Photo by: Robinwood Photography
Venue: Mercury Hall
Florist: Visual Lyrics
Rentals: Vintques
Hair and makeup: Summer Edwards of Loud Looks
Catering: Catering with a Twist
Cake and cookies by: Fine Arts Bakery
Workshop website: Shoot Outside The Box Workshop

I hope you enjoy these images as much as I enjoyed hanging out with these fun folks at the workshop.

I learned so many new tricks that will help take my photography to an entirely different level.  I’m still practicing and refining these new techniques.

Beyond looking a profitably I wrote my first ever mission statement.  I am so excited and proud to share it with you.

“using exceptional service to create refined images of milestone moments that endure beyond your lifetime”

These 15 words are the core of my business, why I get up in the morning.  I live, breathe and dream by those words.  It feels good to have in writing the values that I live with my business.

Look for great things to come from Robinwood Photography!

If you are a photographer and do not have a business plan you are not doing yourself any sort of favor.  A business plan helps you focus your business to make sure you’re profitable and aligned with your values.  Check out the link to Sage Wedding Pros above and find a workshop near you soon

Yesterday was a LONG day.  I took a little road trip to College Station to attend the Brazos Valley Professional Photographers Association’s monthly meeting.  Their speaker was none other than the amazing Jasmine Star. Jasmine is an award winning destination photographer from California. I have been a fan of Jasmine for over a year now.  She started into wedding photography with almost no gear, no training and no expensive marketing or website.  She is a master of social media.  This was a smaller conference with only about 150 in attendance so I knew I would have a chance to speak one on one with Jasmine.  I’ve been excited about this for weeks!!!

Jasmine spoke to us about branding our image.  There were times she had the entire audience bobbing our heads up and down with approval.  The woman said what we all needed to hear and gave us all permission to be selective with the clients we want to photograph.  This is a hard pill to swallow but she’s right.  I cannot be all things to all people.  As much as I want to shoot every wedding possible, I know that I’m not the right fit for every bride.  I came away from this presentation with renewed inspiration, a to do list as long as my arm and validation that I am on the right track to growing my business.

During the Meet and Greet time Jasmine made time to talk with each of us.  She is encouraging and funny.  We were all giggly, like little school girls, as we waited for our turn with Jasmine.  I know how men feel when they meet their favorite baseball player or when a musician meets a famous conductor.  I had the opportunity to visit with a woman I admire greatly and aspire to have a business like.  Jasmine is so “real” that it becomes apparent why she is successful–people like her and working with her is fun.   Of course, I get to meet an award winning photographer looking like a mess!  It was raining so my hair is dreadful and I had been up since six, drove for 2 hours and look a fright!  Too bad I didn’t have a stylist along with me so this photo could be perfect!

Shanna, me, Jasmine, Lyncca, and Jessica

I turned around and drove right back home after the meeting.  As I turned into my driveway at midnight I was still on a high.  My business really is my passion.  Meeting with couples planning their weddings is an enjoyable task.  Shooting weddings feeds my soul.  Creating photographic art of the most important day in a couple’s life is so rewarding.  I can’t imagine doing anything else!

1.  Lighting.  Natural light is best for great holiday photos.  Try to pose your subjects by a window that lets in great natural light. Get between the window and your subject so that the window is not in your photo (it will throw off your exposure meter.)  TURN OFF YOUR FLASH.  Most in camera flashes are harsh and cold—they will produce a flat light that will take away from your photo.  If you absolutely must use your flash (i.e. in a dark room) place a small piece of wax paper over the flash to defuse the light.

2. Hand the camera over.  You need to be in photos too!  Hand the camera over to your spouse or your kids.  They may not take pictures the way you would but it’s better than your kids one day asking “How is it that we have NO pictures of Mom?

3. Capture the moments.  Not all pictures need to be posed.  Some of the most emotional captures I make are of the moments between poses….when my little one is telling Santa what she wants for Christmas.

4. Take a lot of pictures.  The joy of digital photography is that it doesn’t cost you anything to take a picture.  Grab 3 or 4 frames of the posed photo—If your family is like mine someone will have their eyes closed in at least one of them.

5. Try different angles.  Get low. Stand above the kids and shoot down.  Sit over to one side of the room.  By moving around you will add creativity to your shot.

6. Get up close.  Fill your frame with your subjects.  Physically get close to the subjects and don’t use your zoom.  With certain camera the zoom will cause your photos to be grainy.

7. Have extra batteries and make sure they are all charged.

8. After Christmas back up your photos!  I use an external hard drive.  Burning DVDs of the images is also a great way to make sure you have your photos preserved.  For very important images (like weddings) I do both.

This is the photo before restoration.  You can see that I had my work cut out for me.

