A Dreamy Vintage Queen: Brittney

There are some people you gradually grow a friendship with over a few months and maybe a few mutual friends, and there are others who instantly steal your heart. 

Brittney (featured below) is the sweetest and most beautiful girl inside and out & I totally get her perspectives and passions. Upon meeting Brittney, you instantly feel like you've known her for years. There is something very accepting, understanding, and sincere about her. Very grateful for her friendship, her insight on photography, style, and life in general!  Just WAIT till you see what she has up her sleeves. She may look like a lazy princess in this photograph, but she has an amazing story to be told that is being built and dreamt up as we speak. 

* Bye Bye Beach | End of Summer Portrait Sale *

Introducing the "Bye Bye Beach" End of summer portrait sale! 

For the next 2 weeks, anyone who books a beach sunset session scheduled in September can get this SWEET portrait deal *in honor of FALL being just around the corner*. Investing in memories is one of the greatest gifts to give anyone  

*for groups over 3, add $10 per person. This usual group fee still applies on sale price* 

As spots are booking up, I'll do my very best to get everyone in! Thanks for your continued support! -  www.LittleMissCreativeStudio.com

Stepping out and stepping in...

New week new ventures! Feeling so incredibly blessed to be around some truly talented & creative souls lately on the Emerald Coast. The diligence and confidence I see in the young creative culture here blows my mind and is certainly humbling. From the thriving musicians, to the photographers, to the fashion designers, to the artists hosting their very own galleries, it simply does not end. Being surrounded by not only raw talent but passion and confidence is infectious! 

This week I was presented with an amazing opportunity to create a local office space for www.LittleMissCreativeStudio.com and needless to say, I jumped on board! 

*Insert me being absolutely overjoyed and rolling on the floor laughing*

Yes, this new space located in Santa Rosa Beach is going to be set up for wedding client meetings & creative quiet time aka editing and layouts ;) 

The first thing my mind goes to (naturally) is the design... Here are a few key things we're going to make sure to "check off the list" when planning out the office setting... More juicy details coming soon!

This week, remember to focus on the promise of the Lord while following your God given passions. 

Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

- Thank you so much for your support - 

LMC

www.Littlemisscreativestudio.com

C O N T E S T : T I M E

Facebook Contest! Woop woop. Use the link at the end of this post to enter from the original contest post through Facebook! 

Hey ya'll (oops, my south is showing!) -- So, I had this awesome idea... As much as I love how photography benefits & enriches peoples lives, I'm ready to get the word out there that I'm available to help create a beautiful, custom story through photographs for you & your friends! Couples, weddings, modeling, & more! 

To help me share Little Miss Creative Studio's Facebook fan page, I'm asking you to:

1) COMMENT & TAG 8 people you think would love to book a session this summer/fall in this post!
2) Simply ask those 8 people to "like" this page.
3) Anyone who has all 8 tagged people "like" this Facebook page is immediately entered into a drawing for a free 1 hr styled session of your choice in the month of AUGUST with some props provided -- aka, it doesn't get any more fun than that 

Help me share our page & www.LittleMissCreativeStudio.com
--------------------------------------- Rules ---------------------------------------
- Liking and unliking doesn't count since I can't record those, nice try though 
- MUST be a comment and not a photo tag. By commenting and tagging all 8 friends once, I can easily record your friends 

P.s. Contest will last ONLY 1 week. 1 Lucky winner will be announced in status and in this post on Friday, August 8th!

- X O - 

ORIGINAL PHOTO :: CLICK TO COMMENT HERE

ORIGINAL PHOTO :: CLICK TO COMMENT HERE

10 things to know before getting paid for your photography

What is it that makes a professional quality image? When you look at photographs what differences do you see in that gorgeous high quality photoshoot your cousin in Virginia had last April that you're still drooling over vs. your friend's mom's new photography Facebook page. (not dissing the mom-tographers here*)

We all know each photographer has a different style, but even with so many styles to choose from, it's still easy to differentiate a great quality photograph from a mediocre one.

Being paid for my photography has taught so many priceless lessons. 

The main lesson: *** LEARN EVERY DAY and charge according to what you have learned. 

