Tutorials Archives

Aug

Yervant’s Creative Live

I had an amazing opportunity to return to Seattle for another Creative Live workshop. This was my second trip this year to take advantage of a wonderful learning resource available to creatives and entrepreneurs! This trip was to learn from another iconic master wedding photographer. Yervant!! I’m still pinching myself that I was actually selected to participate as one of the 17 students who were hand-picked to join the live the classroom.

The class was called Creating a Successful Wedding Photography Business. If I can’t learn something from someone who has been in the business for 30 years , then I need to pack my bags and move on. I picked up plenty from this genius.

[Tweet “Yervant’s Creative Live Review”]

I have to be honest and say that I sat through the first few hours (actually most of the first day) without gaining much new knowledge or fresh ideas. Though, I’m willing to attribute this to the fact that I’ve been following Yervant and other photographers of his caliber (Rocco Ancora, Jerry Ghionis, Ryan Schembri, Roberto Valenzuela, Salvatore Dimino, Nik Pekridis, Cliff Mautner, Susan Stripling—just to name a few) for years. These other iconic virtuosos share a lot of business similarities with Yervant and they tend to walk in a lot of the same circles. In a sense, I had heard his spiel before… “market to your target audience, tell the bride’s story, specialize in a style, always find a solution, respect yourself and your craft, work like a pro, keep evolving, always be positive…” and so on.

Much of the first day involved business, marketing and advertising and per Yervant’s own admittance, “the boring stuff.”

However, when we hit the topic of actually photographing the wedding and post-production, Yervant’s eyes lit with excitement and his face was instantly a constant smile. He danced around the studio. He told jokes. He was alive with enthusiasm and suddenly relied less on his energy drink to get him through the afternoon. He said he never wanted to retire from this profession and I believed him.

Yervant’s Creative Live Review

This is a list of things I learned and have actually already started implementing into my business.

Yervant taught us new ways of post-processing. In particular, to explicitly control shadows, highlights and colors. For years, I’ve tried to perfect dodging and burning with little to no success. Yervant’s method is so uncomplicated, I don’t even need his actions and came home and edited photos “straight away.” (I love this Australian phrase.)
I learned and was finally convinced to include only a few signature edits in what I show to the client and for anything that goes into the album. This will help tremendously with the hours I spend post-processing in front of my computer.
He demonstrated new ways of posing a subject using motion. I’ve never really seen this method. I don’t know that I’ll use this method exclusively, but I may incorporate it into parts of my portrait sessions.
Yervant helped to encourage me to get the studio I’ve been wanting for years. He said, “You stop taking risks, you’ll never grow.” For now, that will be a small studio on my private property, but I’ll be moving out of the spare bedroom I’ve been using in my home.

Yervant is such a friendly soul. Like most of the photographers I follow, he cares genuinely about this industry and is willing to share his knowledge in order for the industry to gain and keep respect as a whole. Any bride who is lucky enough to hire him to capture their wedding day is an extremely lucky bride. Any photographer who is lucky enough to learn from him is an extremely lucky photographer. Anyone who is lucky enough to call him friend is an extremely lucky friend. This world is fortunate to have him breathe its air and walk upon its surface. Truly.

Our class was also treated to a studio tour by Mariangela! I’ve never seen behind the scenes at Creative Live. This was interesting. And I made lots of new friends I’m going to enjoy keeping in contact with in the future and watching them grow as well!! (Shout out to

The post, Yervant’s Creative Live Review, first appeared on Ata-Girl Photography Co.’s website and blog. Please feel free to comment here, or share this post with your friends via Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest. Please email me if you have any questions about this article or want to share a neat idea for a future blog post with me.

Aug

Learning from Yervant

Over the years, I have been extremely fortunate to learn from many photography masters. I will continue to learn from the masters. I feel it is a duty and a debt I must pay to my clients. I feel strongly (extremely) that any photographer who only takes money from their clients without reinvesting in their craft is basically stealing from their clients. We owe our clients the very best images we can make. We can’t learn to take the very best images from YouTube and Facebook.

