Nine

I’m a bit late, but Zack Wussow Media just passed it’s ninth anniversary. Typically I do a quick post with some thoughts about the last year, but I’ve been putting it off because this has, obviously, been a weird year.

Actually, it was already unusual for me personally in the second half of 2019. Many of you know I have worked for a yearbook photo company in the fall for many years. My 2019 season was cut a little short when an opportunity came up to start a new, year-round position in graphic design for a company down the street. It was looking like the future might be quite different for me…

Then 2020 happened. That company folded, and I was back to 100% photography. Except weddings, events, even portrait sessions were canceled indefinitely due to COVID-19.

Now as my tenth year gets going, the wedding industry is slowly creeping back to life, maybe?, and the end of 2020 is looking a lot more like years of the past. Weddings and yearbooks, albeit both with big asterisks depending on how things go.

What’s that tenth year actually hold? No idea. I’m fortunate to say my personal situation, family, etc. mean my wife and I will be fine for the foreseeable future. But no doubt, that future is murky.

I hope you are all doing well.

Eight

Today is eight years since I registered Zack Wussow Media with the wonderful folks at the Vernon Town Hall. Eight years of weddings and engagements, maternity and babies, events and portraits.

It’s been a wonderful eight years and I’m so excited to see where the next years take me!

New Updates to my Wedding Packages

This year, I’m making a few changes to my wedding packages. Wedding albums will go from 20 pages to 30, so your favorite photos have more room to stretch out. The “Big Day” print credit is doubling to $200. But the thing I’m most excited about is adding a 16x20 wall art print to any wedding package.

It’s been so exciting over the years seeing my photos on people’s walls, I decided every couple needs at least one big, beautiful memory of their most important day to decorate their home.

The photos are flush mounted on metal, a beautiful, elegantly simple way to display them. They come ready to hang on your wall with a built-in saw-tooth hanger.

And to my past customers, don’t feel left out! If you’d like one, drop me a line and I’ll get you one at cost.

State of the Business - 2018 in Review

2018 is behind us, which means it’s time to look back.

CATCHING MY BREATH

2017 was a crazy year - not only my busiest year professionally but also pretty crazy personally. I got married and bought a house. So I’m happy to say 2018 was all around more sedate. Fewer weddings, spread out more evenly through the year, and no giant changes in my life. One tiny change though…

A NEW FURRY FAMILY MEMBER

Heather and I adopted a stray kitten named Peach. She was and continues to be a handful but is adorable and endlessly entertaining. If you feel like you didn’t get enough cat photos this year, we sequestered all of ours on a separate Instagram account.

EXPANDING HORIZONS

While weddings were down, I did more maternity photo sessions than ever before, and my first newborn sessions! I was hoping to expand this branch of my business this year, so seeing this grow is really nice, and 2019 is looking promising too.

THE NUMBERS

WEDDINGS: 21 (DOWN 5 FROM 2017)

Like I said, a quieter year! And even more than it seems, as two of those were second shooting gigs, which are substantially easier. And the change didn’t even hurt my bottom line too much, as rising average prices made up some of the difference. This is actually a return to baseline of sorts, as I did 19 weddings in each of 2014, ‘15, and ‘16. I think ideally I’d sit somewhere between 2017 and 2018, maybe with even a few more second shooting jobs in there as well.

ENGAGEMENTS: 4 (DOWN 4 FROM 2017)

This is somewhat a deceptive number - I actually sold more than 4 engagements, in the form of included ones with weddings, that for various reasons never happened. In 2019 I’ll be making up for it with those couples as well as new ones. Going forward I’d like to get every couple to have an engagement session, as it’s a great way to get to know my couples.

OTHER PORTRAITS: 12 (UP 6 FROM 2017)

Babies! Specifically breaking this down, it was 4 family photo shoots, 2 headshot sessions, 4 maternity sessions, and 2 newborn sessions. I love doing these for several reasons - they are smaller and more relaxed than weddings, more evenly distributed year round, and a great way to keep working with my wedding couples as they go on to the next steps in their lives!

