So I'm finally ready to talk about Flourish, the amazingly fun and incredible workshop I went to in January in Louisville, KY. Flourish is run by three photographers who I really look up to: Angela Anderson, Kitty Maer, and Kim Reed. The workshop was basically their opportunity to tell us everything they have done that has worked for their businesses...and also what hasn't worked. All three women have very unique styles and approaches to wedding photography, and bring vastly different levels of experience to the table, so I figured that somewhere between the three of them I was sure to find ideas that I could apply to myself and my business...and I wasn't dissappointed.
Day 1 and Day 3 were classroom days, in which we spent most of our time listening to presentations and asking questions. Day 1 focused on business basics, starting with a worksheet Kim, Kitty, and Angela created to help each of us determine our costs of doing business and basic living expenses in relation to our package pricing. It may sound elementary, but a lot of photographers jump into doing business without any sense of a financial plan, budgeting, or any idea of the real costs of doing business. Professional Photographers of America (PPA) recently completed a benchmark financial survey of wedding and portrait studios, the first of its kind, in which they determined that the average home studio has to take in over $100,000 a year just to break even. If the studio operates out of a storefront, that number jumps to $250,000. And in reality, between the costs of equipment, computer hardware and software, and storage/uploading/editing tools, photographers as a whole end up spending way more now to run a digital photography business than we ever did with film.
Anyway, the worksheet basically confirmed for me what I already knew, which is that I have to take in slightly more than $3500 per wedding avg. in order to pay my expenses and break even. I so wish I had done something like this seminar 4 years ago! I really envied the one or two attendees who were just starting their businesses...that first year of doing really well in bookings, yet still being broke at the end of the year, was a hard lesson to learn. I think that budgeting is one of those things that, the longer you put it off, the more scary it seems and so you put it off even longer. I'm so glad to be past that point now.
After the budgeting discussion we talked about other key aspects of business, such as marketing, customer service, and contracts. I left for the hotel that night buzzing with ideas and with really warm feelings about how friendly, generous, and supportive both workshop leaders and attendees were turning out to be.
In addition to learning, Flourish was also about treating yourself for all the hard work you put into your business. I viewed it as part education, part vacation (of course only a workaholic like myself would go to a workshop for "vacation!:P) The workshop fee included accommodations at 21C Museum Hotel in Louisville, which is part modernist four star hotel and part art museum. The lobby is divided into gallery spaces and artists rotate throughout the year so there is always fresh work up, and each room comes with your own Ipod preloaded with your favorite genre of music. Here's a shot of my room:
The workshop fee also included 3 gourmet meals and 2 snacks per day, and quite a bit of champagne. Unfortunately at first I couldn't enjoy any of it, due to my coming down with a raging stomach flu. By the night before I left for KY I knew I was sick; on my way there, I slept most of the flight, but I think being on the plane itself weakened my immune system as my symptoms peaked during the initial night there. I left dinner early, and spent most of the evening staring at the inside walls of the hotel bathroom...
By the end of the first full day of the workshop, I was feeling MUCH better, and was so excited about everything I was learning that I couldn't get to sleep right away. Plus I was ravenous from having eaten so little for the past 36 hours, and room service was closed, so I was "forced" to raid the mini bar. This particular mini bar has sensors in it, so if you remove anything for more than 10 seconds you automatically get charged for it.
Alas, Brian was back home in CA, so I wouldn't be using the $10 21C branded "intimacy kit".
Okay, now picture how fast I had to set up this shot so I could get the kit out and back in place behind the pretzel can within 10 seconds. :)
The little bottles of alcohol were cute, but I instead decided to go with something a little more familiar for late night snackage...
Of course all that sugar led to this shot: : )
It took about 20 tries to get the bed jumping shot right. Which then led to this:
...which was what I was trying to accomplish anyway.
I haven't taken a self portrait in a looooong time...but I did a lot of them in art school. Quite a few of which involved the bathroom mirror in various houses I lived in during my 20s.