[Tweet “Learning from Another Master: Yervant”]

In an industry without any sort of standardization and where our clients hardly realize the level of difficulty involved to make really great images, professional photographers must invest in their own education. Doctors do it, accountants do it, certified electricians and plumbers do it and every profession does it as a means to keep the consumer safe and/or protected. They are forced to do it if they want to keep their certification. While a photographer isn’t performing surgery or wiring your home with electricity, you are paying us to capture life events that cannot be re-created. I wished customers were more selective when hiring photographers and just didn’t shop based on price alone.

I am grateful I have been invited back to Seattle to attend Yervant’s presentation: Creating a Successful Wedding Photography Business. This will be my second trip this year and I am so excited to hear Yervant and learn from him. He is an Australian grand master photographer who has a lot to teach me.

He is internationally celebrated as “the most influential wedding photographer of our time.” He received the WPPI Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010. He is an iconic master of wedding photography and was the first to coin the phrase, “fashion meets wedding.” He was born in Africa, studied in Italy and then made his home in Australia. I absolutely cannot wait to learn from this true master.

Learning from Another Master: Yervant

No matter how skillful I become with my photography, I will always continue to seek out avenues to better my craft. There will always be someone better than I to learn from. There will always be ways to provide a better experience and better photography for my clients. Learning from these masters today is the equivalent of learning from da Vinci, Picasso, van Gough, or Rembrandt from yesteryear. That is truly how talented these photographers are.

If I started to pencil the details of my curriculum vitae, it would begin to read something like:

Wedding & Portrait Professionals International (WPPI) Convention, Las Vegas, 2013 to present
How to Wow Tour with Jerry Ghionis, 2014
WPPI PhotoWalk with Rocco Ancora, 2015
Shutterfest, St. Louis, 2015 & 2016
WPPI Master Class with David Beckstead, 2016
WPPI Master Class with Nik Pedridis, 2016
Three-day workshop with Nik Pekridis and Salvatore Dimino, 2016
WPPI Plus Class: Ryan Schembri, Creative Lighting on Location, 2017
WPPI Plus Class: Rocco Ancora, The Anatomy of a Fine Art Print, 2017
Two-day Creative Live workshop with Rocco Ancora: The Anatomy of a Fine Art Print, 2017
Out-of-the-Box Business Intensive Workshop with Fabrizia Costa, 2017
Two-day Creative Live workshop with Yervant: Creating a Successful Wedding Photography Business, 2017
Three-day workshop with Nik Pekridis, Johnson Wee and Keda.Z, 2017 (October)
Currently working toward a photography certification through WPPI and the New York Institute of Photography

In addition to attending all of these workshops and conventions in person, I have continually entered the WPPI photo competitions as a means of learning AND purchased numerous Creative Live on-demand video classes. AND, I am currently shopping for a live, in-the-flesh person to mentor me. This photography world is advancing so unbelievably fast and becoming so extremely imaginative, I am having a really difficult time keeping up. Even with all the investments I have made towards furthering my education in photography, I cannot keep the same pace as the masters in this industry let alone even catch them.

I have no choice but find ways to grow and advance—even if that means at my own pace for now.

The post, Learning from Another Master: Yervant, first appeared on Ata-Girl Photography Co.’s website and blog. Please feel free to comment here, or share this post with your friends via Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest. Please email me if you have any questions about this article or want to share a neat idea for a future blog post with me.

May

Achieving Success

No one achieves success alone. No one. Behind every successful person is a team. We all need a team to accomplish great things in life.

Even as an entrepreneur, I am no different. I have spent the last eight years building my “team.” I have attended many photography workshops and seminars to garner my team of photography experts. This team is not with me physically on a daily basis, but they are with me—in my mind, spiritually. I can reach out and refer to a particular moment of learning to further my own business and photography craft. My team is exceptional. I have hand-selected them over the years and invested in them wisely. Each has contributed to my continued growth and is partly responsible for my successes. Whether or not they know, they have ownership in this.

