From September 11-12, 2010 Catherine Ritchie Park of MyLife Photography in Atlanta, GA will be co-hosting The Workshop for 20 professional photographers who are just starting out in the business. Specifically for professional photographers who are just starting out in their careers, this workshop focuses on how to start a successful studio from the bottom up.

Cahterine Ritchie Park

Catherine states, “Many photographers who are just starting out pursued their dream of opening their own studio, but many face the question ‘Now what?’ They have a camera. A dream. A vision. But where do they begin? I am joining forces with Jessica Ashley of Peachtree Photography to put on The Workshop, which will allow photographers to walk away with technical knowledge about their camera, the industry, and some well-needed inspiration. We’re providing an incredible hands-on photo shoot with an engaged couple and another shoot with a bride and groom so attendees can put their ideas into action.”

“We know that professional photographers have lots of questions when they’re just starting out, and we want to answer them. Questions like ‘How do I get started?’ ‘How do I get someone to actually pay for my services?’ ‘How do I take amazing images?’ ‘Where do I advertise?’ and ‘What should I charge?’ are just some of the many that we will be discussing. We know that it is hard starting out as a professional photographer and even harder to make a lasting career out of it. We want photographers to come share in this two-day workshop and walk away feeling inspired and ready to work!”

Catherine is passionate about helping professional photographers who are just starting out find the success in their studio. If you are interested in learning more about The Workshop, visit The Workshop site.

Photo Credit: My Life Photography and Page by Paige Photography (headshot)

Collages.net recently had the chance to talk to Amanda McMahon of Amanda McMahon Photography in Titusville, FL about her studio.

Amanda McMahon

How did you get into the photography business?
I went to school for about two and a half years at Daytona State College and received a degree in photography. After I graduated, I wanted to get a feel for how professional photographers in the area ran their businesses, so I spent time gathering information. I learned about what I did and did not want to do with my own business.

When did you start your studio?
I jumped right in and started my studio in January 2009!

What type of photography do you shoot?
I shoot a pretty even amount of weddings and portraits. I typically shoot about 25 weddings a year and about 40 portraits a year.

Do you prefer shooting one type of event over the other?
There are definitely benefits of shooting both. The types of emotions that you get when you shoot a wedding are so much different than shooting portraits, but I really like shooting families, too. Family sessions are probably my favorite to shoot because I grew up with a really close family and I love the dynamic of families. Shooting family sessions brings me back to my own family who are now 1,200 miles away from me.

How would you describe your style?
Lately, I’ve been calling it modern photography with attitude! I have attitude, and I think my photos show the unique attitudes I capture in each of my clients.

What gear do you use?
I am a Canon shooter. I’m currently using a Canon 5D Mark II for everything.

Do you have a favorite lens?
Probably my 135mm 2.0 lens. I like it because it allows me to get a close shot without getting too close (physically) to people. It’s good for capturing emotions, which is great during wedding ceremonies.

What inspires you?
People in general inspire me. There isn’t one person that inspires me, but people in general provide my inspiration. When I see my peers shoot really well, I want to shoot well too. Their successes push me to succeed, too. For me, it’s not about competing with them, but bringing out the best in myself. I also just love people in general! I used to get in trouble for staring at people because I loved looking at their emotions and trying to figure out things about them. Now I get paid for it! I’m also inspired by color palettes, vintage and rustic things, magazines, and things that people don’t normally view as beautiful.

What is your favorite Collages.net product or service and why?
Lately I’ve been ordering small-sized brilliant albums as engagement albums. I have them designed by Collages.net’s Design Team. They’re perfect for this type of client. I also love Collages.net’s Coffee Table Books – they really make the colors pop!

Do you post everything you shoot to your blog?
I post about 85% of what I shoot. I have some clients who are self-conscious and don’t want to be on my blog, so I sometimes limit what I post.

Do you use Collages.net’s online posting and do you think it benefits your studio?
Oh yeah! I post about 95% of what I shoot to an event site. It gives my clients extra time to choose their prints when I’m busy or can’t meet with them to proof in-studio. I also do a lot of out of town shooting, which makes online posting an amazing method of proofing!

Do you use Facebook or other social networking sites and if you do, how do they benefit your studio?
I use both Facebook and Twitter, and they both help my studio. Random people from random countries find me. Recently, someone from the country of Jordan found me through Facebook! I link all of my sites to Facebook and Twitter, and they give me so much more exposure.

