Those who know me well know that I really like learning as much as I can about anything… especially about anything that I love – like photography!!! I’m always reading on the latest trends, getting inspiration by looking at the works of amazing photographers… I love just taking it all in!!!  I really want to grow more and more as a photographer, so I welcome any chance I get to learn.  I really believe that no matter what field you are in… you can never stop learning… you can never stop growing … unless you want to be left behind, of course.

So last week I attended a wonderful seminar (David Ziser’s Digital Wakeup Call Tour 2009).  It was such a great workshop! David is truly an amazing photographer, and I love his use of lighting!  The workshop was very interesting and super helpful.  The first half of it was about lighting, and David’s lighting techniques.  I am really excited about implementing some of the techniques that he suggested!  I know they will truly enhance my photography!!!  Some of the techniques he discussed are really simple, and really beneficial – and I’ll be implementing these immediately, of course (mostly having to do with how I bouncy my flash in indoor situations).  There were a couple of techniques that really inspired me but are a little more complex, and I am still trying to figure out how to implement them so that they fit within my own style of photography and within my own wedding-day-workflow.  I’m sure I’ll come up with something… for now they’re marinating in my mind… but I can almost see the vision.  I know that’s a really vague comment – I guess I should just admit I have no clue how I’m going to make it work… but I know I will!!!  The main goal is to get more creative with lighting, light sources, and back-lighting (which is David’s trademark style… his amazing use of back-lighting).  I have always tried to use light to create moods and I love using available light to show the feel of the setting, but now I’m going to take the next step by adding more light sources (and different light angles) to my photography! 

The second half of the seminar was about workflow and about marketing.  The workflow part of my business has always been pretty clear-cut for me… and most of what he discussed are techniques that I already have in place.

I did love to hear what he had to say about marketing… I would love to learn more about how to market myself.  I always feel like I’m not sure how to get my name out there as much as other photographers do.  I have clients that always tell me I’m like a little hidden treasure, and as much as I love to hear that they think of me as a treasure… I just wish I wasn’t such a ‘secret’.  I’m sure this is something most small businesses struggle with – so it’s always great to hear ideas from those photographers that have been in the industry for decades about how to get our names out there and how to market our brand.  I will be implementing some of his ideas on brochures, presentation, and client connections… but I’m most excited about his branding techniques.

I will definitely be implementing new branding techniques soon enough…  as Studio Eternity grows within the next year or so.  I guess I should give you guys a little update on our plans… Studio Eternity will hopefully be going through a great evolution by the end of this year (maybe into early next year).  It’s something I’ve been really excited about, and David’s workshop has given me great ideas about how to get it done.  We’re still developing our new business plan, but we are planning to expand the services of Studio Eternity by quite a bit by the end of the year.  By ‘we’ I mean Ana and I – and those of you who haven’t worked with me probably don’t know too much about Ana… I will introduce her a little more in my next post (promise), but Ana is my right hand when it comes to photography.  She is my 2^nd photographer at nearly all my weddings.  I will be going into more details about what our plans are for Studio Eternity a little more within the next few weeks, and I promise to keep you updated with our plans for growth.