[Tweet “No One Achieves Success Alone”]

This past week, I added a valuable member to my team—Austrian-photographer, Fabrizia Costa. She literally opened her toolbox for the workshop to share all the secrets she has learned in operating a successful photography business. After years of working as a magazine editor, the tail end of a marriage, and a mountain of debt at her feet and considerable monthly expenses, she successfully started a wedding and portrait photography business in the mountains of Austria in a farming community where people didn’t usually get portraits made. She didn’t speak the dialect of the native language, didn’t have a studio, didn’t have any startup cash and had many other “obstacles” in her way. She did not let any of this stop her.

Fabrizia Costa, Out of the Box

Fabrizia shared many personal stories of how she overcame hardships, solved problems for clients or even saved a friend’s life with her photography. She gave me many, many actionable items that I could start implementing into my very own business—so many, in fact, that I was tempted to skip out on the second day of the workshop and get straight to work. I was glad I didn’t. If I would have, I would have missed the heartfelt opportunity to cry. I’m no masochist, but I do secretly enjoy hearing a sad story… as long as it ends in utter happiness.

I was on the fence for months about attending this workshop. I’m glad I got off the fence and jumped into the box—just so I could get out of the box!

The truth is that there is strength in numbers. Together, we become stronger… we become a powerful team.

These are the lovely ladies that joined me in the Out of the Box, English edition with Fabrizia Costa. From left to right, Melissa Valenzuela, Mary Larsen, myself, Fabrizia, Dora Vera, Shannon Craven Bright, Melissa Ashby and Jennifer Denton. Missing from the group picture are Heidi Smith Hagelstein and Angel Coggins.

This is Linda Rukavina of Rukavina Photography in Boerne. For years, she has been deeply immersed in the world-wide photography community and has been vested in bringing the world’s masters to us right here in San Antonio. She has continuously convinced some of the world’s top wedding and portrait professionals to come teach here, offered her studio as the classroom and done everything in her power to try and keep the costs as low as possible. She is also a valued member of my team.

Linda was also gracious enough to give us all a complimentary head shot session.

fabrizia-costa-out-of-the-box-san-antonio-wedding-photographers-P1030891

My Biggest Nugget:

I’ve been doing all the right things… blogging, branding, great customer service, great products, great education, consistent social media, networking. But what I wasn’t doing is trying to make things happen… looking for extra opportunities. I’ve been sitting at my desk and waiting by the phone expecting my goals to fall in my lap. Wrong. I need to climb on top of my desk and reach for my goals. My advice to myself… get out of your comfort zone, make things happen and claim your destiny! Grab it by the damn horns and take it! Don’t wait for it to fall in your lap. Make it yours. Do something spectacular. Leave fear behind, Tammy.

The post, No One Achieves Success Alone, first appeared on Ata-Girl Photography Co.’s website and blog. Please feel free to comment here, or share this post with your friends via Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest. Please email me if you have any questions about this article or want to share a neat idea for a future blog post with me.

Apr

The Best Photography Client

Everyone loves a good working relationship, right? And you… you want to have a great photography experience? These ten foolproof tips will ensure you are the best photography client possible. You’re photographer will LOVE YOU if you follow these ten tips!

Here are ten simple tips to be the best photography client EVER. These tips can apply to any type of photographer or any type of session and are guaranteed to make your photographer love working with you. When your photographer loves to work with you, everyone wins.

