Why Continuing Education is Important {the importance of investing time and education back into your business} Last month, I had the chance of attending The Reset Conference in Louisville, Ky. It's a 3 day conference for creative entrepreneurs to help them find balance with life and their careers. It was full of key note speakers, break out classes, and a chance to network with other creative entrepreneurs. To say it was amazing is an UNDERSTATEMENT! Continue reading for my top 3 reasons why continuing education is important for your business. 1. It will MOTIVATE YOU!! You're probably thinking, duh!! Of course it will! With any career or business, we get into our groove and sometimes we can get in a "rut". Deciding to attend a conference or take a class will allow you to be REFRESHED, get excited for your job or business, and to hopefully put a spark under you!! Now it is important to choose the right conference for YOU! Not every class or conference will fit your needs for your business. At Reset, we as photographers had the opportunity to take "shoot out classes". This allowed you to choose classes in areas of photography that we wanted to learn more about from another professional. I personally decided to choose two shoot out classes. I chose one class that was a little out of my comfort zone and not my typical "photo session." I learned how to create natural emotion between a couple with Chloe Ramirez. It was good for me to get out of that comfort zone and I loved Amanda Graves' natural light studio in Louisville, Ky. To die for! 2. Sharpen your skills and learn some new ones! The classes are everything! I always plan ahead, study what is provided, and decide based on what my current business goals are for the year. And sometimes it's good to try a class that is TOTALLY out of your comfort zone. You never know what you'll learn! My second "shoot out class" was with Jessica Weinstock. She is a photographer that I've known for years, thanks to a Facebook networking group! And I just LOVE her and adore her work. So when her class was available, I knew I had to take it! It was fun to see another professional in action doing the same thing you do when it comes to family portrait sessions. To see her little tricks and different approaches to getting real smiles was refreshing. And how can I not share this first photo? Totally normal when photographing a family! Real life! 3. It will allow you to GROW. Yes, a conference or any class can allow you to grow your business. Hopefully it will give you new tools to grow your business. But it can also allow you to grow as a person. The Reset Conference was a place that allowed me to grow as a small business owner, creative, wife, mom, and woman. They wanted to educate and empower you to balance it all and still GROW your business. It was refreshing! If you are a fellow photographer or creative entrepreneur, I hope you take a moment to check out The Reset Conference for 2020. I'm bias as I think it will be a great way to invest back into your business and yourself. That doesn't fit your needs? I challenge you to find a conference or continuing education class to invest back into your business and yourself! Kirsten Lee Photography reaches out to clients in Douglasville, Ga and Metro Atlanta areas.
Kirsten Lee specializes in real estate, maternity, newborns, children, seniors, and family portraits.
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Preparing For Your Family Photo Session | Atlanta Family Photographer | Douglasville Ga Photographer2/27/2019 Preparing For Your Family Photo Session You're ready to book a session with me and now you're thinking....
Don't worry, I've got you covered! Scroll down to see how I help you prepare for your next family session with me! Getting to know you! When you first inquire with me I ask you to fill out a questionnaire. This allows me to get to know you better and see what you are looking for in a session. Locations for your Family Session Over the years, I've scouted locations both in Douglasville, Ga and in Atlanta, Ga. I find locations that fit my style as well as the best time of day. I love photographing families either in the early morning or right before sunset. Of course I always love suggestions but just know that I've got you covered when it comes to locations; from city/urban to farm/nature. And of course there is always your own home!! What to Wear Guide Now don't start stressing out about clothes!! I've got a What to Wear Guide that will help you. Of course I email it to you so you have it right in your inbox to refer back to. My guide gives you current style tips, examples, and your own KLP What to Wear Pinterest board. Best part? You can text me photos of your outfits and I'll help you! We are going to have FUN! I know as a mother of three, I know that kids will be kids! That's AWESOME! I love to capture family's personalities and totally act like fool to get those smiles and sweet moments. I guide your family to be able to capture those sweet moments on camera. So no need to stress! Long & Lean, What do you mean?? Yes, it is my job to pose and position you to look your best! I want you to look and feel great. First step? Make sure everyone is wearing something they feel confident in. If you hate wearing a dress, don't wear one for the session. Same goes for your family! Make sure to let your older children have some decision making in the outfit process too. This allows for confidence to show when taking a photo. But don't worry, I have many tips to make you look long and lean! All Eyes on Me!! When I have a family session, I make sure to get that ONE family photo where everyone is looking at me. Now if you've taken a moment to see my family sessions, you'll see I also love capturing your family being together, interacting with each other, and showing off your family's personality. This is something that I'm passionate about and as an artist really enjoy creating for you and your family. You're still here??? You made it down to the end of my blog post?? AWESOME! Capturing your family is such a blessing for me. I get to capture those seasons of life that go by so fast and you can treasure them for years to come. If you're ready to book a session with me, make sure to contact me! I can't wait to photograph your family. Not ready to book? But don't want to miss out on anything?? Well great!! I do have an AWESOME VIP team for my clients and potential clients. Just for joining my VIP team, you'll receive 10% off a regular session with me. I also share all my specials and seasonal bookings with my VIPs FIRST! You'll get first dibs on dates and much more. Look forward to seeing you in front of my camera! xoxo ~ Kirsten Kirsten Lee Photography reaches out to clients in Douglasville, Ga and Metro Atlanta areas.
