The best piece of equipment.

I recently stumbled on a blog and as I skimmed over the first sentence I just automatically finished it in my head. Do you ever do that? Someone is talking and you begin to answer because you're sure you know what they were going to say or ask and suddenly you find yourself wanting to shove your foot so far in your mouth that you swallow yourself up whole? Obviously I have no experience on what that might feel like...purely based on hearsay of course!

Anyway... The sentence began with 'the most important piece of equipment' and I immediately finished it off with, 'is you!' Turned out, I got the answer wrong for that particular statement but I was on to something all the same.

A camera is a tool. It does not have a vision and it cannot feel the emotions. It is merely a mechanism made of plastic, glass and metal... No matter how fabulous it claims to be, it cannot create an image with out your help.

I am positively fascinated by architecture. Never, when I have marveled at a structure, have I thought to myself, 'I wonder what type of hammer they used'.  Maybe it's because I'm not an architect. Maybe if I was I'd think to myself, 'hmmm, I bet they used the Stanley 3000'? But honestly, I don't think I would.  And yet as photographers, one of the very first questions we ask or hear is about our cameras. Why is that? Are we trying to say that it is the camera or the lens that produced and made an image what it is? Are we trying to imply that the image stands on the merits of the equipment rather then the artist?

Now before you start forming all kinds of opinions on me let me give a few ideas on why I think we do this. The first and most obvious is that of the budding photographer, when we are new there is a lot to figure out. The desire and need for learning seems endless, you may see an image and wonder how that was even possible (usually because of the constraints of your own equipment) so you want to know what was used. The other obvious is that when you really admire someone's work you become curious about what tools they use to create that work. There are other reasons of course that may be legitimate, good old-fashioned curiosity probably being #1. But should it really be question number one? At every wedding I've shot there is always that token someone, the one who comes up and hovers for a few before they ask 'so what kind of camera is that?' And then they want to talk about cameras and aperture and ISO, completely missing the fact that that camera they were curious about needs to be used to create a document of the moment's that I, the artist am seeing.

The point I want to make is that the camera is not the artist. The camera does not create the composition, find just the right angle and pause 1/2 way down on the shutter breathlessly waiting for the expression that she knows is coming. The camera cannot.  After all, it is only a tool. It is the creator, the artist, and the soul behind the camera that creates the image and evokes the emotion.

When you feel yourself wondering what camera they use, wonder instead (first) about the elements that make the shot so intriguing to you. Recognize and appreciate that it's not the camera that sees the art - it's you. And that is a wonderful thing because you cannot be duplicated! You can hand over your camera to anyone else and they won't see exactly what you see, nor capture exactly what you capture.

I love my camera.  Just as a painter needs his brushes, I need my camera! But my camera is not the only one to take credit in what is produced, I had a pretty big say in it too!

New Business Resolutions

The first day of WPPI Leah and I could've left fulfilled ready to jump start positive changes for our business but we still had five more days left!!  The energy at WPPI is simply amazing.  One of the most important things we learned at Business Institute was to right down your goals, and share them with another person so it makes you accountable to achieve those goals.  I am sharing my goals with you today so I am held accountable.  Eee... scary!

1. Get a Business License. - When I was first starting my business I talked to a few accountants about getting a license and they each had a different answer and a different reasoning behind them all.  One said not to worry about a license till I make over $14,000 a year.  Another said to get one but he wanted to charge me an arm, a leg, and my head, to set everything up.  I wasn't sure how sincere he was about me and about the money.  The last one almost killed me for not having one yet.  After listening to Silvana Frammartino at WPPI I decided I needed to get one, and her reasoning wasn't about the money it was about being honest.  It seems so easy to reason why we don't need a biz license.  "I only make so much..." "I'm only doing this for fun on the side..." blah blah blah.  I know I'll be more blessed with being honest with my dealings than if I justified it all the time.

CHECK!

