Follow Jessica’s work on her website and on Facebook.

Enjoy!!

Follow Brooke’s work on her WEBSITE and on FACEBOOK.

Enjoy!

Q. Welcome Brooke! Tell us a bit about yourself! 

I am the very blessed wife of the most incredible man in the world, and together we created something beautifully amazing- A Family. We have been blessed with two beautiful children, Maren (4), and Zane (almost 2). Maren was my very inspiration for beginning my journey in child photography. My family is my biggest inspiration for everything I do in this life, and I feel like the luckiest girl in the world to have them, always surrounding me with their love and support.

 Q. You mention having a personal photography mentor, which I think a lot of new photographers have trouble finding. How did your mentor relationship come about and develop? What’s the biggest benefit you’ve received in having a mentor?

I have only told this story a million times, but I have never written it, so here it goes.

Sometimes there are people in this world you are just meant to meet, and remain forever friends with. Steve Gustafson was absolutely one of them. My daughter was just a baby, and we were out to eat at this restaurant on the water near our home. I had just got my D80, and my brand new lens, and of course I made my hubby and Maren walk out onto the dock to take a picture, and as I was taking their pics, up walks this weird old guy and says ” My friend over here is a photographer and can take a family picture for ya if you’d like.” Im thinking well first of all, isn’t everyone a photographer these days??? And secondly, there is no way I am handing over my brand new camera with my brand new $1800 24-70 lens to some stranger!! Then, the strange guy standing off to the side walks up to us, kind of laughing it off, with his gentle demeanor, and says, “sorry about him, haha. Im Steve. Nice to meet ya. You shooting a Nikon?” I was still a tad hesitant to start this photography convo with some man I didn’t know, as we usually keep to ourselves. He then proceeded to tell me he is a photography teacher up at Chattanooga State College. My eyes popped. He had finally gotten my attention, and my camera went right into his hands. Next thing you knew, he was snapping away at my husband, daughter and myself. ONE hour later, we said out goodbyes after what seemed like a conversation with an old friend.

We kept in touch every day. I was just learning the digital world, and refreshing the technical side of things for myself, so I had so many questions. I was like his annoying side kick that wished he was one of his students but lived too far to be one. Even his students got to know me. He talked about me in his classes. I called him all the time. He talked to me before his classes. He talked to me after his classes. He talked to me before my shoots, during, after. He was on call for me 24-7. All I wanted to do was learn and improve and just shoot shoot shoot! He wasn’t easy on me either, which I appreciate. It was what helped me grow! There was a critique with every image, still is.  No matter how good I got, there was always something I could improve on. I guess that is how you get fantastic right, and then continue to be fantastic!!?? To this day, he still finds ways to push me and critique me with. I thrive on it, and I love it, because as artists, we are constantly improving and changing and growing. I would have to say I was and still am pretty lucky to have him in my life!

A couple years of this friendship went by, and he came into town for a work trip again (his full time job, not photography) and my husband and I invited him to stay with me with our family for the weekend after his work week was up. My husband had gotten to know Steve really well over our phone convos, & him and my husband have the outdoors, guns, and jeeping thing in common. So, here we meet Steve for only the second time, yet we feel like he is family to us. It was so strange I must admit, but felt so right! The weekend was amazing. I didn’t mention to you, that between the time I had met Steve, and he had come to visit, my father had passed away from colon cancer, whom I was very close with. So, ironically, I feel like Steve is some kind of Angel my dad put in my life, as a fatherly figure watching over me. And I SWEAR he is my REAL LIVE ANGEL. He is the most gentle loving man, like a bear, and the KINDEST human being you will ever meet. He reminds me of my dad. When I dropped him off at the airport after our amazing three days together, I cried (he doesn’t know this- but now he does LOL) because it’s amazing to have such a wonderful human being and mentor in my life! Since then he has come to visit again, and he is coming back in March to teach at our WORKSHOP, with Sandra Bianco Photography and myself.  Our flyer states, “When you meet Steve, you wont forget him,” and it’s literally true.

Q. What is the one thing you struggle with the most in terms of the technical side or the business side of your business?