Kirsten Lee specializes in real estate, maternity, newborns, children, seniors, and family portraits. DSLR Shopping Guide | Your guide to purchasing your entry level DSLR Camera | Atlanta Photographer11/9/2018 DSLR Shopping Guide: Your guide to purchasing your entry level DSLR Camera kirstenleephotography.com Investing in your first DSLR can a little overwhelming! Where do you start? How do you know which model is better? What do those words even mean? Well, don't worry, I've got you covered! Take a few minutes to check out all the tips that I have to help you make an investment that can change your life. How I help you find the best entry level DSLR that fits your needs:
XOXO ~ Kirsten p.s. Make sure to check out all my links below. They are specific sites that guide you in your CAMERA CHOICE! Don't have time? Check out my Amazon shop with all the gear that I suggest for Beginners and what gear I use!!
Kirsten Lee Photography reaches out to clients in Douglasville, Ga and Metro Atlanta areas.
Kirsten Lee specializes in real estate, maternity, newborns, children, seniors, and family portraits. Grace {Senior Class of 2019} | Douglasville Senior Photographer | Atlanta Senior Photographer10/25/2018 Meet Grace Class of 2019 Chapel Hill High School Locations: Private Land & Downtown Douglasville Well, Grace had the PERFECT first day of Fall weather here in the south for her Senior session! We had an amazing day with beautiful sunshine! Grace is no stranger to me as she is one of my Senior Reps for 2019! We had a great time on private land {where the cows showed up to say hello} and Downtown Douglasville. We were among many beautiful brides that day in Douglasville but it didn't stop us from getting the perfect picture! I love how Grace wanted to include her love of Jesus and being the editor of the yearbook. Scroll down to take a look! If you know Grace and need a senior session? Make sure to mention her name! I have a little discount for you! Kirsten Lee Photography reaches out to clients in Douglasville, Ga and Metro Atlanta areas.
Kirsten Lee specializes in real estate, maternity, newborns, children, seniors, and family portraits. Meet Danielle Class of 2019 Chapel Hill High School Make-up: Mac Counter Locations: Clinton Nature Preserve & Downtown Douglasville Danielle is no stranger to me as she is one of my Senior Reps for 2019! It was so fun to finally get to do her senior session. She was a trooper with the heat and beautiful with her outfits. I loved how we pulled together her love of softball and added a little bit of glam with her gorgeous dress. Keep scrolling and you'll see it! 😉 If you know Danielle and need a senior session? Make sure to mention her name! I have a little discount for you! Ready to secure your senior session with me??
Contact me and I can get you started! So excited to make your senior session all about you and let your personality shine through! XOXO - Kirsten P. S . Are you on Instagram?? Make sure to click over and follow me! Join my VIP list and receive 10% off your first session with me. Kirsten Lee Photography reaches out to clients in Douglasville, Ga and Metro Atlanta areas. Kirsten Lee specializes in real estate, maternity, newborns, children, seniors, and family portraits. Who has a cell phone?? In 2017 over 4.7 billion people have access to a cell phone. Crazy right?? Thanks Google for that fun fact.👍 Most smart phones also have cameras! So today, I'm giving you Tricks and Tips on how to use your cell phone camera. If you follow me on my Facebook page, we've been learning about those Tricks and Tips but the teacher in me loves to have everything all written down in one place. So make sure to bookmark this blog post and feel free to share with a friend or even Pin it on Pinterest! Bottom line, keep it in a safe place so you can refer back to it from time to time.😉 Tip 1: Choosing your Exposure ⭐ EXPOSURE ⭐ How YOU can select it on your camera phone versus it automatically choosing it for you. You'll see in the video that it is easy to choose the exposure right on your screen. And because you can learn from visual examples, here are two images where I intentionally chose the exposure on my cell phone camera. I used my iphone 7 plus camera phone here. See the details for each image below.