10 Tips to be the Best Photography Client

Hire them early. Always hire your photographer as early as you can. This means you need to hire them at least a year in advance of your wedding, and at least 30 days before you want to take your portrait session. This gives your photographer plenty of time to get to know you and your personality and plan for your special event. There may be special permits to apply for/purchase, timelines to create, clothing outfits to review, other vendors to plan with, and locations to scout. Making sure your photographer has adequate time to prepare for your shoot means you will have a better experience AND better images.
Read everything they give you; follow their advice. If your photographer offers any advice in the way of oral instruction, written material, or videos to help you prepare for your session, take a few minutes to listen and/or go over the material to be the best photography client. They are trying to help you prepare for your session. Again, this will help you to have a positive experience and create beautiful imagery.
Show up on time. Make every effort to be on time. Pretend you are a trainee and it’s your first day of boot camp in the Marine Corps. In fact, show up a few minutes early. Time is precious for a photographer, especially if they are shooting outdoors and using natural lighting—even if they are adding artificial lighting.
Don’t pretend you think you’re ugly or fat. When the photographer shows you the back of the camera or your final images, don’t complain that you’re fat or ugly. We know that IF you REALLY thought you were fat or ugly, we wouldn’t be taking your photos. We will compliment you and generously pet your ego, but don’t go fishing for compliments or pretend to have low self-esteem. It’s not flattering. And, this is also a lot like telling the head chef that their filet mignon sucks.
No screenshots/no downloads. Taking screenshots or downloading images and reposting/printing them is a crime—even if you paid for a session, or bought a physical print—unless the photographer has granted you a limited copyright license to “take screenshots and repost/print them.” If you want to post low-resolution digital images from your wedding or session, then purchase them or make sure you have a limited copyright (permission) to do this. Not only is this theft, screenshooting an image badly degrades it and makes it look really crummy. In turn, it makes the photographer look like they do really crummy work. Also, stealing images from the internet (or anywhere else for that matter), is the same as bootlegging music. Again, it is a crime and it is punishable by law.
No filters. Assuming you do have permission to post the images on social media or print them, DO NOT EDIT THEM. Your photographer created the image… the ART, with a certain vision in mind. When you change that vision without their permission, you violate your copyright agreement with the photographer. More often than not, you also make the photographer look like an inexperienced amateur by slapping a really ugly filter on it and messing up skin tones and proper white balancing.
Always give them photo credit. When you do have permission to post your images online, always give your photographer a photo credit. It’s so disheartening to see you have 1,347 likes from your family and friends and no mention of the photographer who took the image.
Refer them. If you had a pleasant experience and liked the photographer’s work, refer them any chance you get. Nothing makes me happier than to have a potential client tell me that a past client referred them my way.
If you appreciate their work, stay loyal. If you enjoyed the experience you had with the photographer, use them when you can (and refer them, #8 above). Nothing gets our goat more than to see you bounce around from photographer to photographer like a cheating partner.
If you’re unsure, ask. If you’re ever unsure about what you can and can’t do, or what is expected of you as a client, just ask. I’m sure your photographer will be more than happy to explain it to you rather than discover you’ve done something to make them look silly online in front of thousands of people.

There you have it. Ten tips to maintain a pristine relationship with your photographer!!

Let’s “hangout!” I wanna hear about your love story!

Schedule a virtual or in-person discovery meetup!
For more options, visit my “Let’s Connect” page.

About Ata-Girl

I am a San Antonio-based wedding photographer and I cater to outdoor-loving couples who prefer to have all the realness captured on their wedding days. I am the wedding photographer for the outdoor adventurers, the romantics, the laid back, the snugglers, and those who wish to capture all their realness.

I am absolutely in love with capturing the kinds of weddings where there are more hugs than handshakes, the dance floor rumbles all night long, and chairs are pretty much rendered useless after dinner. Whiskey bottles are passed around, most of the wedding party has been best-best friends since kindergarten, Grams is likely to lose her shoes and your partner is much more emotional than you are. These kinds of weddings are my jam!

You can always call or text, but if you really want to get to know me, schedule a meetup!

I started Ata-Girl Photography Co., LLC in 2010. I firmly believe that the unique set of circumstances I have faced in life has prepared me to take a personal and genuine interest in my photography clients. I enjoy documenting the important milestones and captivating moments in people’s lives. I love being a part of people’s journeys and consider myself privileged to document their legacies.

If you enjoyed this blog post and would like to get your hands on 20 FREE interactive wedding planning tools that every couple needs, please take a moment to access them here.

I am a published author (purchase my book here), a podcast host (listen here) (watch here) and a WPPI-C certified professional, full-time wedding photographer. I specialize in a 10-day image delivery, same-day prints, same-day slideshows, Italian handcrafted wedding albums and I have a mobile meeting space.

When I’m not behind my camera, you can find me hiking, cycling, backpacking, camping, enjoying water sports, listening to music (Elvis and Prince), hunting for arrowheads, reading audiobooks, occasionally eating a few glazed donuts (my only weakness to sweets) and then re-starting my keto diet about every 10 days. The most important things in life are for me to see my two daughters happy and to create a family history my grandparents and grandson would be proud of.