I think I look kinda cute here. Note the strategic upward head tilt, to minimize double chin-osity. That's why they pay me the biiig bucks. :P
Day 2 was a shooting day. We had guided shooting opportunities with 2 couples for an Engagement session, and models for a bridal session and "lights out" session. Lights Out is the term Kitty and Angela use to refer to their avant garde-style boudoir work...Anne Ruthmann calls hers "Film Noir Boudoir". I like that a LOT, but she was smart enough to trademark it. So I'll have to think of something else to call mine. :)
Below are a few behind the scenes shots from Day 2. For the actual results of the demo sessions, you'll have to wait until the next post!
this is Kim Reed rockin the engagement session demo at Flourish
Here is a candid photo of me on day 2, taken by Indiana photographerAnne Ruthmann (whose work I also love and am inspired by; having her there was a huge bonus)
Flourish, Pt 1
Latest Vendor Collages
I am chomping at the bit to post about all the incredible experiences I had at Flourish photography workshop in Louisville KY, which I attended two weeks ago...but there is so much to write about, and I think I need just a few more days to organize my thoughts. In the meantime, I thought I'd share some of the collage pages I made recently for wedding vendors I worked with last year.
Silicon Valley Capital Club, San Jose
Winter is my chance to catch up on making custom books and print pieces for all the florists, designers, venue coordinators, caterers, and other vendors who made last year's weddings so fabulous. Any vendor who asks would have already gotten images on disk by now, and/or maybe a few prints for their portfolio...but when I've done a wedding with someone whose work really inspires me, I feel compelled to give them something more.
Like photography, a lot of other wedding-related businesses are artistic in nature. So much of what these artists do is about the intangible experience of their clients: using color, light, taste and/or textures to create a mood or feeling the bride is looking for. It takes more than one image to convey these things to a prospective bride--the whole story must be told. That's what I try to do with my vendor pieces.
I love providing wedding vendors with beautiful pictures of their work. I think that as a photographer I am in a unique position to be able to give something of real value to them, with only a minor amount of extra time or expense on my part. And hopefully in doing so, I am increasing the chances that I will get to work with these awesome people (and their awesome clients) again and again.
Hiddenbrooke Golf Club, Vallejo CA
Florist Stacey Miller Designs, San Francisco City Club, San Francisco CA
PS. If you are a wedding vendor or venue manager who has worked with me before and you haven't gotten collage pages and/or a book from me yet, please email me with the wedding date and bride's full name, and your logo in pdf or eps format attached. Thanks!
Ritz Carlton Modern Bridal Show
On Sunday Jan 6th, I participated in the Modern Bridal show at the Ritz Carlton San Francisco...and had a fabulous time! A lot of thought and effort went into my booth, and I was really happy with the amount of attention it got from both exhibitors and brides. The show admission included champagne and lots of yummy cake and food to sample...although I really didn't have time to eat any of it myself as we were about 6-8 people deep for most of the show. However I had a chance to talk to about 80 couples in depth, which I really enjoyed; it was fun hearing so many varied stories and wedding plans and I enjoyed hearing all the nice things people had to say about my work.
My booth was about 3-4 months in the planning; I had the two back walls made custom for me by my carpenter Aaron, who also set up and broke down the booth for me and that alone proved to be more than worth what I spent to hire him...I definitely couldn't have done it without him. The walls were made from 4x8' wood boards, painted chocolate brown, with crown molding painted blue along the top and bottom. They were held up by wood braces in the shape of a sideways "A".
Large prints were purchased from my pro lab, mounted on styrene board and mounted on the wall using velcro (so they could be easily removed). Florist Laurel Winzler, who worked with me on Tammy and Jamey's wedding at the Ferry Building last October, did my flowers: she did an incredible job even though she came down with the flu the week before the show! Laurel really came through for me, and her flowers were beautiful. And fellow photographer/part time second shooter Nick Lostracco made himself available at the last minute to assist me with set up and talking to brides at the show, after the girl who I originally planned to hire had to cancel due to the storm.
Probably the most talked about part of my booth were the little goodie bags I made up to give all the brides, which contained a mini-album, a few prints, a brochure, a personalized letter, and a few gifts to thank them for taking the time to come out and see me. Brides went crazy over the cute, tiny mini albums, as well as the other gift in the bag including homemade caramels, handmade mocha candles and blueberry lip gloss, and chocolate scented soap. I picked all the gift items so they would go with my branding and colors (chocolate and blue), and I found all of them from a wonderful site called Etsy.com.
