Thank you Abilene!

I had such a great time getting to know you all.  Thanks to everyone who came out and who came up and said hello.  We had a good crowd and I enjoyed talking with all of you!

Now that I’m back from Abilene, I’m done with workshops and speaking this year.  I’ve talked with a few people about trying to plan for 2009 but we’re so busy at the studio, with holiday sessions and some restructuring, that I have not had time to iron out details.  Thank you to everyone who has inquired about future dates and offered hosting!  Before we get to planning anything for next year, I need a chance to revamp the program a little… I have taught the same things in the same way so many times now that I’d like to take things in a slightly different direction for 2009.  Until we get through the busy season, the photographer’s blog is going to get a little quiet (I know: as if that’s a change, but I’m just sayin’.)

August Featured Photographer: Jennifer Nace

Waseca Photographer Jennifer Nace attended our Minnesota workshop earlier this year and she’s become one of my favorite people. She’s got such a positive outlook and you can really see how she takes everything she’s learned and immediately starts incorporating what will work for her work and her business.

Where are you from? What kind of work do you do?
I’m from a small town in South Central Minnesota. It’s about an hour south of the Twin Cities. I kind of photograph anything LOL- newborns, babies, kids, families, seniors and take a limited number of weddings. We just built a brand new studio that I LOVE so I do mostly studio work.

How long have you been in business?
2 years exactly.

What drew you to photography?

I got started the same way a lot of us did. I started playing around with photoshop and digital scrapbooking in 2005. Before my 2nd son was born, Idecided to get a Digital Rebel XT so I could catch the little smiles and stuff that I missed with my crappy point and shoot. He was born March of 2006 and at that time knew NOTHING about photography. I started making birth announcements and cards online around this time, and in June of 06′ my friend had a baby and asked if I’d snap a few pictures with my ‘nice camera’ to use for her birth announcement. I taped a white sheet to my wall and did some horrible newborn images. After she sent out the announcement I had made, people started asking where she got the pictures taken and soon random people started emailing and calling. At this time I figured I should learn how my camera worked LOL. I joined a few forums and soaked up SO much information. I have pretty much been crazy busy ever since! Every session has been a learning experience.
I really feel like things happen for a reason and feel so blessed to finally have found my passion! Before this, I really felt lost and didn’t know WHAT I wanted to do with my life (besides be a Mommy

What’s your favorite age to photograph?

I really love the variety of ages I get to work with but I’d say my favorites would be 7-9 months or 3-4 year olds.

The one thing in your camera bag (besides your camera) that you couldn’t live without:

My 24-70L lens

Some of your inspirations:

Fashion and Bridal magazines. I also love visiting other photographers websites.

Favorite non-photography sites:
www.gap.com and www.gymboree.com LOL LOL. What can I say- I like to shop

What was the best thing you learned at the workshop?

Oh, I learned so much. I completely changed the way I set up my collection pricing. The first client with these collections bought the largest package and I had a $1500 sale! I also love how Shelby shoots from different angles– for instance, from the side so the shadow side of the face is to the camera- Mom’s love this shot and I try to do it with every session now.

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Thank you, Jennifer! Be sure to check out her blog, because she has some lovely portraits up. Here is some more of her beautiful work:

Announcing: The Marketing Collection

For those of you who I know are waiting, I am just about finished with the full 2009 Photographer’s Kit. It’s going to be very much like last year’s kit, but with even more info and some fresh pieces. But until the full kit is done, I’m proud to announce that the Marketing Collection is now available for pre-order, and I think you’re going to love it. What it includes:

• Over 60 samples of marketing pieces we have used in the studio, including business cards, t-shirt and bib/onesie designs, drop cards, promo postcards, samples of our “Simply Elegant” line of holiday and birth announcement cards, thank you notes, ads for local publications and events, price lists for the regular studio offerings (and an in-store promo mini-session), and our current Circle of Friends promo emails and postcards. These are great to help jump start some inspiration for your own pieces! I do not do mass/direct mail, but I have included some of our mailed invitations that we’ve sent out to selected members of our current client list.
• By popular demand: our newest partnership proposal template, in layered PSD files, including the generic pre-written partnership proposal letter. Add in your own information and go!
• Four of our Promo Slideshows
• Full session contact sheets from a maternity, a newborn, a 6 month, a 9 month, and a 12 month session.
• 10 “mini-lessons” to help you get started thinking about building your OWN brand and style, with exercises.

This latest kit will be available for purchase for the pre-order introductory price of $175 (to anyone outside of a 100 mile radius of the studio) and again, I’d be happy to talk about a group buy for any of the forums out there. Contact me at workshops at shelbylane.net for more information. I think this kit will be a great resource to help you start your brand building and your marketing plan, just in time for you to gear up for the holiday season! We’re taking pre-orders by email as of today, and by phone as of Tuesday. Downloads will be available next Saturday.