Staying Organized!  If there is a way to stay organized can someone please share with me, because I have tried anything and everything!!! I don’t have a problem getting organized, it’s STAYING organized for more than a week! Ahhhh! It’s the artists brain of mine!

Q. Want to share any advice you received early on in your career that helped you immensely? 

The biggest advice I can give as a beginner, is don’t undercut your prices, just to raise them later. Price yourself high, and offer a “discount” when you start out. If you start low, you will lose all of your clients when you raise your prices, which you ultimately worked hard for, right? SO, if you want to make $1500 a session, still put your pricing up at $1500 a session with a big fat 50% off so that in the future, your clients know they will be paying the $1500, and they think they are getting a deal at the same time!! If you price yourself at $750, and then next time they book, you tell them your $1500 now, then they are going to go elsewhere. It’s all about the psychology. You have to tell your clients your worth, and then give them a discount.

Q. Any parting words of wisdom for other photographers just starting out?

Customer service is by far one of THE most important things in this business. This is one of the reasons I don’t take on too many clients at once….because I like to spoil my clients! I want them to know they are my number one priority and FIRST on my list. I have personal contact with them all the time. Also, because I am so UN-organized, I have an AMAZING assistant to help me with my emails, or anything else I need for that matter, but most importantly emails. I want to be sure all my emails are answered within the few hours they are received, and because I am not good with this, my assistant makes sure my customer service is being taken care of. If the email is important, it is redirected to me immediately, along with a phone call from my assistant to “Get on it now”- (Sometimes she is MY boss). You can have the most amazing photography in the world, but if you have bad business, no client will come back to work with you.

Thank you so much for sharing with us Brooke!!!  

 

You can find Shipra and follow her work here:

Website

Facebook

Blog

Welcome Shipra! Tell us a bit about yourself . . .

When I’m not behind a camera you can find me at home in Orlando with my 4 children and husband who are the mainstay of my life.  I have the incredible privilege of homeschooling my menagerie of kids 
during the week, and living out my jump-up-and-down-in-my-pajamas-i-can’t-believe-I-get-to-do-this-passion on the weekends by being a photographer. Photography is my way of expressing and sharing what I find meaningful, beautiful, honest, raw, and powerful with the world.

quirky fact:  If I could be a flower, I would be a ranunculus and I live in a milk glass vase.

Q. Tell us about your photography journey, when and how did you become interested, and how did that grow into starting a business?


For as long as I can remember, I was going to grow up and be a Doctor.  But for just as long as I can remember, while I was saying I would be a Doctor, I spent all my free time doing something involving the creative arts.  I went to college and graduated with a Pre-med degree but even then, every other class was an art class.  I suppose I just assumed that my job would be practical and a ‘good choice’ while my love for making art would be what I do quietly and for myself. I took some time off after college because there was this part of me that knew that if I wanted to commit to med-school, I needed to be 100% certain it was right for me. I could never shake the feeling that I was trying to stuff my round-peg heart into a square-peg career.

It was during that time that I married my husband and his father gave me his Minolta 35mm camera.  It was a new medium for me to experiment with artistically and it was a revelation!  Skip down the road a few years and I was getting a lot of commissions to draw portraits for people. I began to get more serious about portrait photography so that I could use photographs as references (kind of like having a live model, but not!) The more I delved into portraiture, the more I began to develop my technical photography skills so I could create strong portraits to draw from.  I also had my first son, the ideal subject, and my time with a camera grew exponentially. J One thing led to another and I began to get inquiries from friends of friends for photo sessions.

In 2008, a wedding photographer friend of mine, whom I really admire, let me tag along with him to a wedding he was shooting.  He gave me a pressure free opportunity to experience and photograph the wild and wonderful world that is the Wedding Day.  And that was that.  I wanted in.  I wanted to photograph weddings.

In 2009, I hung out my “wedding photographer – open for business” shingle and shot 1 wedding.  I had no more bookings till almost a year later in 2010 (yup, that was tough.) But by the end of 2010 I’d photographed 6 weddings, and now here I am.

