Collages.net recently had the chance to speak with Judy Dawson of Visuality in Oklahoma City, OK about her studio.

Judy Dawson and Chris Heldenbrand

When did you start shooting?
I started photographing in high school for our yearbook and special events. I then took photography courses in college and later attended several workshops at the Texas School of Photography. After a successful stint as a free-lance editorial photographer, I began apprenticing at weddings with local photographers. I gradually gained the courage to go out on my own and start Visuality. Ten years later - here we are!

How would you describe your style?
Our style mixes photojournalistic and traditional styles. We also shoot some “guided” candid shots, but our images have a natural look. We think of it as enhancing the candid look, rather than posing. Some of the couples at first feel a bit awkward, but when they see the results, they love it!

Do you have any influences?
Bambi Cantrell has had a huge influence on me in terms of contemporary photographers. I have been in contact with her several times and she gave me some pointers that have helped my studio.

What do you love shooting?
Weddings are definitely my forte, but I also love shooting bridal portraits. Chris shoots most of the engagement sessions and then we collaborate at the weddings. I love shooting weddings because they are always fun and festive. Capturing everyone on a happy day when everyone looks great is such a joy. I also love knowing that I am capturing a historical moment for a family.

What is the best part of the wedding day?
Besides eating the cake? I would say getting photos of the bride and groom during or before the ceremony is my favorite part of the day. We’ve found that about 25% of our couples want to see each other before hand, which gives us more time and flexibility to shoot their portraits.

What gear do you use?
We use all Canon gear – mainly the 5D and 40Ds.

Do you have a favorite lens?
I really like my 85mm 1.2.

In terms of your style and what you shoot, what inspires you?
I’m inspired by the romance of the day. For me, it’s inspirational to see a couple in love and see them interact with each other.

Do you use Facebook or other social networking sites?
Right now, I use Facebook for personal use and have a business page, but we’re so busy catching up with weddings that we haven’t had the time to really put too much effort into it.

Do you have a favorite venue or location that you love to shoot?
I like gardens and architecturally interesting buildings. There is a place in Guthrie, OK called the Dominion House, which is an architecturally stunning location. The Masonic Temple and Cole’s Garden are also great locations where I love to shoot. I like churches, too, but Oklahoma is a relatively new state, so we don’t have the old historically beautiful churches like you do on the east coast.

What was the best business decision you’ve made this year?
Probably meeting with vendors and establishing relationships with them. We’ve gotten a lot of leads in the past just from networking with vendors. It’s a great idea to keep in touch with vendors as well as other photographers, too, in case they ever get overbooked.

Do you ever run promotions or specials for your clients?
We try to run a special about every month or so. Every promotion is different – some are a little more extravagant than other months. I think one of our best promotions was when we offered a gallery wrap with every booking during a certain period of time.

When people leave your studio, what impression do you want them to leave with?
That we care about them and that we’ll do a great job for them. Also, that we’ll give them great customer service.

What is your favorite Collages.net product or service and why?
Of course the books, but I also love the event cards, which is also something that our clients love. We’ll be meeting with a potential client and they just love the idea – they think it’s really cool. Also, the Premium leather albums are really nice and online posting is great, too!

What was your strangest wedding moment?
We once shot a wedding towards the end of October for a couple who asked their guests to come in costume. All the guests showed up in costumes and bride and groom were dressed as Godzilla and the Bride of Frankenstein! They walked down the aisle to a funeral dirge, which was very strange!

Collages.net recently had the chance to speak with Otto Rascon of Otto Rascon Photography in Chicago, IL about his studio.

How did you get into the photography business?
The first wedding I photographed was my dad’s, which was about five years ago. However, I had been taking pictures for fun and photographing my family for years. I really started learning how to use the camera after my dad asked me to photograph his wedding in Mexico. After shooting his wedding, I began feeling that photography was something special that I enjoyed doing and that could make other people happy. So, I decided to pursue it full time.

Otto Rascon

When did you start shooting?
There has been a camera in my hand since high school, but I officially started my business about three years ago.

How would you describe your style?
I would say that my style is more of a mix of the classical/traditional approach with a little bit of photojournalism. It’s kind of an infusion of different approaches with elements of traditional lighting and posing.

Do you have any influences?
David Ziser has been very influential for me. I actually was able to meet him this year, which was an incredible experience. I really enjoy his sense of lighting and composition. It makes his brides and grooms look and feel important. I really like that.

What do you love to shoot?
I love shooting weddings and family portraits. Ideally, I’d like to be known as a family photographer: shoot a client’s wedding, maternity portraits, baby portraits, and then family portraits.

What gear do you use?
I use all Nikon gear. I shoot with D700 and D300 bodies and I use three lenses: the 80-200mm f/2.8, a 50mm f/1.4, and a wide angle 12-24mm f/4 lens.

Do you have a favorite lens?
I would have to say my favorite lens is my 50mm f/1.4. I love the result I get when I shoot the lens at f/2.0. I get that great limited depth of field that allows me to focus on a single area of the frame, while making everything else blur out.