Tip #2: Editing your photos! So you've taken your photos on your cell phone but now you may want to edit them right?!?! I share two different ways you can edit your cell phone photos and they are both EASY! We all want easy! So this fun app is only available for apple products but don't worry, its coming soon to android! It's only $2.99 but I think it's well worth it. Check out the video on how you can edit your photos in PicTapGo! And of course a sample photos is a MUST! Here is a before and after editing with PicTapGo!
Yes, you read that correctly!! Learn to edit your cell phone photo using your Instagram app with no filters. It's the way to go!! The only filter I use?? Black and White! But I always go back and "hand edit" after. 😉 Samples of cell phone pictures edited in Instagram. Color edits are "hand edits" using NO filters! Black & Whites are the Inkwell filters with a few additional edits! Be creative and create your own style right in the Instagram app. And who doesn't love the perfect little square crop!?!? 😍 Tip #3: Portrait Mode The portrait mode feature is on Apple iPhone 7 Plus, 8 Plus, and X. Similar features are on some of the Samsung phones as well. And thanks to Google, there are apps, filters, and even Instagram can make photos appear to have portrait mode! Check out these simple steps to get the best Portrait Mode image on your cell phone. Samples of portrait mode on the Apple iphone 8 plus. Tip #4 : Storytelling 📖 This isn’t technical, you can’t push a button, or add a filter but you can take moment to tell your story through your photo. 1. Composition!! Pull back from the subject to show more details to the story or choose to focus in on the details of the subject. Your subject can be a person, place, or thing!! 2. Try it in Black & White!! This can allow the story to be told without all the distractions. 3. Be sneaky!! Yep, see your kids doing something?? Don’t tell them you’re taking their photo. Then they may smile, pose, or in my case roll their eyes at you! 😉 My little Stormtrooper was insistent on wearing his mask all.day.long. He contently watched YouTube with it on while I did laundry the other day. I took this photo and he didn’t even know! As well, I wanted give the whole story by showing his tiny little self in my big bed. And lastly, I made it black & white to show off that cute little Stormtrooper. 😀 Now I have a photo that tells a story and reminds me of my son's obsession with his big brother's Stormtrooper mask! Remember how I said to be sneaky?? Well here are two GREAT pictures of me capturing that sweet moment of my boys. ♥️ Now What?!?! Well, go out and practice with your cell phone camera! My hope for this blog post is that you feel more confident with using your cell phone camera and you have FUN. Feel free to send me an email with any questions or leave me a comment below. Also, are we friends on social media?!?!? Make sure to come join me over on my Facebook Page or on Instagram. Not on social media, join my VIP Team! Kirsten Lee Photography reaches out to clients in Douglasville, Ga and Metro Atlanta areas.
Kirsten Lee specializes in real estate, maternity, newborns, children, seniors, and family portraits. Class of 2019 SENIORS Keep scrolling to see 3 reasons why you need to book in July! Reason #1You get first dibs on a date!! Weekends are popular and everyone wants a beautiful fall weekend for photos. Book now to secure your session and all you have to do is tell me what month you want. When I open that month's calendar, you'll be the first one to get dibs on a date. Reason #2 Less stress!! As your senior year approaches, there are so many things you'll be doing. All it takes to secure your senior session is a $50 retainer. Super easy and then you let me help you with the rest! I promise we'll have tons of fun planning your senior experience and a blast on the day of your photo session. Reason #3 It's okay to be a show-off! Be the FIRST! With all the fun events and activities this senior year, be the first one to get their senior pictures back! You'll love to show them off on Instagram {and I love to show you off on IG too}. Best part, I also give you a great personal photo app for your phone. So much fun! If those three reasons don't convince you, take a moment and check out my Class 2019 Senior Guide. This guide gives you all the great details about your senior experience with me. I promise we have tons of fun and tons of laughing! And I also treat you to coffee. Who doesn't love coffee?!?! Ready to secure your senior session with me?? Contact me and I can get you started! So excited to make your senior session all about you and let your personality shine through! XOXO - Kirsten P. S . Are you on Instagram?? Make sure to click over and follow me! Kirsten Lee Photography reaches out to clients in Douglasville, Ga and Metro Atlanta areas.