2. Get a Professional Website or Blog. - Blogger has been great for me for where I was in my business but I know I'm not going anywhere with blogger as my only site.  Prospective clients need to be wowed!  I was purposefully waiting for WPPI to see what my choices are and to learn more about SEO.
(More about my Prophoto blog soon!)

CHECK!

3.  Refine my branding and logo. - I still have yet to find who I am logo-wise.  Again my logo was good for now but I know I need to make it more fresh and clean.  I'm working on this one and I'm almost done!

4.  Perfect my pricing. - I learned SO much at WPPI about pricing and incorporating albums with everything.  Great advice: Shoot for the albums and SELL the albums!  Michael Warshall a VERY successful photographer said when asked about pricing, "Well how much are you worth?"  You are worth how much you price.  This was very hard for me because I don't live in a big town and although I know how much I'm worth it's hard for me to think that people will pay that much around here.  Again perfecting pricing!

5.  Skills & Technical. - I'm a firm believer that you should know your equipment inside and out.  I want to perfect lighting!

6. Charity. - Shoot to help others.  Nuff said!

7. Shoot for myself. - We shoot for others so much that we often forget to take time for our own art.  If we keep shooting for others and never take time for ourselves we'll start resenting the thing we fell in love with.  I don't want that!

This is all that I can share now and it makes me realize how much more I still need to achieve.  Have you been writing down your goals and sharing them with others?  If not I STRONGLY encourage you to do so and don't share your goals with just your spouse.  Share them with people who will hold you accountable... in a good way of course.

Completely personal today...

This weekend I worked really hard on these designs that I was so excited to unveil today but after just reading a comment that popped in on the blog the new designs just have to wait... I want to say something...

THANK YOU! My heart is positively overwhelmed, I feel so incredibly blessed right now and it is because of you! Since coming back from WPPI, Go{4}Pro has increased traffic by 126%! SEVEN THOUSAND PEOPLE came to Go{4}Pro last week. There were months and months at the beginning where maybe 40 people stopped by in a day, and zero comments were left and if I'm being completely honest I was not very content with that. Truth be told... I've always dreamed so much biggert! I want to touch people, I want to inspire them! My ultimate dream is to teach and share and offer my passion in a personal environment that will enrich this industry.

I dream that I will leave the photography industry better then I found it by educating, mentoring and inspiring new photographers to dream and accomplish big. I can't believe I'm being so honest with just how lofty my goals really are! Well might as well go with it now... *blush* I love reaching out, I love connecting and I love having the opportunity to inspire and I just can't even believe that in one week 7,000 of you allowed me that opportunity! Now I'm crying. I am a huge cryer. If you ever meet me in person you are almost guaranteed to see me cry...  Any good deed or dream acquired gets me teary. Extreme Home Makeover... yep I cry before they ever even tell the story. The movie The Blind Side, I haven't even seen it yet but I cry through every preview. My childhood had a lot of pain and I honestly didn't believe there was any deep goodness in the world. As a child the world seemed selfish and cruel and it often left me broken and alone but as I grew up and once I truly found my faith I learned the most incredible thing, there is genuine good in this world - a lot of it. That epiphany left two things branded on my heart. The first was the awe I was left in at the genuine kindness that truly is all around us. That has never left me which explains why I get weepy for all good deeds. The second is that I wanted to live a life that would inspire others and share a genuine kindness and appreciation for those I'm blessed to meet. Ugg. I've gotten way off track... back to the beginning.

See when I was at that 40 a day mark, I asked a writer of a very big blog to do an interview and they didn't have time (I got that a lot at the beginning, and still often do). In the response back they said something about getting 10,000 hits a month - it stuck with me. I sat at my desk reading that number over and over and my thought was, 'so that's the number for successful? 10,000 a month. Okay then, that's my starting goal for Go{4}Pro.' It seemed extremely unrealistic at the time but I didn't care, I was going to aim for 10,000 hits per month to start. That's kind of pretty much how my brain works in a nutshell. *laugh* This all brings me to a comment I received today. The comment was on this post and it was from Tamara Lackey herself!! Do you know what her posting a comment means? It means that so many people clicked on that post that it showed up in her google analytics and she came to see what Go{4}Pro was - at least I think thats what it means? The irony is that it was this same post that left that one comment that snowballed into this post. I cried that day too, but it was the child in me crying - the one who felt alone and had experienced to much unfair cruelty in younger years. Never on that day, did I imagine Tamara herself leaving a comment!

