Little Miss Independent

Little Miss Independent insists on swimming (with floaties) unassisted.  She could do it all day long. 

Good thing her Pop is within arms reach to help her play!

Seriously? I could die of cuteness!!!

Kate: personal, venerable, transparent and scared

I always appreciate it when people are real, and share their feelings, so this is me, being personal, venerable, transparent and scared.

 I am so afraid of all those unknown "What ifs".  I have spent so much time, energy, money, brain power, time away from family, sacrifices learning and building myself up to be a better photographer.  To become more business saavy.  To become more tech saavy.  To learn more about myself.  To hone my skills, etc.  I felt like I have grown leaps and bounds and still have oodles and oodles and eons to grow.  I have spent the last few months building up my portfolio and my experience.  What if?  What if after this wonderful beginning, building phase, everything just fizzles out?  What if I get lost in the crowd of the myriad of other photographers?  I am scared of all the mistakes I am going to make.  I am scared of my failures. Everyone wants to act like they've got it all together, myself included, but to be honest, I don't.

What if I spend all this time, effort, energy, money, brain cells, time away from family, and sacrifices and I go "Oh crap, this isn't what I expected. I think I need to bow out."

I have done everything that I possibly know how up until this point to be a better photographer.  I have read every book I can get my hands on.  I've spent (you don't even want to know how much) time and money attending workshops,  I've traveled by myself to Vegas to go to a convention, I have made so many new friends, I practice and practice, read and read, learn and learn some more.  I have to be honest, I am a little bit afraid of being lumped into the sterotype of "oh, just another Mom who owns a nice camera."  Yes I am a proud mama with a nice camera, but I didn't just pick up a camera and say "Here I am! I'm a photographer! Pay me oodles to take your photos." In the wise words of Cliff Mautner "Buying a Nikon doesn't make you a photographer, it makes you a Nikon owner."  I have loved giving my all to learning the craft, and I continually strive, and strive, and strive some more to get better and better.  Part of becoming better is...something else I'm afraid of....making mistakes.  What if I totally screw up someones precious family memories?  What if I say something stupid?  What if I'm currently saying something stupid?  What regrets am I going to have?

Here's what I am most terrified of...  My family means absolutely everything to me.  They are my number one priority.  What if I have to leave them behind?  What if I miss out on important things?

I am so excitedly about to launch a new website.  One that is much much much better than this blog. YAY!  But at the same time, I have trepidation!  What if maintaining the website turns out to be just a big ol' pain in the rear?  What if people can't navigate it very well?  What if it ends up looking like poop?

I have had a couple of local businesses contact me in wanting to collaborate and use me/refer their clients to me. How exciting right? What an opportunity!  But at the same time, I'm scared! I'm scared of putting myself out there.  I'm scared of the risk.

Kate, it's called risk for a reason. If it's worth it, it's worth all the risks. If you want to grow, you've got to take the leap(s)! (Now I just look like a crazy person talking to myself.)

There you have my fears, here are my hopes:
-I hope to get better at the craft.
-I hope to be a better photographer
-I hope that I can make a difference for someone.
-I hope to create images for people that they can love and appreciate in the decades to come.
-I hope to be more tech savvy.  (I didn't really realize how much of the computer/technical aspect goes into everything photography related!)
-I hope to beautifully capture my own, and others precious memories.
-I hope others will trust and want me to capture their precious memories.
-I hope to contribute to providing for my family.
-I hope that I won't get burned out.
-I hope that although I'll be working, I'll still be there for my family.
-I hope that what time I do spend away from my family, that it is for our benefit as a whole.
-I hope to successfully implement a business plan.
-I hope that what mistakes I do make, that I can be forgiven and learn from them.
-I hope to make new connections and friends as I continue on my journey.
-I hope that it all works out.
-I hope that not only will it work out, that it will ROCK!

Thanks for listening.  Thanks for letting me (in the words of J*) "K.I.R.! Keep It Real!"  Thanks for your support!

Kisses,

Kate

STAY TUNED!

I'll be launching a new website very shortly. I'm nervous about it! I hope it turns out great.  No worries though, the URL will still be Katepease.com

Wendy

Do they bottle skin like this? If they do, where do I buy it? hehe. I had such a fun time working with Wendy! I loved her coy playfulness side, and her timeless elegant side. What a stunning bride!

To view more and order prints, click here

Mark & Jess

Mark and Jess are so great together.  Their personalities compliment each other like no other.  They are both such brainiacs! Jess is a statistics queen, and the stuff she talks about is completely over my head.  I'm like "Slow it down! Math 1030/Quantitative Reasoning is as high as I go." Mark is an engineering genius. He told me that for his current job they are working on building a satellite!  I thought brainiacs weren't supposed to be this good lookin!  Not only are they smart, and lovely, but they photograph quite well too.

