winter white studio tour

We all love the studio tours… and a great before and after studio tour is even better!

When we saw the studio for Daniela Berkhout Photography, we knew our readers would love it! We contacted Daniela in hopes of a studio tour for the blog and she sent us these fabulous images of her space...dreamy and white...the perfect space to create amazing images I think! We love it!!

We ask Daniela to tell us about her new studio…here’s what she had to say.

Restoring the 130 year old carriage house into the studio was a year long process. The foundation had to be re-enforced and the entire structure needed to be straightened. In order to maintain the original post and beam look – all work including wiring and insulation was done on the outside of the building.

The carriage house was very dark so we decided to paint it white. It took 4 coats of paint….that old wood just soaked it up! The floors are heated concrete and also painted white. I was going for a modern, organic look and just love the way it turned out! I’m looking forward to the slow season to get all of my prints up and add some finishing touches.

Thank you Daniela for sharing with us!

winter white studio tour

We all love the studio tours... and a great before and after studio tour is even better!

When we saw the studio for Daniela Berkhout Photography, we knew our readers would love it! We contacted Daniela in hopes of a studio tour for the blog and she sent us these fabulous images of her space...dreamy and white...the perfect space to create amazing images I think! We love it!!

We ask Daniela to tell us about her new studio...here's what she had to say.

Restoring the 130 year old carriage house into the studio was a year long process.  The foundation had to be re-enforced and the entire structure needed to be straightened.  In order to maintain the original post and beam look – all work including wiring and insulation was done on the outside of the building.

The carriage house was very dark so we decided to paint it white.  It took 4 coats of paint….that old wood just soaked it up! The floors are heated concrete and also painted white. I was going for a modern, organic look and just love the way it turned out! I’m looking forward to the slow season to get all of my prints up and add some finishing touches.

Thank you Daniela for sharing with us!

Merry Christmas to all!

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas today!

Come visit the new Savvy blog for the studio tour from Catherine Clay's Holiday Open House!

Also a quick reminder the Savvy Santa Sale is going on

now at the Savvy Store...use the coupon code SavvySanta and get 15% off everything in your cart! Happy Shopping!

Merry Christmas to all

I wanted to share these images from the sweet Catherine Clay. I have wanted to see her new studio in Dallas and I was thrilled to get such a beautiful collection of images from her Holiday Open House. Here's what Catherine had to say ...

"We had a wonderful open house with about 60 children showing up with their parents.  We gave wonderful gifts to the parents and the children and I hired Santa to come for all of the kids.  He gave them each an iced cookie I had made.  For customer gifts this year, I had ornaments made for every family.  We had a desert bar and lots of wonderful refreshments for my awesome clients.  We had an entire tree decorated with all of the cards Catherine Clay Photography did this year.  A huge amount - the most we have done to date."

Thank you Catherine for sharing! You continue to inspire me with your amazing work and talent! {and your wonderful heart!}

Catherine is hosting the SWELL retreat with Marla Carta...I hope some of you got this from Santa...it's the one workshop I'd have on my list!!

Savvy Santa Sale~

My house is decorated and ready for Santa...

We are taking off the week to enjoy our family…did I mention my husband came home from deployment? We are thrilled to be together as a family to celebrate this Christmas. We know from experience how hard it is to be apart on Christmas and we are thankful he is home. I know so many families will not be together during the Holidays and my prayers are with them.

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas…and may Santa bring you lots of goodies! We’d like to give you all a little something for being such wonderful readers…use the code SavvySanta and you’ll get 15% off anything {and everything} in the Savvy store!! The code is good through December 31st, 2010 at midnight. You might want to mention the special deal to your hubby just in case he still needs to get you something

**a quick note…the memo board templates are an automatic download now…many have emailed waiting on the download link. If you go to your cart, you will see downloads management…all downloads you have purchased will be there. Thanks so much!!

Savvy Santa Sale

My house is decorated and ready for Santa...

We are taking off the week to enjoy our family...did I mention my husband came home from deployment? We are thrilled to be together as a family to celebrate this Christmas. We know from experience how hard it is to be apart on Christmas and we are thankful he is home. I know so many families will not be together during the Holidays and my prayers are with them.