Q. Tell us about your gear, Nikon or Canon? Digital or Film? Favorite lens? Anything on your wish list? 


I am a Canon shooter and use the 5D Mark III as my primary working camera.   I also shoot film and my new favorite film camera is the Hasselblad 500cm, it shoots square frames…how cool is that! My other film cameras are the Contax 645, and a Canon EOS 3 35mm.

At the top of my wish list is getting a faster computer (this covers the first several slots of the wish list.)

Q. I am a huge fan of your work, I get lost in your blog and website for hours.  All of the people you photograph are so filled with emotion and seem so relaxed and natural in front of the camera.  How do you do it?  How do you connect on an emotional level, get them to relax and be themselves?  

First off, thank you Rebecca.  That’s a lovely compliment and one that I really take to heart because being able to convey honest emotion in my photography is one of the single most important elements I strive for in my work.  At the core, I am quite a serious person.  I have a difficult time with surface talk and find it easier to go deep with people sooner rather than later.  When I photograph people, the first twenty minutes is often spent taking time to talk and finding something to connect over.  In order for me to expect people to let me into their lives, I have to be willing to let them into mine.  So I ask a lot of questions about who they are and respond with sharing about who I am in more than just a surface way.

I tend to be shy but I invariably open up to and relax around people who genuinely want to know me so I figure that if that works so well for me, it will work with my clients. When I show up to a session, I am focused on building a sincere friendship more than getting the ‘perfect shot.’  Once I build that small level of trust and friendship with them, the photography part of it becomes quite easy because at that point, most people have forgotten that I have a camera with me.

Q. Why weddings?  

Because at a wedding, I get to experience the full range of human emotion and connection.  Getting married is one of the most important milestones in a person’s life and I get to be right in the middle of it with a front row ticket! I can’t imagine anything more fulfilling for a people-watcher like myself to photograph than weddings.

Q. What’s your favorite part of a wedding to photograph?

Hmmm, I’ve thought long and hard about this before because I’ve been asked this question previously.  But I can’t answer with anything specific. I feel like I’m being redundant, but anything that expresses emotion draws me.  So whether it’s when the bride is laughing with her bridesmaids in the dressing room, or looking into her groom’s eyes during the ceremony, or hugging her parents goodbye before she drives off, if a moment carries feeling, I love to photograph it.

Q.  I know you travel a lot to photograph weddings – how did your business go in that direction?  How do your destination brides find you?

I didn’t really make a concentrated effort to go looking for destination weddings so I don’t have any step-by-step guidelines.  All of my destination weddings have been booked because of referrals from friends or because the bride and/or groom were guests at a wedding I had photographed.

Q. What is the one thing you struggle with the most in terms of the technical side or the business side of your business?


The things I’ve struggled most with are to do with the business of being a business.  I significantly underestimated the amount of non-photography work that goes into running a business and because of my lack of admin skills, I feel like I don’t have as solid a business as I would like.  I think that I always assumed that if I just focus on making amazing images, the “clients would come” and the business would figure itself out, but I’ve learned that it’s just not true.  To that end, I’m trying to bring in people who have the skills and resources to help me with some of the business end of things (accountant, contract help, marketing help, studio manager) which leaves me more time and energy to focus on my clients and photography .

Q. Want to share any advice you received early on in your career that helped you immensely? 


Some of the best and most liberating advice I heard when I was just starting out and worried that I wouldn’t book any weddings ever was…Don’t base your sense of beauty on another person’s aesthetic. I read that somewhere and though I don’t have it quoted exactly, the sentiment behind it really stuck with me. To photograph for myself, to create something I find beautiful and am proud of and to not have to explain it.   For me, I really took a hold of that and made it my own. It’s so easy to see my work through another person’s eyes and be swayed by opinions about what someone else thinks is beautiful and what isn’t, but that little phrase has always reminded me to find my own aesthetic and be true to it regardless of how many clients may or may not book me because of it.

