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For those who don’t know, WPPI stands for Wedding & Portrait Photographers International and each year they hold a huge convention in Vegas…we’re talking 15,000 camera nerds ;) I read quite a few photographers blog posts about their past experiences and they were super helpful in telling me to plan out what you want to do. So plan I did! I created a schedule of what I wanted to do in my 4 days at the convention (which went incredibly fast) and I’m proud of all I accomplished! I went to the platform classes of Mike Larson, Bobbi + Mike, Jasmine Star, Jose Villa, and Jill La Fleur, did Showit meet ups with Nick of Spilled Milk and Jamie Delanie, took time at the trade show to decide what new album company I want to use, and most importantly spend time with new and old friends.

One of the best parts of WPPI was my husband stopping by. Those 4 little hours made a world of difference. Fred was off of work on Monday for President’s Day so we got him a free trade show pass and he came to see my world. My husband is amazing like this. He goes to boring business classes with me, crazy overwhelming trade shows, and showers me with his love and support. Ok, done gushing for now. First things first, we ate. Monday was our 6 month wedding anniversary so we went all out and did the lunch buffet at the MGM, wild I know. But really, it was great to sit down and reflect on our first 6 months of marriage!

After we were stuffed to the point of not wanting to move, we dragged our full bellies around the trade show floor and found Becker speaking at a booth so we sat, thank goodness, and listened. After Becker was done speaking, Fred and I stood up to go. Then I started muttering something about wanting to talk to him. Fred said okay and started walking over to Becker. I remained in place, shoes glued to the ground. Fred said I thought you wanted to talk to him? I said I do, buuut it’s Becker! Fred informed me that Becker is a mere mortal, not a photo god. So, I talked to Becker about my branding and he was so encouraging. I am thankful for my husband’s perspective. Fred is not in the photo industry and to him all these 15,000 people are just that. People. Fred pushed me and gave me the confidence that I was able to carry through the rest of the convention and talk to many more of the photo deities I so worship ;)

One piece of advice I have on WPPI is not to go it alone. The people you surround yourself with at a conference of this size makes the experience. The people I surrounded myself are just lovely. We took a little time to shoot each other in the courtyard of the MGM. We danced, and laughed, and enjoyed being our goofy selves!

In 2009 we went to Jasmine Star’s Workshop, photo by Jasmine Star…

In 2010 it was Stacy Reeves’ Mind Your Business Workshop, photo by Jason Huang…

And this year we’re WPPI newbies together! I’m super excited to finally be attending! I’ve heard it’s a totally awesome and overwhelming experience but I feel pretty prepared, other than the fact that I haven’t packed yet ;) I love to connect with other photographers so if you see me be sure to say hello!

Please let me know what you think of this Q & A, if you’d like me to continue with them or not. If you have questions for a future Q & A please leave a comment here or shoot me an email!

Q: What kind of camera do you use? And how do you get such an amazing DOF (depth of field) in your shots?

A: The Nikon D700. I love it! My back up is the D80. For portraits I primarily use the 50mm 1.4 lens, which is how I get my wide DOF. The smaller the aperture, the wider the DOF.

Q: Any advice photographing young children?

A: Have fun. Don’t say “cheese!” I find it best to be my silly and goofy self. Kids just want to have fun, so let them!

Q: I’m a film shooter and I’m always worried about shooting digitally. Do you do a lot of post processing like color balancing or are you pretty handy with making your camera do what you want it to do? What kind of computer so you have?

A: I have an iMac 27”. I was a PC and I’ll never go back! I love shooting digitally, but I also don’t love being on my computer all day. Now that I’ve been shooting a while and my exposures are more consistently correct, I can edit pretty quickly. I don’t manipulate my images a lot – I adjust levels, contrast, and color balance. I use auto color balance in my camera and usually only have to tweek it slightly in post processing. This allows me to shoot faster, it’s one less thing to think about when I’m trying to capture a moment quickly.

Q: How do you feel about the quick reflexes needed in shooting a wedding or anything for that matter? I always feel that I’m taking too long to compose a shot or fiddle with my camera.

