April 25-26: Orlando, Florida

May 23-24: Grand Rapids, Michigan

I’m excited to teach in Orlando this year for the first time!  Regarding my Grand Rapids workshop all photographers are welcome to attend even if you live in the area.  I do not place restrictions because I believe that if you are running your business authentically and with integrity then you have no real competition!  There is only one you!

Feel free to read more information and sign up to attend on my workshops page, and don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions.  And since I always love to throw in a testimonial, here is one that was left on my facebook page last week:

“I went to Amy’s workshop a couple of years ago, and it was AWESOME!!!  I learned so much, met great people and Amy couldn’t have been any sweeter! So if you’re on the fence, GO!!”
- Emily

Here are a couple of my favorite shots that I captured while teaching my last workshop.  We always have an awesome time together.  I hope to see you there!

This was one of my favorite sessions from last August.  It took me months to track down the sailboat, but it was so worth it.  I love to shoot near water since I find it so incredibly inspiring and iconic. However, lighting nautical images presents a few obstacles if you don’t like to shoot in full sun.  It means you’ll need to work with the sunrise or sunset unless you have an overcast day. If you back light your images with the sun rising or setting behind your model, the light is harsher, more direct and results in dramatic loss to the color and detail of the water. Because of this fact, I often prefer to light nautical images from the ‘front’ if possible to preserve the dreamy blue of the water and create a soft, glowy light on my subject’s skin.

To achieve this, you need to shoot in an area where the sun is rising or setting behind a dune bluff or tree line that will act as a filter for the sunlight hitting the subject’s face, thus creating a ‘shade‘ effect. This session took place about an hour and a half before sunset. My subjects faced the sun directly as it sank behind a distant tree line creating a smooth even light on their skin. Keep in mind that shooting that late works best with slightly older children who won’t be falling apart emotionally by evening.

A few tips to keep in mind for lighting:

Know the look you want to achieve.  Lighting sets the mood, conveys emotion and dictates a certain aspect of your artistic style.  Does the type of light you’ve selected for the shoot mesh with the theme and feel you are aiming for?  Will it set you up for successful retouching as you finish the images in your editing software?

Have a well thought out plan in place.  Scout your location ahead of time and identify what the lighting will look like at the exact time of day and time of year where you’ll be shooting.  Lighting conditions can alter drastically from one month to the next as the equinox changes.

Estimate the time constraints.  You may only have a certain amount of time to work with before the lighting changes…i.e. the sun starts setting or disappearing behind other objects, so make sure that you can realistically carry out your whole plan before you lose the light.

I hope these tips are helpful and thanks for reading!

We always start the session with one of my professional make-up artists, and while that’s going on we review wardrobe and discuss preferences for the session. I spend about 3 hours shooting, however with outfits changes, make-up retouches, snack breaks and driving to various locations, a session can last up to 5 hours.  We incorporate 4 to 5 outfit changes, spending about 45 minutes on each outfit.  I’ve found that the session flows best if we start downtown at 4pm to capture some urban shots using the shade of the buildings, and then we drive out to a country location to catch the sunset for those dreamy back lit shots.  I like to provide my seniors with a really diverse portfolio that has as many different poses and looks as possible.  I am a careful and slow shooter.  Posing is an art form, and every detail needs to be accounted for, from the hair falling across the eye, to the necklace out of place, to relaxed hands, to the way the ankles are crossed.  I truly could teach for hours, just on posing and expression!  In the end, they will see around 60 fully retouched proofs in their online gallery.

To some photographers it may sound crazy to spend so much time on one session.  The key is to make sure that your pricing reflects it being worth your time to create such an experience and end product for your client.  Don’t be afraid to make difficult pricing decisions if it enables you to create the type of work you long to produce!  My philosophy has always been quality over quantity and I could never be satisfied with anything less.  In the end, I hope that my senior girls will feel that their senior session captures them at their very best with a style entirely unique from their peers.  Here are some favorites from one of my last senior sessions.

In the same way, I’m completely sentimental about items from my past. The problem with my type of personality is that it doesn’t mesh with parents who like to get rid of things, so I was the kid rescuing stuffed animals from garbage bags and sneaking them back into the house.  Although I wouldn’t classify myself as a pack rat, I do see value in things others might not.  Like the frosty ornament with the worn off face that my mom wanted to throw away when I was little. Frosty lived in hiding in my underwear drawer for ten years and now adorns the most beloved spot on my Christmas tree, front and center.  I drew his eyes back on with a marker.

Unfortunately, the purging tendencies only grow worse once parents have an empty nest.  “Mom, I’d like to take that gingham apron you wore the entirety of my childhood that’s been in this drawer for 20 years. Where is it?”  I love when they play dumb like they just don’t know where things went off to.  I am a day late and a dollar short on every item in question.  The best was when I called home to see if I could take the old wooden dog house for a shoot.  My mom proudly recounted to me how she’d single-handedly chopped it up and burned it just three days prior.  Burned it, people.  I envisioned my mother chopping frantically with the axe thinking,  she’ll never rescue it out of a garbage bag now!!  (insert maniacal laugh).

I realized I’d better start snatching up anything with sentimental value before it all disappeared, or was chopped, burned or otherwise annihilated from the planet.  For now we have a standing rule that they can’t get rid of anything older than ten years without my permission.  I even asked for a heads up before they decided to get rid of their land line.  I mean, seriously.  Every best friend and boyfriend I ever had called me at that phone number during my adolescence. A girl has got to have some forewarning on these kinds of life changes.

