I posted a peek photo from the Fershop I attended in Rockville, Maryland, last week.  I have had a few photographers ask me for more details on what I thought.  I didn’t really know yet what to say.  I knew the workshop was good, but wasn’t sure how to sum up what I learned.  It was more of a feeling still.

A couple days ago, I did my first session after the workshop.  It was a maternity session, at a couples’ home in Washington DC.  Now I know what I learned.  I felt inspired and in control of creating artistic photos.  I’m loving the results so far as I edit the photos.  I’m a different style photographer from Fer Juaristi (who is incredible by the way), so after the workshop I was trying to figure out how to adapt what I learned to work with what I do.  I capture moments first and foremost.  With inspiration from Fer, I was able to still keep my documentary style, while really working the lighting. I brought my gear, and started to use my fill flash.  Then I looked around, and the sun streaks were beautiful and dramatic.  I turned off the flash, directed the couple to locations to make the most of the light, and feel like I really captured the true nature of the couple with artistic images.

Back to the Fershop.  Every photographer I know told me I must go.  I contacted Fer directly to ask for more details, and he gave me a few, but I still didn’t feel like I knew what to expect.  I contacted another photographer, who I respect greatly, who had attended one in another city recently.  She simply pointed me to her work before and after.  Decision made.  I signed up.

The day was filled with an interactive lecture, lots of q&a, a few hours of shooting, and as much individual attention as you wanted.  Fer talked to each person, and was really an open book as far as sharing everything.  He was a fun light hearted speaker, with tons of passion for photography.

What did I get out of the workshop?  I imagine this is different for each photographer.

1.  Inspiration

2.  Encouragement

3.  A couple neat camera tricks that I didn’t know, like how to make my viewfinder show in b&w, and why (which I love by the way).

4.  Post-processing tips that help speed things up, and add a little oomph to the photos.  (I’m still a believer in keeping things natural.)

5.  Branding and marketing ideas

6.  Lighting – but not in the way of use 50 lights with x and y settings.  The lighting I learned is more of going back to basics, remembering to use what is there, to really see light, and to not be scared of it.

7.  Control.  Seeing the image and creating it with your clients.  My hesitation with this was how to do this and still capture moments, but with a little practice now I feel like I got it. Of course, this applies really for just the portrait sessions (bridals, engagements, families).   Most of the wedding day I will as always capture with a photojournalism style.

8.  Use what you have and where you are.  Amazing photos can be made anywhere.  You don’t need a beautiful beach, or lush park.  There are ways to work in any location and any lighting.

What I loved most, and this is silly, is that Fer is a minimalist.  I have gear and backup gear, but I’m not a photographer that is excited by owning lots of toys.  The camera and lenses are just tools.  It was awesome to meet such an amazing and successful photographer that can get all the photos he wants without 50 different lenses and lights.  I love the simplicity of just having the tools I need, knowing them inside out, and being able to focus (pun not intended) on creating amazing photos.

If I had to sum up the seminar in one word, it would be inspirational.

I’ve had a website for about 6 or 7 years now.  By default I initially picked GoDaddy as my host.  As the years went by I heard many people complain about them, but I was satisfied and rarely ever needed interaction.  Last year after moving, something with the address change screwed up my credit card with their system.  I was out of town on a family emergency when this happened and therefore did not get a chance to return their phone call.

A week later I got home and back to work.  I discovered my website had been taken down.  When I called customer service they told me it was due to non-payment.  I owed them $4.95 (yes less than $5) after being a customer for over 5 years and they cut off my website with only one phone call.  I paid they got my site back online within 24 hours.  I decided it was time to finally change hosts.

(I didn’t write this to bash GoDaddy, but it was part of the story.)

I did a little research and everyone seemed happy with Bluehost.  I’ve been with them now since March and just have to say they are awesome!  I know a lot of photographers and other creative small business owners read my blog, so I just want to spread the word.  They are affordable and reliable.  For the photographers out there, they are in no way affiliated with Bludomain.