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas...and may Santa bring you lots of goodies! We'd like to give you all a little something for being such wonderful readers...use the code SavvySanta and you'll get 15% off anything {and everything} in the Savvy store!! The code is good through December 31st, 2010 at midnight. You might want to mention the special deal to your hubby just in case he still needs to get you something :)

**a quick note...the memo board templates are an automatic download now...many have emailed waiting on the download link. If you go to your cart, you will see downloads management...all downloads you have purchased will be there. Thanks so much!!

Merry Christmas from The Savvy Photographer!

Francypants online mentoring

Our "Inspiring Women" Series

Check out the new {and improved} Savvy blog for our Inspiring Women series! We heard from many of you that the new blog was giving you trouble...a huge sorry to everyone who couldn't read the blog! We think we have most of the problems fixed so please head on over and see for yourself. Please let us know if it's still not working for you.

We are having an "Inspiring Women" series this month...take a peek and who you'll meet over at the new blog.

To read the interview from Audrey Woulard, click here http://www.thesavvyphotographerblog.com/2010/12/meet-audrey-woulard/

We also welcomed Sarah Petty to the Savvy blog...check out her interview here...

http://www.thesavvyphotographerblog.com/2010/12/welcome-sarah-petty/

welcome Sarah Petty

Welcome Sarah Petty to the Savvy blog! Thank you for being a part of our "Inspiring Women" series!

How long have you been a professional photographer?

I started for fun in 1998 part time and I went full time when opening my first studio in 2001.

Did you start off as a success or spend some time figuring it all out {how to make the money}?

Actually, the education and experience I acquired before I opened my doors allowed me to be profitable from the very beginning. Having my MBA and working for years as marketing director at an advertising agency were instrumental in understanding what it takes to succeed in small business.

When you first started photography, did you have a mentor that was instrumental in your success?

I studied with several great photographers: Tim Kelly, Darton Drake, Rod Evans, The Waldens, The Antisdels. My favorite business mentor was Ann Monteith (also Scott Kurkian and SMS – love them)

I'm amazed at your talent when I visit your site, The Joy of Marketing...will you tell us more about it and how the idea came about?

There is such a need for small business education. When I started speaking, I would be barraged by photographers wanting more. They wanted to use my design templates and marketing ideas but I knew that they needed to understand the strategy behind what I did or it wouldn’t work for them. It was thrilling when I would get a note from a photographer saying what he or she learned from me changed their life. With 3 small children, I didn’t want to continue to travel so much so I created a way that I could teach from home. Thus, The Joy of Marketing was born!

Honestly, how do feel about being in a field that is so saturated in photographers?

I LOVE IT! Really, every field is saturated if you think about it. It excites me to create products and services that thrill my clients. Everyone who wants to stay in business needs to embrace this also. I truly don’t think much about all of the competition because I am a believer that we will succeed or fail based on what we do, not what our competitors do.

How do you think someone can stand out in this business?

It is very simple. To stand out, you must do something remarkable. Maybe it is how you shoot, how you spend a lot of time with your clients, the end product they receive, etc. but it needs to be so unbelievable that people will refer you and talk about you.

We'd love to hear your top 5 list of advice "to inspire" other photographers...

- You can make family a priority and still run a profitable business.

- None of us can sleep the night we raise prices and that is okay.

- When you photograph your own kids, it is normal for you to have an out-of-body experience.

- To get inspiration, look outside the industry at trend setters – Anthropologie, Disney, Apple

- Treat you clients so great that they feel guilty even thinking about going somewhere else (stolen from The Waldens).

We all have our special family traditions for the Holidays, will you share with us a few of yours?

Every year, on Christmas Eve, Santa makes an appearance during about dinner time. He brings one gift for each of the 5 cousins. Then we spend Christmas Day with my husband’s side of the family where there are over 25 cousins. Lots of love and laughter. Both of our fathers have endured open heart surgery this year so Christmas will be extra special.

Please help all of those photographers struggling to keep up in this busy season...how do you maintain a "happy" life during the Holidays?

Wine.

What's on your Christmas list?

A ski trip with my family in January!!