Featured Photographer: Shannon Holden

This month’s Featured Photographer is Shannon Holden, a natural light photographer based in Atlanta who came to our workshop in Georgia last summer. Her lifestyle photography captures the spirit of babies and children in a fresh, unique way. Here’s what Shannon has to say about her experience in the past year:

Since your workshop, I’ve found myself working with natural light in a new way. I find myself studying and experimenting with the light in more precise and deliberate ways. And I have a renewed appreciation for my baby plan and have gained some new baby plan clients who are already proving to be great blessings to my business. The shift in perspective I gained at your workshop has been a huge improvement for my career.
Thank you!

Thank you, Shannon, for agreeing to be our Featured Photographer this month! I’ve really enjoyed watching you incorporate these little things this year! You can view more of Shannon Holden’s work at http://www.shannonholden.com.

Site Redesign!

Whew! What a busy spring! But now we are in that lull that comes with the last week of school, and it’s time to get caught up and to get things updated. Some of you will notice that I have changed the sites around a bit — we decided that the blog was really a better way to distribute workshop and educational information, so the workshop website is gone. But dont’ worry — all that same information will be availble here, AND you can register for blog updates so if any new dates are announced you can find out first.

The San Diego ‘shop was our last on the books for 2008. As many of you know, I am a single mom and it’s getting increasingly difficult to leave town to teach. Closing the studio is tough on workflow and clients. And finding day and night childcare is tough on the kids and on me. So right now I am taking a break for the summer and kicking around some ideas for the fall. When I announced that San Diego was likely to be my last 2008 travel date, I was not kidding. If I do another ‘shop, it will be here at the studio and will be a different format than what I have offered here so far. So keep your eye on the blog… if I can work out the schedule and we have enough interest for a South Texas date, I will see what I can do.

A big thank you to Melissa Perkins-Weisbrod for opening her gorgeous studio to us in San Diego, and also to everyone who came out for the workshop!

Minne-sooooooooo-ta!

I had such a great time in Minnesota! Angie, thank you so much for your hospitality. You have a gorgeous home and studio and children and I thank God for your friendship every day. Thanks for opening up your house and studio to all of us and for letting us use your kids as supermodels! They did such a great job, especially considering that they were sick!

For those of you who I haven’t talked to yet, I got home and immediately came down with some sort of bug. A bad bug. A reallyreally bad bug. And then as soon as I was well, my kids got it. And then as soon as my kids were well, Abbey got it. So I am behind behind on everything now… studio stuff AND workshop stuff. I have all your avatars processed and now I need to go and do some retouching, but look for an email about that soon. Also, I will be sending out a “class list” email so everyone can keep in touch. Thank you to EVERYONE who came out to the workshop! I enjoyed getting to know you all. We have a good looking group and I will try and get a group shot up later tonight or tomorrow.

Delano, MN — Ready, Set…

Goooooooo! I am flying out tomorrow and I just wanted to say, I am looking forward to meeting all of you! If you’re signed up for the Minnesota workshop you should have gotten a school supply list and directions email from me. We will be meeting at the MOA for dinner on Friday if anyone would like to join us. The offical times are 10-5 Sat and Sunday, with dinner on your own (but we can go as a group if y’all want) on Saturday night and then a roundtable after that. I am excited! See you all soon!

Southern California People!

Just wanted to give you all a heads up that the early bird price for SAN DIEGO ends next week! If you have sent me an email, I have replied to you!

Delano MN Workshop Update

For those of you who are signed up for the Delano workshop at the end of the month, I have sent out a school supply list — please let me know if you are registered but did not get the email!

Also, could all of you who are driving/flying/staying in let me know where you’re staying? workshops@shelbylane.net

Thanks! I’m so excited about meeting you all in a few weeks!

Idaho workshop and some images

I am back home from Idaho and finally mostly getting caught up. If you came to the Idaho workshop and did not get a “class list” email from me today, let me know. Here are a few of the demo images from Sunday for comparision.

This first one is an example of the differences you’ll get when you block the overhead light and when you just leave open sky above. Yes, her head is angled slightly differently but notice the highlight on her cheeks and the darkness of the eye sockets compared to the one where we blocked the light from overhead. And her catchlights are so pretty in that second one, too. For those of you who WEREN’T there, this was an overcast day at about 11 am, so the sky was acting like a huge softbox. The problem is, you wouldn’t normally put a softbox directly overhead without any kind of reflector or something to pop that light back up into her eyes, if you were in the studio. You’d want the light to be a little more directlional. Outdoors, the easiest way to get pretty light is to block that light coming from directly overhead. You can also see the little bit of hair light because we put the stronger light behind her.

This second example is of the difference between shooting a portrait with a wide angle lens (in this case, a 35mm) and a longer lens (in this case, a 70mm). I came in close for the 35mm shot and then backed up for the 70mm shot so her head size would be the same in both images. Look at the details in the background in both shots — the settings (except for the focal length) are the same, but notice how the background is more in focus in the first than in the second (in other words, the depth of field appears shallower in the 70mm shot at the same settings). Also take a look at her head shape and features. The difference may seem subtle but it is there. In the 70mm shot, her features and head shape are more “true to life” than with the wider angle.

More to come!