Collaborations with other photographers and videographers, classes, workshops and courses taken, and awards received:
2021
In 2021 I hosted my FIRST EVER photography workshop. I taught on "Introduction to Manual Mode and Using Natural Light". It was seriously an AMAZING night!!! We had such incredibly gorgeous light! Our models were AMAZING! And I had three VERY talented photographers attend the event. It was so wonderful!!! You can check out the blog post HERE. Or check out some of the pictures from the event below.
In 2021 I took the following classes:
Editing Secrets to Consistently Bright Images and Natural Skin Tones by Katelyn James Photography
Wedding Day Flash Mini Course (5 Course Class) by Brittany Bruce
2020
I received the Wedding Wire Couples' Choice Award 2020. This award recognizes my "commitment to quality, service, responsiveness, and professionalism." It is SUCH A HUGE HONOR to receive this award!!! I am over-the-moon excited!!! I have just the best clients EVER and I'm so happy to see what I've been able to achieve over the years. I can't wait to keep improving and growing even more!!
In 2020 I took the following classes/courses:
"Four Hardest Parts of a Wedding Day" by Katelyn James
"How to Handle a First Look in Harsh Light" by Katelyn James
"How to Get Rid of Green Skin Tones" by Katelyn James
"Behind the Scenes of 2 Engagement Shoots" by Katelyn James
"Truth in Family Photography- Photo Sessions That Fill Your Heart and Set You Apart" by Yan Palmer
"3 Things You Need to Know to Build a Business" by Sandra Coan
"5 Ways Posing Can Improve Your Client's Experience" by Katelyn James
2019
August 2019- I had one of the biggest, most amazing things happen!!! I got to collaborate and work with Alexa Ogilvie of Taylor Jay Photography. Not with her being a mentor and teaching a class, but us working together as PARTNERS!!! Oh man!!! It was so amazing!!! Together, we worked on a HUGE project we called "Celebration of Beauty". It was a project all about inspiring and empowering women to love themselves and the journey that made them who they are. We had 12 BEAUTIFUL models!!!
Amanda Lundskog Marcee Carlton Shaila Baker Cassie Firth Karen Fullmer Steffani Rowley Christee Schofield Kyla Cecil Lauralee Hill Alexandra Scherzinger Mindy Johnson Kiri Martin
These girls each picked one empowering word that best described themselves which we had printed on a shirt for them. They also each wrote a story about their own personal journey to self love. And we shared it with the world!
These beautiful ladies came together in such an amazing way. They started out strangers but ended the shoot as sisters. On the shoot we were able to have an amazing celebration involving colored chalk. Tears were shed as we shouted, "I AM BEAUTIFUL!!!" It was such an amazing, breath-taking, beautiful experience to be a part of. I'm so grateful Alexa chose me to be her partner in this. We worked so well together and prayed about EVERY decision we made. It was an awesome thing to have God so involved in the project with us.
To read our beautiful models' stories or check out the project click here.
We also were blessed to have Shaun Schofield of Doze Videos come to the shoot and make a video for the project! He was so easy to work with!! He was fun and creative and so chill!! Sometimes I forgot he was there! He was awesome at quietly capturing the beauty of the project. Here is the awesome video he made for us:
In 2019 I took the following classes/courses:
"KJ Access Editing Video" by Katelyn James
3 months of Open Access behind-the-scenes weddings by Katelyn James
"7 Types of Light on a Wedding Day" by Zach and Amy
"Lighting" with Justin and Mary
I was able to work with Sarita Day of Mrs. Photography again!!! This time it was for my sister's wedding!!! She was able to come along and do their first look/formals with me. Then she did me a HUGE favor by taking all of the group pictures on the wedding day (since I had to be IN the pictures not taking them) ;) She was pregnant and sick, and still she came and did an amazing job!!! It was awesome to mentor her and collaborate with her.
2018
I was approached by Sarita Day of Mrs. Photography; and she asked if I would mind letting her come and shadow me on a wedding so she can get the feel for how to capture one as a photographer. I WAS SO HONORED!!! I have been so grateful for my mentor and how much she has helped me. I was so excited to be able to pay it forward and help someone else. But first, I had to check with the Bride and Groom. This was THEIR day and it had to be okay with them first. Sarita and I were both very excited when we got the approval from the couple to have her come shadow and be a second shooter for the wedding. She was able to be a part of their First Look where we also did some bridals, pictures of the groom, and some formals. Then she was able to help capture their wedding day as well!They received all of her pictures as well (at no extra cost) as a thank you. Sarita has a great eye and I am excited to watch her grow in this business. I'm so happy I have grown to a point where I can now help mentor someone else. It was a huge honor and I was more than happy to do it!
I had the awesome honor of working with AubreyLynn Videos on 2 different weddings!!! This girl is CRAZY talented!!! It was an honor to work with her! She did an amazing job doing videos for both the Snyder and the Perez Weddings. I also hired her to make me 2 different videos!!! (She was real busy there for a while. haha) Here are the 2 videos she made me: One is a quick wedding one for my business and the other is a "What Can You Expect on a Shoot with Me". Both turned out awesome! It was awesome to work so closely with an amazing videographer.