What is your favorite part of the wedding day and why?
If the couple chooses to have a first look, it’s my favorite part because it feels special for me to be a part of their intimate moment. It’s really cool to see. If they don’t, it’s when the bride is walking down the aisle to meet her groom.

How are you booking more clients in 2010?
I’m using a lot of social networking – it’s a big thing for me. I also do a lot of in-town networking with vendors. I try to meet with a lot of local vendors who I work with and build relationships with them. It’s a great way for everyone to get referrals.

When clients leave your studio, what impression do you want them to leave with?
I want them to feel like they made a new friend, like I’m not just someone who they hired to shoot their wedding or portraits. I want them to feel like I’d be someone they’re going to have a good time with, too.

If you could choose anyone to shoot your portraits, who would you choose?
Right off the top of my head, it would be Jerry Ghionis, an Australian photographer. He’s not just a great photographer, but is also hilarious, which would make me feel really comfortable. He has a really good feeling about him. I actually went to his master class at WPPI this year and was chosen to go on stage with him to demonstrate poses.

We would like to thank Amanda for taking the time to talk to us about her studio. Let us know who you would like us to interview next by contacting customerservice@collages.net. Who knows, you may be next!

Collages.net recently had the chance to talk to Christina Ragusin of LilyBelle Photography in Steger, IL about her studio.

Christina Ragusin

How did you get into the photography business?
I started in the industry by working at a portrait studio and camera lab, which worked out great, but wasn’t quite what I wanted to do. I took a few photography classes in college and I enjoyed photography very much, but working for someone wasn’t really working for me. In 2003, I got married and in 2005, I had my daughter Ava Isabella. I shot her announcement photos and once everyone received them, everyone told me I had to start my own photography business.

How long have you been in the photography business?
I’ve been in the industry for eleven years.

What type of photography do you shoot?
I love doing weddings – they’re probably my favorite thing to shoot. I also love shooting baby and newborn portraits. I’ve recently been getting into lifestyle photography and shooting people in their own elements. I’m not really fan of the posed photography.

How would you describe your style?
I would definitely say that I lean towards photojournalistic and lifestyle photography. I’m also shooting a lot more using natural light, which is opening my world up to all new possibilities. Overall, I’d say my style mixes fun and action.

What gear do you use?
I use a Canon 50D and Canon 40D. For weddings, I use my 16-35mm, 24-70mm, and 70-200mm lenses.

Do you have a favorite lens?
The Canon 24-70mm is my favorite. I use it constantly. For weddings, I use my Shootsac, so I have easy access to all of my lenses, but the 24-70mm is my favorite.

What inspires you?
I think what inspires me the most is life around us. I’ve always wanted to be able to stop time and capture the moments that mean so much to everyone. That’s my main focus. Other photographers also inspire me. I’m constantly learning more and more about the art of photography. I’m basically a self-taught photographer, so any kind of knowledge from other photographers brings additional light to my work. Pretty much everything around me can inspire me in some way.

What is your favorite Collages.net product or service and why?
The Brilliant album. It’s just absolutely beautiful! As soon as I got one for my studio and showed it to my clients, their eyes just lit right up. Also, the event cards with magnetic backing – I love them! They’re perfect – I mean, who’s going to throw away a magnet? Everyone loves them!

Does online posting help market your studio?
Absolutely! I post everything I shoot online. I started with Collages.net about four years ago. As soon as I started uploading events, my sales went up out of nowhere. People who I didn’t think would ever order anything started to order things. I don’t have to do anything but sit at my house and let the orders come in! Before, there was no way I could do that.

Do you use Facebook or other social networking sites and if you do, how do they benefit your studio?
I use Facebook and Twitter and they both have totally opened up the networking world to me. If you want to have a successful business, you have to have a Facebook or Twitter account. Twitter is great for passing around articles and getting information from other people while Facebook is great for showing off sneak peeks of my work to clients.

What is your favorite part of the wedding day and why?
My favorite part of the wedding day is the first dance. The ceremony is over, and everyone can sit back and relax. The couple can be, in a way, by themselves. They’re able to have that moment alone. Just looking through the lens, I can always tell how relaxed they are.

How are you booking more clients in 2010?
I am now using ShootQ, and that’s helped me a lot. I absolutely love ShootQ! Because I use Collages.net, I’ve been able to build my packages up a little more by adding more products. I’ve also set up more package options for maternity and senior clients. Being able to cater to more specific clients has brought in a lot more business for me. I also hired a marketing manager and he has been opening different options for me as far as networking with people I wouldn’t necessarily think to network with. For example, I am marketing my studio to ballet studios, taekwondo studios, and nail salons. I’m now marketing directly to my target clients. As soon as you start looking elsewhere outside of the standard photography marketing strategies, you can really bring in a lot more business.