 I'll end with my fav.

Guess what Y'all?

It's my birfday...

Check out my suhweet little mermaid cake. :)

Busath Fresh Classics Portrait Workshop Day 3

Day 3 was such a fun day of shooting!  Once again we as workshop attendees took turns one by one to properly light and pose the subjects.  Here are some of my images.  These kids were seriously the cutest!

Busath Fresh Classics Portrait Workshop Day 2

On day two we did quite a bit of shooting.  We as attendees were responsible for lighting and posing the subjects, and took turns at it.  Here are a few that I did. 

Drake and the group

Setting up the lighting

 

After this day I feel so much more confident in producing a well-lit photo. Lighting is everything!

Busath Fresh Classics Portrait Workshop Day 1

When I saw that Drake Busath was doing a workshop, I immediately called Brant and said "Honey! Drake Busath is doing a workshop. I must go!!!" I have been a fan of Busath since I was 7 years old (when I got my very first ever portrait taken, and Drake actually took it.) I have so much respect for their studio's work.  Having portraits by Busath is a bit of a family tradition.  My sister had her senior portraits, missionary portraits, and bridal portraits by Busath.  I had my 7 year old portrait and my bridal portrait by Busath as well. They have quite the lucrative reputation around town and they have taken many famous portraits (there's too many to list).  I absolutely love their style: fresh, classic, elegant, and timeless.  I would be happy to learn even just a smidgen of their vast wealth of knowledge.  Thankfully, Brant obliged. :)

Busath Fresh Classics "Nitty Gritty" Portrait Workshop Review:

*I realized that the more I learn, the more that I don't know.  

*Drake taught us such a great method on how to photograph children. I hope I can implement it even a 16th as well as he does.

*Lighting! Lighting! Lighting! Holy cow...I learned SO much about lighting and how absolutely vital good lighting is.

*Posing! One of the hardest things as a photographer. People just automatically stiffen up.  Drake taught us his "un-posing" methods.

*We went over cropping and composition, exposure, photoshop, business, sales, etc etc etc

*They had their main re-touch artist show us some amazing things with photoshop

*The thing I probably loved most about the workshop was how hands on it was.  Drake arranged actual families and clients for us, threw us in the studio (in front of everyone) and basically said "Ok, here you go. One at a time, light it, pose it, let's see how you do. We'll take your memory cards when you're done and review."  Was it uncomfortable? YES! Was it intimidating? ABSOLUTELY! Did my mind draw an absolute blank on everything I've ever learned? YOU BETCHA! But guess what? You don't learn anything unless you feel slight discomfort. And boy oh boy did I learn! Especially because I've never worked in a studio before with soft-boxes, north lights, reflectors, fill lights, hair lights, back lights, main lights, ambient lights, and every other kind of light you can conjure up.

*I learned the science of a good portrait. Have you any idea how much it takes to get a good portrait? Drake would show us slides of photos, tell us how he set it up and I'd think "Ok! I get it! Easy Peasey!" But when he put us with the actual clients, it was then I realized truly how much goes into taking a good portrait.  

You have to: (indoors or out)

-Light your subject: main light, fill light, accent light

-Pose your subjects: Put them in place, (either standing or with furniture) pose them, make sure everyone's faces, eyes, and bodies are at a flattering angle, make sure that there's no awkward hands, feet, or body language, make sure the flow of the subjects looks good, make sure the pose isn't stagnant, make sure there's good spacing between everyone and they look nice.
-Have everyone feel comfortable and relaxed while keeping the children's attention

-Have everyone is looking at you all at the same time with good expressions on their faces without having them move from when you posed them.

-Take your meter reading to set your manual adjustments

-Work your manual adjustments on your camera: exposure (shutter speed, ISO, aperture)/composition/white balance/camera angle/focal length and make sure it's spot on.

-Take the photo

-....And do it all again. haha

I could go on for centuries about how great the workshop was and how much I learned.  Instead, I'll show some images. 

Day One:

Drake teaching us a thing or two

Delaney

Ok I have to be honest here. None of these images I am going to show you over the course of 3 days have been edited whatsoever. (They're straight out of the camera).  To be honest, I just dont have time to edit them at the moment, but I want to show you! Plus, like they need it right? Not a bit!

Olivia

Stay tuned because I have a so many more fun images to show you from days 2 & 3 of the Workshop

"Geek-abu!"

"Claire?"

"Peek-a-boo!"

"I see you!"