I was first turned onto Etsy by another photographer. Etsy is basically a community of artisan businesses, whose products are all handmade and most of whom use all natural, earth-friendly, and/or upcycled materials for some or all of their creations. It's a great place to find things like handmade stationery, exquisite bath and beauty products, and all kinds of yummy food and gifts. Plus you can feel good about buying from them, as the people who advertise on etsy are almost always small, highly ethical businesses.
In addition to talking to brides, I also collected names at the show for a Free Engagement Session drawing I held earlier this week. I'm happy to announce that the drawing has been made and we do have a winner... now I'm just waiting to hear back from her to make sure she is able to accept the prize. I'll post her name and pictures from the E session soon!
For everyone else who entered, thank you SO much for your interest in my work. It was wonderful meeting you on Sunday, and I am so looking forward to your weddings! I encourage everyone whose wedding date is this year to contact me ASAP, so we can take the next step and make sure to secure my availability for your date!
Finally, although I wasn't able to get my sample in time for the show, I am very excited to be rolling out my new Couture Book wedding albums in the next couple week for this year's wedding clients. I should be receiving my sample book any day now, and as soon as I do I'll take pictures and post a complete description. For now, let's just say that I think these books are going to represent something truly unique and different among Bay Area photogaphers, and that the clients who get them should plan to be the envy of all their friends!
San Francisco City Club
Just like shooting a wedding, minus the bride and groom...
On New Years Eve I had the pleasure of shooting detail shots at a wedding for my friend and rockstar coordinator Amy Nichols, of Amy Nichols Special Events, at the San Francisco City Club. The couple had hired their own photographer for the event but Amy wanted to make sure someone was there who could capture all the work she, florist Stacey Miller, catering manager Alison Bianchetti, and lighting designer Brandon Cruz put into the event. The decor was top notch-- gorgeous white orchid centerpieces were spotlighted to give the cozy room some depth and clarity, and the blue embroidered tablecloths and chrome highlights cooled things down and made the tables sparkle. They way the room was laid out and all the little touches made it easy to find lots of different beautiful shots: seriously, I think I shot about 500 images in the dining room alone.
The City Club is a beautiful place to have an event in it's own right: it's laid out over two floors at 155 Sansome, with a brass square spiral staircase joining them. One of it's landmark features is the huge Diego Rivera mural adorning the wall in between floors; called "Riches of California", it spans at least 15 vertical feet of wall space and continues out onto the ceiling, making it possible to admire from both floors.
I've just finished backup up my images, so here are a few of my immediate favorites. Amy will be making a portfolio of the final images, and hopefully this wedding will get published in bridal magazines...it sure deserves to be.
Gorgeous, unique cake by The Cakemaker
Cake detail. I love it when cake designers can transform edible things to look like something completely different: in this case, fabric.
I couldn't decide which bouquet shot I liked better, so I put them both in
The end. And I still got home in time to eat caviar and watch the ball drop with Brian!
Lauren Cohn-Frankel, International Award Winning Wedding Photojournalist!
***FREE SECOND SET OF PRINTS FOR EVERYONE!***
(Scroll to the bottom for info on how to get your free second set of prints)
in honor of
HUGE news! Some of you have been reading this since early last year, when I posted about getting accepted into the Wedding Photojournalist Association or WPJA. It was (and is) an honor to be accepted--they accept you based on an evaluation of your work, and they have very strict standards. Less than 5% of people who apply get in.
One of the many perks of getting into the WPJA is entering the quarterly contests--entries must be fresh work, from weddings shot during the same year as the contest, and they are always judged by established, working photojournalists (not other wedding photographers). These are the guys whose images grace the cover of national news magazines and papers, who cover wars and conflicts, foreign affairs, politics, etc...You're considered a winner if you place between 1st and 3rd, but honorable mentions for 4th-20th place are also given. Thousands of images are entered each quarter, and having a winning image is a very big deal.
Well, I said all that to say this: I WON! Twice! (ie with 2 different images in two separate categories).