Q. Any parting words of wisdom for other photographers just starting out?

Enjoy the process.  Don’t forget to enjoy the process.  Instead of spending time fretting about what you haven’t yet achieved and worrying about if you ever will, take the time to savor and enjoy where you are right now in your photography journey. Trust that if you’re not there right now, you’ll get there eventually so just slow down and enjoy the here and now. (These are words of wisdom I have to remind myself of quite often and I think they’ll apply to me even when I’m a photographer with hundreds of weddings under my belt!)

Thank you, Shipra!!  It’s been a pleasure having you here  

Now, GO!  Like her Facebook page and follow her work!!  You won’t regret it!

You can find them here on their website and follow them here on Facebook.

Enjoy!

 

 

Mariana: I LOVE working with my husband. We have a connection that I know could never be the same with another assistant or second shooter. We understand and connect with our couples in many ways, especially because we’re in love. We know our weaknesses and our strengths, and support each other to continue successfully growing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Q.  Tell us about your photography journey, when and how did you become interested, and how did that grow into starting a business?

Ever since I can remember, my parents have jokingly called me “button-pusher.” I can recall being very young and simply having a fascination with buttons and knobs of all kinds, wondering what each one did. Being a millennial, I think that naturally evolved into having some sort of interest in computers, which led to taking a CompTia A+ class in high school. After deciding that taking apart and putting together computers wasn’t quite my thing, I still knew I wanted to do something involving computers. From there, I started learning graphic design and Photoshop. I eventually got to a point where I didn’t have enough photos for my designs, so I picked up a camera and haven’t really looked back.

Q.  What’s your favorite subject to photograph?

I really love photographing people. I think that there’s something about documenting our times or telling a story through the faces of people and the places and things that surround them that really keeps me going. I don’t know if this is the right place to get all mushy and romantic over photography, but, in a sense, it’s that Cartier-Bresson kind of “decisive moment” that keeps me in love with the game.

 Q.  Tell us about your gear. Anything on your wish list? 

Oh my … My primary setup is a Nikon D700 with a low-aperture 50 mm. I also shoot a digital medium format Mamyia usually with a 55 mm or 85 mm. The Mamyia has a Leaf Aptus 22 back, and I’d love to upgrade to a PhaseOne back sometime soon. As far as strobes are concerned, I mostly use Paul C. Buff, but it depends on the shoot and what’s available for rent.

Q.  How or where do you find your creative inspiration? How do you push yourself creatively?

I get creative inspiration from all kinds of things. I love thinking about interesting designs and how they could be translated into photographs. I love music videos and films. I think that there are a lot of creatives, lighting designers, and directors of photography in the television and film world who are severely under appreciated. I love art, and to look through museums, galleries, and old photo archives to see what people are doing now, and to see what people have done throughout the past. As simple as it sounds, I look at a lot of pictures. My inspirational philosophy is pretty simple: good stuff in, good stuff out.

As far as pushing myself creatively … I’m always working on an independent or personal project of some kind. I’m a firm believer in getting your personal work to sell your professional work. If you’re making the things that you want to be making, chances are, there’s someone out there who wants to pay you for it.

Q.  How did you find your style?

This is always such an interesting question to me because I think that, in a sense, my style really found me. It’s kind of a culmination of my own personal history, and to that end, I think it’s still evolving. Had I not gotten into design, or known Photoshop, or loved movies, all kinds of defining elements to my style would be missing. I think it’s almost a bit like someone’s personality in the sense that it can sometimes really be molded by past experiences, events, and interests.

Q.  What is the one thing you struggle with the most in terms of the technical side or the business side?

The business side for sure, embarrassingly so some days. I can get the gist of most technical manuals, but rarely are there step by step directions for running a business.

Q.  Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10 years?

I hardly have any idea where I’ll be next week! Predicting 5-10 years is, quite candidly, a bit of a stretch. My highest priority is to be happy and be behind a camera, probably shooting interesting people. After that, the rest of it doesn’t really matter so much. I would like to be doing work for major magazines and companies at some point, but in most ways that’s more of a bonus than anything.

Q.  Want to share any advice you received early on in your career that helped you immensely? 

I was always told to be sure that I did something I loved. I think that there’s certainly something to that, especially for photographers, and even some days within the realm of photography itself. This business has a lot of ups and downs, and if you’re starting out for a glamorous lifestyle or an easy paycheck you should get your priorities in check … quickly.

