Tasha

   Last Tuesday, the 26th of March, was the end of a very unproductive weekend-long stretch. After having shoot after shoot get cancelled during my 28 day challenge, I found a girl who was as committed to getting great shots of herself as I was. As part of the 28 day challenge, this post is going to be a bit different than my others. I will be sharing photos of the beautiful Tasha, but I will also be sharing images from behind the scenes, taken by my friend, Jamie Lee. I want to take this opportunity to thank both Tasha and Jamie for their participation, support, and good humor! I had a great time spending the day with both of these amazing women.

   When Tasha first arrived, we sat down for hair and makeup, and partway through her foundation, I remembered to get the before shot. Here it is, along with the afters from last week:

                   After Tasha's makeup was finished, we moved upstairs to style her hair:

 

 

 

After we finished getting Tasha ready, it was time to shoot!

 

 

We had a fabulous time playing with some of the accessories I had on hand, and even used some in Tasha's shoot. This black hat was amazing on her, and she really knew how to work that fringed shawl!

 

Getting some of that diminishing daylight back on Tasha's face.

 

As Tasha was getting ready to leave, she put her first outfit back on, and we were just hanging out on the upstairs balcony. This red scarf caught our eye, and I felt it was too good to pass up. This was one of my favorite series of shots, even if I do need to clean it up a bit. As my mentor says, great expression trumps all, and this is what great expression looks like!

28 Day Challenge

   As some of you may already know, I am a huge advocate of continuing education. No matter what we tell ourselves, we really don't know it all. I love learning new things, and when those things cycle back to growing my business or my brand, it is ten times the benefit! The latest instructor, whom I have been fortunate enough to follow, has recently issued a 28 day challenge. In this, she follows the same criteria she has used in the past to train new photographers to work for her own studio. In 28 days.
   What a jam-packed few weeks I have been experiencing! Each day's challenge has been very specific, and very extensively covered. Each new challenge deals directly with specific issues that many, many photographers have brought to her attention.
   One such issue was posing. Several challenges deal with different aspects of posing, and through them, I am finding myself taking this very seriously. I am learning to see the human form through the shapes and sizes.
   My absolute favorite of the challenges, by far, has been on capturing expression. Not an easy task, especially when you are shy. I am gaining more and more confidence with every shoot that I do. I have decided to incorporate hair and makeup into my contemporary glamour shoots. I have found that this time allows everyone to get past the awkward moments and really begin to connect and relax.
   One of the most difficult challenges for me has been on marketing. I have had a hard time knowing whether or not I was truly ready to put myself out there. As you can see, I am here, pouring it all out there as I grow. Another hurdle I found with this type of challenge was in creating the materials, as I do not own Photoshop at this point in my career.
   As you can tell, I have been quite busy learning so many new things. What is knowledge without practice though? I have been booking as many shoots as I can, but there is always room for more. If you are in the central WV area and are interested in receiving a gift voucher for a photo shoot, or would like one for a friend, please call me (Leona) at (304) 704-1362 for details.
   And just to give you guys a sneak peak at some results of my recent training, here is a before and after of Tasha, whose shoot you will be seeing in next week's blog post:
  

Melissa

  On Saturday, I had the privilege of shooting a wonderful family. This couple

Melissa and Craig

                                          is ushering a new little girl into her life, Kylee was just 2 months old. I love the adorableness of this age.

Next in age, little Alivia. 5 years old, and does that girl ever love pink! It suits her quite well too, don't you think?

            

And next to her, her big brother Zachari, loves to show his edge. Quite a handsome fellow.

 

   I love to see a family that knows how to have fun together, and this bunch definitely has it going on! Some of my favorite shots were the playful moments at the park.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks, Melissa and Craig, for allowing me to spend the day with your family, such a super-fun photo shoot!

Behind the Pens-Professional Portraits of a Writer on WVWC Campus

  This post is extremely overdue, started out to be weeks, now it is months. I am determined to post before it turns a year old. Sharing this experience has been knocked further down the to-do list with every disaster our area has seen recently. Storm damage and financial concerns have taken precedence over doing the things I love for far too long. Time to settle back into routines, and get my nose to the grind.
  A few (now quite a few more) months ago, I had the honor of being commissioned by a writer friend of mine, the amazingly beautiful and ridiculously talented, Marjorie McAtee. She had decided she had reached a point in her career that commanded some new professional portraits. We decided to meet on campus at West Virginia Wesleyan College, right in our hometown, Buckhannon, WV. We nailed it right away.


Marjorie McAtee

                                   
 
  And we even managed to snap off some fun, quirky, and sexy shots as well!

 

                                                     

  She seemed pretty impressed with the post-processing, but she gives me too much credit. As a subject, she made my job very easy and so much fun! Her blog is amazing, and if you want a totally candid, to- the-point perspective on almost anything, check her out. http://www.dontcallmemarge.com/
And you can read more about her experience during our shoot on her post here:  http://www.dontcallmemarge.com/2012/08/photo-shoot-at-wvwc.html
  During the couple afternoons I spent with her, we were able to get some knockout shots, and spend time delving into the depths of memories of High School days gone by. The best part was a healthy corruption of my son's vocabulary (we have taught him worse!), and the gab-sessions on family and careers. It's nice to know that I am not alone in feeling my way through dealing with both. I think I will leave the writing to her, though, as it has taken me forever to figure out how to get a blog going, and adding links and photos...so not the game I started out to play! Slow and steady wins the race though, and here I am, still chugging away at a slow pace.
  If you are looking for ideas on what to do for a professional portrait, I would suggest that women go light and natural on makeup. Don't go overboard on accesories, keep it simple. The same goes for choosing what you will wear. People connect with people, and your future clients want to see you. Loud or flashy clothes can compete with you for their attention. And above all, show some personality. People want to know that you can be relatable. To check out more of Marjorie's photo shoot, or for information on booking one of your own, visit http://wvglitter.wix.com/ldimagery and check out the corporate gallery.