Charlotte was wonderful! Quiet, fun and mature with a radiant smile! Charlotte and her Grandpa met me at a beautiful little church in Gladstone where we proceeded to take advantage of our surroundings. Lots of cool little nooks to shoot in! Also, she came prepared with lots of great clothes to choose from, which always makes for a fun time of outfit picking and brings variety to the photos.

Don’t mind me…or the “artistically” out of focus image. Okay, not so artistically, but just plain out of focus. It’s hard shooting a self-portrait with regular arms and a 50mm on a cropped sensor!

I am stoked that I had the opportunity to meet a ton of fantastic local photographers this past weekend at two separate events here in Kansas City!! The award-winning Jan and Marco from the recently re-branded PhotoMementos.com were the gracious hosts of one event where I met some great new friends! the very next evening, I got to hang out with a handful of incredibly talented photographer ladies at Black Dog Coffee House for another event that I learned a lot from. I can’t wait to meet with them again! Meeting these wonderful people and then being reminded of the events I have attended in the past, I have been a bit inspired for a kinda long diatribe that I hope you will read and enjoy. If you are a photo client, you have my permission to ignore this post!

As a wedding photographer producing a relatively new breed and style of imagery, I think that it is important to have a network, a local network, of people who shoot similarly to yourself and are treating business similarly to yourself. What?! Be friendly with other wedding photographers?! *gasp* Even share info?! Aren’t we in competition?! For heaven’s sake why, you ask?

Yes, I think we are in competition, but not with each other in the same genre, but rather we are against the currents of the traditional market. We are trying to forge a new path and this is easier done together than stumbling on alone. A wise man once said (and the amazing becker* recently repeated it in a podcast), a rising tide raises all ships. This new breed of wedding photography is fresh and is buckling the very foundational thought process in the arena of what was previously known as wedding photography. Rising above the petty competitive spirit within the old market, this new creative genre is allowing for those of us with like-minded perspectives to gain solid strategic ground as a whole business model. Isn’t that cool?!

What about competition? Aren’t you losing money? No! Each year, wedding photographers (the good ones) get booked quickly. There will always be an influx of surplus clients coming in. That is the nature of the business. For the rest of the year they then have no choice but to turn work down! If these wedding photographers then turn work to others that they trust/admire of a like mind, then the genre continues to grow and develop, and even the newcomers (like me) are able to gain a solid foothold into the new business model. The brides then get the photogrphy style they desire. the photographers grow their businesses and succeed. The new genre gains momentum. Everybody gains.

So, with the base of “enough business for everybody to gain”, why not then have the photographers gain in all other aspects of their business? If those of a like mind are collaborating, then not only are businesses growing, but the individuals involved are growing too! Challenging one another, Critiquing one another, Celebrating one another! Every post on another’s blog….every handy little tip…every piece of advice freely shared… It will all be coming back to yourself!

I look forward to helping my fellow photographers learn and grow…becoming better…and all the while helping me to be better, as well. If you have thoughts or questions to share, please do!

*becker — What?! You haven’t heard of him? This guy simply rocks. He (his blog, that is) reads so personally and forthright. I love checking it out daily. He is an astounding photographer, friendly with the lovely Jessica Claire, inventor of the famous shoot sac and whom I shot at the anti-workshop, and becker is also a fanatic (in a good way!) about helping other photographers succeed. Check out his new [b]school for more info. Photographers! Check out his [b] school blog for great tips and trick and subscribe via iTunes to his podcasts!

Hi blog readers! It has been a little while, hasn’t it? I am hoping you all had a wonderful Christmas and were able to see family & friends. This time of year is always busy and hectic and crazy for so many people and I am not the exception. The rush of Christmas, usually a casual birthday celebration (turned 27 yesterday) and then the rush for prepping the end of the year and the beginning of another. Whew!

Well, this one is long overdue, but with the holiday break, I was unable to get them all edited and posted!

I had a wonderful time with Hannah, (accompanied by her mom and sister!). We met out in Blue Springs on a very cold day at Burr Oak Woods nature center. It ended up being a great place to shoot at. Lots of fun hanging out in God’s creation.

Enjoy!

I’m a sucker for teasing hair, laughing at trees, and native prairie grasses (which can grow to be 8 feet tall)!

Hanging next to a cool observation fence right off the trail.

Loving the flair of the sun mixed with bench…I saw spots for quite a while after accidentally looking at the sun. Whoops!

Sorry Hannah, for making you get comfy on a log. I know you thought you were going to have fun, but at least the bugs and bears were hibernating!

I loved her layered look with the scarves and coat and all the layered tops. Take notes, ladies!

Pretty smile!

Yeah, I have an affinity for dumpsters. I’m weird, I know.

The setting sun rocks for beautiful light. So warm and fuzzy, even on a cold day.

Color!

More color!

Pretty tops and cool shoes make for fashion, no? Wee.

There we went with the tall grasses again.

Look, it’s a deer…okay, it’s really mom & sis, who were dears, but not the kind with antlers.

Aaaahhh! Crazy people!