When people leave your studio, what impression do you want them to leave with?
I want them to feel completely comfortable. I want them to feel like I’m someone that they can trust, like I’m a member of their family. I love being connected to my clients and adding them on Facebook, so I’m a part of their life and they’re a part of mine. For my wedding clients, I want them to feel like I’m just another bridesmaid.

If you could choose anyone to do a photoshoot of you/your family, who would you choose?
I would choose my friend Jenni O’Connor, who works out of Lion’s Roar Media. We’re trying to set up a shoot with her in the next few days. I absolutely love her work, and she is an absolutely amazing photographer. I can’t wait to work with her!

We would like to thank Christina for taking the time to talk to us about her studio. Let us know who you would like us to interview next by contacting customerservice@collages.net. Who knows, you may be next!

Collages.net recently had the opportunity to talk to Michelle Tibbils of Bugs and Butterflies Photography in Los Gatos, CA about her studio.

How did you get into the photography business?
My story is very common. Photography was a hobby turned profession. I always liked taking pictures through high school and college, but I found the niche of portrait photography when I had my son ten years ago. I would constantly take photos of him and friends and family would always ask me to take photos of their families, too. I wouldn’t charge them anything, but they would have to take care of the cost of developing film. When strangers started asking me to photograph their families, I decided I should start charging something!

In 2005, I was working full time and I decided that I wanted to go full time with my own studio. I did a lot of research into the photography industry and the business side of things, so 2006 was all about education in the industry and business of photography. I left my cushy job with benefits in 2007, and I’ve never had any regrets about it!

How would you describe your style?
I have heard others say that it’s clean and simple, and also a little whimsical. I definitely wouldn’t describe it as photojournalistic since about 90% of my work is done in studio. I shoot mainly babies and children under two.

What gear do you use?
I use a Canon 5D mark II and my original 5D as a backup.

Do you have a favorite lens?
My all time favorite is the 50mm 1.4, but my favorite of the moment the 24-105mm.

What inspires you?
I use lots of things for inspiration. The babies themselves inspire me. I also use magazines and other artists for artistic inspiration.

What is your favorite Collages.net product or service and why?
It’s easily the brilliant album. I feel like it sells itself! They keep my average sale in a high range. I feel strongly about that product because it gives portrait clients a great value. Instead of purchasing several large individual prints, clients can choose to have 15-20 of their favorite images printed in one comprehensive album. Today’s client doesn’t want to have just one portrait anymore – they like variety and want several images.

Do you use Facebook or other social networking sites?
I’m just starting to use Facebook in a business sense, so very much in the infancy stage. I’m getting help from my photographer friends who use Facebook for their studios. I’m starting to offer my clients an image or two to share on Facebook, which could provide great exposure for me.

What has been your wackiest moment shooting babies?
Crazy moments happen all the time! Newborn babies pee on their parents virtually every session. Sometimes I tell the parents that I will keep photographing that when it happens & I may not put my camera down to help them!

Do you have any advice to give other photographers who are just starting out shooting babies?
It requires a lot of patience! Giving babies breaks is really a key factor. I persevere in the process and I am all about quality and not quantity. I would rather get 3 or 4 amazing images instead of 10 or 12 mediocre ones. Remembering the quality versus quantity is key. I usually show the client 25-35 edited images and I think that that number is perfect. I’ve had experience in showing too many images to a client, and it’s too overwhelming for the clients. Also, it’s all about the expressions with babies. If it’s not a technically perfect picture, but there are great expressions, people will still migrate to it.

How do you market your studio and book more clients?
I’m doing three or four things to market my studio on a regular basis. I keep the displays in my studio fresh and new. I have a very visible studio, and about 25% of my clients book an appointment because they walked by and saw the studio. I also use my website and blog to market my studio and have a high search ranking. Lastly, I have a referral program that works really well for me.

When people leave your studio, what impression do you want them to leave with?
I want them to say, “Wow, I can’t wait to come back next time!”

Headshot Photo Credit: Amy Lynden

From September 3-5, 2010, Val Westover of Val Westover Photography in Laguna Niguel, CA, will be hosting another Capturing True Emotion photography workshop. The workshop is open to photographers and horse lovers at all levels and is based in Three Forks, Montana at the Mantle Ranch. Capturing True Emotion provides professional photographers with a unique opportunity to learn more about photography while experiencing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to capture images of the real wild west.

