Snow Day Photo Fun

This is an image I edited of the frozen Mississippi River from the Illinois side looking over into Missouri.

Here is the before image:

Snow Day

My kids got out of school early today because of the winter storm headed our way. In a matter of moments we went from not having one bit of snow on the ground to the ground being covered and more snow still falling.

I know I am not the only one out there ready for Spring!

Flowers

We are currently in the depth of a long winter here. I needed to look at some images of flowers! I needed to be reminded that after this long winter that we will have some beautiful sights to see!

Cemetery in the Fall

Myra {Senior Portraits}

Fall has been so kind to us here in St. Louis. The colors, the weather…it’s just been perfect. And with great weather and beautiful colors comes fabulous shooting weather! This was one of my favorites to do because her Mama is a very good friend of mine. I adore this girl and her family. She is not only absolutely gorgeous, but she is also very kind and amazingly intelligent. Clients like this make my job incredibly easy!

Sofie {Senior Portraits}

Fall is the perfect time for getting out and shooting some images. Even better when you have a beautiful Senior step in front of your camera at a gorgeous location.

The light was amazing. The colors were phenomenal. She is stunning.

That all makes for a perfect day!

All those colors are real. That tree had so much orange on it that it was just unreal.

One of the really cool things about this location is the white sand. It made it look like we were shooting in snow with vibrant Fall colors!

Love all the Autumn colors in this one!

She is such a beautiful young woman. And oh so photogenic!

This dress has some amazing embroidery on it. And the red shoes with the Fall colors was spectacular!

I love it when my clients introduce me to new places. This day was absolutely amazing! She was so much fun to have in front of my camera and I just love, love, love all the resulting images from this shoot!

Thanks Sofie and Christy for a wonderful day and for introducing me to your family spot! 

http://www.loripetersonphotographyblog.com/2013/11/sofie-senior-portraits.html

If you give a photographer a camera…..

Recently there was a version of this going around. While I thought it was cute, I didn’t think that it necessarily really reflected being a photographer. This does not contain everything, but you get the idea…..

If you give a photographer a camera, she should read the manual that came with it.

When she reads the manual she will learn what her camera can do.

When she learns about the camera she will learn about ISO, aperture, and exposure.

When she learns those things she will be ready to shoot in manual.

When she learns to shoot in manual she will learn more about her camera.

Then she will learn about lighting and posing.

When she learns lighting and posing, she will learn new things about her camera.

Then she will want a few new lenses to go with her camera.

She will research the lenses and maybe even rent a few to decide.

When she gets her new lenses she will learn even more about her camera and lighting.

She will want to learn about strobe lighting and off camera flash.

When she learns about using different lighting techniques she will learn more about her camera settings.

Once she learns that she will begin practicing editing in Photoshop or Lightroom.

She might even take a class or workshop to learn better editing techniques.

The more she learns helps her to become a real photographer.

When she becomes a real photographer she will register for a business license and begin paying sales tax and reporting all of her income.

Once she has her business set up she will begin to book real, paying clients.

Having clients will encourage her to set up a professional website, blog, and Facebook business page.

Presenting images to clients will mean in-person ordering or setting up galleries for their images, so she will research the best way to do that and implement it.

She will set her pricing at a reasonable and fair rate and not try to undervalue what she does just to get business.

Setting her pricing just right means that she can afford to really market her business. She will learn effective marketing strategies and put them into place so that she can attract even more clients.

Getting more business means that she can offer more products to her clients and her sales will go through the roof.

Maintaining all of those things and juggling actually running a business will remind her of how lucky she is to be doing what she loves and making a living at it.

She will realize that she needs to help others and start giving back to the photography community, but not by producing some lame, half-assed workshop. She will offer real advice and techniques.

Once she is helping others she will realize how awesome it is to be a real photographer.

She will pick up her camera and her lenses and she will go out and shoot in low light and bright sun and make the most amazing photos.

If you give a photographer a camera, she will show you what she can do with it. And more importantly, what you could even do with it.