What is most fabulous about Bluehost is their technical support.  I use their live chat all the time.  Within 20 seconds to 2 minutes, a knowledgeable tech is chatting with me.  They have always been able to answer my often complicated questions.  I am one of those people with enough technical knowledge to be dangerous and try to do complicated things, but not enough to always fix the things I break.  The person I talk to is always very polite and usually has my issue resolved in 5 minutes.

So if you are thinking of changing web hosts, or setting up a site for the first time, I strongly recommend Bluehost.

So with a deep breath, and a purring cat beside me, I’m sitting here thinking about my business goals for 2012.

1.  Establish office hours for myself.  I want my family to know when to expect me to be working, and most importantly that when it is not office hours (or when I’m out working with a client) I can give them my full attention.

2.  Make the business side of things a priority.  I am an artist.  I don’t like dealing with numbers and much prefer Photoshop to Quickbooks.  This year, I will take one day at the end of each month to keep my bookkeeping clean, be aware of all the numbers, and find ways to simplify the process.  Step number one is already taken.  I am meeting with an accountant to discuss planning this week.

3.  Take my customer service level from great to exceptional.  I just love when businesses go out of there way to provide exceptional service.  I’m a small business and I get to know each of my clients personally.  I just want to find ways to make sure they know I appreciate being chosen as their wedding or family photographer.

4.  Blog regularly.  I’m not committing to an exact number, but I need to find balance and blog 2-5 times a week.  I believe in blogs.  If a company catches my interested, I go to there blog pretty quickly.  I want to hear the voice of who I am dealing with, and see what types of things they talk about.  I think brides benefit from knowing who I am.  I want you to choose a photographer whose work you love, and who you really click with.  (Sorry about the pun, not intended.)

5.  Be me.  I recently ditched my wedding packages in favor of simple pricing, something that goes against what any sales publication will recommend.  On the opposite side, I recently turned down a wedding I really wanted to photograph because what the bride wanted didn’t coincide with my policies.  Thinking back I could have just went with my gut.  In the future, I am giving myself liberty to break my own rules, incorporate things I believe in as part of my business, and just go with what feels right.

6.  Expand my family portrait business.  I love weddings, and plan to keep photographing as many as last year.  I enjoy the diversity of working with families too, especially maternity and newborns.  Photographing in a lifestyle manner, I love capturing the little moments.  My favorite is when one of my brides calls me a year or two later to ask me to photograph her new baby.  As part of this, I would like to photograph a birth.  I’m scared out of my mind to do it, which means I should.  Our doula photographed a lot of my labor and immediately after my daughter was born.  I treasure these photos.  (Thanks Taffy!)

7. Print my photos, and encourage my clients to do the same.  This is the most important.  I need to print samples.  I need to print personal photos.  I also need to convince every single one of you to make prints of your photos too.  Yes, I believe in professional quality prints, especially for the big 20×30 enlargements.  More so I just want everyone to get their photos off their computer and onto paper, in a book, on the wall, on the fridge… anywhere as long as they can be seen and shared.

8.  Make all this pretty.  I’m working on making my blog, website, and all those branding things pretty, or at least cohesively me.  Oh, and this includes my office too!

Here’s a favorite from a recent family portrait session.  New little feet to start the new year!

Zenfolio and BlackRapid have teamed up to run a contest for photographers, so I admit I’m writing this blog post for a reason.  Among other things, BlackRapid creates ultra cool functional camera straps and is giving one away.  I thought I’d share the word of this contest and these two companies.

I could not be happier with my new lens, a Sigma 50 1.4. I don’t get very excited by gear most of the time, but this is one of the exceptions. I researched for a long time, read everything I could online, and asked lots of other photographers.

