I Got My First DSLR! ...Now What?! | Part One: Getting Started

I'm very excited to start a new series on digital photography basics! I often have people contact me with questions after receiving their first DSLR camera and I hope this series will provide you what some helpful information to get you started on your photography journey! I received my first DSLR about six years ago and I felt pretty lost and overwhelmed in the beginning. There's so much to learn! But if you work hard and practice, I know you'll make progress and will be happy with the beautiful images you get as a result! I think photography is a skill that is so important to learn because it gives you the ability to capture important memories in a beautiful and artistic way!

1. Read Your Manual
I know, I know, you don't want to hear that you have to read your manual. But I promise you that it will help you and teach you SO much! It's so important that you understand your camera and your manual can teach you a lot! Read your manual and then practice some of the concepts you learn. Don't get frustrated when you don't understand everything the manual is saying, you won't in the beginning! Then after you've had some practice, go back and read through the manual again. You may be surprised that you understand a lot more than you did the first time!

2. Find Good Resources
There's a lot of great free or inexpensive resources out there to help you learn how to use your DSLR camera! One of my favorite resources is Digital Photography School. I've learned so much from reading their blog! Another great resource is Creative Live. Creative Live offers free education on photography and a variety of other topics if you watch classes as they are being broadcasted. If you really want to watch a class and have missed the broadcast, you can always buy the class. Also check out YouTube. There's a lot of helpful videos on specific camera techniques and other photography tips. One book that has helped me a lot and is great for beginners is Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson. I recommend this book to anyone starting out!

3. Practice, practice, practice!
Take your camera with you everywhere you go! Practice taking pictures in different situations and in different lighting. Learn what to do if you're taking a picture of a flower or a picture of a child running. Know how to change your settings if you're shooting outside at noon, or at sunset, or in a dimly lit room. Having the skills to know how to adapt to various situations only comes from education and practice! Plus if you're anything like me, you learn a lot better by doing something and not just learning about it. If you're interested in getting better at photographing people, ask friends and family if they'll be models for you as you practice your skills. I did that a lot in the beginning!

4. Take a Class
Consider finding a class local to your area or online. There's a lot of great beginner classes out there! Shameless plug: I'm thinking about offering a beginner DSLR class in the future so stay tuned for more details on that as well!

Next week I'll be covering exposure. I think understanding exposure and shooting in "manual" mode is one of the most important skills you need to develop. It took me a few years before I learned to shoot in "manual" and I wish I pushed myself to learn right after getting my camera instead of relying on auto settings! Check back in two weeks for the next post in this series!

Did you find this post helpful? Do you have questions or feedback? Please leave a comment below and share this post with a friend!

The Top 5 Things I learned from "Come Together: An Evening with Katelyn James and Amy & Jordan"

I had the privilege of attending "Come Together: An Evening with Katelyn James and Amy & Jordan" last month and it was a wonderful experience! Katelyn James and Amy and Jordan are both very successful and inspiration wedding photographers. I have to admit, I was a little starstruck because I've been following Katelyn James for about 5 years and I admire her so much! It has been such a joy to watch her business continue to grow and develop! I have been a frequent visitor of her blog over the years and I have learned SO much from her! If you're a photographer or in the wedding industry (or you just like looking at pretty pictures), I highly encourage you to check her blog out. I discovered Amy and Jordan's blog about six months ago and I have also really benefited from some of their blog series for photographers.

The topics covered in "Come Together" were social media and blogging. I learned SO much more than that though! I think the thing I enjoyed most was hearing the heart behind why Amy and Jordan and Katelyn James do what they do. They are all Christians, and ultimately their first priority is to glorify God through their businesses and to love and serve their clients! That is my mission as well and so that purpose really spoke to me and challenged me.

Me and Katelyn James!!

Here are 5 of my biggest takeaways from "Come Together:"

1. Don't Grow for Your Own Glory
This actually was one of the most encouraging reminders to me! I was reminded of the importance of growing my business to glorify Christ and not to glorify my own name. Katelyn was very vulnerable and shared that even with how successful she's been, she still doesn't feel like she has "arrived" and she struggles with wanting more or comparing herself to other creatives. Wow! From my perspective, Katelyn is definition of what it means to be successful as a wedding photographer. So, to hear those words and that vulnerability from her was a great reminder that my ultimate joy and satisfaction can never been in how successful my business is or all that I've accomplished. It's also SO easy for me to compare myself to others in my industry and wish that I was where they are, but I need to look to Christ for joy and not compare because "Comparison is the thief of all joy." I want people to look at me and my business and to know that first and foremost, I do all that I do to glorify Christ and not myself!