Val states, “During the workshop, you will experience a real working horse ranch. Montana Horses is not a dude ranch, and they have more horses than you can count. You’ll create images of bucking horses, cowboys on bucking horses, round corral roping, riders racing through water, rodeo practice, hundreds of horses in a corral, and learn horse 101 from the ranches owners, Kail and Renee Mantle. By the time you go home, we will have covered lighting, composition, movement, horse behavior, and herd mentality. You will have a new passion for photography, and you will have once-in-a-lifetime images that not only tell amazing stories, but also have captured true emotion. This year, we’re pleased to announce that we’ll also be joined by Diana Volk, an incredibly talented artist and master in Photoshop.”

Val is passionate about giving participants in his workshops the tools and knowledge to become better photographers and have the experience of a lifetime. If you would like more information on the workshop, visit the Capturing True Emotion site.

Collages.net spoke with Robert and Kathleen of Robert & Kathleen Photographers about their Taking Off Workshops. They have completed one in Paris this past spring and are gearing up for their next workshop in New York City this fall. More information can be found on the Taking Off Workshop home page.

Q: Tell me a little bit about the Taking Off Paris Workshop.

Robert: The location was amazing! We were in Paris for five days. We held the workshop on one day, and Kathleen and I shot a few models in several locations in Paris on another day. The theme of that shoot was inspired by the movie Amelie. We had amazing models and amazing gowns that all equated to unbelievable images. The workshop itself was styled and designed by our local Connecticut professionals, including wedding planner Candice Coppola of Jubilee Events and Beth Chapman, owner of The White Dress by the Shore. We were assisted by Kim Peyt of Parisian Events who helped organize many more details in Paris from the flowers to the cake, make-up artists, location, etc. We kept the workshop small and intimate in order to maximize shooting and discussion time for all of our attendees. They actually came from four different countries in Europe for the workshop! The we set up a mock wedding day for the shoot complete with a highly-styled bride and groom and reception table set up on a rooftop terrace with a view of the Eiffel Tower. We focused the discussion part of the day on the things we feel are the keys to our own business: client satisfaction, the importance of blogging, and building a solid web presence.

Q: Why did you choose Paris to do your first Taking Off Workshop and New York City for your next workshop? Wouldn’t it be easier to do your first workshop state side?

Robert: It probably would have been easier, but we always embrace a challenge, and maybe because we’re just a little bit crazy. Part of the reason that we wanted to do the workshop in Paris was that we wanted to give people the opportunity to shoot in a dream location.

Q: Describe your favorite part of the workshop.

Robert: The interaction between all of the attendees was our favorite part. We worked together and talked about our business goals, which was completely energizing. It was an incredible experience to sit with photographers who speak different languages and live in different countries, but still have the same goal of creating beautiful wedding images for their clients. It was surreal.

Q: What did you learn during your first workshop?

Robert: We were glad that we kept it small. This allowed us to see what each person was getting out of the workshop. We could customize the presentation to each individual because we were able to personally connect with every attendee.
Kathleen: We didn’t want people to feel like they were lost in the crowd. If there were 20 or 30 people, we would not be able to work with everyone. That’s just too many people for what we were trying to do.
Robert: We both wish that the Paris workshop was two days instead of one. That’s why we decided to make our New York workshop in the fall take place over two days.

Q: What was your favorite image from the shoot?

Robert: That’s like picking a favorite kid. Here is my favorite image of the moment:

Q: So tell me more about the New York City workshop.

Robert: It will be similar to Paris workshop in that it will be a small, intimate experience limited to just a handful of attendees. We will be using the city as our inspiration by bringing our bride and groom models around some of the quintessential New York locations and talking about lighting, posing, and composition.  For the discussion part of the workshop, we will be talking about how to build the best technology setup for your studio, workflow, client experience, and web presence. With all of the day-to-day production work that has to get done to run a business, it’s a challenge in the industry to staying creative and fresh. It’s important to find companies that will help you with the workflow and take some of the burden of that heavy workflow off your plate. That’s one of the reasons we love Collages.net so much - it is a huge part of our studio’s success. We’ll definitely be talking about that at our workshop as well.

Q: Your studio does a lot of engagement shoots in New York. What is it that you love about the city?

