Wedding Monthly Feature Launch

Happy February! Love is in the air and if you are recently engaged or planning a wedding this is for you! I am very excited to launch a new series this year. I will be featuring one or two wedding industry and related partners on the blog. This is solely to give you more tools for your wedding planning process and show you what’s out there! Subscribe to the blog here: so you don’t miss any of these recommendations.

I have partnered with wedding venues, florists, wedding planners, work out places, and more! Each month one or two vendors will be featured with a Q&A. I will be interviewing them about their company, what makes them awesome and how they can be beneficial for your wedding planning process.

For our first feature, we are partnering with one of my favorite places to SWEAT: Fusion Fitness. Who does not want to get in the best shape of their life for their big day? Fusion will not kick your rump, they will make you feel good, letting you leave as a better person. Watch the blog this week to see the feature! You don’t want to miss this one, plus they have some awesome ways to get your SWEAT on with your man.

ShutterFest 2015

Set out on another road trip with my favorite people for ShutterFest 2015. ShutterFest is a photography conference held in St. Louis for wedding and portrait photographers. This was the second year it has existed and the second year I have attended. The year I had to leave my little 3 and 1/2 month baby behind, but I made it! 4 days of shooting, learning and playing. It’s so overwhelming coming back with all the information I gathered, but so very important to continue to push myself to grow as a business and as a photographer. Great conference, thanks to Salvatore Cincotta and his amazing team. Thank you to all the models and I am very thankful for the new friends I made!

 

Sal Cincotta 2 day Workshop {St. Louis Missouri} Wedding Photography

I think as a business owner and as an artist, it is so important to continue to grow and educate yourself. If you don’t stay on top of your game your business shows it. Personally I am always trying to push myself to be better. Innovating new ideas and new concepts keeps me going. Also I feel like my clients deserve that too. WHY book me if I’m not doing anything special or cool or different. A group of my photographer friends decided to hijack Sal and Taylor for a private 2 day workshop for us. The first day we spent shooting, which was great. We did some drills to help push us, plus seeing things in a different way. I can honestly say that it changed my way of shooting and how I think about my subjects and the frame and where I am standing. Second day was all business as we went over marketing, sales and business growth. Such a motivating workshop. Sal is great at showing you how you can obtain your goals and make things happen that you never thought were possible. Big thanks to Sal, Taylor and Alyssa! See you at Shutterfest in April.

Camera Beginning’s Workshop 2 {Pond Photography}

Second round of the Beginners Photography class wrapped up. Camera Beginnings is for the beginning photographer who wants to learn how to get the most of your most important tool – your camera. We cover the following:
- Learning how to use your camera beyond auto
- Aperture, f-stop and ISO and how they all work together
- Lens choices
- Flash
- Lighting situations
- Posing your subject and interaction with clients
- Live shooting

This was a smaller class which was great because they each got more personal and hands on time. We are offering this class one more time in the fall so please email me if you are interested in signing up. Thank you so much to Julie Kline and her growing family for being our model family. Enjoy!

Beginners Series Workshops {Pond Photography}

I was so excited to launch the Beginners Workshop Series now that the studio is open. There are two workshops held in our studio in Mission Kansas. Camera Beginnings is the first hands on workshop teaching you how to use your camera beyond auto . Camera Beginnings is for the beginning photographer who wants to learn how to get the most of your most important tool – your camera. We cover the following:
- Learning how to use your camera beyond auto
- Aperture, f-stop and ISO and how they all work together
- Lens choices
- Flash
- Lighting situations
- Posing your subject and interaction with clients
- Live shooting

Business beginnings is targeted at the new business owner who needs a solid foundation of business understanding and goal-setting for their business. This class will give you the confidence you need to go out into the marketplace and win new clients and business.
- Figuring out what type of business you would like to be and goals you would like to reach
- Branding and marketing
- Setting up the business for tax purposes
- Client interactions, consults and sales
- Live client consult and sales session

I love teaching and I love seeing things click with people. I don’t have business secrets and I truly want to help you to succeed where ever you may be in your journey. Seeing someone succeed from what they have learned is the greatest gift I can give. Please join us for our next workshops starting May 21st. http://www.pond-photography.com/the-beginning-workshop-series-for-photographers/

Reviews:

“I recently took Kristin’s Camera Beginning’s workshop and she did a phenomenal job! Excellent teacher, good pace and easy to understand! Walked away from this course with more confidence then when I arrived for my first class and a better understanding of my new camera! Now when I arrive to my photo shoots I can better focus on the image I am trying to capture rather then to be nervous and focusing on making sure my settings are on point. Highly recommend this course for anyone who is wanting to go the extra mile with your photography knowledge and or someone who is just starting out and wants to take the leap to become a photographer.” - Taryn

I recently took the Camera Beginnings class that Kristin taught and I am so happy that I did. Kristin is a great teacher who is very patient and really ensures that you understand and are able to apply what she’s teaching. As someone who is in the process of developing my photography business, this class was such a great starting point to learn the basics to my camera and to get out of manual mode. We learned about lighting, posing and the best lens to use in specific situations. This workshop has provided me with more confidence with my camera and photo shoot situations. I would recommend this class to anyone who wants to learn more about your camera and is looking to break into the photography industry.” - Stacy

Recently I took Kristin’s Camera Beginnings Workshop, and I am so glad that I did! Before I went I was very unsure of myself and had a lack of confidence using my new DSLR. All nervousness subsided when I met Kristin and my classmates! Kristin is very patient and was able to teach us in practical ways that were easy to understand. It was nice to be able to bounce ideas off of one another, practice what we learned, and to evaluate our work in order to grow as a photographer. I have so much more confidence in myself behind the lens and am able to apply all the techniques we practiced in the real world. I highly recommend this class to any beginner photographer wanting to learn the basics or to photographers wanting to take that step to the next level…you will never need to shoot on automatic again! :)” - Tara

 

Shutter Fest 2014

I very first saw Sal Cincotta speak at hotel in Kansas City. I was still working my full time job. He totally spoke my language and I thought the man was a genius. I remember telling him how how scared I was to take the leap. Boy am I glad I implemented what he taught me and did it. I love my life and what I do now. I wouldn’t change it for the world! Sal introduced the idea of “Shutter Fest” A free conference for photographers with speakers, hands on experience and fun with other photographers. Shoot. Learn. Party. That was the motto and boy did we do all three! We took a chance and signed up to go and it was a great experience. So glad we were part of the “freshman class” Shutter Fest 2015 is already on the books and it’s just going to get bigger and better.

What is Shutter Fest?

Shutter Fest was two days of photography classes, speakers, workshops, hands on shooting, vendors and of course partying! I have been to plenty of photography workshops and get together in the past. This was different. Everyone checked their ego at the door. All the speakers really cared about helping you and getting to know you. Sal and Taylor took the time to talk to everyone, be at the workshops with us and partied with us. They are such a great team and put on an amazing conference. Can’t wait for Shutter Fest 2015!

 

Why go?

As a photographer I think its so important to keep your self up to date on new techniques and products. You can always learn something new no matter how long you have been in this business. It’s also refreshing and inspiring being around so much amazing talent. I always want to grow my business and keep innovating. It’s up to me to keep my clients happy, bring them new stuff and keep new clients coming in the door. Innovate or die!

Learning from Roberto Valenzuela

Shooting live models. Practicing everything we learned and trying new things!

Getting set up with Evolve Edits. So excited!!

PARTY TIME!

Sal let us come visit his amazing studio!

And finally we decided to put what we learned into action. Now introducing FUSION. A little photo, a little video, a little being silly, but a whole lot of fun!