Photographer Spotlight: Laura Brett

Tell us your name. Laura Brett

Where do you live? We just moved to Atlanta, GA from NC a little over four months ago.

Please link us to your website. http://www.laurabrettphotography.com

How long have you been a photographer? We launched our full-time photography business in 2008.

Describe your area of expertise. We shoot mostly newborns, but we also have a passion for maternity and children.

How did you come to specialize in newborns? There’s nothing like them and I love them!  Need I say more?

Please share with us your absolute favorite photograph you’ve ever taken and tell us the story behind it, why it speaks to you, etc.
It is a picture of my children, nothing technically correct about it.  They are laying on the floor looking at old albums of my husband and I. It just reminded me how fast time goes and how important it is to capture ‘snaps’ daily!

How would you describe your style? Our style with newborns is simplistic, organic and pure.

What is your standby pose (the one that everyone tends to want from you)? I get a ton of requests for my maternity sessions. The pose is the one with the dad crossing his arms across the mom showing off that beautiful belly. It is my number one requested pose, but most are very shy when it comes to trying it.

What gear is in your bag? Nikon, Nikon, Nikon 

If you could only use one lens what would it be? Just one?  I would have to say a prime lens, my 85mm hands down.

Are you considering any new gear purchases this year? I’m always on the lookout for Nikon’s newest releases – just don’t tell my husband I told you that.

What is your go-to camera shop? B&H Photo and Video

Which album company do you recommend? Right now I’m loving The Dream Album Company.

How do you stay motivated? It’s easy to stay motivated, waking up in the morning knowing you will get to capture a new love – doesn’t get any better than that.

Do you prefer to work in the studio, on-location, or both and why? A mix of both. I do love on-location though, it pushes me to think outside the box.

What sets you and your work apart from other photographers in your area? We pay close attention to the details and focus mostly on newborns. When you come to our site you know it’s what we love and specialize in.

Do you use a Mac or PC? Mac Baby!

Tell us about your image processing style and the software you use. My processing style ( goal)  is very clear, tack sharp images right out of the camera.  Photoshop helps give you that added touch, but if you can get it almost perfect in camera it’s that much easier.

Which professional organizations do you belong to? PPA

Tell us about your long-term goals. To continue growing my business and improve daily!

Best advice for new photographers breaking into the business? Take things slow, learn the basics. Photography is ever evolving and you learn something new everyday.

If you could choose anyone to do a photoshoot of you and your family, who would your choose? Oh gosh…my list keeps growing.  Right now I would say Pastel Photography, she is rocking it!

If you were not a photographer, then: I really couldn’t imagine doing anything else, but if that were the case I’ve always been intrigued with midwifery/labor and delivery.

What does photography mean to you? It means everything! I eat, sleep and dream photography.  Through my lens and my children, I get to experience the world in a whole new way.

Magazine must have? Us Weekly

What is your guilty pleasure? Diet Coke

My weakness is…..I always have too much on my plate.

My strength is…..I’m always on time, come rain or shine.

What do you do when you first wake up? Snuggle with my two children

Finish this quote: When it rains…..it pours.  No, how about the old man is snoring? Wait, that is a nursery rhyme I just messed up?

Who do you love? My high school sweetheart turned husband, my two beautiful children, and Sady (our basset).

Do you read your horoscope? Nope

Do you have a blog addiction? Hmmm…not really, but I do love cruising photographer blogs to follow their daily captures.

Do you have any tattoos? Yes, just one – it actually means ambition.

What are your thoughts on 80′s Music? Well, I was born in the 80′s so anything music/movies 80′s related – I’m there.

What is on your iPod? Don’t have one – that’s bad, right?

Morning or night? Morning

Do you have any travel dreams? Not at the moment, we did just get back from vacation and I need another vacation from unpacking.

On my day off…..When that happens, the kids and I plan a day just for us.

One of your top 100 to do before you die? What isn’t?

