“You should learn something new every day” this is a phrase I have heard a million times growing up and funny, I say it to my daughter’s all the time too. But it is super true. In the photography industry there is enough to learn to last you a lifetime.
For a while now I have been answering emails from photographers who want to learn more about photography, lighting, editing, business, and getting more clients. So I am going to do that. I want to help the way that I have been helped over the years.
When I was young I enjoyed photography as a hobby but YouTube didn’t exist, so I had to learn on my own. As I got older and decided to make a career out of it I needed to really step it up and learn my craft. I invested in every type of education I could get my hands on. Online courses were great, especially when they were free, but the knowledge was limited and often left me with more unanswered questions than when I started. You can find endless videos on YouTube about your camera, posing, and lighting and well, everything, but without getting your hands dirty it’s hard to know if you’re doing it right. I have gone to huge trade shows and sat through lectures which are crazy inspiring and a lot of fun when you get to listen to and sometimes meet your idols of the industry.
Where I learned the most valuable information was at the 2 in person workshops I attended in the early years of my business. One was all about off camera lighting and shortcuts to editing. The other was a 2 day intensive on newborn photography. There were only two because I had to save forever to get to them but they proved to be the best investment into my business I could have ever made. Worth every penny. Taking these classes caused a major turning point for me in my skill. I am totally a hands on type of learner and I owe so much to these two workshops.
Since then I have done a handful of one-on-one mentorships to get better at the business side of things, venture into the world of film photography, and how to provide more value to each of my clients. These women and men have given so much knowledge to me and it’s time for me to start sharing the things that I have learned over the years.
Whether you have just purchased your first camera and kit lens and want to learn to make good photos, you’re a natural light photographer and you want to further your skill set with of camera flash, or you have been trying to get into newborn photography and you’re ready to learn everything you can, I have knowledge to share with you. Here is what I am offering:
Understanding your camera, beginners: 3 hours $350
- ISO, aperture, shutter speed, what does each do and how they work together
- All the dials, buttons and modes on your camera
- Lenses: prime vs. zoom
- Frame composition and “rules”
- Leading lines
- Creative framing
- Understanding your lighting situation
Speedlights: 1.5 hours, $200
- How and when to use them
- On camera techniques
- Off camera techniques
- Using more than one
- Best brands and where to get them
Newborn Day 1: 4 hours $500
- Lighting, natural vs. studio
- Lighting, positioning and angles
- Posing baby (doll) with focus on angles
- What goes under the backdrop/beanbag?
- What goes in a prop/bucket/box?
Newborn Day 2: 5 hours (price for both days) $800
- Pose real baby, beanbag and prop
- Photograph real baby
- Wrapping baby
- Headbands, hats, props: when and how to use them
- Culling, editing, composite
- Programs to use for editing and delivery of images