2. Love and Serve Your Clients
I was really encouraged and challenged by some of the ways that Amy and Jordan and Katelyn shared that they love on and serve their clients. For them, wedding photography isn't just a business or a way to make money, it's a way to really invest into the lives of people! As wedding photographers, we really do have the opportunity to make a difference in people's lives by the way we connect with, love, and serve them! What a privilege! In addition, even though we live in such a technological age, Amy and Jordan shared that only 7% of referrals come from online. Where do the other 93% come from? They come from word of mouth referrals and what people say about you in person. So we need to love and serve people in such a way that we make a difference in their lives and we get them talking about us to their friends and family.

3. Blogging is A Secret Weapon
Katelyn shared about how her business basically started with her blog in her dorm room. It's been amazing to see how her blog really has spearheaded her success in the industry and how she began blogging regularly before it was common to do so. I really enjoy blogging but I've found that it is extremely hard to stay consistent with it because it takes a lot of time and thought and sometimes it can feel like no one really cares or is even reading your blog. However, Katelyn reminded us that it takes months to gain momentum and a long period of consistency before people really begin to trust you and to come back to your blog regularly. When you do gain that momentum and audience, it can make a huge difference in your business success!

4. Blogging is An Automatic Marketing Strategy
Katelyn explained that the week after a wedding is the "golden hour of impact." 3-5 days after a wedding has happened, people are excited about it and they want to see the images. After 2+ weeks, guests are less excited to see images and vendors have already moved on to the next wedding. She explained that blogging just a few days after a wedding is a way to capitalize on the excitement and to get people sharing your images. In addition, it is very important to email vendors the link to your blog so that they can publicize it. The more publicity and shares your blog gets, the more potential clients you will receive!

5. Blogging is a Community Creator
When you have a blog, you're giving people a home base to "attract your ideal tribe." Katelyn explained that you attract your tribe (or the type of prospective clients you want) through your voice and your content. The more you share your voice, people will either be attracted to or repelled by you and that's what you want to happen! You don't want to attract every person to you, just the people that love you and love what you do and make up your ideal client! In addition, Katelyn explained that community comes through consistency and clear leadership. When people know what to expect and they know you're going to be consistent, they will come to trust you and listen to you. In addition, you can't impact people's lives if you don't let them into yours! Vulnerability is key! 

Me and Amber of Six Foot Photography (I had a great time carpooling with Amber!)

Me and Jordan and Amy Demos!

I'm very thankful for the opportunity I had to attend "Come Together" and to learn from some of my favorite photographers! I hope this post helped you in some way! Please feel free to leave a comment below if you have questions or feedback!

How I Share My Images

I often get the question, "How do you share your pictures?" "Will I get all my images or will I have to pay for each one?"

There are a lot of different types of photographers and methods of sharing images and so it can get confusing! I am what is called a "shoot and share" photographer. "Shoot and Share" is defined as "photographers that focus on service and share the high resolution photos with their clients" (you can learn more at shootandshare.com). Many photographers charge per image or only provide prints and products but "shoot and share" is a business model that allows customers to receive all the edited, high resolution images from their session and to share those images. 

A few years ago I made the decision to start using a professional photo sharing program called "PASS" and I have never looked back! I love PASS! You can learn more about PASS at pass.us.

Why I use PASS:

1. Digital Delivery and Instant Download
With PASS I can deliver all of my images through an online gallery instead of using a CD or USB. That means that my clients receive their images instantly and can send them to friends and family instantly! Instead of having to wait for a CD to come in the mail or having to pay an additional fee to have me mail a CD to family members, you get all of your pictures with the click of a button! I do deliver wooden USBs for weddings (because I think they're so pretty!) and I sell wooden USBs to anyone who would like one from a portrait session.

2. 10 Years of Cloud Storage
With PASS your images are stored on the cloud for 10 years! That means you can access your images online any time you would like. No more worrying about loosing a CD! I've found this feature super helpful with my own wedding pictures. There's been lots of times I've wanted to pull up a picture from my wedding to use on social media or to print out and they've all been available with just the click of a button.

3. Social Media Integration & A Mobile App
PASS integrates seamlessly with social media! You can automatically share an image through PASS onto Facebook or Pinterest. In addition, at the click of a button you can create an app that is added to your phone so you can access your gallery at any time. How cool is that?!

4. Beautiful Galleries
I love the way PASS galleries look! They're clean and simple. In addition, you can organize galleries by "collection." So for wedding pictures I create different collections for each part of the wedding day (for example: "Getting Ready," "First Look," etc.).

I hope you found this post helpful! If you have any more questions about how I share images please feel free to contact me or post a comment below.