In terms of your style and what you shoot, what inspires you?
I get inspiration from various sources. I graduated from the Illinois Institute of Art in Chicago with a degree in graphic design. In school, I was heavily influenced by the artists of the Renaissance and ancient Greek statues. I also find inspiration from other shooters that have more experience than I do, such as David Ziser, Joe McNally, and Zack Arias. The meaning of family and the closeness of family also inspire me. For weddings, I try to shoot with the bride’s future in mind. I think about what the bride will appreciate 20-30 years from now, not just what she will love right now. I’m inspired to shoot for what bride will like down the line – something that is timeless.

Do you use Facebook or other social networking sites?
I do use Facebook and Twitter. It helps me to get the word out when I shoot events and more importantly, lets people know that I exist. After a wedding, I’ll get the slideshow up by Monday, upload photos to Facebook and tag each person in the photos.

Have you found that Facebook has benefited your business?
Definitely. Facebook is a strong lead generator for my studio and creates some buzz.

What is your favorite part of the wedding day and why?
I really like the moments when the bride and groom are getting ready. They are usually so nervous, which allows me to calm them down and let them know it’s going to be okay. It’s exciting for me too because I don’t know what the day is going to be like. I used to dread these moments because I didn’t know how things were going to turn out, but I see it as a challenge now. It’s become very rewarding for me.

Do you have a favorite venue or location where you love to shoot?
The Morton Arboretum in Lisle Illinois is a beautiful place to shoot because it provides gorgeous backgrounds. I recently shot a wedding at the University Club in Chicago, which was an absolutely breathtaking venue.

What was the best business decision you’ve made this year?
It would be attending a workshop taught by Dane Sanders. Attending the workshop helped me learn about what kind of business I want to run. It helped me learn more about how to run a successful studio and market myself, instead of how to shoot.

Do you ever run promotions or specials for your clients?
I haven’t run an official promotion yet, but I love to surprise my clients with a gift when they’re not expecting it. I’ll typically send clients an additional print in their package that they didn’t order, which they see as a gift from me.

When people leave your studio, what impression do you want them to leave with?
I want my clients to feel that I took care of them and that I was able to fulfill my promises without them having to worry about their day. It’s important for them to feel that they are being taken care of and satisfied with their experience.

What is your favorite Collages.net product or service and why?
The flush mount albums are my favorite. They are so beautiful and when my clients see them, they are wowed by them. I recently delivered a 60 page album to one of my clients, which she loved. It’s so nice to give my client a great product that is stored and packaged so nicely.

We would like to thank Otto for sharing this information about his studio! Let us know who you would like us to interview by contacting customerservice@collages.net. Who knows, you could be next.

Collages.net recently had the chance to talk to Eliza Truitt of Eliza Truitt Photography in Seattle, Washington about her studio.

How did you get into the photography business?
I was working in another completely unrelated field and started taking photography classes at night for fun  to rekindle my old hobby. The more classes I took, the more I realized I could actually do this for a living! I started assisting wedding photographers on the weekends and then after a year, I quit my day job and made the switch to doing photography full time.

Eliza Truitt, Photo Credit: Laurel McConnell Photography

How long have you been in the photography business?
My first year of doing photography full time was 2005.

Describe your style.
I love photojournalism, but I don’t think that’s the only tool you should have in your kit at a wedding. You also need to be able to take gorgeous, classic portraits—the kind of photograph that will become an heirloom and end up on your grandkid’s wall 100 years from now. So I’d say I’m a mix of photojournalism with old-school portraiture.

What gear do you use?
I use a Nikon D700 and a variety of lenses, mostly primes: 50mm 1.4, 24mm 2.8, and my current favorite, the 180mm 2.8. I have a bunch of other lenses, but those are the three I find myself picking up over and over.

What inspires you?
People inspire me. The unique way that each couple interacts, the ways that parents and children relate to each other, the inside jokes between old friends that pop out in toasts. These are what bring emotion to the faces of people at a wedding, and that’s what makes my shutter go click. I try to pin down those incredibly important, incredibly heartfelt, and incredibly fleeting moments that happen at a wedding.

What is your favorite Collages.net product or service and why?
I love the online event sites. They are such an ideal way for the bride and groom to share photos with all their wedding guests. And from a my own point of view, I love how completely hassle-free they make reprint orders. The Premium leather Collages.net Albums are another favorite of mine.

Do you use Facebook or other social networking sites?
Facebook and Twitter are such a great way to keep friends and clients in touch with new blog posts and general business news. It’s a great way to update people without sending out a million e-mails or a physical mailer.

What was your wackiest wedding moment?
At a wedding last year, some guests threw tons of glitter into the air year during the horah, which promptly stuck to the bride and groom because they’d worked up a sweat dancing. They were very sparkly after that. And at a wedding I shot in June, the bride challenged some friends to a dance off, which was hilarious and super fun to photograph.