Here are the winning images:
Just winning alone would normally be enough, but some of the judges of this particular contest have been inspiring me and my work for more than 10 years! One of them in particular is Eugene Richards, who has authored numerous photographic books and projects on such diverse topics as breast cancer, drug addiction, emergency medicine, pediatric HIV and AIDS, the meat packing industry, and aging and death in America. Richards' work was a huge inspiration to me in college; his work became the inspiration for a lot of my own, including a solo show I did in my senior year called "Scars" which was laid out like the pages of a book; containing 20x30" prints and accompanying text pieces mounted along the gallery wall.
Another contest judge I admire was Lauren Greenfield, who directed the Emmy nominated documentary "THIN", aired on HBO, about the lives of young women struggling with eating disorders. The movie spotlights her own emotional journey through the Renfrew Center in Coconut Creek, Florida, a residential facility dedicated to the treatment of anorexia and bulimia. It is a beautiful, touching film; and IMO any woman or man who has ever struggled with body image and weight issues (and who hasn't?) should see it.
The incredible team of judges also included Gary Knight, John Stanmeyer, and Ron Haviv. You can read bios of all the judges here, and see their work on the VII site here. It is such an incredible honor to be recognized by these photographers.
As for the images, the funny thing is that they are both from the same wedding! Kevin and Caitlin's wedding from September was SUPER fun, and the couple themselves are two of my favorite clients from this year.
About the cake smoosh image: Because the cake cutting is such a staple in wedding photography, the WPJA judges cake cutting images especially hard: contest rules for that category specify that entries should show a unique perspective, something beyond the usual "cutting and feeding" shots. Knowing this, I've been on the lookout for shots that I thought were unique enough to meet that standard, and with Caitlin and Kevin's shot I had a feeling even as I shot it that it might be the one. The judges' comments about my image praised it for good interplay between the main subjects and the guests in the background; Kevin as you can see is a real comedian and knows how to play to the crowd.
You can see all the winning entries for this quarter starting here (use the arrow buttons to more from image to image, and the drop down menu if you want to look at past contests or flip to another category). My winning images are here and here.
I just want to take this opportunity to thank Caitlin and Kevin for being such freaking awesome clients, subjects, and friends...and also thank you to all of my brides and grooms, for helping me to create work that I am proud of. Without you guys, this never would have been possible.
To express my thanks to all of you and in honor of my second place award, I'd like to offer anyone who places a print order from now until the end of January a FREE SECOND SET OF PRINTS! YAY! Just email me with the words "WPJA2" in the subject and the name of your event, and wait for my response, then you can go online and order like you would normally. Please wait for my response BEFORE you place your order!
(make sure to do it like I say above, sorry but I can't honor this on orders already placed or if you forget to wait for my response before you order. I also can't honor this on albums or anything else other than individual prints)
Silicon Valley Capital Club, San Jose CA
Melanie and Paul, 10/27/07
Another opportunity to shoot a wedding at Silicon Valley Capital Club and I was not to be disappointed. Knowing Mel and Paul, I was looking forward to a fun wedding with no small amount of wackiness (hello? E-session at a mini-golf/arcade anyone?) :). And knowing Lynn Lakia from the Club, I knew I could expect beautiful decor and super organized, helpful coordinating. The best of both worlds!
Mel had incredible hair and makeup done by Dina, and she really looked amazing in her beautiful dress from Elegant Lace Bridal in San Jose. We had a great suite at the Fairmont to shoot her getting ready pictures in, with a view of the park and (under construction) ice rink down below. I was a little sad about the rink construction, because the circle of palms where it was being constructed is a great place to shoot at night when all the lights come up in the trees...but no matter, there is plenty of photographic gold to be had in the rest of the square block surrounding the Knight Ridder building.
Although not my first time shooting at the Capital Club, my previous oppportunity had had their ceremony somewhere else. Mel and Paul were having their whole wedding at the Club, with the ceremony right in front of the 17th floor windows that look out onto the city--a backlighting challenge for sure but not beyond my ability to meet it. After a beautiful ceremony in which Paul cried more than Mel did :), we headed right out to shoot a few fun and candid couple shots in the park. We had the whole park to ourselves, and since we had already worked together during our E session Mel and Paul knew just what to do; ie. ignore the camera and cuddle. After about 15 mins outside we headed back upstairs to shoot a couple on the balcony, and that was when we got the above image.
