Saturday’s Session

While my schedule may not look like a traditional Monday-Friday 9 to 5 job, it is most certainly a full-time job. My hours and session dates vary by the week, but you can see why three sessions is the maximum I personally can handle. If I didn’t have three kids 6 and under and was able to devote every day from 9 to 5 to the behind-the-scenes tasks, I might be able to take on a couple more per month.

But I also might just enjoy having a little more “me-time” in the evenings. Photographers deserve to have down-time to enjoy family, hobbies, exercise, and chilling with their spouse too!

When all these cups are running on empty, I am not able to create for my clients to the best of my abilities. Thus, my “magic number” and the reason I need to stay firm on saying no once it has been reached!

Photographers: what’s YOUR magic number?