About two years ago I decided that I was going to officially become a business.  It was the right time in my life and I felt confident enough in my work to start charging my clients.  I was ready. I had the camera, I had the website, & I had the latest and greatest editing software.  But there was problem.  I had no idea what to charge.  I had been perfecting my photography for 4 years now and I was past the beginner stage, but I still needed to get my name out there.  I wanted to get paid for what I was worth but I also wanted to get clients in the door. I decided to INVEST in Easy As Pie by Alicia Caine.  I was apprehensive at first because I didn’t want to spend that kind of money on something I was only going to use once. But in the past two years I have continuously whipped out my book to either price one item or redo my pricing entirely.  I live in a very difficult market where there is a photographer in every neighborhood and jobs are way down, which means spending is way down.  Easy as Pie has helped me keep my prices above the big chain studios, but affordable for my target market.  Easy As Pie has proven to be a investment because for me it was not a one time use, it has established my confidence in my pricing and I know that I didn’t just throw a bunch of numbers on paper, there is actually math and equations behind it all!  Recently I invested in Happy Place Business Plan which is by Alicia Caine as well.  It’s a mad lib type of business plan that also entertains!  Your don’t even realize you are doing left brained work!  My best advice to any stage photographer is to invest in these two products, they will be one of the best investments you will ever make in your photography business.

I badly need white plates and other props for my food photography, but this will have to do in the mean time.

My favorite sandwich on the weekends or weekday lunch is a quick and easy panini.  I like to buy a rotisserie chicken every week or two to make salads, sandwiches, and other yummy food recipes. Here is a quick and easy recipe for a panini.

I love to buy fresh bread from the Publix bakery, my particular favorite is the whole wheat Italian bread.

I place two slices of cheese on either side then add as much pulls of the rotisserie chicken and then some thinly sliced red onion.  Then I add about a 1tsp or so of EVOO in a small pan.

I don’t have a panini press so I just simply put another pan on top and then put something heavy (like a canister) to weigh it down.

After I turn it once I rub a fresh toe of garlic over the crusted side, then again on the second once it’s toasted.  After, you can add mayo (Duke’s is amazing), cajun mayo, or honey dijon mustard.

Enjoy!

I shoot a Nikon D700 and I’ve had the same 50mm lens ever since I got my camera.  Well with the success of my buiness last year I decided that this year it was time to invest.  So I purchased the 35mm 1.4G and the 85mm 1.4G.

Blogs, Facebook , Website, Twitter, & Pinterrest.  In the social media age we find ourselves in these days, it sure makes it a lot of work for us photographers who are trying to manage all these sites and run a business.  I found myself becoming very bored with blogging but also knew that it was a great for SEO, my clients getting to know me on a bit more, & I could help other photographers.  Instead of blogging about every session I do.  I decided to also incorporate my personal life and hobbies.  I am a school teacher, a cook, a amateur wooden furniture restorer, a Navy wife, and a DIY kind of gal.  I also love to teacher amateur photographers about the business, photoshop, how to use your camera, natural lighting, & branding, style, and my newest obsession creative composition and cropping (let’s just say rules are made to be broken)!  Recently I’ve played around in CS5 and in a matter of 1 hour managed to make over 20 blog collages, instead of purchasing them. I’m always trying to find ways to make things myself rather then pay someone else to do it for me. , but sometime it’s just worth the money to save the time..like Actions YIKES… I’ll pay the pros!  Just by blogging I can link the post to all my social media pages and then done! I also have filler post and things to keep my business alive during those ugly winter months.  I post a tutorial soon on how you can make your own collages…they are addicting and fun!

Here is a quick and easy way to make your own liquid watercolor paints at home:

Supplies:

Dried out or new WASHABLE markers

Disposable cups

Needle nose plyers

Squirt bottles

Gloves

First collect “dried out” markers or purchase WASHABLE markers.  They can even be from the dollar store since you are going to take them apart anyway.

First you fill your disposable cups with water.  Depending on if you want bright and bold or soft and pastel depends on the amount of water.  I used a SOLO cup (Red in honor of Toby) and I filled it about to the O after the S.

I then extracted the filter, but using needle nose plyers and removed the back cap of the maker then took out the filter.  At first I just tossed in the filter in the water, but I found it you cut it in half the it allows more ink to flow out.  I also tossed in the maker tip.

Then I just simply poured the water into the squirt bottles, labeled them and then DONE!

You can use these for many, many projects.  You can even use them to color sand with! REmember you can always add in more water to make them lighter, but you can’t take it out!  You can even purchases smaller bottles and them mix colors to come up with others too!

Enjoy

Today I was at the park with my husband and kids.  We picked up lunch and went on base to have lunch and let the kiddos run around a bit.  There was a mom there with a camera running after her daughter.  Before we got out the car I first thought she was doing a shoot for clients and I thought she was crazy since it was 12 o’clock in the after noon.  She was in full sun, her camera was set to Auto, & the built in flash was going off.  To my husband I said, “Oh my goodness, I need to help that woman.” But then I thought, heck I was doing the same thing five years ago with my mom’s Sony and my two workshop lights from Home Depot, & a black sheet.  I did my first session with a family and they loved them!  The baby was red as can be, I couldn’t understand why the color (white balance) was all off and I expected to just turn the camera on and every picture was going to be amazing.

I was one of those moms that got her first child’s pictures done and thought, I could do this myself, why pay someone else.  Little did I know what I was getting myself into!  Luckily I am a person of perseverance and when I set a goal I achieve it.  It’s never easy for me, I think God sometimes likes to throw in some crazy curve balls for me…he’s got a sense of humor like that.  But, I always achieve them in the end.

I wanted to go up to the mom at the park today, hand her my card, and tell her to give me a call and we could go shooting together.  I like to help others, I love to teach, & I believe that as photographers we never stop learning.  I’ve come a long way from 5 years ago, but I still have so much more to learn and I have my other photography friends to thank for everything I’ve learned so far.  Whether it’s workshops, books, experimenting, forums, groups, clubs, or even just Google or U Tube.  You can learn something new everyday.  So if you see another photographer go talk to them, you might learn something or have the opportunity to teach someone else something new.

My daughter has been a high maintenance child from day one.  I could never put her down and I could never leave the room.  Everyday she begs my husband and I to come and play with her.  Of course she gives us that sad face and the guilt sets in.  Usually it’s my husband that takes on the playtime, because I’m either cooking dinner, cleaning, or chasing after our 2 year old.  Well today she had us both and I must say that the older she gets the more fun it is and the better toys she has.

Full of imagination and not a care in the world.  The cape gives him powers to fly across the sky and the sword is used to fight bad guys, monsters and girls.  Why sit a cramped studio and have the same poses done as the person before you?  This is the Magic of custom photography.  This is  where your child’s imagination is captured, for your to look back on and remember how they use to be and wonderful stories they would tell.