Robert: Yellow cabs, central park, and the crazy energy. It’s a great world city, just like Paris.
Kathleen: That’s actually where we got engaged ourselves, so it’s always been a special place for us. We feel very lucky to live so close and get to shoot there so often. That’s part of the reason we selected the location for this workshop, to give other people the opportunity to photograph there as well.

Q: Who is this workshop ideal for?

Robert: Anyone of any experience level. We have something to share, but we also want to learn from other people. One of the things we emphasize the most in our workshops is that through creativity and practice, you can learn to trust yourself, which is key to having the confidence to photograph such important events for people. We are just trying to bring real-world perspectives and techniques that people can start implementing in their work right away.

Thank you to Robert & Kathleen for taking time to talk with us. Robert and Kathleen are the CLASS leaders for CLASS CT. You can visit the group page on Facebook for more information on their local events.

Collages.net recently interviewed Mark Stagi, professional photographer and founder of the Digital Photo Buzz.

How did you get into the photography business?
It’s the classic story of the kid who always had the camera with him. Everywhere I went, I was the picture taker in the family, and it was just something that I loved to do when I was young. I never thought of it seriously until high school when I took a basic photography class. At that time, I fell in love with photography as an art form. I had a really good teacher who inspired me, pushed me, and kept me on track. I knew photography was something I wanted to pursue, but I had no idea of how to go about doing it. I also thought I wanted to go into journalism, so I pursued journalism in college. I loved a lot of different parts of it, but certain things seemed to be a little creatively limited. I wanted more creative control and I wanted to put more of myself into the work I was doing. I took about a full year off from the journalism program and ended up getting a degree in fine art. When I was finally finished with school, I was to a point where I had a good foundation in fundamentals, but I had absolutely no foundation in business. I was excited to do photography and live my passion out, but I had no idea where to start.

So how did you end up getting into wedding photography?
I had a few friends that were getting married who trusted me and liked my work, so they asked me to shoot their weddings. I fought it at first since I had a skewed view of what wedding photography could be.  I had always imagined it to be very formal, a little emotionless and doing the same thing week after week.  From the work I saw back then there was no passion or real raw emotions which is what I have always loved about photography.  I didn’t feel that wedding photography would mesh with my style.  What I wanted was to be unique, fresh and have fun with my work. Thankfully my friends convinced me to do their weddings and it opened up my eyes to how you can shoot a wedding and how artistic and fun the images can be.  They provided me a way to mix my creativity with my background in photojournalism. My friends started showing my work to their friends, and my business basically blossomed by word of mouth.

How long have you been in the photography business?
I’ve been in the business for the past twelve years. My wedding business started out fairly slowly, but about two years into it I invested a lot of my profits into marketing my studio, from there it grew rapidly to a point where we had to add on a 2nd photographer four years ago.

When did you start the Digital Photo Buzz website?
I started it less than a year ago.

Why did you start the Digital Photo Buzz website?
Starting the website was something that had been on my mind for a while. I’d been doing workshops for almost four years, and I love to share what I know and talk about photography. After workshops, I’d still get people e-mailing and asking me questions. After a while, I decided that I wanted to create a forum for continuing education and inspiration in the industry. I originally used my studio blog to share tips, but I never thought that it was a good solution since my studio blog is a powerful way to share images and information with brides. I then started the Digital Photog Buzz website.

How did you drive professional photographers to the Digital Photo Buzz?
It actually just went viral all of a sudden and traffic on the site went crazy. It’s definitely grown a lot more than I could have imagined!

How do you develop your content and decide what to feature on the blog?
It’s basically about keeping a finger on the industry and figuring out what I would like to know from studio owner’s perspective. I’m also constantly reaching out to people on Facebook and Twitter asking them what they want to know. Part of what I feature is what I think is relevant and educational, and the other part comes from reaching out to people. I get a lot of feedback on Twitter, and I get a lot of good ideas based on these responses.

What are your goals with the Digital Photo Buzz website?
My goals are to create a place where people can come and get really good, quality information and see some great work from other photographers. I want it to be an educational and inspirational resource for professional photographers.

How do you use Facebook or other social networking sites?
Both Facebook and Twitter help me spread the word about recent photography articles, what’s going on with the website, and also helps to provide me topics for discussions. Theses social networking sites are one of the main reasons why we’ve had so much growth in readership. A ton of our traffic comes from these sites. We have new people that are added to Twitter and Facebook every day.

How do you balance having a busy studio while also maintaining Digital Photo Buzz?
I do try and set a schedule, but it doesn’t work out all the time. I try to work on the Digital Photo Buzz in the morning and evenings (during non-studio hours), but it’s not always cut and dry. I try to be a very scheduled person but when inspiration comes to me schedules go out the window and the artist in me takes over.