Apr

Flash at your Ceremony?

I recently read a Facebook post where another nationally-known photographer posted about attending a wedding. She said that at that wedding, the photographer used flash during the ceremony. She also said that the second shooter wore jeans and a tee shirt, but that’s another topic. I also just recently attended a wedding and both the main and the second shooter were using flash during the ceremony. This got me to thinking. How often does this happen? And, are brides aware that this is going to happen?

[Tweet “Do you Want Flash at your Wedding Ceremony?”]

A wedding ceremony is a beautiful thing. It should be as sanctified as humanly possible. Random bursts of bright lights does not lend well to this. At all.

Flash at your Wedding Ceremony

So, do you want flash at your ceremony? Do you even need flash at your ceremony?

My answer is no. In my professional opinion, flash should never be used during the actual wedding ceremony. Any professional photographer you hire should be fully capable of capturing images that are correctly exposed without the use of artificial light—especially with the modern advancements in today’s camera processors.

Before you sign that agreement or pay that retainer, ask. Do you use flash during the ceremony? Do you use flash during the ceremony in even extreme lighting situations? You should actually be concerned how your potential photographer photographs the entire ceremony. Ideally, you want to hire someone who is very discreet… someone who doesn’t linger in the center aisle or block your guests’ view. You want to hire someone who captures your day without ruining your guests’.

The sound of the camera shutter clicking is obtrusive enough. Don’t further the disturbance levels by adding obnoxious bursts of light and unprofessionally-dressed photographers who walk down the center aisle and block everyone’s view. My 2¢.

The post, Flash at your Wedding Ceremony, first appeared on Ata-Girl Photography Co.’s website and blog. Please feel free to comment here, or share this post with your friends via Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest. Please email me if you have any questions about this article or want to share a neat idea for a future blog post with me.

Apr

Creative Live Recap

I’ve been watching experts share their knowledge and expert advice since 2010. I have invested hundreds of dollars in my own Creative Live library. I have friends who have been students on Creative Live, but I never thought that I would be a student myself. However, that all changed in February when Rocco Ancora invited the participants of his WPPI Plus Class to attend the March taping of his Creative Live class: From Capture to Print.

[Tweet “Creative Live Recap”]

What a surprise it was to be learning, yet again, from a Nikon Ambassador and one of the world’s top wedding photographers AND be flanked in the student seating area by another—Roberto Valenzuela. I happened to walk into the Creative Live offices at the same time as him, but assumed that Creative Live would be simultaneously taping two classes. I was wrong. He immediately addressed us and told us he was also here to learn from the master, Rocco. He said he was “practicing what he preached.”

It was refreshing to personally witness someone with as much skill, mastery and notoriety as Roberto freakin’ Valenzuela “walk the walk.” After all, not only is he one of the world’s top wedding photographers, he is also a Canon Explorer of Light AND the world’s top-selling author in the “wedding photography” book category.

Honestly, when does this ever happen? Taught by one master and joined in the class by another?

In all my years pursuing a career as a professional photographer, I have been blessed each and every step. Early on, I was taught, and thankfully accepted, that top-notch education is vitally important in this industry. One in six people in the United States claim to be a photographer in some capacity… hobbyist to professional. There is a dire need to constantly set yourself apart from your “competition.” Education is the one thing that most of these one in six “photographers” do not invest in. In the end, who suffers? The client.

I attend at least two or three workshops annually, and this was a top-notch educational experience!!

Creative Live Recap

During the two-days of taping, we covered every single aspect of printing an image. Why? When? How? Where? On what? With who? And about 17-million other minuscule details in between all of those broader topics. I can say there were times when we dove into aspects of post-processing or printing that were over my head; however, Rocco was able to break it down into terms even I could understand.

Photographs are meant for papers, not computer screens. — Rocco Ancora

creative-live-san-antonio-wedding-senior-photographer-3

It was enlightening to increase my understanding about archival permanence, color gamuts, color management, and paper standards. It was mind-blowing to bear witness to Rocco’s Photoshopping® genius. If Adobe® doesn’t sponsor Rocco, well, shame on them. They should.