And thats when I started to cry (the 'in awe' cry this time). I have received so many incredible emails from you guys - I can't even express what they mean to me! You give me so much encouragement. it truly leaves me breathless! Seriously, your comments make me giddy, your passion and interest in Go{4}Pro puts me on the edge of my seat because I want to give you more! For a period of my life I was very alone, I mentioned once that I ate lunch in the bathroom but that was far from the largest of my heartaches. I felt very alone in a big and scary world. Starting as a photographer can leave you feeling that same way. I want Go{4}Pro to be that happy place where you don't have to feel alone. Where encouragement, inspiration and dedication combine to lift and help improve your business and in turn our fantastic industry that I am so in love with. Do you want to know one of my biggest secrets? I want, "you have to check out Go{4}Pro" to be the first words any photographer says to an aspiring one! Oh wow. That would just be a.m.a.z.i.n.g. !!

Are you still reading this? If you are - wow and thank you for sticking with me! I guess I honestly mean that on a lot of levels. Thank you if this is the first post you're reading or if you check in daily, thank you for taking the time and I hope you will share Go{4}Pro with others. This is my dream and I don't believe dreams bloom with out nurturing from others!

I want to leave you with a reward for getting through this crazy long post (or maybe just for scrolling down! ;) i LOVE checking the blogs of those who leave comments! You may have even had me comment back on your blog! When ever a comment touches me I like to know more about who it's from!  One such time last week I was doing exactly that after reading a comment from Raquel of Remember When and when I saw these images... I was wowed! They were so fun to look at that I just wanted to show them off for Raquel! If you want to see the rest of this sneak peak from this session here is the link for the full post and make sure you leave some love behind for her!!

   

          

Thank you so much Raquel for letting me show off your beautiful images! 

Turning the idea in my head to reality!

So you know that I love logo, design, branding, marketing... all of it. I LOVE IT! You also know from business week that I know a little bit about this stuff and since I'm supposed to know a little about this stuff, you may have thought to yourself, 'girl you brake all your own rules - are you really not seeing that?!*&^#%$?!' And it's true I do but there was this nagging reason that has been driving me bonkers.

Have you ever had in your head what you wanted but you just couldn't get what was in your mind to match with what you had to work with? This happened to me a lot in Elementary school. I'd be given a piece of clean white paper, a brush and fresh paints with the freedom to create what ever my heart desired. Only what my heart desired was something similar to 'water lily pond' by Monet but what my hands were capable of was a big messy puddle of brown in the end.

This is a little like how I've been feeling with my entire logo and branding division - not so muddy but certainly not Monet either. I knew what I wanted but couldn't find it. And so I have gone from logo to logo and paper kit to paper kit trying to find what really felt right. Which by the way is a huge branding no no. Learn from me, don't be impulsive, take the time and do it properly from the start! And when in doubt - ALWAYS error on the side of simplicity!

The problem was I kept liking what I was creating or buying so I thought it would work, but then when I began to implement it just wouldn't end up selling my style, images and personality the way I wanted it to. This one to the left I absolutely loved when I bought the paper kit and created the logo but soon I started seeing it's flaws. I knew that I wanted my main color to be YELLOW in tribute to my dad as well as the fact that I'm a very happy person but it also needed to be a muted yellow to show sophistication and style. I also wanted my look to be COMPLETELY different from anyone else out there that I've seen. A direct reflection of ME and nothing else. (I should interject here to please not copy me, I assure you that I plan to make it so big that when people see yours they will just think of me so it really wouldn't be a good idea. ;)

I had literally just tried to describe to Noelle what I was envisioning, "a mix between Anthropology and Gap meets high society". And then I stumbled on it! I saw a book cover and it was almost exactly what I'd been envisioning all along I did a lot of work to track down the designer and found what I needed to create my very own digital paper kit. Now that I finally have what I wanted it's time to go into full branding mayhem! I can't wait. Eeeee!! I have three major areas of focus to start...