If you could choose anyone to do a photo shoot of you, who would you choose?
This is the hardest question, there are so many outstanding photographers out there that I admire.  I would have to break this down into the type of shoot, if I was having someone cover my wedding (or vow renewal since I am already married) it would be Marcus Bell. His imagery is amazing, and from the one time I briefly met him seems like a down to earth guy. To pick someone to shoot a family portrait of me I would choose Annie Leibowitz, I have always been inspired by her portraits and creativity.   And to sneak one more in there, if I had someone do a super cool portrait of me with some creative lighting, Zach Arias.  I love his lighting skills and his ability to think of new and creative ways to light.

We would like to thank Mark for taking the time to talk to us about the Digital Photo Buzz website. Mark recently did a review of Collages.net on Digital Photo Buzz. Let us know who you would like us to interview next by contacting customerservice@collages.net. Who knows, you may be next!

Collages.net recently interviewed Tess Johnson of Tess J Photography in Portland, ME about the work she is doing to help a little girl, Sophie, who is suffering from a form of leukemia. Tess and Jennifer, Sophie’s mom, created Sophiesfund.org, a website to share Sophie’s story and gather donations for her treatment. Each donation, no matter the amount, will allow the person who donated to choose from a very extensive gallery of beautiful images as large as 24 x 36. All of these images have been donated by several talented photographers to be printed on Kodak Endura paper by collagesColor, Collages.net’s professional photo lab.

Here is a glimpse at Sophie’s story straight from the Sophie’s Fund website:

“On March 15 just a month shy of her first birthday, Sophie’s parents Jennifer and Jim took her to the doctor for the 4th time in as many weeks. After being told each time that she had a ‘bug’ and doing blood work would ‘appease mom more than anything’, Jennifer fought for blood work to be done on her daughter. Sophie was not herself, and Jennifer’s instincts told her something was wrong. They didn’t expect for the diagnosis to be so devastating. Sophie was diagnosed with ALL - acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Because Sophie is so young, she is at extremely high risk. Malignant, immature white blood cells continuously multiply and are overproduced in the bone marrow. ALL causes damage by crowding out normal cells in the bone marrow, and by spreading (metastasizing) to other organs.

Over the course of the next two years, Sophie will endure several rounds of intense treatments and medications including chemotherapy. Not one cell can be left behind or she will be sick again. This family needs help. Jennifer, a talented photographer, will not be able to work for at least a year, Jim will miss countless days of work without pay, the cost of living at the hospital for five weeks at a time is enormous, and insurance will not cover all the medical expenses or medications.

Here’s the cool thing about your donation. Thanks to the generosity of some extremely talented photographers, you will actually get an amazing gift when you donate. No matter what your amount, you will be able to choose from a very extensive gallery of beautiful images as large as 24 x 36 to hang in your home. The photographers who have donated their work are truly amazing and sought after in their respective genres of photography. For a tiny fraction of what you would pay if you bought these images from the artists directly, you will have a gorgeous archival fine art print, and best of all, you will be helping our little girl.”

If you would like to make a donation to Sophie’s Fund, visit the Collages.net event site for Sophie’s Fund.

Photo Credit: Jennifer Kitrosser Photography

Collages.net recently had the opportunity to talk to Kelsey Wright of Studio Alive Photography in Whitestown, IN about her studio.

Kelsey and Blaine Wright

How did you get into the photography business?
When I was in second grade, I entered a photography contest using a disposable camera and I won. I’ve liked taking pictures ever since then. In high school, I would take friends out and go on mini photo adventures. In college, I got a camera and started working in the graphics department at my school.

You’re a husband and wife team, correct?
Yes! My husband, Blaine, is in school for business now, so he takes care of the business side of things and I take care of the clients. Blaine is a graphic designer, so he also does all of our graphic design work for our website and blog. When it comes to shooting, we both shoot every wedding, but I shoot most of the portrait sessions. He does shoot some portraits with me, but I am the main shooter.

How long have you and Blaine been in the photography business?
We shot our first wedding together in 2007. Right now we are running the business part time, but when Blaine graduates in December, we will be shooting full time.

How would you describe your style?
Two of the main words I’d use to describe our style are organic and honest. We aim to show honest relationships. We want to provide memories for our clients - not only the once in a lifetime moments, but the everyday, too!  I absolutely love “just because” sessions. Even though we want honest images, we also want to make our shots artistic and well thought out.

