Constantly learning...

  I have always been a big advocate of continuing education, but now I feel as if I am a product of that idea. I  spend most of my days learning through seminars and books, and when I am not doing that, I am trying to practice the techniques and skills I am learning. The best thing is taking on challenges that other professionals in my field have issued. After all, they have been there and learned most things the hard way, and when the work is just not flowing like I wish it would, I take these challenges to heart. Challenges drive me, and push me to learn and master new techniques and ideas. And I find myself in the unusual position of working for myself rather than for a client, which means I have no limits, no boundaries on my creativity.
  I started this post nearly a year ago, and since have learned quite a bit. My posing has improved, as well as my composition, technique, camera knowledge, and most importantly, my confidence. I now possess a greater ability to roll with the punches at most of my shoots. When challenges come up, I often find myself being able to say "Hey, I've done this before, just breathe and make it beautiful." and it helps me maintain the focus I need in order to rely on my training. Whereas, less than a year ago, I was freaking out when all the conditions weren't ideal. Now I am learning to master the art of controlling the situations, and quick alternate routes for the times when I can't control everything.
   I plan to continue updating this post as I learn new things, hope to be revisiting this post often, in fact. And to those of you readers who are now or plan to be engaged in some kind of training or education, never settle for knowing enough. Always push your boundaries, and don't be afraid to step outside your comfort zone. Constantly surprise yourself by meeting new challenges, and master your craft, whatever it may be. There is no greater feeling than being able to execute a task with expected results over and over again, and to have people view you as a trusted advisor in your field. While I have only had the pleasure of experiencing this on a very small scale, I still hope to someday call some of my favorite photographers my peers.
   If you have been motivated to keep learning, or already appreciate the value in expanding your knowledge base, please comment below and let me know what you desire to learn next, or what it is that you are studying for. Thanks for reading, now to crack another book...

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:
  

Depth of Field

  I had an interesting learning experience the other day. I was at a friend's house for a cookout, and he and his wife have been an inspiration to me since the day we met. They are just good-natured, down-to-earth people, and I absolutely love them! They both are never depleting fountains of knowledge, and they are always willing to share new information and old experiences. They both are great mentors to me. Anyway, he is a Vietnam vet, and as I have recently discovered, he was a photographer during the war. As we started to talk a little shop, he brings out this really old 35mm camera, and begins to show me the different scales on the lens. He showed me what dials adjusted for exposure, and which one controlled depth of field and how to measure that. Wow, what a useful tool! Why did manufacturers quit doing that? I am now on lookout for an older lens that will work with my DSLR. It is definitely on my wish list. I have been struggling with combining different concepts to get the depth of field that is desirable for different effects in different shots. After he showed me the dials, all the explanations began to click. Now, I think I have got it, and I am off to practice!