CORPORATE GIGS: 4 (DOWN 2 FROM 2017)

As in years past, this category could really be called “UConn Events”. Mostly the same ones as years past, and only down because a couple events didn’t happen this year. Always fun to help out my Alma Mater, though.

COMING OF AGE/MISC. EVENTS: 3 (UP 1 FROM 2017)

One bridal shower, and two events with the Mattatuck Museum in Waterbury, where a friend of mine works. The museum is a tough spot since flash isn’t allowed in most rooms, but they are fun events none-the-less and feels like a great cause!

TOTAL: 44 (DOWN 4 FROM 2017)

A quieter year to be sure, but I really needed that after 2017!

OTHER STUFF

The one area 2018 wasn’t so restive was travel - beyond a travel packed yearbook season, I also took three bigger trips. Heather and I went to Florida in January to visit family, in April we went on our belated honeymoon to Bar Harbor, and over the summer we went on a work-related trip to Provincetown and to visit a friend who lives on Cape Cod. All very fun trips!

I also rediscovered the joy of going to my local library in a big way - I read 68 books this year! (Gotta do something while resting up, right?) Highlights for me: Brain on Fire by Susan Cahalan, Devil in the White City by Erik Larson, and A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson. I’m also really glad I read Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow but won’t sugar coat it - it’s a slog. It took me all year, dipping in periodically, to finish it.

COMING UP

2019 is a bit more up in the air than I would like so far. Feel free to fix that by recommending me to your friends and family! I am very much looking forward to photographing three weddings of dear friends next year, including one that will mean a mostly free vacation.

I do expect to see even more portrait, maternity, and newborn sessions which I am excited about!

HAPPY NEW YEAR

I hope you have had a wonderful year, and that 2019 is even better!

Seven

June 14th is here, and Zack Wussow Media is officially another year older. When I walked into the Vernon Town Clerk's office to file a DBA back in 2011, I didn't really know what would come of it. I certainly didn't know that seven years, 120+ weddings, and tons of events and portraits later, this little business would still be taking care of me.

Thank you all, because I could not do this without you. Here's to seven more years ahead!

Everything's Peachy

Heather and I are off for our belated honeymoon this week, so rather than a typical blog post, I'd like to introduce you to the newest member of the Zack Wussow Media family, Peach.

She came to us underage and with every problem - ticks, lice, infections - you'd expect for a stray. My wife, who besides second shooting for me works at a vet office, brought her home for us to "foster till we find her a forever home", a delusion that lasted maybe 48 hours.

She's already doing a lot better, and is growing like a weed. Our other cat, Enzo, is slowly coming around to the idea of having a little sister.

We're going to miss her a lot while we're gone this week, but no doubt she will get tons of love at the vet office!

Now, off to our honeymoon! See you next week.

New! Wooden USB Boxes for Weddings

My DVD packages haven't changed much in the last few years, and to judge from some of my couples coming up this year, a lot of people don't have ready access to dvd readers anyway, so it felt like it was about time for a change!

I'm excited to announce that going forward all weddings will receive their finished photos on a beautiful USB drive in a decorative wooden box. 

I've been delaying this until I could find a really quality product, and I think this is it. The wood is beautiful, the magnetic closures are snappy, and everything is really nicely put together.

Any of my former couples who would like an upgrade? Just drop me a line and I will send you one out at cost.

For now, I'm still going to use DVDs for non-wedding jobs, though that may change depending on feedback.

Couples Choice 2018

I just noticed that I was awarded a Wedding Wire Couples Choice award again this year!

As I think I said last year, these awards are a pretty commercial thing and given out a bit indiscriminately.

That said, it is a reflection of the truly amazingly kind reviews my clients have left me, and for those I am always grateful. It means so much to me that people take the time to share their experiences. They mean more to me than a thousand Wedding Wire awards.

Thank you!