What gear do you use?
I use a Canon 5D Mark II.

What inspires you?
I get inspired a lot by fashion, especially stores like Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters. I love looking at all of their designs! We love to decorate our house and studio using styles influenced by those stores. We sometimes take couches and other pieces of our furniture and take them outside to shoot portraits.

What is your favorite Collages.net product or service and why?
We really love the 5×5 soft cover proof books because it’s so nice to have a book printed with one image per page ordered from an easy-to-use ordering system. We also love the online posting!

Does online posting help market your studio?
Yes!

How so?
I think online posting is beneficial because it gets our studio name out there. The more that people send the link out to friends and family, the more potential wedding clients we’ll receive. We also use Collages.net Event Sites as demo sites for clients who inquire about our work. It allows us to show them an entire wedding from start to finish and not just a few images from our blog our website.

Do you post everything that you shoot online?
We do!

Do you use Facebook or other social networking sites? If so, how do they benefit your studio?
Yes, we do. Facebook really helps us attract more seniors, brides, and moms. It’s starting to positively affect our entire client base. We become friends with all of the people that we shoot and then tag them in their photos. We’re also on Twitter, which is a great resource for networking with other photographers.

What is your favorite part of the wedding day and why?
My favorite part of the wedding day is probably the time when we pick up the bride and see how excited she is to see her groom for the first time. Most of our clients want to see each other before the ceremony, which we think is great. It gives the couple the opportunity for us to shoot a lot more pictures of just the two of them together, which makes things easier for us.

Do you have any favorite venues or locations that you like to shoot?
Anything outside!

What are you doing to book more clients in 2010?
Since we’ve been part time, we weren’t able to do too much marketing in 2009 and most of our clients came to us by word of mouth. This year, we’re going to our first bridal show, which we hope will benefit our studio.

When people leave your studio, what impression do you want them to leave with?
I want our clients to be well informed and know that they’re going to have a good time working with us. I also want to make sure that the meeting flows nicely – especially with families. It’s important that they feel like their session is going to be a fun experience so they’re excited to come back and work with us.

What is the most successful promotion you’ve run?
We offer mini sessions about once every month, which brings extra business to our studio. We’ll shoot several portraits at one location each month and during the holidays, we offer things like free cards or prints as an extra bonus.

If you could choose anyone to do a photo shoot of you/your family, who would you choose?
Sarah Rhoads. I love her style – it’s so unique! Yet she seems so down to earth. I also love Nate and Jaclyn from the Image is Found and Allison Rogers. I would say Jeff and Julia Woods, but they already shot our wedding!

We would like to thank Kelsey for taking the time to talk to us about her studio. Let us know who you would like us to interview next by contacting customerservice@collages.net. Who knows, you may be next!

Collages.net recently had the opportunity to talk to Kristen Weaver of Kristen Weaver Photography in Orlando, FL about her studio. Kristen is also the founder of the international photography event to raise money for The Breast Cancer Research Foundation®, Images for a Cure.

Kristen Weaver

How did you get into the photography business?
It’s a funny story. I’ve always liked photography, and I was always the girl with the camera running around taking pictures. It really started when I was in a graphic design class in college and one of my assignments was to design the cover of a magazine. I went to a stock photo site to look for images to use in the design and saw how terrible the photos were. I thought that I could take photos that were much better than that, so I got a friend to model for me. She ended up really liking her pictures and she asked me to take her photos for a beauty pageant. From there, I started shooting my sorority sisters and started a kind of business from my dorm room. I wasn’t charging anybody anything, but I asked them to buy the film for me, and I would keep one set of the prints for myself.

That’s a great story! How did you get into shooting weddings?
By the time college was winding down, I had come into contact with a local wedding photographer and asked if she needed any help because shooting weddings sounded like fun. I started working with her for about two years while I was also working a full-time job, so photography was more of a hobby at that point. I was shooting about 50 weddings a year on top of my job. When I was working for her, I had to shoot using her style, which was hard for me. I also wasn’t able to meet with the clients prior to the wedding, which made it difficult to really get a feel for them. Now that I have my own studio, I start working with my clients for about a year before their wedding and I get so personally close to them, that I shoot on a whole different level. When I was shooting for someone else’s studio, it was never really like that.

How long have you been in the photography business?
In October 2009, I started my full-time photography business. Before that, I’ve been shooting since about 2003.