What is your favorite part of the wedding day and why?
The reception. It’s when the guests finally get a piece of the bride and groom. They can hug, talk, catch up, have a drink together and I get to run around photographing all of it.

What are two of your favorite venues or locations to shoot?
There is a special place in my heart for backyard weddings. I love how personal they are and how it feels like a little step back in time to when so many people celebrated weddings at home. As for an official wedding venue, I do love outside garden venues like Bassetti’s Crooked Arbor Gardens and Albee’s Garden Party.

What was your best business decision in 2008?
Outsourcing album design. I am incredibly slow at album creation, and hiring a designer freed up time for me and improved the quality of the work I delivered.

How are you booking more clients in 2009?
Now that I’m in my fifth year of doing weddings, I’m starting to get a lot of baby and family portrait business from my past wedding clients. That’s not something I’m doing so much as they’re doing, but it’s worked out great for me!

When people leave your studio, what impression do you want them to leave with?
When I meet with clients, I want them to know that the photos I take at their wedding will be a reflection of them. I won’t be dragging them around staging stuff. They are in charge and I’m just there to take great photos of whatever happens.

Collages.net would like to thank Eliza for sharing this information about her studio. If you would like your studio to be considered for a feature on our blog, please e-mail us at customerservice@collages.net.

Collages.net recently had the chance to talk to Laurel McConnell of Laurel McConnell Photography in Seattle, Washington about her studio.

How did you get into the photography business?
Definitely not on purpose! I was in school for psychology at the University of Washington, and the agreement with my parents was that they’d continue to help fund the apartment I shared with friends over the summer as long as I was taking classes. I thought I’d take some “easy classes” and just float through summer, having fun and working 30 hours a week. Working the system backfired. My Intro to Photography class was much harder than I could have imagined, but when it was all over and I was back at the university in the fall registering for Rocks for Jocks and Astronomy 101, I decided to take a leap of faith and transfer to a commercial art school. I had no idea that you had to have your own business in order to work as a photographer, though!

Laurel McConnell

How long have you been in the photography business?
I got my business license in the summer of 2001 and graduated the week of September 11, so needless to say, it was an awful time to try and start a business in a city where most of the photography opportunities dried up when the dot com boom did! I’d say I’m just starting my 9th year of business.

Describe your style.
I call it “fabulously photojournalistic plus a dash of fashion.”  It’s my marketing tagline when I feel like I want one. Other than that, my images are stylized yet candid, colorful and happy, yet dramatic, and emotional. My style can also be silly from time to time.

What gear do you use?
The short list? Nikon, Adobe, Apple. The long list? Nikon D3, 24-70 2.8, 70-200 2.8, 14-24 2.8, 105 macro, SB 800’s, Pocket Wizards, and Hassleblads/Holgas/F100’s if I feel like playing with film. I use my Mac Pro with Lightroom and Photoshop using my own actions to process images. You’d have to pry the Wacom tablet from my cold dead fingers if you wanted to separate us!

What inspires you?
Anything and everything. I find inspiration in everything from the energy of the people around me to the music on KEXP in the car to the color palettes and design elements of great advertising campaigns.

What is your favorite Collages.net product or service and why?
The event sites! They are stylish while still clean, easy-to-use for clients and photographers, and are the most professional behaving ones I’ve found in all my late nights surfing the Internet.

Do you use Facebook or other social networking sites?
Yes, but I don’t have enough time to really use them well by uploading and tagging images. I use them to market my quirky personality since it’s such a big part of who I am as a photographer. I think I even booked my last wedding because of Twitter. Random!

What was your wackiest wedding moment?
There are so many that come to mind! Last month, I got into a screaming match with a bleeding, drunk bicycle rider while trying to move him and his fallen bike out of the way of traffic at Pikes Place Market (a public market/tourist trap in downtown Seattle where I like to shoot). During the whole time, my bride and groom were watching in amused horror. At a wedding? A groomsman was given the option of proposing to his girlfriend during the bouquet toss at the bride and groom’s reception, and he loved the idea. I think just about everyone in the entire ballroom was in on it. It was such an incredible and exciting moment for all 150 of us. You can view the proposal on my blog!

What is your favorite part of the wedding day and why?
It’s all so much fun and I find a different favorite moment at each wedding celebration, but my true favorite time is the day after. My poor friends and family have to listen to me relive all of the little details and exciting moments and listen to me describe in detail all of the shots that I’m so excited to edit and blog and put in the album.

What are two of your favorite venues or locations to shoot?
I’ve shot weddings at some fun places and cool locations, but I actually like exploring new places the best. I’m big on the experience of finding new things to shoot, new areas to discover, and keeping it fresh. I don’t like to shoot at the same place over and over. My favorite neighborhood to shoot in is Georgetown, which is just south of Seattle. It’s an old brewing neighborhood with some really awesome old brick buildings, biker bars, and old grungy cars and trucks.  They have a couple of new venues that would be really fun to shoot. Another great neighborhood (also with some great urban venues) is Capitol Hill. It’s got the perfect mix of boutiques and rock and roll style.

