Stephanie Williams Photography Blog

A few weeks ago, Isaac and I taught a half day mentor session for Kristin Genna, a Southern California photographer who is just venturing out into her photography career. Kristin has an incredible love for photography and takes amazing band + concert photos, but she wanted to develop her portrait photography a bit more and get a better sense of how to run a photography business. We went over a lot of business/branding/networking and post processing, and then headed out to shoot a quick couple’s session to go over our directing style and how we conduct our engagement/couple’s sessions. The next day, Kristin sent me the sweetest e-mail:

“Thanks again and again for the mentoring session yesterday! I  feel like I’ve been given an entirely new and different perspective on my work and what I do - and I feel like a beginner all over (not in a bad way, in a more aware way). I can see so much that I need to be more aware of and improve upon. It was so wonderful being able to see how you and Isaac do what you do and receive so many useful tips, small details as well as the big stuff pertaining to photography and business that I need to be thinking about. I deeply respect your photographic eye and learned so much from you. I’m so glad you offer mentoring sessions! I know I really love taking photographs and the quality of those photographs will certainly benefit from the session with you and Isaac. I just want shoot more now so I can get a stronger sense, comfort and ability with the craft. I may, in the future, check in for a short mentoring session with more questions as I move along this path. I’m starting my lists of ‘to do’ and ‘to buy’!”

Julie + Justin were our awesome model couple for the demo session, and just for fun, we played with some paper mache masks for a few frames.

I’ve fallen behind on blogging a bit over this past month (I can’t believe March is almost over!). We’ve been shooting a ton and teaching several mentor sessions this month, and I realized that I  never blogged about Cami - an amazing and super sweet photographer who I met with back in October for a one on one half day mentor session. We discussed a bit of everything, including an emphasis on branding and networking since she is just stepping into the wedding photography business. You can check out her website to see more of her work. After our session, Cami sent us the sweetest e-mail:

“Dear Stephanie and Isaac,
Thank you so much for the mentoring session yesterday. I learned so much from both of you- my brain is still processing all the information! The biggest lesson I walked away with was that I need to make my photography my own brand and not anyone else’s. I realized that it’s okay to be me and decide what my ideal client is, instead of trying to change for everyone. This lesson was invaluable and increased my self-confidence as a photographer and businesswoman. The very first thing I did this morning was decide what my brand will be. I’ve already thought of something I love and am going to work on reflecting that on my website, blog, photos, and documentation.
Thank you so much again. You both are so pleasant and I have so much respect for you and all that you’ve accomplished.”

Thank you Cami - I’m so excited to see where your photography talent takes you!

A huge thank to Mai + Josh and their awesome pup Roji, who came out to be the demo couple for the mentor session

A few weeks ago, Isaac and I taught a half day one on one mentor session with Kirstin of Beaux Arts Photographie. We went over tons of questions about shooting and processing with digital photography, since Kirstin learned with film, and working with natural light and off camera flash. Special thanks to Brooke + David for coming out to be our demo couple for this session! Brooke is a super awesome and crafty - you can check out her creations on her Etsy shops Whisper Handmade and Meef Wobble Also, I want to thank Kirstin for taking some shots of Isaac and I shooting - we don’t really have that many shots of us in action…

Brooke + David are already married, but they were kind enough to come out and model for a recent mentor session demo shoot! More Diana camera and one giant balloon coming up soon!

Last week, Meg drove down from Santa Barbara for a one on one mentor session with me. Meg is super talented and super sweet, and has such a passion for maternity and child portraiture! It was such a pleasure chatting with her about photoshop processing and retouching, creative marketing, branding, and client experience. I know she is going to go far, and I can’t wait to see what wonderful work she comes out with next. She just launched her new site and blog, check out her website at  Meg Fish Photography.
After our session, I took a few portraits of Meg!