Category Archives: Photographers

GLOW Workshop [Richmond VA Photography Business]

 

{GLOW}

The first ever GLOW Photographers’ Workshop took place on May 4, 2014.  Although the day flew by, it was a great day.  Meeting new photographers and friends had to be the highlight, but the beautiful models, the generous catering by Firehouse Subs (did you know they give any tips to the actual firehouses in the area? Cool!), my wonderful hair and make-up artist, my friend at Chesterfield Learning Center  and permission to shoot on the grounds of the beautiful Sunday Park in Brandermill made this day beyond what I had hoped for.

Of course, this day wouldn’t have been anything without the kind hearts of 3 other fabulous photographers!  A little more about them in a bit.  It takes a village is so true, and a village I had. I can’t go without saying that the Village leader is my wonderful husband; I’m not me without him. I am so thankful!

The day started when Amanda drove in for the workshop from Fredericksburg. When I asked her how early she’d be in town, she figured I could use her help setting up, and she was there!  Thank you…that’s what friends are for!  All before she started listening and shooting,  we were steaming dresses, making bouquets, stuffing goodie bags- umm, buckets- and drinking Starbucks, don’t ‘cha know!

Amanda Trahan Photography

Somewhere between when the glue gun was ready and the coffee cold, it was suddenly time for the photographers to start arriving.  I could hardly contain my excitement..it was TIME!  I’d worked and planned long hours for this to happen, and happening it was, and now!

GLOW was created to encourage you as  not only photographers, but also-and just as importantly- as women.  By sharing a wider range of condensed snippets of information from 4 different photographers, each with their own specialty area and passions, we planned to help you in an array of areas as you build your business.  My heart was to do this in an affordable way, because like many of you I know how hard it is when getting going to try to build your equipment and your knowledge at the same time. I wanted to know that those who desired to be a part of GLOW, and who had the availability, would be able to afford it. That was important to me. (If you weren’t able to participate due to your calendar, hang tight…save the date announcement ahead!)

After teaching for almost 2 decades,  running not only my photography business here at Tamara Henion Photography but other successful business over the years and raising a family including taking care of my live in mother in law and homeschooling my now 10 and 20 year old sons, my heart bleeds for teaching younger women to keep the main thing, the main thing.  Bicycles were a prevailing theme of mine. I hope that message never leaves the hearts and ears that heard just a bit of my heart.

Today We Are Rich

Today We Are Rich

And, for many photographers across the board, we get LOST in the world of our computers. Lightroom, editing, organizing, jpgs, raw, uploading, storing, backing up: It’s all too much!  Unless you have the amazing and beautiful person in Erin Schrad on your side. She is ACG (A Computer Genius) though she may humbly deny that title, trust me-you’ve got questions, she has answers!  I’ll say this about each part of the day, we needed more time!  I know I learned from her and from the Q&A, so did each of the rest of our photographers.  You’ll be seeing more of her (and her computer), too!  That makes us ALL happy! Soon, after some more harassing she’ll have a www. site to share  Never mind, take a look HERE; her work clean, crisp and beautiful! Thanks, Erin!

The day I met Riette Kruger with Clearly Perceived Photography, I could see her kind, sincere, generous heart right behind her piercing blue eyes (and trust me, getting beyond her stunning eyes is REALLY hard).  The thing with Reiette is that it’s not easy to figure out if it’s her dreamy photography or her love of people that is most amazing, but once you sit and listen to her talk about loving her clients and all they mean to her (and how she shows them that they do), it’s not hard at all to figure out that her work is that beautiful because of and not aside from the way she loves.  We all LOVED having her and hearing from her; no doubt we won’t forget how important it is to hear someone’s story and then love them through it.  I appreciate you, Riette.

Behind the lens at Sarah Danburg Photography is another beautiful face: the vivacious Sarah!  I feel like I’ve known her for years because of a million little things-you know those people who your spirit says all is right with them? That’s her!  She jumped on board with GLOW and never looked back. In fact, we can’t wait to do it again!  Her love for FACES -little and not so little- as well as light and illumination–shows in the way her photography simply glows. I always know if it’s Sarah’s image, and I always love it!  We were blessed to have her with us sharing more of what she loves.  Oh, and the boots…it was all about the boots!   She’s a snake wrangler too, but that was our little secret while out there shooting.  Thank you, Sarah!

Saving the best for last? I might say that’s the truth.  Although she didn’t get the chance to share, in words, the how and why of professional hair and makeup making a difference in our photography, it was OBVIOUS.  Jennifer Haynes, *my*  😉  hair and makeup artist did an amazing job with one of our models and we appreciate her work so much!  You’re awesome, Jennifer.

A few photos from one little corner of our room…

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And after a delicious lunch (Thank you Bernie and Firehouse Subs!), we hit the windy but beautiful grounds of Sunday Park. I was thankful for a gorgeous day in many answered prayers!