What was your best business decision in 2008?
It would have to be joining a collaborative group of established and well-known women photographers in the Northwest called Lulu Weddings. Their mission is to create a high-quality wedding referral network of vendors and products based on their personal experiences, quality, and customer service.  In addition to highlighting some of our favorite local vendors, sharing advertising and marketing efforts, and passing along referrals to the other gals in the group when we’re booked, it’s a great support network and sounding board for any sort of roadblocks and ideas we want to brainstorm!

How are you getting more clients in 2009?
I’ve been putting a lot of energy into marketing lately: refining my brand and finding the most effective and efficient way to spend what little extra time I have. The thing I’m most excited about right this very second is that two of our recent weddings have been published in two of Seattle’s top and highly respected wedding magazines. The exposure they give my studio is priceless!

When people leave your studio, what impression do you want them to leave with?
That they’re going to get some great images and have a really fun time over the next few months!

Collages.net would like to thank Laurel for sharing this information about her studio. If you would like your studio to be featured on our blog, please e-mail us at customerservice@collages.net.

Collages.net recently had the chance to talk with Carrie Workman of Carrie Workman Photography in Cleveland, Tennessee about her studio.

How did you get into the photography business?
A garage sale! I cleaned out my house and took the money we made to purchase my SLR camera. I was working at a university at the time and did a lot of graphic design for the school and they always needed pictures. I preferred getting the shots I needed myself instead of using what they had in stock. I quickly became a go-to person for photography. That was in 2001.

Carrie Workman

How long have you been in the photography business?
From 2001-2004 I did part-time work photographing children and families. I also continued photographing at the university. When I was pregnant with my 1st child, I decided it was time to be a full-time photographer and I’ve been doing it ever since.

Describe your style.
A picture is just a picture to me, but I hope that with every picture I capture an emotion. My style is very simple. Clean, fun, silly, romantic, and hopefully my pictures are timeless! While trends are cool, they will date your images. Filters such as cross-processing and tinting are very cool, but I’ve found that people come to me for really good pictures of their children looking exactly like they look today – nothing artificial. However, my fashion shoots are an entirely different story. I want to push the envelope with these images. Bring on the crazy stuff!

What gear do you use?
A Nikon D200. It’s an oldie but goodie at this point! I also use two amazing lenses. The 70-200mm and a 24-120mm (the VR lenses).

Where do you find your inspiration?
I look through magazines a lot for posing and lighting trends. I subscribe to Modern Bride for my fashion, engagements, and bridals and Parents for my family and children portraits. I also scour the Internet minutes before a stressful session.

What is your favorite Collages.net product or service and why?
I have to say that I love the styrene mounting from collagesColor. It’s not too thick, not too thin, and it does not warp. I love how durable it is. I have to say that I’m excited to carry the new high gloss finish books with the dust covers. They are beautiful! I needed something substantial to offer in my middle-tier baby plans and the high gloss finish books are a product that my customers can afford. They feel very proud to display this product in their homes. These books are perfect! I also love Collages.net’s Album Design. I’m a HUGE fan and will never design another album again!

Do you use Facebook or other social networking sites?
Yes. I do use Facebook and Twitter and I am fairly good at keeping up with my blog. Some blogs suck you in and you want to read them all day (which I don’t have time to do, and get in trouble if I ever come across one). I’d like to have a blog that keeps people coming back for more. Right now, it’s a work in progress but I’m trying.

What was your wackiest wedding moment?
At my last wedding, the bride fainted during our romantic pictures! Thankfully, she was in the arms of her groom.

What is your favorite part of the wedding day and why?
Leaving! That means I did my best and I can go home and edit. Of course, after a long nap! If I had to pick another part it would be the romantic picture session. I ask for 15-20 minutes alone with the bride and groom after the wedding where we can get our “magazine” shots. These are the shots they’ll want all over their album and want hanging all over their house for years to come.

What are two of your favorite venues or locations to shoot?

I  love my own backyard. We have twenty acres with barns, horses, white fences for miles, a lake, streams, gazebos, wooded trails, a little four-person boat and dock, a garden, huge willow trees, and I’m working on a long grass field. That’s going to be my second favorite place to shoot. Tall grasses and wheat fields are so natural and perfect for every shoot.

What has been your best business decision so far this year?
Hiring an assistant. She does all of the communication with my customers up until the shoot, which is a lot of communication. She also schedules all of my bookings, coordinates who will help me with each shoot (we have an intern and an apprentice), and she also does all of the product ordering. I’m also really excited about my new decision to go with Collages.net’s Full Service workflow option, which takes fulfilling reprint orders off of my plate entirely.

