Things have been pretty busy over February.
We have been discussing the groundworks for the huts with a couple of contractors and so that looks like it is about ready to be put in motion once the weather improves and I have started providing the photography for a local estate agent on a direct basis rather than through an agency - the estate agent in question is (from accounts from their competitor who uses a photography agency for their photographs) only being held back by the quality of the images they were putting out. They were somewhat concerned that I was going to be working direct - because this will seriously increase their presence and marketability! What’s more my direct work is in an entirely different ballpark to my agency work because the rates via agencies are so low that it just isn’t viable to spend that much time on a job - my hourly rate covers between 45 minutes and an hour for the full job for them, but 3 hours for direct! Whilst the shoot doesn’t take any longer (well, quicker as I am not having to produce floorplans and VR Tours) I can shoot full HDR or Flambient depending on the character of the property and then hand edit everything back at base.
I also got my first commercial roof survey under my belt a week or so ago and am looking into ways to grow that side of the business as drones offer a huge potential cost saving in that kind of work. There seems to be a need for surveys on wind turbines too so that is something else to investigate in the next couple of weeks.
It will take a few more weeks to really get the process in place, but things are starting to look much better for the 24-25 financial year, particularly if I can build on this current momentum!
RNLI stuff is also ramping up, I have a wee bit more training to do and then probably run a couple of shouts under supervision before going for Pass Out to be a fully fledged Launch Authority! It is a lot of responsibility I have to say - and is a full on management position too, which is new to me - I have managed systems before but never facilities or people in my work life. It is an exciting challenge and I am just hoping that I can make enough space for it in my busy life to make a meaningful contribution to the team (which will get easier to achieve as the boys all get older and more independent obviously!)