Being on Creative Live was a positive experience. I was able to learn more about capturing, post-processing and printing. I made a few new photographer friends from even more corners of the United States AND Canada! As a bonus, I got to ~~visit~~ shop at the flagship Seattle REI®. However, I missed seeing Tanya!

If you are in any creative, entrepreneurial business, check out Creative Live. I am sure they have some sort of class that can help you in your business endeavors. They have something for everyone.

The post, Creative Live Recap, first appeared on Ata-Girl Photography Co.’s website and blog. Please feel free to comment here, or share this post with your friends via Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest. Please email me if you have any questions about this article or want to share a neat idea for a future blog post with me.

Mar

I’m Going to be on TV

I attended Rocco Ancora’s PLUS Class at the 2017 WPPI in Las Vegas earlier this year. It was called The Anatomy of a Fine Art Print. This wasn’t the first time I had invested in Rocco’s willingness to share his skills, knowledge and expertise. I also hired Rocco to post-process and prepare my 2017 WPPI image competition prints and I purchased a photo walk with him at the 2015 WPPI.

Rocco personally invited the students of his 2017 PLUS class to attend a live taping of his Creative Live class in Seattle, Washington. Creative Live said YES!

I am so excited! I am constantly preaching that as professional photographers, we need to consistently further our craft since there is no singular organization that governs us. I even identify my willingness to seek higher education as one of the five key differences that I believe set me apart from most photographers claiming to be professionals in this video. This is yet another opportunity to learn from a master and further my own skill set. And another example of practicing what I preach!

[Tweet “I’m Going to be on TV”]

Rocco, pictured in the center below, is an triple master photographer of WPPI and master printer. He is one of only ten photographers with this prestigious title in the WPPI community.

creative-live-san-antonio-wedding-senior-photographer-2

From the time I began pursuing a career as a professional photographer, I stumbled across an online learning resource called Creative Live. I have recommended this time and again to many photographer friends who were also on a journey to learn to be better photographers.

Creative Live is a resource to entrepreneurial creatives, not only photographers, who want to learn to new skills and better business and marketing tactics. You can tune in any day and watch select courses for free from the comfort of your own home. If you decide to purchase any of the courses, you add them to your own personal library to come back and watch at your leisure time and time again. You can even download them and take them on the go. I own 11 of my own Creative Live classes. They are:

Wedding Photography: Capturing the Story, Rocco Ancora and Ryan Schembri
Working with Flash, Pye Jersa
Incredible Engagement Photography, Pye Jersa
Picture Perfect Lighting, Roberto Valenzuela
Master the Business of Photography, Sal Cincotta
Location Lighting 101, Lindsay Adler
Think Like a $10K Wedding Photographer, Scott Robert Lim
Wedding Post-Production Work Flow, Jennifer Cody and John Aarnio
Creative Wedding Photography, Susan Stripling
Marketing and Promotion, Sue Bryce
Wedding Photography Bootcamp, Sal Cincotta

And, I’m about to own one more: From Capture to Print with Rocco Ancora. When you are a student on the Creative Live set, one of the perks is owning the class you participated in.

I am hopeful that this two-day intensive class can enlighten me on methods to improve all aspects of my photography… from capturing to printing.

creative-live-san-antonio-wedding-senior-photographer

I’m Going to be on TV

If you care to watch, the class will air on March 29th and 30th. You can watch for FREE at www.creativelive.com. Just search for Rocco’s class, From Capture to Print if there are multiple classes airing. If any of my photographer friends want to have some fun, you can even follow along and ask questions that the moderator will relay and Rocco will answer. Pre-order the class for $54. This sale ends in less than 12 hours! After the pre-sale, you can purchase the class for $99 through March 30th. After March 30th, the price goes up even more.

The post, I’m Going to be on TV, first appeared on Ata-Girl Photography Co.’s website and blog. Please feel free to comment here, or share this post with your friends via Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest. Please email me if you have any questions about this article or want to share a neat idea for a future blog post with me.