And lastly...have you even started on your Christmas Card? :)

Yes, actually, my cards hit this week! Woo hoo

Sarah Petty is hosting a free online event to JOYSTART your year with tons of educational goodies...click here to find out more and to sign up...{and it's free}.

twelve days giveaway

The twelve days of Christmas {which means twelve days of giveaways and freebies} is going at Photo Talk Forum...good stuff to win and free downloads to members.

Click here to jump in and hopefully win something big! Keep an eye out for the Savvy Store giveaway! {I'll let you know when our giveaway will be on the Photo Talk Forum} If you use the discount code: HOHOHO you'll get $30 off for the year!!

meet Audrey Woulard

The next few weeks on the Savvy blog we will feature women who inspire us.

We are thrilled to kick off our "Inspiring Women" series with the talented Audrey Woulard.

Thank you for joining us Audrey!

How long have you been a professional photographer?

I'm in my 7th year

Did you start off as a success or spend some time figuring it all out {how to make the money}?

No... I didn't start off as a success.  I wasn't one of those photog's that instantly had people beating down my door as soon as I hung out my shingle.  It took a few years for me to figure out me as a photographer.  Once I was able to do that...it trickled down to the business part.  I will say once I figured out ME, the business came quite quickly.

When you first started photography, did you have a mentor that was instrumental in your success?

There were two people that really gave me invaluable advise during  just casual conversations. Lori Nordstrom and Catherine Huch.

Honestly, how do feel about being in a field that is so saturated in photographers?

That’s a hard question for me.  On one hand, when I came into the business, it wasn't as saturated, and I was able to really find my voice in a room that wasn't so crowded....so I can say I really don't have any feelings on it.  On the other hand, because I work with so many photographers starting out, I see them struggle with the oversaturation...so it bothers me at time when I see them struggle to find their voice.

How do you think someone can stand out in this business?

Its important to play on your strengths and things that only you can do, or offer.  For the most part, many photographers think that it is a product, prop, or action that will make you stand out in a crowd.  I tend to think one should look inward for that "thing"...because once you do that, you will find something that can't be duplicated because it is exclusive to you.

We'd love to hear your top 5 list of advice "to inspire" other photographers... Im not sure how inspiring these will be for others, but these are some things I do that tend to inspire me!

1. Watch people.  Watch the way people interact with each other even when you're not photographing.  If you do it enough it will be a blueprint in your head on how people intertwine with each other.  I find watching siblings interact with each other when I am at the grocery store, resturant, or even Target inspiring.

2. Frame things in your head.  If your driving in the car, look at a stop sign and frame it in your head.  Just look at things and compose it as if you were taking a picture.  It will give you a new perspective on composition...

3. Allow yourself to inspire yourself.  Many times new photographers look at other photographers work and they begin that evil comparison game!  If you compare yourself to yourself...you will see just how much you have grown as a photographer.

4. Look at furniture design magazines.  Not only will it give you a new spin on color coordination, but the composition in a lot of furniture pictures is very inspiring.

5. Take pictures of just things with a regular camera.  Sometimes the technical aspect of photography can suck the life out of you when you're at a photo session.  If you start to take pictures of just leaves, flowers, shoes, etc with a point and shoot...it will give you a new perspective!

We all have our special family traditions for the Holidays, will you share with us a few of yours?

We have what we call Family Day in December and that is when we exchange gifts.  On Christmas... we tend to focus on the true meaning of Christmas and we don't exchange gifts on that day.  We do this because of the over commercialization of Christmas.

Please help all of those photographers struggling to keep up in this busy season...how do you maintain a "happy" life during the Holidays?

I found over the years that Holiday cards were the biggest time sucker for me, so when I stopped doing them back in 2006.. I haven't been happier!!

What's on your Christmas list? rest!

And lastly...have you even started on your Christmas Card? :) No.. Im weird.. I never send Christmas Cards, or any card!

Thank you so much for joining us!

To see more os Audrey's work, visit her website or follow her work on facebook.

the winner of the Dear Miss Modern logo

Congratulations to the lucky winner of the fabulous giveaway from Dear Miss Modern ... comment number 44... Marcie Lynn Photography!

We can't wait to see which logo you choose!

giveaway day at the Savvy blog

It's giveaway day at the new Savvy blog...head on over for your chance to win a fabulous logo from Dear Miss Modern!

Click here to find the new blog!