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I was running around a lot and making sure both the models and the photographers could do what they were there to do, so I didn’t shoot as much as I thought I might but I got enough simple shots to tell the story.

I won’t lie, I was beat by the end of the evening, but it was a beautiful day filled with beautiful people. It’s only right that it ended with this view: Do what you love!

Do what you love!

Do what you love!

Thanks for coming everyone; I’m glad for each and everyone of you who came.

Being crowded out is a good thing (sort of), but we’re taking care of that for GLOW 2!

Save the date: September 13th!

It’s going to be even sweeter!

The models are GORGEOUS [Glow Photographer’s Workshop]

GLOW

GROW~LEARN~ORGANIZE ~WORK
 {in photography lingo it’s known as SHOOT}
 
What are you doing Sunday May 4th?
 
I just came from the last meeting getting everything organized for Sunday’s GLOW workshop and SHOOTING.  
 
The models are GORGEOUS.
The wedding gowns are AMAZING.
The fashion looks are POSH.
The weather looks PERFECT.
The location is BEAUTIFUL.
The photographers are INCREDIBLE.
The information, tips & knowledge being shared in INVALUABLE. 
The price is a STEAL.
 
What are you waiting for?  We have a couple more seats available.  
Midlothian, VA   2:00-8:00  Come ready to learn, be inspired and encouraged and shoot! 
email me!  info@atTamara.com 
 
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GLOW a photographer’s workshop [Midlothian VA Photography]

GLOW

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GLOW a photographer’s workshop is geared toward those who have been in business 3 years or less. Four photographers will be sharing their passion with the group. Learn everything from building client relationships, seeing and using light, posing, anything about your computer as it relates to photography, or even just  what it means getting started with your camera and business.

YES, We know you can go to workshops for much more than this!  🙂  Trust us, this is not a too good to be true trick.

While this will be a beautiful time, there’s  fancy frills here; just simple brass tac and hands-on work and a lot of pay it forward volunteer time from 4 wonderful women and photographers.

We’re keeping the costs LOW, in fact, until Easter, book your spot for $50 less…

 Spend the day with us: 6 hours of insight, learning, mentoring, models for wedding and fashion.

Have lunch and come GLOW with us: grow, learn, organize and work.

We’re ready, are you?

REGISTER HERE

Tentative Schedule:

2:00-2:45  Meeting and Getting Started

2:45-3:45  Computer/Technical  Q&A,  Light Room Organization

3:45-4:30   Building Client  Relationships

Break for lunch

5:45 Learning Light and Shooting fashion models

6:30 break for changing

7:00 – 8:00 Shooting Bridal models

5GLOWSoloPine

 

The Tree Test [Dear Photographer] [My Story]

 

The Tree Test, Lying and Planning

The Tree Test: ever heard of it? Take a look here and tell me what you find out. Is it accurate of who you are?

I won’t tell you the tree that grabbed me and sucked me in instantaneously, but I will share a little of what it said about me.

Two phrases stand out:

” You know what you want, and you’re not afraid to go get it.

and

“The only thing you require from people is that they’re straight with you. You are ready for the truth.”

First:

Day in and day out, year old and year new, I would have zero issues with hundreds of students unless and until they lied to me. I found this truth to be unwavering in myself: I can deal with anything that’s straight forward.  Combine that with the fact that I can always (almost always, I have been blindsided-and betrayed-a few times in life by ‘friends’) sense  dishonesty and life can be quite interesting in  light of a lie. I don’t know if that is a blessing or a curse. Sometimes, ignorance is really bliss, isn’t it?

Proverbs  6:16-19  tells us the Lord hates lying, too.

There are six things which the LORD hates,
            Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him:

      Haughty eyes,

a lying tongue,

            And hands that shed innocent blood,

      A heart that devises wicked plans,
            Feet that run rapidly to evil,

      A false witness who utters lies,
            And one who spreads strife among brothers.

And one more  thing I will share from the tree test:

Second:

There are 3 of us business owners who meet together each week. We encourage, we test, we cheer on and we empathize with one another. This week one thing that came up, as it has before, is the opportunity of sitting under a strong personality in the business who is a huge success and has been for more than 20 years.  My friends says, “I’d be scared to death knowing what’s coming and I’d cry.”

I say, “I would know what’s coming and am ready for it.”

She says, “Then I’d cry for you!”

I LOVE how different we are. She’s a strong, wonderful woman who just doesn’t approach things the same way as I do. And what’s wrong with that?

I’m a firm believer in learning the right way to do things before I do them the wrong way. Then, when I do them the wrong way, I’m determined to take what I learned through hard knocks and share them with others who, like me, are ready to hear them.

This photography business came upon me backwards. Instead of planning to build a business, I was thrown into it with requests to shoot a few weddings. Because I had not looked into what it means to run a small photography business, and because the urgency of the moment was focused on learning more about new cameras and the technicalities I was falling short it (hello digital photography, goodbye film=YIKES), I was already overloaded in work on a shortage of available time.

