I Am A Photographer.
*** Background paper is from the Mom*tog by Photo Card Boutique collection.
A Word on Workshops
Figuring out what workshop is right for you can be overwhelming. Because workshops are a very lucrative business it seems as if every photographer nowadays holds one. But, just because a photographer takes great pictures it does not mean they are a good teacher. As a consumer you need to do your research to protect yourself from a bad experience and from wasting your hard earned money.
1) Check how long the photographer that is holding the workshop has been in business. I get so frustrated when I see a “photographer” who has been in business for a very short period of time hold a workshop. Make sure it’s an established photographer who is holding the workshop. I promise you’ll learn so much more.
2) Make sure the photographer’s work is consistent. And make sure you like it! This is more for the workshops that photographers offer to mom’s with cameras. I have seen a lot of “photographers” offering these workshops and their pictures are horrendous and totally inconsistent. If their pictures aren’t good, they probably won’t be able to teach you a whole heck of a lot no matter how cheap the workshop is.
3) How many people are attending the workshop? Will you get one on one time with the photographer? The less people that are attending the more individual attention you will get and you won’t have other attendees elbowing you in the face trying to get shots.
4) Does the shoot use “models” or real people? I would much rather see how a photographer interacts with real people than with models. Posing models is easy. I don’t need a workshop to know how to pose a model. Real people can be hard.
5) What level of photographer is the workshop aimed at? There’s nothing worse than attending an advanced photography workshop and having that one person ask beginner questions the entire time. Make sure you attend a workshop that is appropriate for your skill level!
6) Don’t trust the reviews on the workshop website. Of course they are going to post only the best reviews! Google the name of the workshop and you’ll see plenty of photographer’s who have blogged about that workshop. I would even suggest contacting some of those photographers and ask them if they’d attend the workshop again.
This website has a section where attendees can review workshops. There aren’t a ton of reviews yet, but it could potentially be a great resource if enough people knew about it.
If you’ve attended a workshop and have had a bad experience don’t be afraid to say something! I hear so many people complain about their experiences with workshops. If you don’t say anything how will the photographer know what to change? And how will other photographer’s get honest reviews? I’m not saying you have to go and bash the photographer online. I’m talking about a constructive review of what you liked and didn’t like. Nothing will change until people stand up and start giving honest reviews!
7) Consider a mentoring session instead of a workshop. Most mentoring sessions are one on one and they will be tailored to you and your business. They may cost a little more, but individual attention will be worth it!
I hope this helps you to make an educated decision about your next workshop. With the plethora of workshops available it can be daunting. There are great workshops out there that will not only help you improve upon your photography skills, but will also inspire you to become a better photographer. You just have to find them!
*** This picture has nothing to do with workshops, but I love her outfit and wish they made it in my size so we could be twinsies. Although, I don’t think the jeggings would look quite as cute on me.
Canon 5D Mark II, 50 1.2
F 1.6, 1/125, ISO 800
Yum!
Kennedy has been watching us intently as we eat for the past couple of weeks. She was very excited to try it for herself. Yum! Rice cereal! Has anyone every tried that? I’m thinking it doesn’t taste that great, but Kennedy didn’t care.
Canon 5D Mark II, 50 1.2
F 2.0, 1/160, ISO 320
Then I let her have the spoon. That was a bad idea. She kept gagging herself and wouldn’t give it back. This being my second baby I should have known that wasn’t a good idea, but she was happy.
F 2.0, 1/160, ISO 320
F 2.0, 1/200, ISO 320
I’m thinking about making Kennedy’s baby food. Not hat I have the time, but those darn informercials make it look so easy. Anyone else make their own? If so, what do you use to make it?
Happy Monday, Mom*togs!
*** Kennedy’s bib was a gift from the awesome Lillybug Lane!
Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep
I have a confession to make. Remember how I spent a lot of time on Kennedy’s nursery making it perfect. We were finishing it until 10 o’clock the night before my scheduled c-section. Well, Kennedy doesn’t sleep there. She’s napped in there maybe 3 times. See, her nursery is all the way on the other side of the house. No, we don’t live in a huge mansion. But, a baby shouldn’t be THAT far away from her mommy, right?
Our pediatrician suggested that we move her out of our room. To help her and us sleep better. We’re thinking about putting Kennedy in Brayden’s room and turning her room into a playroom. I don’t want to do that until she is sleeping better through the night. So, where did we move her?
Canon 5D Mark II, 16-35 2.8
F 2.8, 1/40, ISO 500
580 EX II Flash (see below)
Into our closet. Before you call CPS we have a really big closest. We’ve even contemplated making that into her room. It’s just temporary and she doesn’t mind! She sleeps way better in our closet than she did in our room! Whatever works, right?
*** We have no windows in our closet so I had no choice but to use my Speedlite for this shot. Flash photography is not my expertise (and I really hate flash), but for this shot I angled the head of the flash so it bounced off the wall behind me. If I were to angle it right at Kennedy it would have created a harsh shadow behind her.
When using flash your shutter speed can be lower because the flash freezes the action. I use a slower shutter speed to let in more ambient light. So the shot doesn’t look overly flashy. You don’t want to go too low because you still can have motion blur, but using flash allows you to go much lower than when you aren’t shooting with flash.
With flash it’s really trial and error for me. Just play around and see what works best for you!
Brayden’s Birthday Shoot – Behind the Scenes
For Brayden’s birthday shoot this year I really wanted to make it fun for him. No one ever believes me when I say this, but he really doesn’t like getting his picture taken. Or, I suppose I should say, he really doesn’t like it when I take his pictures!
He can be really shy so I thought about doing an indoor shoot where he would be most comofortable. Plus, we were really limited on time so I thought indoors would be best in case we get bad weather.
I saw this idea on Pinterest and thought it was really cool, but too similar to what I did last year. I decided to adapt it and tape the balloons to the wall in my studio instead. Brayden loves rainbows and I knew the color would pop really well. We blew up the balloons with a balloon pump (don’t use helium!) and simply taped them along the wall. I wasn’t sure the tape would hold, but luckily it did. I didn’t want to have to put that many holes in the wall!
I also saw these streamers on Pinterest and loved them. They are really easy to make and took no time at all! I used construction paper that was bigger than your normal 8.5 x 11 (maybe 8.5 x 22?). We hung all the streamers the night before and that ended up working out really well. They stretched out a lot overnight and looked even better!
Lastly, I bought a confetti gun, which was SO much fun. Except, it was really loud and Kennedy did not like it 
When Brayden walked in and saw the set up for the first time he said, “Wow, I love this party mommy! It’s so cool!”. And you know if Brayden says it’s cool, then it must be really cool! I just wanted him to love it and I think it shows in the pictures that he really did. It was simple and fun and no tears on this shoot! Yeah!
Canon 5d Mark II, 50 1.2
F 2.0, 1/200, ISO 320
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Sponsors
-
-
Get Your Buttons!
Are You a Mom*Tog?
