I had the awesome privilege this week of spending the day with a talented up-and-coming photographer Leah Price with Leah Nicole Photography. Leah is so full of life and passion that I’m certain she will take her photography dreams far.I look forward to keeping up with her work [and our new found friendship] with excitement!

Leah and I began our day with a shoot at Fountain City Park right down from my house where we talked about understanding natural light, natural reflectors and composition. We also talked lots about equipment and mechanics. Leah is a freaking rockstar because she has been shooting with an old school 50mm 1.4 [super awesome lens].. made long before the digital day which requires her to do everything manually. This girl is determined to take incredible pictures even when he equipment gives her challenges. She blows those challenges out of the water! I was so impressed.

After shooting her at the park we sat down for a meal over Panera Bread soup where we talked about dreams, goals and branding. I love to hear how photographers get started and hear them talk about their dreams. It’s inspiring to me to reach harder for me own. I heard it once said..

“REACHING FOR YOUR DREAMS

INSPIRES OTHERS TO REACH FOR THEIRS”

.. maybe I just saw it on Pinterest.. but either way it stuck with me. After lunch we headed back to my home office where we processed the images we took earlier, talked lots about workflow, editing tools and finding your own art/style. Our day flew by so fast and I didn’t get nearly enough time getting to know this awesome girl.. so I hope to see her super soon to just get to know one another away from the camera.

Here are some of the shots I took during our fun shoot.

In 2012 I have found myself knee-deep in mentor sessions. Its quickly becoming one of my favorite things to do with this photography career I have going. A mentor session is where I sit down with a brand new photographer or someone who has been in the business for a small time and is just “hitting brick walls around every curve” as one mentee put it. In the last 3 years I have learned sooo much [mostly through trial + error] and if I can share my mistakes and “ah-ha” moments with those just getting started.. I feel like it was all worth it. In these mentor session we talk about shooting, mechanics, equipment, vendors, post processing + workflow and branding [websites, logos, and the general perception of your business others have]. Branding is HUGE! Perception is EVERYTHING both when you’re starting out and as your growing.

While at WPPI last year in Vegas I was sitting in on a talk when the conversation moved to the importance of branding. One of my favorite photographers put it like this

[paraphrase]

“It’s like this..  Mac vs PC..  Folks have a certain perception of these brands.. and when you’re a creative these perceptions are very intense.. for example, I want you to raise your hand if you’re a Mac [in a room of 500-800 photographers/creatives, everyone I could see raised their hand].. okay now raise your hand, mac people, if you would ever buy a PC [1 personal.... I repeat ONE person.. an older gentleman with his logo on his polo raised his hand]… my point exactly… that is called brand power”

This is one of the BIGGEST things I talk about during mentor sessions. It’s ALL ABOUT your brand power. There are some incredible books out there about this.. most of which from Seth Godin. Purple Cow is a personal favorite [the idea here is to see what everyone in your industry/market are doing.. and do the opposite.. oh yeah it will ruffle their feathers... but that means it's working].

Anyway.. when I sat down to type this post I was merely going to showcase the amazing branding I had created for me from the amazing KATE MOORE CREATIVE —> CLICK HERE FOR SITE

I highly, HIGHLY recommend her.

Don’t have a brand or a clue where to start? I created a folder on my desktop called “inspiration” and just dragged images I found I gravitated towards.. fonts, logos, patterns and I began to see a pattern. There is a nifty new social network that makes this way easier and causes me to have logo ADD.. perhaps you’ve heard of Pinterest? If not, you can find me here CLICK HERE FOR MY PINTREST to see what all the fuss is about.

I took a few shots of the branding Kate created for me + the packaging I purchased from Craft + Jute.. love!

Thank You cards, Biz Cards + a glossy book of info/portfolio I give out at my meetings.. love that thing!

These are the envelopes I use when folks order prints from me… I ordered them from Kraft + Jute with a few of my logos.. one [the better one] that Kate created and the other [lamer one] I put together

These are the cases that house the digital negatives from weddings… I LOOOOVE these!

my sweet Thank You’s… favorite part!

Alright-chall… I MUST take a moment to tell you about one of the coolest things we’ve gotten ourselves into lately.. it’s call the Food For All or Food Share.