Nikon has several 50mm lenses. For a long time I shot with the classic 50 1.8. It’s a great little light lens, and inexpensive. Recently though I realized how much I like shooting with this focal length, so I decided I should have the best. I pretty quickly ruled out the Nikon 50 1.8 G and older Nikon 50 1.4 D. Neither seemed like it would be enough of an upgrade to be worthwhile. This left me with the Nikon 50 1.4 G and the Sigma 50 1.4.

I’m not going to get into numbers and curve lines, plenty of other websites will give you those details. Want to know why I picked the Sigma? Once I touched it. I went to the local camera store, and mounted both lenses. The Sigma is heavy and almost sexy in feel. The Nikon felt eh. (Sorry, Nikon.)

Do I still love it? Yes, I am happiest when it is on my camera. Yes, I do take it off when other focal lengths make more sense, but I’m always glad to put it back on. It’s performance is great. The auto-focus is fast. The bokeh is beautiful. It’s 1.4 aperture lets me shoot in dimly lit settings, and yes, I still just love how it feels.

So this post, ended up being one of my popular posts ever. I got a pile of comments and emails. A couple of other photographers jumped up and helped spread the word. We started a Facebook group, and before I knew it we had over 50 members. More importantly we have over 20 photographers that are very active in the group, attending monthly meetings, organizing meetups, sharing knowledge and helping each others businesses grow.

Thank you everyone for all your help in creating this amazing photographers networking group!

Here are some photos I took of my fellow DC photographers at our recent portrait shoot on Lake Anne in Reston.

Here’s a little sneak peak. I’m using my family portraits for the test site, to keep a little element of surprise for when I premier it filled with wedding goodness.

In fall of 2005, we moved to Portland, Oregon. We found a little house to sublet in East Portland, with a big yard and great neighbors that liked to bring us fresh tomatoes and cucumbers from their gardens. In 2006, we decided we were ready to buy our own home. Little did we know, as we closed on our first house, in Beaverton, Oregon (actually an unincorporated part of Washington County called Aloha), that I was pregnant.

Left: 600 sq foot East Portland sublet | Right: Our first home

About eight years had passed since starting working in Information Technology, and I was photographing personal stuff (nature, my cats, and street photography). I had just bought my first digital camera about 6 months prior, a Nikon D50. I was still amazed at the ease of digital compared to film. I knew I was done with IT, but wasn’t sure what direction to go, so I was taking some classes in multimedia and web design. I knew I needed to find a way to merge my creativity with my career. By mid-way through pregnancy I also knew I could not leave my baby everyday to go to a job I disliked. I was 34 and ready to finally do what I meant to do all along.

I didn’t have a plan though. I knew nothing about running a business. Like so many other photographers, I thought it was simple. I’d put an ad on craigslist and charge $100 a session for portraits, and shoot 4 per weekend, handing over the digital files. I’d put up a website, hand out cards, and so on. This was truly as far as I thought it out.

I quickly learned that there is a lot more to starting a photography business. Particularly I realized that a new mom can not work at home with a baby by my side all day, and that I could not possible profit or even break even at the prices I initially set. So I revamped my pricing structure, upgraded my gear, absorbed myself in SEO, did some pay per click advertising, and learned to work every second my hubby was home, or while the little one slept in a sling on me.

I had never planned on photographing weddings.  I was interested in photographing families and babies originally.  Then, when my daughter was six month old, I photographed my first wedding, for a friend.  I was hooked.  I loved the pace, the emotions and the story.  With those wedding photos on my website, the inquiries started coming in.

Having a background and education in film photography definitely gave me an edge.  I learned a lot of the business end, from an online group, Starting a Wedding Photography Business, and reading books.  About a year in, I became part of a local group of photographers called Click Chicks.  I was amazed at how helpful other photographers were, and try to always pass that on now.   Just over three years later, having relocated across the country to Washington DC, here I am starting over in a way.  It’s much easier with experience, knowledge and a portfolio!

So that’s it, without all the nitty gritty details, that would take an entire blog of their own.