I cannot believe, that it is the end of my experience abroad! The time in Italy passed very, very quickly… And it’s not because I was spending my time on Italian dolce far niente!
The artistic collaboration with My Baby Book Studio was a great experience. I’m happy that with my fresh ideas my host, Martyna Ball, could improve her business. With my help, she was able to book more clients and stabilize her position of the photographic studio on Italian… and also European market! She is going to be one of the speakers during the first Baby&Kid Europe Congress of family, newborn and children photography. My last task was to record and edit a short video-presentation of her.
My host gave me the greatest opportunity to learn and grow. Work-wise, I’ve got the experience and gained the knowledge, that wouldn’t be possible to get in a different place. I enjoyed learning her workflow with private clients. I also learned about photographic product suppliers, ordering, printing process and framing. With her help, I understood which marketing tools can be used to advertise my own future business and I was able to design the first drafts of my marketing materials.
The most important, however, is the satisfaction, that our work, as photographers, can be really valuable and important. The full photography service is something, which I’d love to offer to my clients in the future. From the initial contact, the consultation, through the photo session, in-person sales, to the final high-quality products that I’ll offer them. It’s not just about “some pretty pictures”. Our talent is a way to help our clients to turn their photographs into heirloom wall arts, prints that will stay with their family from generation to generation, a memorable keepsake and something that they can cherish every day. Photography may also have a therapeutic effect in some sense. I proved to myself, that it increases self-confidence and can help uncover this femininity that every woman is hiding inside of her. My future business will focus on that.
I’m also very happy that I could organize my portrait photo sessions in Rome. I’m proud to announce, that result of one of the sessions is already in print and will be published in the winter issue of Polish magazine MAKE-UP Trendy. Other photos are going to be exhibited in my hometown, Bialystok, and possibly also in Rome! It’s very exciting.
It’s true. Some of the objectives of my stay have not been met. It’s all because I changed my priorities during the stay abroad. It has become more reasonable to focus on observing my host’s workflow, developing in-person sales skills and gaining knowledge about marketing. I’m planning to work on the “missing part” by myself after returning from the exchange. I know, that I’ve made great relationships with people, who are willing to help me. Thanks to amazing people I’ve met in Italy, I also learned how to be more open and more curious and to appreciate the current moment more… And I guess that the biggest job I have to do now is work on my self-value.
It was a beautiful experience that I’m really grateful for it.
See you around!
Natalia