Q.  Any parting words of wisdom for other photographers just starting out?

I think one of the most overlooked and undervalued things photographers don’t consider is the real value of a good creative community. I’m not saying everyone should join a hippie commune, but so many times we get stuck in the bubbles of our own worlds and don’t stop to appreciate many of the great things that are around us. Invest time and effort into creating or joining a small community of artists whose opinions you value and whose work you admire; it can be a great creative think tank when you need it, and even better resources for photo shoots.

Thank you for chatting with us, Trenton!!

If all of that wasn’t enough, Kristen is also the founder and the executive director of Images for a Cure, a non-profit organization that works with it’s photographer members to raise money for The Breast Cancer Research Foundation.  For more information, click here.

Find Kristen on her website.

Follow her blog.

Like her on Facebook.

Enjoy!

Q. Welcome! Tell us a bit about yourself!

Hi there! My name is Kristen and I’m a photographer! I just celebrated my 3 year business anniversary and although I’m based in Central Florida, I actually have become more of a destination photographer, and have had the opportunity to travel to places like Australia, the Bahamas, Mexico, Canada and Jamaica for weddings! I’m obsessed with all things fashion (my photography background actually stems from doing “fashion” photography as a hobby and working with developing models).  I also love sweet tea, cheese and cats.

Q. Tell us about your photography journey, when and how did you become interested, and how did that grow into starting a business?

Oh wow, ok well I  always had been that girl with her camera through high school and college. Then, my mom bought me a Canon Rebel film camera my junior year of college. Don’t get it twisted though, I’m now strictly a Nikon girl

We had a big graphic design project during my senior year to make a magazine cover as part of a typography assignment. When I looked for a cover photo from what we were given online, I couldn’t find exactly what I was looking for. So I invited my friend to take some headshots so I could use them. After those pictures were developed, I started getting contacted by all of my sorority sisters to take pictures of them with their friends, boyfriends and parents. I spent nearly 8 hours a day out at this garden shooting. My payment was a set of the doubles from WalMart (yes, seriously).

Fast forward when I decided to get some experience working for a wedding photographer. Thinking it would be super fun – I was super wrong. It was exhausting, stressful and scary. I vowed to never photograph another wedding for as long as I lived when I left that job.

So I turned to shooting more as a hobby and working with developing models. That was more my speed! But then, the same friend that I shot in high school asked me to shoot her wedding. She was also a model and Miss Florida runner up – so it was an easy assignment. At her wedding – something clicked that had never clicked before! I was able to take everything I loved about photography and everything I loved about my friends and had this epiphany. I loved every second of that day – stress, responsibility and all!  From there it just went from word of mouth referrals and I’d shoot about 3 weddings a year.

When I got laid off from my job as a marketing director in 2009, I decided to make the jump full-time, and I haven’t looked back. My business has grown nearly 1500% from my first to second year, and it’s been on a steady incline ever since.

Q. What’s your favorite subject to photograph?

I still absolutely love photographing weddings, but I adore shooting developing models! It’s sort of where I felt the most at home in the past, but now it’s the opportunity to be a little more creative and express myself emotionally through my subjects.

When it comes to weddings, I love the opportunity to travel and shoot in new locations. It’s so inspiring to see different cultures and venues and just absorb myself in an entirely different world.

Q. Tell us about your gear. Anything on your wish list?

I’m all primes – so I keep my lenses pretty simple and have what I need for right now. But I wouldn’t mind picking up film again and getting back in to the creative groove that I miss so much from my past.

Q. How or where do you find your creative inspiration? How do you push yourself creatively?

This is a place that I’ve been struggling with so much lately! I LOVE my brides, but I’m definitely going to be taking far less weddings in the future. Just having a weekend off gives me the opportunity to breathe and relax, which in turn – makes me feel more creative and excited for the next wedding.

I get inspired from so many places! In my work with models, I’m inspired from fashion magazines (mainly international editions) and the culture and fashion from other parts of the world. Currently, I’ve been digging the romantic boho casual side of Australian fashion.