Special thanks to Rebecca Knowles Photography for the portrait of Laura and her son at the top of this post.

Thank you so much, Laura, for sharing a little about yourself.  We all have enjoyed your gorgeous baby and maternity portraits.

What’s New This Week

Lots of stuff to share! Let’s get to it and start off with all things baby.

Kim Hill has a ton of birth announcements in her shot. These are a great way to remember your newborn sessions. Take a peek at this one and check out the others … lots to choose from.

Tara’s Mod Girl announcement is fun for new baby girl. Also includes various baby icons!!

Check out Tisha’s Accordion Album. The bright colors will make your images pop!

Tegan has a Swirly Template that would not only work for baby, but also seniors, tots, tweens. Customize to any  color scheme.

Looking for a new storyboard? This one by Kim at MadiLu Designs has room for seven images. The background color can be customized. Great way to show off multiple images from a session.

Jackie has a new appointment reminder card in her store. Move the camera icons around to set the date for your client.

Need to stock up on senior designs? Check out Carrie’s Graduation Announcement pack. You’ll find designs for both boys and girls.

That’s about it! Don’t forget to check out our high school senior special for the month of March. Take 10% off selected items.

Have a great week!

Photographer Spotlight: Tina Nitz

Tell us your name. Tina Nitz

Where do you live? St. Augustine, Florida

Please link us to your website. http://www.nitzphotography.com

Describe your area of expertise. Expertise – HA! I don’t consider myself an expert in anything, but I do specialize in maternity, newborns and babies. If I had to pick one of those three I’d say my newborn work is my strongest.

How long have you been a photographer? I’ve been a photographer since I can remember ! Way back in the day, I used to take my mom’s 110 camera and use a whole roll of film on a single flower, bug or whatever else caught my eye. She’d get so upset because I wasted a whole roll on one thing. I looked at it like I was shooting a bunch to get the perfect result. Did I? Probably not – I was like 10.  But you are probably asking more from a professional standpoint.  I’ve officially been a business for almost 6 years now.

What did you do before pursuing photography? Growing up I never said “I want to be a photographer when I grow up.”  It changed frequently depending on what was of interest that year. But, after high school, I made the decision to hit the university for a degree in elementary education. I never quite finished. Along came the birth of my first son… and then a few years later a second son. Never went back and somehow I ended up as a photographer.

How would you describe your style? Simplistic.

Do you prefer to work in the studio, on-location, or both and why? I prefer to work in a studio with my “fake light” mostly because I can control it so much easier. I know it, I’m comfortable with it, and it works for me. Which is why I’m working on learning natural light out on location now – getting out of my little box.

What is your standby pose (the one that everyone tends to want from you)? EVERYONE wants the newborn sound asleep with the little legs/arms hanging over the side of the basket/bucket/chair.  And lately the “fish bowl” shots are quite popular with the toddler moms.

Do you have a favorite tip or trick that always gets a smile from your young subjects? Every child is different and responds to different things. What works for one doesn’t work for another. So I guess I’ll have to say no I don’t really have a favorite trick that works. But I have a whole list of things I try to get those smiles and when I find something that works for that child I play off it for a while. Singing, laughing, talking silly, jokes for older ones, making fun of mom and dad’s “stinky feet” works VERY well for the 4-5 year olds. You just have to take cues from the child and keep working until you catch their attention.. then roll with it!

What gear is in your bag? Nikon…..always Nikon. I currently shoot with a D300 and 90% of the time I have my 85mm lens on.  I’ll sometimes also shoot with my 50mm and then, if I’m feeling crazy, pull out the 105mm macro for some close ups (like those little bits on a newborn).

If you could only use one lens what would it be? 85mm of course

What is your go-to camera shop? I try to buy all my gear locally – and that happens to be at Ritz Camera. I like to keep my business local and support those around me. If they don’t have it B&H Photo here I come.

Which album company do you recommend? My session albums are the Addison Elite slip ins by J. Lee Albums.