How are you booking more clients this year?
Lately, I’ve been offering “free” sessions here and there. I photographed a friend of mine who is having a baby and I didn’t charge her a session fee. Of course, she will order pictures of her baby belly! Another “free” session I shot was of a two week old baby. I Facebooked the baby’s mother and asked if I could take photos of her newborn, and of course, she obliged. Who is going to say no to free pictures of their newborn? While I’ll not make my usual session fee by photographing sessions for free, they will most assuredly order much more than my normal fee in prints and portraits. This is money that I wouldn’t have had if I had not decided to photograph a session for free.

When people leave your studio, what impression do you want them to leave with?
That they just left a good friend’s house and that they’ll never have to stress about portrait sessions again!

Collages.net would like to thank Carrie for sharing this information about her studio. If you would like your studio to be featured on our blog, please e-mail us at customerservice@collages.net.

Collages.net recently had the chance to talk with Ross and Kammi Bothwell of Elegant Images & Photographs in Longmont, CO about their studio. Learn how Ross, who vowed never to shoot a wedding, changed his mind on how he felt about wedding photography and has become a successful wedding photographer in the Colorado area.

Kammi and Ross Bothwell

How did you get into the photography business?
My interest in photography started in high school when I took photos for the yearbook and newspaper. What really sparked my interest in photography was when I started photographing the hair bands of the 1980s. I always wanted to be a travel photographer and see the world. I then found out how hard it was to get into and the money wasn’t that great.

When I was dating my wife, Kammi, I actually told her that I would never do weddings (insert foot in mouth here). Now, I can’t imagine not photographing them. I love everything about weddings. I love the pace, the people, the cultures, the emotions, and trying to create something new and different for every client. Before I got into the profession of photography, I worked at a local camera store to support my passion for photography. I worked there to get the discounts on equipment and processing back in the film days. I learned everything I could while I was there. Then, I just started networking and trying to get business. It was a slow process, but we gave ourselves three years to get established and that’s what it took for us. Back then, there were no blogs and websites companies to really get your work out there. It was pure word of mouth and networking that got us out there and established.

How long have you been in the photography business?
We have been full time self-employed since 2001. Before that we were working full time at other jobs and doing photography part time.

Describe your style.
Since both my wife and I that shoot, I have to give two separate answers. My style of shooting is nice and tight. I love my 70-200mm lens. I am also a little more directive and dramatic. Kammi’s shots are a little more wide angle, photojournalistic, and candid. She is great at capturing all the details. It’s great to see how different our styles are after a wedding is all done. We can photograph the same thing and come away with two completely different photos. We still have a little healthy competition when it comes to which photos our clients choose.

What gear do you use?
We use Nikon D700 cameras. The primary lens that I can’t live without is the 70-200 AFS & the 85mm 1.4mm. My wife loves the 50mm 1.4 and the 24-70mm 2.8. Other gear in our bags is the 16mm fisheye, 12-24mm, 105 macro, 17-55mm, and 6 SB -800s. I love to shoot off camera flash, so I use the pocket wizards for that.  We both switched to using Macs and I kick myself for it taking so long to make the switch. I love Macs. For post processing, we use Lightroom, Photoshop, and Kevin Kubota’s actions. He is the man! I love everything he puts out there that helps photographers.

What inspires you?
People and locations inspire me. Getting to know a client and shoot at a location is not an easy thing to do in a small amount of time. You have to make the client feel comfortable, build their trust and find the lighting and locations you want to shoot. It’s a great challenge and I like that. I have a lot of energy when it comes to that time. I love it, and I come away after a session or wedding with a natural high. It sure beats sitting behind a computer editing photos.

What is your favorite Collages.net product or service and why?
Collages.net  is our one stop shop. The biggest advantage for us has to be the online posting. The Premium Websites with the great big photos rock! I can’t tell you how many times we have booked weddings from someone else seeing our photos on a Collages.net event site.

When we first started using Collages.net back in the film days, they provided heavy carded stock paper to collect e-mail address at the events and we still use this method of gathering e-mail addresses today. It allows people to view and purchase our work. It’s a win-win situation. We book more jobs and make money by hosting all of our events on Collages.net event sites.

Do you use Facebook or other social networking sites?
Yes, we use Facebook and Twitter. We actually use our personal names instead of our business name for Facebook. We feel that we build friendships with all our clients and want them to see us that way. Even though they have come to us as a business, we want to have a personal relationship with them. We don’t even have a fan page for Facebook. It’s fun to use Facebook and Twitter with clients as it builds a relationship before the wedding day.

What was your wackiest wedding moment?
At a wedding we photographed in Puerto Rico, one of the groomsmen who reminded us of Will Ferrell had a little too much to drink and he “had a vision.” It was late into the reception and he told my wife and I he had an idea for a photo. He wanted us to photograph all the groomsmen walking into the ocean naked, with their clothes laying in the sand. It was about 1:00AM and we agreed, but told them they had to leave on their black socks. It’s one of the funniest photos we have and potential clients love it. When I warn clients that there is slight male nudity in the sample album, it seems the mothers of the clients always immediately flip to that page. Too funny!