I honestly was dreading trying to restore this photo.  That was until I talked to Ileana’s husband.  He told me that all he really wanted to do was use this photo to get a tattoo of his dad.  Whooo…the pressure was off.  They didn’t want to print a huge print, they didn’t want it to be perfect, they just wanted it to look somewhat better.  So last night after my Girl Scout meeting (where Illeana reminded me about the photo) I sat down and tackled it!  In about 2 1/2 hours this is what I ended up with.

I discovered that photo restoration is more art than photography.  I actually had to draw in his shirt and pants since they were completely faded from the photo.  Overall I think it was a pretty successful restoration.  I know that the goal will be met…this photo can be used to help a tattoo artist create a tattoo.

I can’t believe how much I actually enjoyed this challenge!

Here’s an example from the workshop I attended on September 11th.

These beautiful people are hired models.  They are lit with a Beauty Dish set up with a portable power pack.  Could I recreate this shot, SURE!  Do I have the $6,000 worth of equipment used to light this shot–HECK NO!  Can I rent those lights? YES….do you want to add $400 to your engagement session so that I can rent the lights and pay an assistant?  Only you can decide that.

This is the only photo I took from this workshop using the Beauty Dish.  I didn’t want to create a blog or gallery full of images that I couldn’t recreate in a regular shot on any given day without an entourage of assistants lugging around all sorts of extra heavy equipment.

I know that no two weddings or sessions will ever be the same.  There are even loads of different lighting situations at the same venue, BUT know that I can compensate for that, because I’ve got the experience to make it work.

With Robinwood Photography you can take comfort in knowing what you see here on my site… is going to be what you get!

Continuing Education is important to me.  I believe that by being mentored by leaders in my industry I can grow into the best photographer I can be.  I came home from the workshop fired up, inspired and ready to capture your family’s special moments.

1. First and foremost be safe. I see so many families stop on the side of the highway and take photos with cars buzzing by at 70 mph! Scout out a location that will be off of the main highway. This is so important when photographing children and pets.
2. Wear solid colors-remember that the bluebonnets create a “print” or “pattern” of their own.  By wearing solid colors you will allow the bluebonnets to be showcased.
3. Wearing long pants/skirts is best.  The grass can be itchy. Make sure you have something that will cover bare legs.
4. Look out for ants, they love bluebonnet fields.
5. If a location is popular sit in the spots that are already crushed.  There’s no reason to keep mashing down the flowers. Those mashed down spots will show up in your photos and you will kill more flowers.  Also, if someone has sat there before you know there aren’t ants there.
6. Don’t let your children pick the bluebonnets—we need them to make seeds for next year!
7. Remember to look at what is behind your subjects.  Often we focus so much on finding a huge field of flowers that we forget to look at what is on the horizon. Cars, parking lots, other people, telephone poles, power lines,  port-o-potties, construction zones—they’ve all ruined great shots that I’ve taken in the past.
8. Don’t be afraid to squat or sit down to take the photo.  If your subjects are sitting you need to get low.
9. Lighting can be your friend or your enemy.  Outside photos should be shot before 10 and after 4.  If you are shooting photos mid-day you will have subjects with closed eyes or squinting.  Beware of shadows that are cast on your subjects, they will be darker on your capture than you realize.
10. Don’t forget your flash.  Shadows will show without you realizing it.  A flash will save you when your hubby keeps his baseball hat on or when your sister is standing to the side of your son.  Remember that it’s good to take photos both with and without the flash
11. Digital is your friend. I love digital photography because it doesn’t cost you a thing to take a photo. Take 2-3 photos of each pose, especially if there is more than 1 person in the shot. Closed eyes, blowing hair and subjects not looking at the camera can ruin a shot.
12. Tech stuff:  Lower your ISO to get rich colors.  Have a higher aperture to capture crisp edges and details.  For a softer look have a lower aperture, which will make the flowers look less sharp. I normally shoot my bluebonnets with f/13 or higher, you’ll thank me when you see the detail. Shoot RAW if you can to adjust for any mistake you make in exposure.
13. ZOOM! Sure the field of bluebonnets is pretty, but remember to zoom into get the faces of your subjects.  I always make sure I take my photos as close ups. The best bluebonnet shots I have ones where my girls will fill up 2/3 of the photos.
14. Play with your kids.  Think outside of the classic pose.  Let your kids run around the field, sniff the bluebonnets, play with your puppy…you get the idea.  I have a great photo of my girls playing ring around the rosie in the bluebonnets.
15. Don’t forget your tripod—you need to be in a few pictures yourself!
16. For a list of  wildflower locations call the Texas Department of Transportation at 800-452-9292 or visit their website.
17. If all else fails contact me by sending an email to susan at robinwoodphoto dot com to capture your family in the bluebonnets!