What are your favorite props? I’m not big on a lot of props. But I do love me some hats!! And baskets!! My husband thinks I need to go to Hats and Baskets anonymous.

How do you stay motivated? By shooting for ME every once in a while. Whether by working with my own kids and doing something different or just getting in the car and driving around until I see something of interest. Sometimes even just sitting in the yard and snapping shots of the lizards. It’s so important to have time for yourself and to shoot for fun when you are running a business. Otherwise you’ll get burnt out and wanna scream!

What makes your job easy? The resulting images and the smiles on mom and dads faces when they come in to view and order. Makes chasing their toddler during the session or getting peed on by a newborn all worth it!

Do you fully process all the proofs you show to clients or do you show soft-proofs and then finalize once you know which images they will be ordering? Depends on how much editing is required. I pretty much process all proofs before they are shown to the client. Of course, a final once over is done before sending to the lab to get rid of little stray hairs and minor things that bug me but probably were not noticed by the client. For those times when some extensive detail work is needed during editing (such as a newborn with a bad case of baby acne) then I’ll work up a handful of my favorites completely to show clients what will be done before ordering. Then I do the major touch-ups before sending to the lab for them on the images they order.

If you could choose anyone to do a photo session of you and your family, who would your choose? Oh wow…..that’s a loaded question. You know I’m not really sure. I have so many photographers that I know and admire. I’m just not sure if I could choose just one.

If you were not a photographer, then…then my life would be pretty empty because I LOVE what I do.

What does photography mean to you? It means a lot and it always has. I’m a firm believer in capturing memories. Time goes by way too fast and kids grow up even faster.  You never know what the future holds and having special images of the ones you love and hold dear is ever so important.

Best advice for new photographers breaking into the business? There are 3 major pieces of advice that I give to newcomers to the business:

1. Have knowledge about photography itself. How to achieve proper exposure, white balance, etc. If you don’t know what a shutter speed is, then you might want to take a class or do some research online. LEARN all you can about photography before you go to the next step.
2. Know your camera and how to use it properly.
3. Price yourself fair to the clients and to your fellow photographers. Don’t undercut the established photographers in the area in order to gain business because, in the end, all it does it hurt the entire photography industry – and it doesn’t gain you great clients.  Find your magic happy number and work backwards to find your fees.

Magazine must have? Professional Photographer is my favorite right now.

What’s your guilty pleasure? Reading, actually. I love to read. However I often feel guilty when I do because I know I could be doing other things either with the business or with housework, etc.

My weakness is…I have to have  Dr. Pepper first thing after rolling out of bed in the morning. Sad, but true.

My strength is…Hmmm – I can tell you all about my flaws and issues, but ask me this and I get stuck.

Finish this quote: When it rains……it pours… LOL!

Who do you love? My hubby and my 2 boys.

Blog addiction… Nope – don’t really have one.

Tattoos… Ick.. no. Not on me. But they are fun to photograph on dad’s with newborns!

MAC or PC… PC

80’s Music… Yes!!!

What’s on your iPod? I actually do not own an iPod. Sad, isn’t it?

Morning or night? NIGHT!

On my day off… … and the boys are at school.. I like to curl up with my kitty and read a good book.

Thank you Tina for sharing a bit of yourself with us.  I’m sure our readers will enjoy your work as much as I have.

Designer Freebie

April’s Designer Freebie is courtesy of Kim Drury at MadiLu Designs.

Enjoy this 2×7 bookmark made just for new moms … a perfect leave behind at hospitals.

You can get this great freebie by clicking on this link.

http://www.sendspace.com/pro/x19s7a’

Be sure to check out the rest of Kim’s great templates in her store here as well!

December Photo Contest

It was a hard choice, but here our the winners of last months Photo Contest…..

Thanks to everyone that entered!

We’ll be having another great photo contest soon so be on the lookout for information in the coming weeks!