What is your favorite part of the wedding day and why?
I would have to say my favorite part of the day of a wedding for me is the reception. The stress is gone and people are relaxed and having fun. I typically use my 70-200mm lens during the entire reception. I call it my paparrazi lens because people aren’t really aware that you are photographing them. You can capture their greatest smiles and intimate moments. I also love it when the couple is slow dancing and they are totally into each other. They have no idea I am photographing their intensity and how much they are into each other.

What are two of your favorite venues or locations to shoot?
I would say any destination wedding that we do is a great location. It is always fun to photograph somewhere you have never photographed before. It keeps things fresh as you are constantly looking for light, color, and lines. Destination weddings are usually a little smaller and intimate and you really get to know the client’s family and friends. Another favorite location is actually where Kammi and I got married in Colorado. It’s called the Lionscrest Manor. It’s a fantastic venue located in the foothills.

The family that owns it is incredible to work with - they should give a class on how to run weddings! They just do everything right. We shoot up there quite a bit. Lionscrest Manor surrounds themselves with great vendors and it’s nice to work with the same people over and over. It’s like one big vendor team on a wedding day. When you are self-employed, you don’t have those office friendships, but because we work there so much, it’s like we’re all one big family. It’s also nice because we’ve gotten to know every area around the venue and we’ve learned what works and what doesn’t. There are no surprises.

What was your best business decision in 2008?

I can’t narrow it down to one, but here are my top three: switching to Mac, the iphone, and Shoot Q. The reasons for the Mac is obvious. The iphone lets us have instant access to our calendar, e-mails, clients, and social networking. Shoot Q, which is what we use for booking clients and keeping up with everything, has been a dream.

How are you booking more clients in 2009?

We are booking more clients by taking care of the vendors that we work with. We’ve been providing vendors images of their work for their websites, prints, and albums. When you take care of your vendors, they will constantly refer you. I can’t tell you how many times I have had vendors tell me they have no photos except from their little point and shoot camera. Their portfolio will look better with professional photos (of course with your name on them) and they will love you for it. Also, providing your vendors with headshots or family shots bring the emotion into it as well.

When people leave your studio, what impression do you want them to leave with?
We want our clients to feel that they came away with amazing photos and made new friends in the process.

Collages.net would like to thank Ross and Kammi for sharing this information about their studio. If you would like your studio to be featured on our blog, please e-mail us at customerservice@collages.net.

Collages.net recently had the chance to talk to Val Westover of Val Westover Photography in Laguna Niguel, CA.

How long have you been in the photography business?
I have been in the photography business for over twenty years. I started my photography business after working in sales for a large portrait studio company.

Describe your style.
I have a wide range of styles because I have been a photographer for so long. I can create very traditional, very editorial images, and images from everywhere in between. When I started working as a photographer, all weddings were so posed, so as technology improved, I was able to have the freedom to begin shooting a more photojournalistic style.

What do you enjoy photographing?
Photographing families and children is what I enjoy most. These types of portraits seem to be the most challenging for me. I fuel off of accomplishing things that are challenging to me.

What gear do you use?
My camera of choice is the Canon 5D Mark II. The lenses that I use most are my 24-70mm and the 70-200mm lenses.

What inspires you?
I’m in a constant pursuit of learning and trying to improve. I’ll find inspiration in my pursuit of perfection. I don’t know if I’ll ever achieve this, but it is something that inspires me.

What is new with your studio in 2009?
At Val Westover Photography, we will be offering one of the most incredible workshops called Capturing True Emotion. The workshop is based in Montana where a select number of photographers will be capturing images from one of the largest horse drives in the area.

We are also in the final phases of creating a way for photographers to partner with our studio. We feel that this is going to have a huge impact on our company within the years to come and at the same time we will be providing a big business solution for the small photography studio.

Small photography studios can go through an approval process to become certified Val Westover Photographer, which provides their studio the same benefits that a larger studio enjoys, without having to handle the overhead. We’ve already set up a partnership with several photographers throughout the country and we haven’t even marketed it yet! We feel this will be beneficial both to our studio and the small

photography studios across the country. Once a studio partners with Val Westover Photography, the studio will maintain their unique personality, but we will become the back end of their business. My staff will treat their studio like they treat me. My staff will handle the images, upload the events, set up schedules, and more. Photographers will just have to focus on the front end of things and we’ll do everything on the back end.

Do you use Facebook or other social networking sites?
I do use Facebook! I actually put a small advertisement on Facebook about the Val Westover Photography partnership program and have been receiving at least three or four calls from photographers each day! Val Westover Photography also has a fan page on Facebook and we added a link to become a fan on our blog.

What is your favorite Collages.net product?
Our clients love Collages.net event sites. They don’t feel any pressure from us by having to come in to the studio and make their purchases, yet they still spend just as much money on the orders.

Collages.net would like to thank Val for sharing this information about his studio. If you would like your studio to be featured on our blog, please e-mail us at customerservice@collages.net.

Collages.net recently had the chance to talk to Martha Dickinson of Photography by Martha in Bloomfield, NJ about her studio.