How would you describe your style?
I call it a fusion between fashion and love. It’s modern and fresh, which is important to me, too. It took me a long time to find my own style and my own footing. I got so burnt out from shooting so many weddings with a full-time job, which is why I switched over to shooting fashion. I didn’t have any intentions of shooting weddings again, but the same friends who got me started in photography started asking me to shoot their weddings, which is how it all started back up again. Once I learned that I could translate what I love about fashion into weddings – that’s when I started loving weddings again. I love the feeling and energy in fashion, which is what I try to bring into weddings. I’ve been really fortunate to have brides that are really into fashion photography and trust my creative vision!

What inspires you?
It really is all about the energy. I don’t know if there’s a way I can describe it, but it’s all about art, freedom, and energy.

What gear do you use?
I’m all Nikon and I shoot with a D700.

Do you have a favorite lens?
Yes! The 50mm 1.4.

Do you post everything you shoot online?
Yes.

How do you think online posting benefits your studio?
I think it provides me with a lot of referrals. When I send my brides a link to their event site, people start contacting me and say they found me from my client’s event site. The Collages.net system is so easy to use for my clients. I also use event sites as demo sites for many of my potential clients. Most of my bookings happen without me meeting my clients since I book a lot of people who aren’t local for destination events. To have the ability to show them something online gives me a great way to show an entire wedding to a potential client when I can’t sit down with them and show them a physical album.

What products do you offer to your clients and how do you position products in your studio?
I went through phases when I tried to offer as much as I could, which got really confusing for my clients. I have two packages that are traditional, digital packages that include coverage and a disc of images. However, I use Collages.net’s online posting with all of my clients and that in itself has been super helpful. My clients get so excited by the fact that they can send a link to the site to their friends and family and purchase their photos directly on the site.

Do you use Facebook or other social networking sites? How do they benefit your studio?
Facebook, Twitter, and my blog are pretty much all I use in terms of marketing. It’s so weird because it doesn’t cost anything and I’m not super professional on Twitter on Facebook all the time, but people hire me based on me. I try to keep a little bit of a separation between my personal and professional life and keep control over what I Tweet and Facebook about. What I love about social networking is that at weddings or fashion shoots, I’ll post a Twitpic and put behind the scenes photos of what’s going on and people just love to see them! I also use ShootQ as a studio management system, which gives me the ability to track where people heard about me. Probably 60-70% of my booked jobs come from Facebook.

What is your favorite part of the wedding day and why?
The details! I think that comes from my love for fashion. I love the hair, the clothes, and the makeup. I also love the excitement and the energy and anticipation of the getting ready moments. A very close second would be the bride and groom’s portraits.

What was your best business decision in 2009?
Starting my own business! When my job quit me, I just made the jump and I had a lot of support and encouragement from my fiancée and family who told me to go for it. I don’t think that I ever would have had the courage to quit my job and go full time into the photography business otherwise. I don’t think I would have ever been ready. I made the jump and I realized that when I was working full time, I never had the time I needed to put into the business to watch it grow. I’m so happy that I did it and I’ve grown so much so quickly.

Do you run specials or promotions in your studio?
I think when you run too many specials, it can devalue what you do offer. I actually raised my prices and stick by them firmly. By not offering specials and promotions, I’ve actually gotten better clients. When I ran specials, my clients seemed to be just looking for the next deal to come around. The clients that I have now are such good clients that value everything that I do and I’m just sticking to that.

What do you have planned for Images for a Cure in 2010?
I’m really excited about the future of Images for a Cure! We’re going through the process of becoming an official non-profit organization, rebranding, and putting together so many amazing tools for our photographers and clients. It’s definitely been a challenge to think of ways to surpass the success of our inaugural year, but there has been so much amazing support by our industry! I’m really excited and would really encourage other photographers to participate and support this amazing cause with us!

If you could choose anyone to do a photo shoot of you and your family, who would you choose?
I’m actually pretty shy when it comes to being in front of the camera, but I guess if I had to, I’d want to work with Paolo Roversi. He has been an iconic fashion photographers for decades, gracing the pages of Italian Vogue and countless other international fashion magazines. His style is undeniably unique, his vision is haunting, and his voice continues to impact our industry. It would be an honor to share some brain-time with him!

Is there anything else you’d like to let us know about you?
I would love to meet Simon Cowell. I have an obsession with sweet tea, and I’m terrified of wet paper.

We would like to thank Kristen for taking the time to talk to us about her studio. Let us know who you would like us to interview next by contacting customerservice@collages.net. Who knows, you may be next!