This was one of those "eureka" moments, where I just knew as I pressed the shutter button that I was taking an iconic image. After getting home and looking at it more closely, I got even more excited--to me it represents almost everything my business and work is about--real beauty, moments, love, having fun, being yourself...and especially being able to laugh at the unexpected, not taking everything so seriously. Since then, this shot has now graced the front page of my website, become the cover of my '08 brochure and giveaway mini albums, and will be displayed as a 30x40" print at the Modern Bridal Fair at the San Francisco Ritz Carlton on January 6th.
They say in the photo biz, that what you show is what you get. If every wedding I get from now on is like Melanie and Paul's... I will be one happy photographer.
A little more about the wedding, interspersed with some images:
the dress: (I love it when I show up and it's already hung artistically for me) :)
Melanie looking slightly fed up with the buttoning procedure
dad seeing Mel seconds before the walk down the aisle
Awww....
I must've said something funny...
Beautiful flowers by Ingela's Floral Designs
Cake by Bijan Bakery
Tim from Sound in Motion kept it rockin from the beginning
this was so cute--the MOH couldn't stop crying long enough to make her toast!
you can see how close they are
the first bouquet toss came up short...
2nd time's a charm
told you they're wacky
Slideshow
Proofs
Special thanks to Lynn again for being so attentive and helpful to me!
Kayden, 7mos
Here are some new pictures of Kayden, our akita puppy. He is almost as big as Luna now, he weighs 82 lbs, and he is really turning into a beautiful dog. He is also one of the friendliest, most tolerant akitas I have ever met, liking people and dogs of all shapes and sizes. He could become more aloof as he grows, and there is no guarantee with akitas that they wont eventually decide he doesn't like other dogs, especially other males...but for now we are really enjoying his happy-go-lucky attitude at the dog park and everywhere else. Sometimes he will even take on the role of "protector" to a smaller dog at the park.
We also just got him microchipped, as a precaution since we will be boarding him and Luna with a friend of ours when we head to LA for Thanksgiving with my parents. For those who are unfamiliar with it, pet microchipping is very important for dogs and cats because it gives them some way of being identified if they are lost, besides their collar and tags (which can come off or be removed by a determined pet). Basically, a teeny tiny microchip is implanted, using a needle, below the skin between the animals' shoulder blades. When the lost animal is picked up by animal control, local shelters, or vets, they pass a reader over the animal and if the chip is inside, a number will come up on the reader. This number can then be looked up via a database, and the pet owners name, address, and contact info will show up, so the pet can be reunited with the owner.
Not too long ago there were serious issues in the microchip industry, with different companies making different chips that were only readable using their own readers. If the local vets or AC had a reader from a different company, your pets number just would not show up--it would appear like the animal was not chipped at all. There were more than one instance of lost, microchipped pets, whose owners were actively looking for them, being adopted out to new owners or even euthanized because their microchip was not readable by the scanner that the shelter had. In one tragic case a man was able to track his dog down to a specific shelter, only to learn that the dog had been euthanized not 30 mins beforehand, because his chip information did not show up on their incompatible reader.
Thankfully, in 2005 a bill was signed into law ordering the companies to standardize their technology. Now chip manufacturers like ResQ, the company that we used for Kayden's chip, are making universal chips (that can be read by any reader) and universal readers, that can read any chip.
Having up to date tags on your animals, especially dogs, is extremely important too. I put the words "Large Reward" on the top of my pets' tags, with my phone number--to me I feel that is a better use of the space then the dog's name, which will not help him be found anyway. Earlier this year, we were out at the dog park with Kayden while Luna was at home. Somehow she managed to break down part of the wooden gate leading out of our yard, and was found running up and down the side streets near our house by a neighbor out walking her dog. The neighbor captured Luna (it wasn't hard, she's not at all skittish and will do anything for food) and put her in her garage, then immediately called the number on the tag...which was my cel number. Luna was back home in less than 30 mins, and the neighbor got a nice bottle of wine from us for her trouble. When she was younger Luna had this annoying habit of bolting out open front doors, but this was the first time she (or any dog of mine) had escaped without us knowing about it and running right after her...so I'm really glad we were prepared.
Anyway, enjoy the new pics of Kayden. What a cutie huh?