How did you get into the photography business?
When I was about eleven years old, my father bought me my first 35mm camera and I have not stopped taking pictures since! I was in the corporate world for about 15 years and decided to take time off after I had my daughter. I knew right away that I could not go back to a nine to five job and miss seeing my daughter grow, but I also felt that I needed to do something for me. A friend of mine at the time was the one who planted a seed after saying, “Martha, you are such a great photographer. Why not start your own business?” That was all the encouragement I needed to hear in order to get the wheels rolling!

How long have you been in the photography business?
It all started when my daughter was about three years old. She is now twelve, so about nine years.

Describe your style.
My style is emotional. I love to photograph people doing something that touches the heart. I enjoy portraiture work with a little help from mother nature. I pick a background, position my subjects, then tell them pretend that I’m not there. That’s when the magic happens. When it comes to children, I just follow their lead.

What gear do you use?
I have a couple of Canon cameras and lenses.

What is your favorite Collages.net product or service and why?
I absolutely love the Power E-mail Marketing Tool! It is so easy for me to send out any specials my studio may be having at the moment to my clients in just a few easy steps. It’s also a good way for me to notify people every time I update my blog. I am also 100% satisfied with Collages.net’s Customer Service. They are so quick to return any of my e-mail questions or phone calls.

Do you use Facebook or other social networking sites?
I love, love, love Facebook! I have not checked out Twitter as of yet, but have heard so much about it.

What was your wackiest wedding moment?
I had photographed a wedding in which the couple’s first dance was to “Time of My Life” from the movie Dirty Dancing. The couple had planned to re-enact the entire dance. When it was time for the groom to pick the bride up in the air, everything went great until he could no longer hold her and they both fell to the floor. To this day, those are some of my favorite images!

What was your best business decision in 2008?
Hiring an amazing assistant!

What inspires you?
Nature and being in the moment. I know the second my finger touches the shutter release I have made history. I documented the moment, the day, the minute and that second to which I can never return. After having my daughter I have come to realize how quickly time goes. Freezing a split second in time inspires me.

Collages.net would like to thank Martha for sharing this information about her studio. If you would like your studio to be featured on our blog, please e-mail us at customerservice@collages.net.

Collages.net recently had the chance to talk to Soheil Soheily of Zen Studio Photography in Bel Air, MD about his studio’s success in 2008.

How did you get into the photography business?
My brother, Sasan, and I have always loved photography. We were the two that always had cameras in our hands taking photos at our local Taekwondo competitions and on family vacations. As we grew older, we continued photographing and it grew into a serious hobby. Sasan started to take his film and medium format cameras on trips overseas and photographed his first wedding in Cannes, France in 1996. I was doing my own thing and photographing elite Taekwondo athletes at collegiate and international competitions. Sasan then focused on weddings and I naturally followed him as we decided to combine our talents and shoot together as a team.

We both enjoyed weddings so much since each one was unique and always presented us with new opportunities documenting beautiful brides, sometimes very ornate ceremonies, and ceremonies from different cultures. Presenting the final images to the bride and groom was as exciting for us as it was for them. The whole process of capturing photographs, being in the moment documenting the event around us, and transferring those memories into art, gave us a joy that humbled us. It also motivated us to always look at what we did as more than just a business. For us, photographing a wedding is a service that enables families and friends to hold onto cherished memories for many years.

How long have you been in the photography business?
We started shooting as a team in 2007.

Describe your style.
We’re like chameleons. At times we feel it’s better for our presence to be known but not felt, just blending into the scene and capturing the event around us. Other times it helps to give the bride and groom gentle direction in order to get the best shot. Above all, we feel it’s important to be visual storytellers. Being twins, we know each other very well and are able to shoot intuitively as a team. We’re casual in our approach and like to make sure that our subjects are at ease and having fun. Brides especially are nervous and sometimes stressed out on their wedding day, so our easy-going nature and humor always helps make their day go more smoothly.

What gear do you use?
We use Nikon Digital D200s with Nikkor lenses and Mamiya M645 medium format.

What inspires you?
We appreciate great photography and understand that there is beauty all around us in nature, in people, and events. Our passion is to capture the moments that mean the most to our brides and grooms, to artistically document those sweet memories that would otherwise be forgotten. When it comes to children, it’s their innocence, their laughter, capturing the way they see their world. For the most part, they are in “play” mode. They are always in the moment with no worries about past or future, just enjoying what they’re doing. It’s exactly that perspective that inspires us to shoot, that’s our Zen approach.

What is your favorite Collages.net product or service and why?
We love Collages.net’s online posting service. It allows families and friends to view a wedding or family portrait session anytime, anywhere. The website slideshow set to music and the ease of sharing the photos and ordering make it a great service.

Do you use Facebook or other social networking sites?
We use Facebook to drive traffic to our site and blog. We also recently joined LinkedIn.