When I’m working with a bride and groom – they’re my biggest inspiration! Every relationship is different, and it’s my job to study each one and learn what their relationship is about. They inspire me in the way that they touch, love and kiss.

Q. What is the one thing you struggle with the most in terms of the technical side or the business side?

Ugh. Financials – for sure. I didn’t become a photographer because I’m great with money. We just hired a new CPA, Financial Advisor and legal team to help us get completely in order, but I’m not sure who’s more stressed out – me or them!  I learned that I have to be honest with myself and it’s just not a place that I’m skilled, so I needed to bring in people who are experts in that field. I have a hard time thinking that I can do it all. It’s always hard to admit when you need help!

Q. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10 years?

I would absolutely love to go in to consulting for other photography studios. I think my business has grown so quickly because of my marketing knowledge. When it comes to marketing, branding and that side of the business, I can make anyone successful! I love market research and I’d love to start working with other photographers to guide them. Maybe even be a bit of an “agent” for other photographers. I love developing talented professionals!

Q. Want to share any advice you received early on in your career that helped you immensely?

I realized early on that you need to LOVE what you do. It’s never been about the money, or the traveling, or anything else. It’s about your heart. If you don’t love it – and I mean REALLY love it – your clients will know.

Also, you need a fantastic team to support you. Whether it’s your husband/wife, parents, or an assistant – trust those that work with you and delegate some of that responsibility.

Q. What’s something you knew early on in your photography journey that you know now?

I wish I had known to just let myself breathe sometimes. I am such a workaholic, and you just need to give yourself time to yourself so that you don’t burn out.

Q. Any parting words of wisdom for other photographers just starting out?

Have confidence in yourself! You have to trust that you’re making the right decisions for you and your business. I can’t tell you how many tears were shed when I started – and I had to trust myself that I was making the right choices. I had to stick to my guns with my pricing, and my business principles to not discount.  It was really hard to hear the “no’s”, but in the end, it was so very worth it! My clients respect me and value my work – and that’s priceless to me!

Thank you, Kristen, for chatting and sharing with us!!

Joie can be found here on her website and here on Facebook.  Enjoy!

Q. Welcome, Joie! Tell us a bit about yourself! 
A. Hi there, I’m Joie! A wife to my high school sweetheart now for 18 years. Together we have four children. Two girls and two boys. At the moment our oldest is learning to drive while our youngest is potty training. Crazy, but I wouldn’t trade a single moment!

Q. Tell us about your photography journey, when and how did you become interested, and how did that grow into starting a business?
A. I’ve always been an artsy person. Every chance I had in high school to choose an elective I would always choose art. It wasn’t until I had my first child that I really started playing around with photography. I remember dressing my daughter up in every outfit she owned and snapping a quick picture of her the day after we came home from the hospital. In 2005 I got my first dslr. Which at the time was the Canon Rebel. Then moved up to the Nikon D300 in 2007. This is when my passion really began. I started shooting anything and everything, friends and families children. Then I started getting request to shoot other peoples children. It wasn’t until 2010 that I officially stated my business as Angels Among Us. I just recently changed the name this spring to Asher Layne. Why you ask! Well, I felt like I had out grown the Angels Among Us name and wanted something a little more upscale. The name Asher Layne is made up of two boys names I loved that my husband and I couldn’t agree upon while naming our boys. Crazy, right? haha… This way I still got to use my names I loved and it just so happened that they sounded awesome together. Oh, and in case you’re wondering… Our boys names are Tyeler Seth (Tye) and Ryder Joseph.

Q. What’s your favorite subject to photograph? 
A. Definitely children then newborns. Toddlers hold a special place in my heart. I love to capture them as they discover new things. They’re always so wide eyed and full of personality. I don’t even mind the cranky and meltdown moments. They’re just so sweet… I could play with them all day.

