Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Meet {and greet} Stacy Larsen



We are thrilled to welcome Stacy Larsen!
Stacy is a photographer in Tampa, Florida with a fabulous sense of style...just wait until you see the studio! We love her~ and adore her photography! Welcome Stacy!

Tell us about your style of photography?
 Simple, natural, fun.

How long have been a photographer? I bought my first digital camera in 2004 but it took a while before I could say I was a Photographer with a straight face. I have officially been in business for five years.

When you're not photographing, where can we find you? Hanging out with the people I love. As a mom of four kids our lives really revolve around family.

Any books that inspired you {or helped you} in your business? Understanding Exposureby Bryan Peterson gave me first “aha moment“ when I was diving into shooting in manual. Seriously the best book ever.

Best marketing idea? Teaming up with a baby boutique no question. I get a ton of business from them. Word of mouth and building relationships is so important as well. My clients are really my best form of advertising!

Worst marketing idea? Portrait parties. I know they work for some people but not so much for me.

We'd love to hear about your studio...tell us about it? I just opened my studio last November next to a fabulous baby boutique in town. They have been displaying my work and promoting me for years so we already have an amazing relationship and I LOVE working with them. I shoot mostly on location but the light in the studio is amazing so I have the ability to shoot there as well. I have an entrance to the street as well as an interior door to the baby boutique so I leave my doors open even when I am not there so people can walk through and look at products etc. The owners answer basic questions for me and have information they can give to potential clients.

Do you feel having a studio has made your business grow? Absolutely! Since I specialize in maternity and newborn my target market is walking through the doors of the baby boutique every day. It could not be a better location for me. Plus the owners of the boutique are like my own sales people; it is a great partnership.

What do you think makes a photographer successful? I think it is the right combination of talent, passion, determination and business skills. It is definitely not for the faint of heart.

What’s your weakness in this business? All the boring admin stuff that is required to keep the business running smoothly. I do it because I have to but will ultimately hire someone to take over that aspect of the business so I can focus on shooting.

Do you twitter? Facebook? YES! I just started and have to say that I am really getting into it. Social media is such an amazing and important tool and I am excited to see where it takes me.

WHAT’S YOUR…

Savvy indulgence? Sadly it’s the little things that I find indulging like Coke with crushed ice, a pedicure, time alone even if it’s going to Target for no particular reason. A spa day would be nice though if ever I could find the time.

Ideal getaway? The beach makes me feel more at peace than anywhere else; it always has. There is something so calming and peaceful about digging my toes in the sand.

Favorite family ritual? Family movie night. Last weekend we all piled up in our king size bed (minus our nineteen month old who was fast asleep in his crib) and watched “Where the wild things are”. We treasure this time with our kiddos so much and can’t stand how fast they are growing. We can’t wait until our little guy is old enough to indulge in this activity with us as well.

Favorite thing in your closet? My black suede boots that I sadly don’t get to wear often enough in Tampa.

Are you a Nikon or Canon girl? Favorite lens? I am a Nikon girl for sure. I shoot with the Nikon D700 and my favorite lens fluctuates between the 50mm 1.4 and the 28-70 2.8. I love how sharp my 50 is but sometimes I just really want that zoom!

Any children? How many? We have four! Brandon-14, Emily-12, Cade-7 and Brody-19 months. We could not be more in love with them; they are such awesome people with such different and amazing personalities.

As a parent, what do you wish you had more time for? More than anything I wish I had more time to spend as a family away from the demands of our everyday life.

If you weren’t a photographer, what would you be? I would probably still be stuck working in an Orthodontic office like I did for ten years before I was rescued by Photography.

Tell us your proudest moment of your career~ I have to admit that being in a place in my career where I can share what I have learned (good and bad) over the years with budding Photographers is so humbling and amazing.

We would love to hear about your workshop~ LAUNCH...can you tell us more? Of course! I am super excited about Launch. This is the workshop that I wished I had when I was starting out; a platform for beginning photographers to build on their technical, artistic, business and marketing skills that will enable them to set themselves up for lasting success. I really do share it all; nothing is off limits!

and now for my favorite part...the studio!





Thank you Stacy!

Check out Launch~ the workshop!






Photobucket

3 comments:

  1. I squealed with delight when I opened up your email and saw that Stacy was featured on your blog. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Stacy! She has photographed my kids and her pictures are amazing!! Plus the added benefit is that she is super nice and great with the kids. Also, I've been to her studio and it is sooooo beautiful..you just have to see it in person.

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  2. Love your studio Stacy! I hope to be able to say that I have my own studio at the five year mark. And your Launch workshops sound wonderful.

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  3. LOVE it all! Love those green curtains--where did you find them? Just the color for my home. Stacy seems super sweet and I love her fashion style.

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