1. THE BLOG. I'll try to talk about it here and will definitely show you all the finished products once they are ready but here are some of the big changes I'm making. A whole new blog design! I'm super-duper excited for this and have chosen to go with Pro Photos Blog. Noelle and I did a lot of research on who to use so we'll do a post (and when I say we I mean her ;) on why Pro Photo Blog was the best choice for us.

2. WEBSITE. Next is updating my websites. This has a lot of different parts to it but is getting closer to my final vision.

3. MARKETING KIT. Last is to completely revamp my own marketing kits, packaging and presentation.  Which is going to be sooo much fun when it's all printed and tangible!!

One of the biggest bonuses to getting this all done is to FINALLY have this off my plate and be able to focus energy on other aspects of my business. For example I've been in process of moving over to projection sales (only I don't call it that!) for the last month or two and once this is all done I'll really be able to fine tune that experience for my clients. Yes. I will be doing a full post about Projection Sales sort of soon.

When I ran my dads company he was always telling me to, 'touch it once' or in other words take the task and do what ever you have to do till it's complete and filed away and then move on to the next thing. I'm not good at that. I have this habit of letting my ideas take over sanity and allowing dozens of projects to be happening at once so I'm not actually seeming to make measurable progress on any of them, nope - not one stinking project makes any progress! (sigh) Ever do that? I kind of think it's a creative thing at least I feel better labeling it that way. Maybe?

How's your branding and marketing going? I know two gals who are well on their way (Jennifer & Liz)... I'm creating full logo and customized marketing kits, when they are done I'll make sure to show you a little peak! Here's to PRODUCTIVITY!

Updated the flickr post...

I wrote a post last week that was supposed to publish while I was at WPPI, well it did but I had forgotten to finish the post. (There were no pictures). If you were one who emailed me to let me know... THANKS! And thanks to all of you for always being so patient with my many mess ups. Thank goodness my head is screwed on nice and tight or I probably wouldn't even remember where I put it! 


If you want to see the post as it was intended go HERE. 

WPPI was A.MAZ.ING! ... Part I

It's a double dose day cause I don't want to wait till I get back from Seattle!

There is just so much to share and tell and express from my experience with WPPI. This was my first time attending WPPI. I heard about it last year but was so new in my journey that it just wasn't feasible. This year I MADE IT feasible even though it shouldn't have been. And I am so (one million times so) glad that I did. 

The experience has truly changed me! Both as a photographer and as a person. I soaked everything up and took something from every single individual experience that presented itself. I made amazing friends (shout-outs to Leroy, Molly, Bethany, Amber, Jesse & Matt, Kevin & Fundy, Everem, Bryan, Tony, Josiah, Spencer, Ben, Loren, Eva, Susan, Rengie, Danielle, Tasha, Elisa, Michelle, Kalli and so many more!)

Left to Right: Bethany, Me, Molly, Noelle (we met Bethany and Molly the day before)

I flew into Las Vegas absolutely sure that great things were going to happen! I'm telling you this because I would bet that no first timer had a more incredible experience then I did this year and I believe it had to do with attitude. (okay I'm totally crying right now). I don't know how to even express this in type. I wish you could see me right now and I could just talk with you. My hands are trembling as I try to type and my heart is so full. I had person after person present the most fantastic things to me and I took each thing for everything I could. We will be making a little slide show to show you soon. And I will go into so much more... 

It's gonna take days (actually months because of some of the insanely fantastic people who will be featured here) to share all this. But let me illustrate one example. 