If you're just starting out, okay, sure, take $300 for an 8 hour wedding day with 16 hours of editing, 3 hrs of communication, 2 hrs of research, 2 hrs of location scouting, & 2 hrs of driving for a grand total of $9.09 an hour (before taxes & your drive through lunch) 

10 things to know before getting paid for your photography: 

1. Lighting, lighting, lighting. Did I mention lighting? Simply having "light" in your photographs doesn't mean you understand lighting. Learn what styles of lighting flatter your subject and why. One year ago, if you asked me, "What's the most important aspect of photography?", I would have said, "Composition, my friend!" But over the course of the last year, I've really had the opportunity to understand why I wasn't originally getting the results I wanted. Learning lighting early on in the game of photography (not years down the road like me) will get you ahead much quicker. 
2. Proper focus. During the first 6 months *no joke* of using wide prime lenses (aka the pretty bokeh lenses) I struggled... HARD. What I struggled with was constantly getting blurry images. I would say to myself "Just keep shooting and you'll figure it out..." X, Wrong answer! The truth is I did figure it out, eventually, but that wasn't soon enough. Once I accidentally came across the focus modes in my Canon EOS 7d, the learning curve was painful, but I'm so grateful for it.
3. White Balance. Green and blue colored processing is cool (literally) but it's not always realistic to life or memories. GUILTY AS CHARGED. I am a huge fan of over processing images and making them into a dream world full of false unicorn colors. Why not?! It's fun. But I quickly realized after shooting my second wedding just 3 years ago, that the couple also needed the original colors so guess what that meant for me, re-editing 1/2 of the images all while grinding my teeth. 
4. Format, format, format. Did I mention format? Formatting your card to remove old post archived data before a photoshoot can save you so much hassle rather than sitting there in front of your client deleting old images. *raises hand* Yep, I learned this the hard and embarrassing way. Even though you may actually "delete" the images from the card, it will still fill up quickly unless you reformat. 
5. Find out the client's and your own GOALS for the photoshoot. Having a clear conversation with the client about their goals for the photoshoot and sharing your own personal goals will get you miles ahead to making them and YOU happy with the end results.
6. The dance between ISO, shutter speed & aperture. Who leads, when they lead, and why. Without going into a mumbo jumbo of camera geek jargon, just know that to be paid as a professional photographer, you should not be shooting in straight auto mode. That does not and never will give you as much freedom as manual modes with specific settings that create the look you have envisioned for your photograph. Cheers to learning! *Ding*
7. Sunset = Magic Hour. People ask all the time, I love that soft orange and yellow glowy look in xyz photo, can we do a photoshoot at 12 pm and can you edit it like this soft glowy orange and yellow photo? Yes, I can do that but no it will not look the same. To get beautiful glowy sunflares and that soft sun haze feeling, we're better off shooting during the hour of sunset. That's when the sun is at its lowest which means softer, more even lighting, and less harsh shadows on faces. 
8. Shoot RAW.  I know, it sounds like some kind of gang term, but it's not, my g-unit. Setting your images to be created in a raw format vs. the standard JPEG gives you more freedom in bringing out highlight and shadow information in the final image. 
9. Calibrate your computer screen.  Again, guilty! I made a royal mistake in the very beginning of my wedding career by editing an entire wedding on a cheap Sony Viao laptop. The colors on my laptop were presenting the images great, but as soon as I viewed them on my Mac 27" big daddy, everyone's faces were sunburnt and the brides hair looked blue. Yes, I had to fix that entire album too. It was about as fun as jumping off the diving board into a pool after a 7 year drought. So, the point is, calibrate your computer screen to make sure the colors you are seeing are the most accurate. I use and recommend ColorMunki Smile. 
10. Have FUN! While writing this list, I was afraid I'd hit a blank and run out of tips but now as I approach the last number it seems perfectly fitting to end off with the most important aspect of photography, having fun! If you're not having fun, your clients aren't having fun either. Which means they're not going to enjoy the session and they're probably going to feel the same about their final images. Photographers who can set the tone of the photoshoot by loosening up and having fun get the most realistic energy from people and, in turn, get photos that show people's true inner personalities and joy. 

Now, it's time for sleep. #thislisttookmeforevertoblog #hopeyouenjoyedit #goodnight

xo - Tasia