What was your wackiest wedding moment?
We really haven’t had any wacky moments that are worth mentioning, but a really neat thing that happened to me while in Las Vegas several years ago for an event was meeting Jackie Chan. He and his entourage were at the Bellagio taking a break from filming Rush Hour II. I was able to speak with him briefly and talk to his crew - they were all very funny guys. I’ve seen him in movies for so many years and to all of a sudden bump into him was quite a treat. I always have my camera with me but the funny thing I remember is that on that particular afternoon, I had left it behind at the hotel. Thankfully, my wife Brenda had a small Nikon point-and-shoot and she was able to capture a great shot of Jackie and me.

What was your best business decision in 2008?
Organizing our volunteering efforts with the March of Dimes and March for Babies in Maryland. We shoot some of their events throughout the year and it’s a great way for us to give back as well as be a part of our community. They are a wonderful organization and we feel honored to help, as their mission is one that is very close to our hearts.

How are you booking more clients in 2009?
We started a blog in order to stay more connected to our friends and clients. We can post more current events on there as well as include more about who we are as artists. I like to write, so it provides me with an opportunity to give life to the pictures of people and places we document. We also seek out other vendors in the industry to establish ties and network with each other. We network everywhere we go and are able to gain a lot of exposure during March of Dimes events.

When people leave your studio, what impression do you want them to leave with?
We want them to come away with the feeling that they are family to us, that we’re not just going to shoot their wedding or portraits and then disappear. That’s not our nature. We want to be their family photographers for life, the friend that they turn to when they want those important moments in their lives turned into memorable art. They will realize quickly that we’re worlds away from those cookie cutter studios that everyone sees in the malls. We’ve had many families comment about how much more they value their family photography now after having us shoot their portraits. We have a genuine love of our craft and we communicate that through our attitude and service.

Collages.net would like to thank Soheil for sharing this information about his studio. If you would like your studio to be featured on our blog, please e-mail us at customerservice@collages.net.

Collages.net recently had the chance to talk to Donna Keidel of dk photographic about her studio’s success in 2008.

How did you get into the photography business?
When I was in high school, I was always the girl with the camera in my purse. For my birthday one year, my friend’s mom gave me a Joy of Photography book with a hand written note inside that said, ”If you’re going to annoy the hell out of us, why don’t you go get paid for it?” That’s where it all started! I started working in a one hour photo lab and got a job from a photographer who photographed a wedding I attended.

How long has your studio been in business?
I have been in business for myself for the past nine years.

Describe your style.
My style is very casual and fun. I don’t photograph a lot of formal portraits and posed portraits, but more documentary-style photography. Weddings are our specialty, but we also do a lot of family and baby portraiture. As our brides have families, they come back to us to photograph their children and growing families.

What gear do you use?
I use all Nikon gear. My favorite lens is my 85mm with its wide open feature. I’ve even given it a name – Betty!

What inspires you?
Fashion, fashion magazines, and pop culture are all really fascinating to me. I truly believe that the things that are on TV and in the media influence everything we do.

What is your favorite Collages.net product or service and why?
My favorite thing about Collages.net is my product consultant, Meagan. Collages.net is on to something because they provide personal service. There are people I can call and get to know and Meagan knows exactly what I like and will contact me when a new product is introduced if she knows I’ll like it. Personal service is something that is really lacking in a lot of new businesses and this is why Collages.net is so important to me. Other than that, Collages.net Albums and online hosting are fantastic. Our studio gets a lot of revenue from online posting that I never knew was out there. Also, Collages.net Albums are fantastic.

Do you use Facebook or other social networking sites?
I’m on Facebook a lot! I use Facebook for my business, but it has become a mix of personal and business-related material. My clients become my friends, so it’s hard to separate the two.

What was your wackiest wedding moment?
One of my craziest weddings was a Halloween wedding. The ceremony was a mix of all world religions and almost everyone was dressed up in a costume. Carrie from the movie “Carrie” was the guest book attendant! The couple even had skulls on top of the wedding cake – it was odd and bizarre. One of the wackiest moments was when I was photographing pre-ceremony portraits of the groom and his groomsmen. We were outside of the church on one of the busiest streets in the town and I told them to do anything they wanted on the count of three. On three, all the guys pulled down their pants!

What was your best business decision in 2008?
The best business decision I made in 2008 was taking more control of album design. I made a conscious decision to not allow my brides to stuff their pages with images. By doing this, it made my work more attractive and it made everything more profitable. Since my brides wanted more images included in their album, they required more pages, making it more profitable for me, but still catering to their wishes.

How are you getting more clients in 2009?
We do a lot of referral business (bridesmaids, sisters brothers,) trying to network with other vendors more often. Getting in touch with venues and trying to get them to know who we are.

When people leave your studio, what impression do you want them to leave with?
I want them to say, “Man, she’d be fun to work with!” I want all of my clients to have a good time.

Collages.net would like to thank Donna for sharing this information about her studio. If you would like your studio to be featured on our blog, please e-mail us at customerservice@collages.net.