Noelle and I were heading up the escalator. First I should say, we were talking to everyone we encountered not just 'hi' but getting to know them and letting them get to know us - that was a big part of why we got to much out of WPPI. Back to the story... As we assended to the second floor of the convention a man asked us about WPPI. He asked us what we were wanting to get from it. I think he was trying to call us out a little. ;) I very boldly answered and basically bullet pointed out what I'd already taken from the convention, what my goals were and how they were being surpassed. I surprised him and when we got to the top he said, "you know what, you come over here." Leroy continued to talk with Noelle and I, we got deeper and deeper into conversating, he had been to the first WPPI (30 years ago) but hadn't been in "eons". As we continued to talk, we walked over to a corner of the foyer area and he began to unzip his bag and pull out gear (this was gear I dream of) and he started teaching me. Right there, set off just barely from the croud he took time and started teaching me fundamentals for no reason except to share. 

I was in awe and learning things about lighting that all the books (and there were about 6 at this current time) hadn't made so obvious and clear. It was incredible. Noelle and I soaked up everything this new friend was sharing and we we're not wanting to leave for the masters class we'd paid for but he insisted we not miss it. 

We told Leroy how we were going to be shooting the following day with some friends and Noelle was bold enough to ask him to join us (NOELLE ROCKS!!) And he said yes. He told us that this would be his contribution to WPPI, giving back to us! 

The next day was incredible!!! I'll show you a video Leroy is making as soon as it's ready and give you the next part of the story. But needless to say it was incredible for Bethany, Molly, Noelle and I!! 

Just to give you a feel of what kind of caliber Leroy is in... The highlight of his career was photographing Muhammad Alee!! The highlight of mine was having Leroy introduce himself to me! 

Leroy will forever be a dear friend and mentor from this point forward he emailed me this morning and this is how it ended...

"If I could leave you one tidbit of inspiration this morning… it’s this. You were not built to break. Three kids, a spouse & big dreams are a load; but you are a champion. Have an incredible day!"

I'm a cryer so I totally lost it when I read that! Could you imagine how great we would all be if we each had encouragement like this? 

Leroy Hamilton

I don't have time to have this edited I have to get to Seattle for a shoot tomorrow so sorry for the inevitable errors! I'll fix when I get back. 

Confessions - Keeping my values.

A question was recently brought up on the napcp forum asking if anyone had ever turned down working with a client because of values or beliefs. I have and I'm proud of it. I thought I would share the story with you...


We all believe in different things and I believe we should respect each other's views and be grateful that we are allowed to have them... In MOST cases! In this one I said no.

I was contacted last summer for what would have been my biggest client EVER times 10. They were opening a chain of coffee stands and wanted a session done for every girl who would be employed with them for the company website. They wanted an interactive site where consumers could see who worked at what stand. Have you guessed it yet? This was one of those bikini or lingerie coffee stands (but they wanted to create a mass chain) and I would be shooting all the mini boudoir sessions. I sat on the phone talking with the designer as she unfolded what they were looking for and wanting to achieve, at first she was vague about the purpose but as the conversation progressed it became more and more clear what this project was about. It would have been 50 girls to start, with more each time someone was hired - obviously it would have been big $$$.


While I was flattered that they wanted me and in my head I was already creating the shopping list with the money I would earn I just couldn't allow my name to be associated with that kind of project!

What can I say? I HATE those kind of places. I've always said it's a wonder one hasn't been run down by an angry house wife! It's a pathetic use of sexuality. I have no respect for those type of operations and would never want to be associated with one. 


When I see one, all I see is sadness. Sadness for young girls who don't see enough value in who they are not what they've got. Sadness for wives who are trying to figure out why their husband has 3 coffee charges a day only to learn that Wednesday is "wet T-shirt day". Sadness for men who were never taught the vale of a lady and her worth as daughter of God. And thats pretty much what I told the designer. In hindsight maybe I should have kept those thoughts to myself and just left it at no but I get really passionate and often forget where the off switch is. The funny thing was, she totally agreed and said she would never let her boyfriend go to one of those places. Why oh why did she associate with them? Money will never be worth your integrity! 