March 2018- I took another Masterclass from Alexa Ogilvie of Taylor Jay Photography. During this class I learned a lot about focus adjustment, using Kelvin for beautiful skin tones, and how to better use the light in a location. Our models were Ashlee, Mitch, and Brooklyn Booth and they were so wonderful!!! It was such an awesome shoot!! I learned so much and had the most amazing time (as always). We were way up in the mountains and the snow was SO DEEP!! Like, Alexa and I were falling through and it was up to our hips!!! We couldn't stop laughing as we trudged through it all. I have become pretty good friends with Alexa over the years and I'm so grateful she is so kind to help me grow. She is an amazing mentor and I always learn so much from her classes!!! I love the hands-on learning that gets to happen!! Alexa always does an awesome job of taking pictures of me in action too!
2017
In 2017 I took the following classes and courses:
"Creative Family Shoot in the City" by Danielle Hatcher
"The Power of Play- Capturing Authenticity in Children and Family Portraiture" by Virginia Greulach
"6 Tips to Grow your Photography Business" by Cole's Classroom
"Capturing Honest Joy in Couples" by Anita Martin
"Create the Light you Desire" by Meg Loeks
"Daring to be Different" by Laura Froese
"Depth in Imagry- Producing Photographs with Emotion" by Monika Colichio
"Lightseekers- Capture Beautiful Light at Any Time of Day" by Tarah Sweeney, Courtney Larson, Kristin Dokoza and Laura Mitchell
2016
Sept 2016- Alexa Ogilvie of Taylor Jay Photography held an amazing Masterclass!!! I was joined by other talented photographers: Litha Gomez, Jake Nilson, and Erin Scoonover. We also had beautiful models!!! Alycia Anderson and Erik and Alisha Schofield. It was an AMAZING night. It was all about Movement in Images! We had amazing props for our models to move around with and we learned all about capturing that movement in beautiful images. It was such an awesome night! There was so much inspiration and excitement. It was an AWESOME class. I loved every second of it. It was such an amazing shoot that we kept shooting even when we ran out of light! We lined up our cars and turned on their headlights so we could keep shooting!! haha It was such a special and amazing experience. One of my favorites for sure! As always, Alexa got some awesome images of all of us practicing what she was teaching!
I also took 2 classes from Cole's Classroom: "Improve Your Wedding Photography" and "How to Book More Clients".
2015
April 2015- I was able to do another mentoring shoot with Alexa Ogilvie of Taylor Jay Photography. She is seriously so wonderful for taking the time to teach me and help me grow in this art and in this business!!! This time we worked on finding light and posing. Our model was Lexi and she totally killed it!!! She was AMAZING! I had the most amazing time and Alexa was able to get some photos of me too!!! It was awesome. :)
2014
March 2014: My dad brought me to a Manual Mode class held by Jon Williams. This class was amazing! It taught us all about manual mode in Digital Cameras. I LOVED IT!! I was like a sponge... soaking it all in!!! I reignited my love for photography. All of a sudden I knew what I wanted to do. I felt foolish I hadn't thought of it sooner. I worked hard to practice and develop a portfolio so that I could start my own photography business.
I started following a blog called "Click it up a Notch". It is seriously an AMAZING blog! They have wonderful information to help improve your photography. It's also an amazing place for inspiration. It also has been a great way to network with other photographers. I have followed them and learned from them since 2014.
July 2014- On one of the posts from the Click it up a Notch Blog, she was asking all of us photographers to support one another. We were to leave our website and page info, and then go and like 5 other photographer pages in return. It was so wonderful to feel all of the support from those photographers since I was just BARELY starting out my journey as a professional photographer. One of those photographers was Alexa Ogilvie from Taylor Jay Photography. I LOVED her work and worked up the courage to ask her if she would mind letting me come and shadow a shoot she was doing. I was just starting out and feeling a little over my head. She was SO AMAZING!!! She not only let me come shadow her, but she took time to teach me and give me tips along the way. She helped me learn and practice manual mode (so it wasn't as overwhelming) and helped to teach me how to run a photo shoot. She was so amazing and I immediately felt like we were friends! We also had amazing models to work with!!! It was an amazing night and I will forever be grateful that Alexa said yes to helping me!!!
2000
My photography journey began in 2000 when my mom decided to do some at-home summer classes with us. They involved cooking, sewing, and other life skills or new experiences. One of these was a photography class. I was only 12 at the time and there is only so much you can teach a 12 year old. But I LOVED it!!!! She had an old film Pentax and started to teach me some of the basics. I became obsessed with taking pictures!!! I did my own photo shoots with anyone and everyone that would participate (which mostly involved younger siblings..) That year for Christmas I got my own Pentax and it was like the best gift ever!!! I was so happy. And that is where my passion and love for photography started!