With any longtime business there are times of growth, times of stagnation and times of change. Unique Images is no different and has seen the departure of a partner, several moves, and a change of focus away from doing 25+ weddings every year to concentrating on children and families. Graduation portrait photography has always played a strong role and we want to see this continue.
As I enter my 18th year in business and evaluate where we are and where we are headed, I find it is both a time of growth and a time of change. My daughter, Ashley, is taking on a much more important role and the era of digital photography has changed the portrait demands. An increasing percentage of you, our clientele, are living in Hants, Halifax and Lunenburg Counties, due in large part to the portrait display we have had in the Saltscapes Expo for the past couple of years. And while much of our portraiture does take place on location, the portrait viewing and pick up needs to happen at our studio.
In addition, the percentage of family portraits we are creating has been steadily increasing. As a Portrait Artist, I love the challenges of composing and lighting families and creating images which capture the nuances and dynamics of the family unit. Early in my career one of my mentors told me that family portraiture was the most difficult type of photography to master and if I was ever creating more family portraits than child portraits, I would know I was getting it right.
“Things happen for a reason” is a phrase most of us have heard many times and I happen to be a strong “subscriber” to this theory. So, last week after returning from the Niagara School, while I was in Elmsdale meeting with a client I noticed the studio location of a former colleague was available. A location which has easy highway access – a location less than 30 minutes from Truro and from Halifax – a location which was designed as a portrait studio – a location which had been vacant for almost two years so perhaps?? the lease rate may be reasonable!
After many discussions and meetings with my family, accountant, lawyer and business coach I am very pleased and excited to announce we are moving to the Elmsdale Business Park! To go along with this move we are also separating our Grad Photography and our Family Portraiture into two entities. Graduation photos will remain as Unique Images, however, our family portrait business will operate as Tobias Portraiture. (For those who are wondering – it’s what the “T” stands for in T. Kirk Saint !) Ashley and I look forward to continue serving all of you from our new location when it opens in late October or early November. There will be some changes, but many things will remain the same – we will still provide you with the highest quality portraiture and service, we will still travel to your favourite locations to capture your family and we still want to hear your comments and suggestions on how to continue to improve and provide you what you want.
Thank you for 17 incredible years – I’ve really enjoyed having you along for my journey and now, both Ashley and I look forward to the next 17 (and more!). So if you know of someone looking for a great home close to town where they can even operate a small business tell them to check out our listing on PropertyGuys.com #701501.