Now, I teach others how to use their digital camera and what is the bare necessities when presenting yourself as a professional photographer.

Coming up next week, I’m meeting with another 7-10 photographers who are trying to figure out some of the business side of being a professional photographer. While they’re at different places in their ventures, they’ve all realized that pricing is something they need some help in figuring out. You know what? The ones who are doing that before setting things up are the real winners. Like anything in life, it’s more profitable and less painful to figure things out before you’re posed with an otherwise preventable problem. I have been SO busy figuring out everything  over the past 3 1/2 years that had I made a concentrated effort of what I needed to know and where I was going to head, I would be 2 years ahead of where I am now. I’m not saying there’s no value in life as it happens; the wise will glean from all experiences. I am saying there’s a best way.

“Being busy does not always mean real work. The object of all work is production or accomplishment and to either of these ends there must be forethought, system, planning, intelligence and honest purpose, as well s perspiration. Seeming to do is not doing.”

Thomas A. Edison

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KatlynRose Photography [Dear Photographer]

I am excited for you to meet my friend, Katlyn. She’s a busy young mom with a passion for photography. I have been inspired and amazed watching her start out snapping pictures of her  children to beautifully documenting her family’s daily life with her current talent. I am especially a fan of her black and white candid moments from ordinary days at home.  If there’s one word that I’d use to describe this young woman, it would be loving.  She lives out a passionate love for her Lord, her children and her husband –with humility. What a treasure!  I haven’t yet met her in person, but I’m hopeful for the day I am able to do just that.

  It’s a common quest among women who are building a photography business: balancing life with learning. Let’s peek in on her life for a glimpse of how a busy mom and wife can grow her knowledge of photography and manage to handle the household day to day.

 

Did I tell you she has 4 children 4 years old and under? They’re ADORABLE! Now, here’s Katlyn (and family)!

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Hi, I am a 23 year old. A mom of 4 ( all under the age of 5) and a photographer. Even though I am still learning everyday, I am here to share what I’vee learned so far- as a mom and a photographer. Let me  start off by saying it is far from easy juggling it all, but it is possible.

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My number one piece of advice for other moms of young children at home  is to make and follow a schedule. I am a little crazy about schedules but it makes it all work. I schedule my kids day and then also mine. During the day I have a cleaning day, two days a week I  set aside time  to edit client photos, one day to edit personal photos, and a day to just spend time with my kids. On weekends I am more laid back,  and except for the sacred sleep times which I really try to keep consistent, we kinda go with the flow.  One promise for myself is to be lenient with my set a schedule. Structure is important but not more important than life and the people in my world.  If I am excited to edit a client’s photo, or if I decide to move my unplugged day up,  I just swap the days. I love the flexibility to rearrange my schedule all the while knowing I’ll be sure to fit in all the days. I think its important for me to have set days because it keeps me accountable. In the past I have gotten busy with photography and had to  spend more time editing. Before long, I found myself  eliminating my unplugged day or other personal opportunities.  I love photography,  but I  love my family more.  I keep my family as my true priority, and that entails spending time with them and keeping up with editing my personal photos. I don’t want to look back in 10 years and see that I took a ton of photos of clients but none of my family.

Day in and day out, the kids have set times they do crafts, eat, go outside, and sleep. Bananas, anyone?

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My kids are the reason I started photography in the first place, and that’s  something I have to remind myself of-sometimes more than others. There are times I get side tracked and don’t pick up the camera for a few days, but even when I’m tired or don’t feel like it, I get out that camera once again. I enjoy lifestyle photography and capturing my real life moments. When the kids are older I am going to want photos that mean something and have a memory attached to them-not just a photo of them smiling looking at the camera. Although, like any professional photographer, I get excited and love having photos that look great and are technically correct, when it comes to getting the kids’ lives documented, I’m ok with a snapshot vs no shot. I leave my camera out on a shelf so that when I see ‘a moment’ I can quickly get to it (kids are fast) because there are no re-dos in real life!

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Running my days according to schedule not only make them happy during the day, but also secures their routine at night. The most important thing to me is their bedtime. (A day with twin toddlers and two little preschool princesses makes the best of moms ready for a refresher! ) They go to bed at 7PM,  and that gives me time to get some things finished  I didn’t get to during the day,and also gives me time to spend with my husband.

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 That it something really important to me. Even as young as my children are now, I realize that someday they will be gone out of the house and it will be just me and my husband. When they leave, I want to be left with a good relationship  and great bond with him. I think many ignore their marriage in favor of parenting  for 18 or so years,  then it’s hard when they realize  it’s just the two of them left and they’re strangers to one another. I don’t want that to be us, so we work on building “us” with time alone to talk, dream, laugh and relax with one another  each evening.   Remember, it’s not easy, but it is doable–and worth it all!

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I hope you were encouraged with this invitation into  Katlyn’s home for a brief visit. I know I am every time I see or read something from her.

I’m sure she’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment for her here and look her up on facebook at Katlyn Rose Images.

 

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