Kirsten Lee specializes in real estate, maternity, newborns, children, seniors, and family portraits. When your little sister gets ENGAGED! | Atlanta Photographer | Douglasville GA Photographer6/27/2018 Chris & BrynneWhen your Little Sister gets ENGAGED, you're honored to take her photos. We had a great family weekend in Selma, Alabama celebrating the engagement of Chris and Brynne. Hard to believe my little sister is getting married! I was honored they wanted me to take their photos. We planned it out and the session came together perfectly! At 11pm the night before, I thought how perfect Old Fashioned Coca-Cola bottles would be! Since Brynne is originally a Georgia girl, this was perfect! It all came together with their Coke name bottles they got a few years ago for Christmas. Cold Coke . Cute Southern Porch . Beautiful Summer Sunshine We left the party for a few sunset photos and just loved how they turned out. Don't let these images fool you, it's a different level HOT in Alabama. Whew! We were outside for maybe 10 mins tops! So excited for Chris & Brynne and their engagement! And if you are looking for a session with just your loved one?? Hope you take a moment to check out my sessions. I may not be a wedding photographer but I do enjoy capturing couples and families. Kirsten Lee Photography reaches out to clients in Douglasville, Ga and Metro Atlanta areas.
Kirsten Lee specializes in real estate, maternity, newborns, children, seniors, and family portraits. Walker {Family of 6} {a newborn sunset session} And FOUR makes it complete!!! Always love capturing the Walker Family and was so excited when they said they were expecting. To make it even MORE amazing, they asked for a sunset newborn session outside with their precious 5 day old. If you live in the South, you know the weather has been CRAZY! They were so patient with me, while I gave them play-by-play of the weather that day and the fact that it was HOT. The kids ROCKED the session and Miss Adalyn was a SUPERSTAR. Expecting a baby? Make sure to check out my maternity, fresh48, and newborn sessions! Contact me and we can chat! Kirsten Lee Photography reaches out to clients in Douglasville, Ga and Metro Atlanta areas.
Kirsten Lee specializes in real estate, maternity, newborns, children, seniors, and family portraits. Three Reasons Why In-Home Sessions are Awesome Reason #1 - Comfort of your HOME 🏠 Family sessions can be done in the comfort of your HOME! I use natural light and photograph in various rooms of your house. Before the session, I work with you, learning about your home, the sunshine coming into your windows, your family's personality, and what YOU have in mind for the session. This session is meant to FUN, EASY, and personalized JUST for YOUR family. ❤️ Best part?!?! Shoes are optional!! Reason #2 - Telling a Story 📖 Like I said in reason #1, I get to know your family before the session and what is important to YOU!! I love telling your story through my camera and that is what I do with in-home session. What does your family like to do together? Paint, cook, bake cookies, play games, or read?!?! Lets capture those sweet memories for you to have for years to come! Reason #3 - It's AIR-CONDITIONED! 💦 Yep, I'm serious y'all!!! It is summer and it is HOT!!! Family in-home sessions are perfect in the summer because you can be cool in your home. This is perfect for families with newborns, preschoolers, and let's face it, parents too! Who wants to worry about sweating during your photo session?!?! Leave the sweating up to me. Why book a family in-home session? It's a great way to tell your story! It's a great way to capture a season of your life! You know what else is great?? You're in the comfort of your home and your kids can even wear their pjs if they want. ;) There are no rules! Make sure to check out my family in-home sessions to see more awesome families. Ready to book? Contact me and we will get you on the calendar! Need a refresher on my pricing? Head to my pricing page! Kirsten Lee Photography reaches out to clients in Douglasville, Ga and Metro Atlanta areas.
Kirsten Lee specializes in real estate, maternity, newborns, children, seniors, and family portraits. |