Q. Tell us about your gear. Anything on your wish list?
A. I shoot mainly with the Nikon D700 and use the D300 for backup. My go to lens was the 50mm 1.4G until I started having focusing issues. So, now I’ve been rocking my 85mm 1.8G. I also have the 105mm 2.8 for macro shots. Oh gosh my wish list… Lets see. At the top of my list would be the Nikkor 35mm 1.4G.

Q. How or where do you find your creative inspiration? How do you push yourself creatively?
A. Gosh, my inspiration is found everywhere! Pinterest is AWESOME!!!  I’ll usually get a little information from my clients about their child and put things together from that. My main goal is to capture children as themselves. I mainly let them run the show.

Q. What is the one thing you struggle with the most in terms of the technical side or the business side?
A. I would say, keeping up with my expenses and finances. I procrastinate and wait until the end of the year to get everything together to take to the accountant. Yes, I’m a slacker!

Q. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10 years?  
A. I see myself with a small, quaint, natural light studio set up to do newborn work. Nothing big. Just small and cozy with a ton of natural light.

Q. Any parting words of wisdom for other photographers just starting out? 
A. The best words of wisdom I could give to photographers just starting out would be; to stay true to yourself and not to worry about what other photographers are doing around you. You will only drive yourself CRAZY!

AND, she was the BIG winner of the Canon Project Imagin8ion – her image was chosen specifically by Ron Howard and Bryce Dallas Howard and inspired a short movie directed by Bryce.  How amazing is that?!

If you’re not familiar with that project, check it out at these various places:

Q. Welcome, Lexia! Tell us a bit about yourself!

A. hello all! I’m a fine art wedding film photographer, but i also shoot lifestyle portraits and birth photography. but mostly i’m a mama to two little boys (tavish 4yrs, Pierson 2 yrs) and we’re right in the middle of a cross country move to Portland, Oregon from Tampa, Florida, with a small layover (well…ahem… 4 months…) in Madison, Wisconsin. If it sounds nuts, it totally is.  But, we’re excited to start a new adventure in a new area!

You can follow Tami’s work here on her website, on her blog and on Facebook!

Q.  Welcome, Tami! Tell us a little bit about yourself! 

Hello there! First thank you very much for featuring me, I am so honored.  Let’s see… I live in Denver, Colorado my husband and 7 year old son.  We moved here from California about 6 years ago and just fell in love with this beautiful state.  We love visiting the mountains to go hiking and recently went on a camping trip! Camping was fun but my favorite vacation spot is still Maui. (Go figure!)   I opened my photography business about three years ago and work mainly with newborns and families.

Q.  Tell us about your photography journey, when did you become interested, and how did that grow into starting a business?

I officially started my business in 2009 after tormenting my son for over five years with the endless camera in his face.  He is my little muse and I have him to thank for making photography not just a hobby but my passion.  After he was born the time was flying by so I used my camera to document those everyday moments and am now very thankful to have all those photographs that captured him during those precious years.   After being asked by close friends to take pictures of their family, I found I not only loved to photograph my little guy but others as well.   It allowed my creativity to grow and I was hooked!  Giving families the gift of photography has brought more joy to my life than I could have ever imagined.

Earlier this year I expanded my business and built a home studio for my newborn and baby plan clients.  As many people know, newborn photography is multi faceted and many props can be involved so having a dedicated space with optimal lighting for my clients is wonderful and has really helped my business grow.

Q.  What do you specialize in? And what’s your favorite subject to photograph?

My main focus is newborns, babies and families.  I’d like to say newborns are my favorite subject to shoot but then I have a fantastic family session and I know there is no way I could ever give those sessions and only focus on newborns.  However, I will say I specialize in newborns because I have put a tremendous amount of time and effort into learning as much as possible about photographing those little ones  including taking a workshop that was one of the best investments I have made in my business.

Q.  Natural light or studio light? Favorite time of day to shoot?  

Oh my goodness there are  so many!  I love Leah Cook for her lifestyle shots and one day wish I could see life the way she does with her camera.  For newborns, I think Baby as Art is amazing and I also love the simplistic style of Kristen Cook.  Her photography is breathtaking.  Another favorite is Lisa Lucky.  Check out her site and you’ll understand why!  I could go on and on but I’ll stop there.