So there you have it... I said no.

Confessions - your thoughts

I want you to know that I read every comment and every email you send. Your encouragement toward me along with your enthusiasm for this blog leaves me inspired daily! I also see your worries and your fears and I feel them right with you! 


The following are bits and pieces from  a couple recent emails or comments, 


"...It's hard and frustrating, and makes me question whether I am any good."


"Thank you for the article. I guess I just felt like you might understand the rest of my "woe is me" state. I have no one to job shadow and take me under their wing. You're all I got Sensei! Thank you for all the time and effort you put into your blog. You'll never know how much it means to me."


"Its good to hear and all true information. Its also a little depressing from a just-starting photographers point of view. Guess its one of the many I'll-never-get-there days."


I wish so badly that I could say the perfect thing to lift each of your spirits! I hope you know I'm sending you really bigs hugs ('m a total hugger, throws people off guard all the time). The honest truth is that there is a lot more to this whole photography thing then any of us honestly thought there would be. It's kind of like a roller coaster... One moment you're heading up, up, up the tracks. You have a smile plastered on your face and you anxiously await the thrill of the ride then suddenly you're jerked about and you suddenly feel the fear grip you as you plummet, loop 'd' loop and get flipped on your head. It happens to all of us, regularly! 


Don't feel alone! That is the entire reason, I started this blog. I felt alone. I had ZERO connections. I would learn something new, be ecstatic and have no body to share it with so I started writing. I knew someone else out there would be excited to. Go{4}Pro is here to offer a welcoming hand, to be inspired by the seasoned and to learn through my errors (oh lucky you ;) 


If you have something you would like to share, you can go to the FLICKR group, email me a post submission or just keep making comments. We photographers need to stick together... After all a roller coaster is always more fun with a friend! 

Confessions} Trying something new, BOUDOIR

WARNING: If you're at work or your kids are playing beside you, you may want to hold off on watching the slide show. For this post I purposefully created a slide show so all my readers at work wont find them selves an awkward race for the 'close' box. No nudity but it's still sexual. Just keep that in mind. 


While I am definitely a children's photographer, I also love to mix things up and try new things when ever I can! It's really important to me to get the creativity flowing in new directions and a new challenge definitely helps accomplish it! Shooting a verity of clients has helped me find what I'm truly passionate about. When I first started photography, newborn, family and kids were the obvious. As I started to really get my feet wet I thought maybe that wasn't where my focus was. I had done several engagement all in a row and a couple seniors and was thinking, 'wow! this is awesome. I tell them what to do and they do it! I'm not chasing toddlers like a crazy lady.' It didn't take to long to realize that while I enjoy shooting engagement and LOVE shooting seniors, babies and kids are my natural. But even knowing that now, I still want to shake things up. Several months ago I was asked about boudoir, and while it's not something I will advertise for I was certainly not apposed to the idea of shooting the session! 

So the planning process began. In my opinion, one of the most critical parts of boudoir photography is location! I've seen some boudoir sessions go horribly wrong because the backdrop is doing nothing to add to the story. Every picture tells a story. Boudoir's story is all about seduction, beauty allure and reverie. The 80's kitchen backdrop probably won't create the look you envision. My client and I went back and forth planning and designing what she was wanting for her boudoir session. 

My purpose for posting this is just as a reminder to try outside the box. While I know Boudoir is nothing new to photography - it is new to me. It's a world away from my normal chase of toddlers and it placed me far from my comfort zone. It really pushed and challenged me creatively and that was fun. Who knows if this will go much further? I put 2 teaser images (can't even tell it was a boudoir session) on my blog and a mom who regularly checks told a friend and the next boudoir is already scheduled so there is at least one more down the road for me...

All my slideshows are created with animoto.