If at first you don't succeed...

As you may or may not know, I've been experimenting with changing some things with my business for the past two months. I tried taking the site towards a sort of gritty, urban look, but to my naive dismay I realized that it was a bit of a turn off to engaged ladies looking for a wedding photographer! Despite getting more hits than ever, emails have all but come to a stop.
So I'm tweaking some things, and with the help of Google Analytics, trying to get a feel for what people like and don't like, with the chance of booking more jobs for next year. Not just weddings, but anything. Previous customers of mine know I'm very reasonable with prices, especially if I have little experience in the genre.
Some new equipment and a second look at some old habits is allowing me to get better color fidelity in my photographs than ever before, so I am anxious to put this new potential to use.
Apparently I am getting a bit of buzz from The Knot from some of my recent happy customers! Keep it coming Knotties! and email me if you have any questions!
The question of albums is a difficult one. Obviously there is high demand for a photographer that offers albums, and I am getting the impression that even brides who aren't looking for an album are still put off by a photographer who doesn't offer them. I am still seeing if I can get away without offering albums up front, but as it says on my newly-updated FAQ page, if you really really want an album, let's talk in person and we'll negotiate. To me, the benefit of not offering them is that every wedding job I do is the same amount of work, and thus lets me budget my time more easily because there are fewer variables. But of course there comes a point where making money is more important than saving myself some time for a vacation!
The website will surely continue to change in the next few weeks as I try anything I can to get those emails and phone calls up to where they were this time last year. Maybe its the economy or other factors I'm unaware of, but I have a tendency to blame myself when things like this happen.

In lighter news, here's a couple quick snapshots I took of a beautiful Thank You note (featuring my photos!) I received from Jennifer and Shawn this week. They're a great looking couple and are currently the featured wedding on the front page of my portfolio! Thanks guys!