Feb

WPPI Image Comp Results

Art is subjective. Place these images in front of a panel of five different judges on any other day, and they could have very well scored any other number. Even though they didn’t merit, I am elated that I am consistently scoring in the 75-79 range. This means that the judges do see my work as professional. Even if my work is only viewed as “professional standard,” there are many images that don’t even make it to this range and even more that don’t even see this competition.

[Tweet “WPPI Image Competition Results”]

None of my images were challenged and none received more than 30 seconds of live critique. However, I sat through the entirety of both days of the live judging and saw plenty instances of challenges and rebuttals. In all, I probably was witness to about 18 hours of live image competition. I always arrive at WPPI well ahead of the class schedule specifically to watch the image competition. No matter how numb my butt becomes from sitting in the uncomfortable chairs, I force myself to sit and observe and learn from the masters. This is the most educational part of the conference for me, without doubt.

Most images—I’d guess 97%—that do merit score in the 80-84 range. Attaining a silver distinction award is a little more unusual. Gold awards and gold distinction awards are pretty rare, though I personally witnessed one of each this year. Receiving a platinum award is nearly unheard of.

This year, 2,518 prints were entered and 811 merited, scoring an 80 or better. A total of 904 entries (including prints, albums and films) scored 80 or better out of a total of 2,664 entries. “There were unfortunately an elevated amount of disqualifications. Almost all of them were handled before the competition thanks to Melissa’s thorough review of all entries. I am only aware of a single DQ needed during the live judging,” Bradford Kuhns, WPPI staffer.

WPPI Image Competition Scoring Key

100	Supreme	Platinum award. A benchmark that exhibits the best possible use of all skills, creativity and uniqueness.
95-99	Exceptional	Gold Distinction. Approaching the highest level of imagination, creativity and technique.
90-94	Outstanding	Gold Award. Exhibiting outstanding skills in all areas and originality.
85-89	Excellent	Silver Distinction. Excellent use of imagination, skill and technique.
80-84	Above Average	Silver Award. Above average skill and technique in most areas.
75-79	Standard Practice	No award. Good salable work consistent with standard professional practice.
70-74	Below Standard	No award. Requires improvement in technique.
60-69	Below Professional	No award. Not up to professional standards.

This image scored a 77.

I was not successful at making an audio recording of the judge, but off the top of my head, I remember that the judge who offered their critique of the image had this to say: They did not like the posing, specifically the placement of the arm closest to the camera. (This image scored a 78 during the 2016 Second Half Digital Competition.)

WPPI Image Competition Results

This image scored a 77.

They loved the composition, the symmetry, and the color harmony. However, they believed the mid-tones were muddy and that the image lacked specular highlights. I would agree with the judge in that the pose seemed a little static, meaning it wasn’t dynamic. Karley needed a little more bend in the leg and in the arms. It’s amazing that the judges know what’s going on beneath that dress—that’s why they’re masters, and that she wasn’t quite in profile pose. Karley needed to be turned a little more towards my camera to be in true profile form. (This image scored a 79 during the 2016 Second Half Digital Competition. So close to meriting.)

This image scored a 75.

The judge who offered their critique of the image had this to say: They believed the image was cropped too tight and lacked direction. The image did not have impact.

wppi_print_competition_san_antonio_senior_photographer_4S1_5594-1

The 2017 First Half Digital Competition is only weeks away, and I’ve already began planning for that. I will not let this slow progress to merit distract or discourage me. It is merely a tool for which I need to grow and learn, and better serve my clients.

The post, WPPI Image Competition Results, first appeared on Ata-Girl Photography Co.’s website and blog. Please feel free to comment here, or share this post with your friends via Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest. Please email me if you have any questions about this article or want to share a neat idea for a future blog post with me.

Jan

Gearing up for WPPI

I am beyond excited to be gearing up for my fourth consecutive Wedding & Portrait Professional International conference in Las Vegas! There is something about being surrounded by thousands of like-minded individuals that will really get your creative juices flowing. Being immersed in a living river of professional, innovative peers is exciting. You can feel literal, productive energy in the atmosphere as you navigate the hallways to hear your next presentation.