A: As for quick reflexes: practice. The first wedding I second shot I did so for free, I had never shot a wedding before. It was a faced paced day, but I did okay. Now when I shoot I can usually look at the light, do my settings, and get it pretty darn close to the right exposure. The first few times this happened I was sort of amazed at myself, but then I realize it’s just cause I’ve been shooting so much! It’s like typing, your fingers just remember where the keys are. You get familiar with what settings you need for different lighting situations and subconsciously memorize them.

Q: I want to give my clients a CD of images, but would like to retain the rights. How do I go about this?

A: Give your client a print release. I recommend you get professional help to write yours. My print release states that the bearer of the print release has purchased the images and has the right to make prints for personal use only. The bearer may not use the images for commercial or editorial purposes nor may gain from them financially. Most importantly it states that I retain the copyright to all images. This is a very brief summary; my print release is nearly a page long.

Q: I’m curious if you have any advice regarding contracts. I’ve drawn up a basic contract, but was wondering if there is anything that you learned from this process and would tell someone starting out, “don’t forget this!”

A: My advice is to again, seek professional help. You need a contract to be legally sound! In brief, my contract states the clients name and information, the date time and location of the event, the specific product I am providing them with, the payment that they owe me, and a limitation of liability which includes but is not limited to the terms I’ve set if a client cancels their event. It also states that I will retain copyright to all images created and have right to reproduction. Again, I really recommend your write a contract with a professional so you are positive you’re not forgetting anything!

Q: I’m starting my own photography business….any tips or advice?

A: When people start a photography business I feel like they are focused on one thing, taking good photographs. And yes, to have a successful photography business you must be able to take good photos. But you also must be a good business person, accountant, marketer, advertiser, etc. To start off you should have a working knowledge of these fields and as your business grows you can begin to delegate tasks to professionals.

And because I can’t imagine a post without an accompanying photo or two, here is one of me shooting at Sara and Rich’s Connecticut wedding (taken by my second shooter Mary Dinneen) and the resulting photo of the bride’s necklace. I love this piece because Sara created it herself specifically for the wedding from charms she already owned that had significance to her :)

I wish everyone a happy and healthy holiday! Enjoy!

This week I made ginger snaps for a holiday party. Can’t wait for more goodies in the following weeks…I have a feeling my New Year’s resolution is going to be the same as every year…to exercise regularly…maybe I’ll actually keep it this year…maybe…

A shot I took yesterday at the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens while waiting for my clients to come, a piece of spring in the middle of fall!

Congrats to Becky Dunn and Jennifer Sanchez! To everyone else who entered, thank you for doing so and don’t forget to take advantage of my Christmas special before November 23rd!

I’m leaving tomorrow morning for a trip to the beautiful north east to visit family and friends! Hopefully I will return with all my internal organs intact this time. I’m really just crossing my fingers for no rain and some beautiful fall foliage for the shoots I have booked. I will be gone until Thursday October 15th so if I’m slow to return emails please understand. It’s because I’m having some serious cuddle time with my parent’s lovable yet neurotic Cocker Spaniel, Cody the wonder dog.

Immediately upon my return I will be scrambling to set up my booth at Just Between Friends, a traveling consignment sale of kids “gently used” clothing, toys, cribs, etc. It is open to the public for 3 days, from Friday October 16th to Sunday October 18th. The first day’s entry is $1.00 or 2 cans of food to support the local food bank. After that there is no cost to get in! I’ve heard of moms stealing some incredible finds! So come check out the sale and my booth at 3915 East Kell Blvd!

I’ll be holding a drawing at Just Between Friends for a FREE PHOTOSHOOT so that’s reason enough to stop by!

And for your visual pleasure an adorable flower girl from yesterday’s rainy rainy wedding!

Details:

-The drawing will take place 8.22.09

-If you WIN (yay!) your photoshoot must take place before 9.22.09

-Photoshoot refers to a portrait shoot (family, baby, engagement, etc.) not weddings!

-If you don’t live in the Wichita Falls area, I will do my very best to hook you up the next time I’m in your neck of the woods!

-If you’re not on facebook, too bad. I kid! I kid! Just leave a comment here and I will enter you too :) Cause I’m nice like that.

And just because…here’s a fun photo I took on the way to a wedding in Archer City – the window of Three Dogs Books.