I think it’s so cool how as photographers and artists our personalities shape our creations.  My love of vintage and childhood whimsy finds its way into almost every shoot somehow.  Some of you might recognize these little girls.  Feels like I’ve been photographing them for eons.  Their session images always end up as some of my favorite portfolio shots.  I loved doing this vintage tennis theme for them, especially seeing as they all play tennis in some capacity.  The amazing clothes are from Fleur and Dot.

Four groups of attendees came through the workshop.  They spent day one learning secrets to glamor photography with Australia’s portrait photographer of the year 2011 and 2012 Sue Bryce. Then they spent day two with me focusing on creative children’s photography. Day three they photographed gorgeous models with amazing New York/London fashion photographer Lara Jade.

On several of my teaching days we were able to work with these magnificent camels for our safari theme.  The images below were my absolute favorites.  There are moments as a photographer that stick with you.  Shooting these was definitely one of those times that will influence me forever.  I’ll never forget how this little peanut of a girl took hold of the reigns, completely fearless, commanding the camels into poses while simultaneously letting her soul shine out her eyes for the camera.  No intimidation.  No self-consciousness.  And I thought, that’s how I want to be, how I want to live.  I want to know who I am, confidently take hold of the reigns of my life and let my soul shine out for all to see.

When the winds of adversity blow, press into the wind.  When you feel like throwing in the towel, pray for the strength to pick back up again.  When you can’t seem to find your way, follow what’s in your heart beneath all the layers of fear and discouragement.  You have a voice to be heard, a special purpose, a beautiful gifting.  Stop listening to the voices that want to shut you up and shut you down.  You can overcome!  My life is living proof that no matter where you are at, no matter what you are going through you can still shine bright if you are willing to fight for the light.  Don’t ever give up on who you are or what you were meant to do in this world.  There are miracles waiting for the believing heart.  Press into the wind.

This fall I’d love for you to join me in beautiful Michigan for a cup of hot cider, and two days of instruction shooting kids and senior girls with the autumn colors.  Over the past four years I have successfully taught fourteen workshops in both the U.S. and Australia.  It’s such a pleasure to pour my eight years of photography experience into the attendees and hear how it’s changing their careers for the better.  One of my awesome students recently commented on my facebook page:

“Best workshop ever!  I can’t believe it has been three years already but after your workshop my photography business took off.  I highly recommend it!”

Another attendee chimed in with “I completely agree.  Amy’s workshop was amazing and I am still using what I learned!”

Thanks you so much, ladies for the encouragement!  I’m looking forward to another fun and learning-intense event.  For more information about my workshops or to sign up to attend, please click HERE.

I hope to see you there!  xoxo

• Date: October 25-26, 2012

• Location:  Grand Rapids, Michigan

• Cost: $1500 ($750 deposit due at booking)

Beauty photography has always been in my heart and I absolutely crave taking glamorous photos of girls and women alike!  Therefore, I was over the moon when I recently had the opportunity to photograph Alyssa. She needed head shots for her competitions in the Miss America Scholarship Pageants, and she also needed her senior pictures taken. Over the course of two days we created a lot of different looks for her, shooting both indoors and outdoors. Can I just say that she was such a gem to work with!!

There are so many shots I would love to share so I’ll start with some of my favorite images from the indoor portion (all images shot in natural light).  For any Napoleon Dynamite fans out there, it’s like I now have my own version of Glamour Shots by Deb.  I just need to start selling friendship bracelets door to door.

It was March, and I desperately needed a respite from the relentless winter cold, so I bought a plane ticket to Florida and stayed with my sister for awhile. Over many cups of coffee she did what big sisters do best. She listened while I spilled my guts about where I’ve been, where I’m at, and that illusive somewhere I want to be headed in my life and my career. I said maybe I was done with photography. Maybe I didn’t have it in me to take another picture. (I appreciate it when people humor me and bite their tongues while I talk nonsense.)

But after I’d rambled until their were no more adjectives or synonyms left to describe burn-out, I actually felt something stirring inside of me. It was weak and faint, but it was the desire to try again, even if I failed.

So we went to Zara and I selected some clothes for the kids while they climbed under clothes racks, under dressing room doors and terrorized the general public. Then we sewed a yellow gingham blanket and pulled together a few props. Early one morning while it was still dark we rose, packed up the car and drove to one of the places that inspires me most in life. The beach.

We arrived just as the sun was peeking its face above the horizon. The smell of salt and sand invaded my nostrils. Usually my camera feels like an appendage, but I remember that day it felt awkward in my hands like a fawn on wobbly, new legs.  I made my way down to the water. Uncertain. Searching.

Then a beautiful scene unfolded before me as my niece raised the gold pashmina over her head, like a warrior princess about to set sail across the sea.  As I watched it whipping in the wind, I felt that tiny, miniscule ember of desire begin to flicker into a flame again.  Lifting my camera to my face, I snapped. I snapped again. A smile crept across my lips as I felt a surge of creative energy flow into my veins.

That morning at sunrise it felt like healing. Like a second chance.  And in my heart I heard a familiar voice whisper… 

This is not the end.  This is only the beginning.