[Tweet “Gearing up for WPPI 2017”]

Ever since I attended my first WPPI conference, I have been a fan. Actually, a huge fan. Every photographer who has earned the title of “WPPI Master Photographer” is just that, a master—an absolute master. They are photographic artists, creative geniuses, who are willing to share their knowledge, skill and expertise with the entire industry. They do their best to motivate and inspire every level of photographer to become masters as well. They want to make this industry a better place—both for the benefit of the photographers/artists and for the consumers. The WPPI Masters are trend-changing, walking/talking/teaching banks of vast, valuable information.

WPPI 2017

I am especially excited because I have three images in the 16×20 print competition again this year. I am extremely hopeful that I will finally beat the curse of not meriting in the image competition. All fingers and toes are crossed. I’ve also registered for two plus classes, both with Australian photographers. One class is Creative Lighting on Location with Ryan Schembri and the other is Anatomy of a Fine Art Print with Rocco Ancora–who coincidentally helped me post process and print my three competition images.

I’ve decided to shift more of my focus to business and marketing for the platform classes this year, rather than technical or inspirational classes. As of now, I feel that my business may have more to gain by learning new ideas or different ways to achieve better results. Sometimes I have a difficult time in thinking outside the box, and although I tried some new marketing and networking techniques in 2016, the results were lacking, to say the least. I’m ready for some new ideas.

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You can’t help but to leave Las Vegas with that feeling of being artistically invincible… of being ready to conquer your photography world without mercy… of having your head about to nearly explode with all the new business and marketing ideas it’s trying to contain! It’s actually on the verge of madness.

I’m ready. Bring it on.

The post, Gearing up for WPPI 2017, first appeared on Ata-Girl Photography Co.’s website and blog. Please feel free to comment here, or share this post with your friends via Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest. Please email me if you have any questions about this article or want to share a neat idea for a future blog post with me.

Jan

Wedding Photography Costs

In this blog post and video, I try to tackle the taboo topic of wedding photography pricing and why it varies wildly from wedding photographer to photographer. I attempt to identify the key differences you may experience between a $300 wedding photographer and a higher-end wedding photographer.

Good photography ain’t cheap, and cheap photography ain’t good!

[Tweet “Wedding Photography Costs Breakdown “]

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Wedding Photography Costs Breakdown

6 hours of wedding coverage actually involves about 60 hours of work—sometimes more
Gross margins for a wedding are much less than what the client pays
Professional photographers are trying to run businesses and households
High paid photographers are likely to bring more skill, expertise, care, customer service and better quality products to the table; there are exceptions
High paid photographers can afford to run legitimate businesses (ie. insurance, backup equipment, technical training, hired help, client thank you gifts)
High paid photographers probably shoot less weddings and therefore can probably provide a better customer experience (ie. helping with wedding day timelines, answering communications in a timely manner, streamlining wedding day preparation)

If your wedding day images are important to you, hire the most expensive photographer you can afford—after you’ve done your due diligence of course. When choosing a wedding photographer, make sure you like the photographer’s style, make sure you like their personality, and make sure you like their photographs. You can’t easily do this day over.

The post, Wedding Photography Costs Breakdown, first appeared on Ata-Girl Photography Co.’s website and blog. Please feel free to comment here, or share this post with your friends via Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest. Please email me if you have any questions about this article or want to share a neat idea for a future blog post with me.

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Hi, I’m Tammy.
I'm a San Antonio-based wedding photographer for outdoor-loving couples who value real moments.

I am a San Antonio-based wedding photographer and I am absolutely in love with capturing the kinds of weddings where there are more hugs than handshakes, the dance floor rumbles all night long, and chairs are pretty much rendered useless after dinner. Whiskey bottles are passed around, most of the wedding party has been best-best friends since kindergarten, Grams is likely to lose her shoes and your partner is much more emotional than you are. These kinds of weddings are my jam!

Since 2010, I have excelled in helping each of my couples plan for one of the very best days of their lives! I’d love to share my very personalized wedding experience, my super-human organizational abilities, and my U. S. Army combat skills (when needed) with you too.

I want your wedding day to be as perfect as you do! I am all in with my whole heart!