So here’s the deal.. 6 Families.. 12 adults, 3 kids. Each family gets one night a week [or sometimes every two weeks] to cook a meal for all 15 people [not as hard and scarey as it sounds]. We all live here in Fountain City and live about 1-2 miles from one another. Each night those who didn’t cook come to the house that did with their Tupperware, scoop out what they need and either stay to eat or slip out the door and take it home.

BENEFITS [this is huge!] //

1. There is a $30 limit on each meal.. so one night your not having beanie-weenies and the next filet minion = $30 grocery/dinner budget for 1-2 weeks! Whhhat? Amazing, I know.

2. We get to see all of these amazing folks that have come into our lives every night! We’ve seen most of them almost every night for going on 3 weeks and it’s already building this neat community. Gosh.. it’s the coolest thing

Last night it was the Hensley’s night to cook. I knew I wanted to make a killer chili since it was getting colder… so I searched and searched the web for and great new recipe and ran across one that just made me laugh:

“did you buy a pack of McCormick chili seasoning.. cool.. now through that **** away”
haha

I knew it would be a good recipe or at least I would enjoy making it. Here is a link to the chili recipe of dreams

CLICK HERE FOR RECIPE

Fast forward a few hours later and there are 15 people laughing around our kitchen table… our hearts were so full. So thankful for this little adventure and hoping your encouraged to do the same with your group of friends!!

Here’s a few pics I snapped during the cooking + a few of some of my friends.

Here are my onion cutting glasses.. hehe.. truth be told they probably don’t do much good, obviously.. but I feel they may help delay the tears..

I met Paula + JT a few years ago when Paula hired me to shoot Central High School’s 10 year reunion. These two took some super cute pictures in the photo booth I set up there which I was thrilled to get in the mailbox a few months later on their Christmas card! I just loved it!

Needless to say, when I received an email from Paula a few months ago about a maternity shoot I was more than pumped to get them in front of my camera again. These two are so sweet and remind me so much of me + my hubby David. I wish you guys the very very best!!

Welcome baby Ansley! David + Sarah are dear friends of ours and it just melts my heart to see their joy in bringing their newest baby girl into this world. Birth stories might be my very favorite event to shoot. I’m completely addicted to shooting the most joyful/emotional moments in life and births are by far THE MOST emotional I’ve found. These images are full of so much joy.. you can’t help but smile when you look at them.

Meet.. baby Ansley

Babies make me so happy.. I’m not yet a mom but I bet the expecting of your first child is one of the most exciting times in life! I’m so excited about that season of life for us when that rolls around and we finally just “settle”! Until then I get to catch a short glimpse when I get to shoot expectant families like Abby + Sam.. there is so much joy in dreaming and guessing and planning and I’m so glad these two let me capture just an ounce of that joy. Congrats you guys!!

I’ve been soooooo looking forward to this wedding! Since I met these two last year and got to know them and their super sweet story that is near and dear to my heart [met at a YoungLife camp! ee!].. I just. couldn’t. wait. to see them wed! It was well worth the wait and better than I could have ever hoped for. These two are peas and carrots and I’m so happy to know them.

Location // Brownworth Mansion in Clinton, TN … BEAUTIFUL!!

Over the last few weeks I’ve asked for photographer questions about anything and everything… and BOY did they pour in! The first few were in response to my last Q+A post regarding editing + LR presets in particular. So.. here is what you’ve been asking for!

My first year of photography I only edited with LR + bought a cute little batch of Presets from Presetopia to help give a little edge to my pictures. I loved them at the time but honestly haven’t touched them in years since I’ve found the lovely goodness of Photoshop Actions [namely JeshDeRox Colorshift + Totally Rad]… however just this year I have slipped back into the world of Presets with my latest editing purchase from VSCO.

I have been completely enamored with the idea and look of film as of late. There is something so rich about it. My favorite blogs to stalk these days are those of photographers who have a real knack for editing with a film look [or just straight up shooting with film]. Here are a few that I’m just captivated by:

Sean Flanigan // Seattle

Dan O Day // Australia

There are few more I’ve been frequenting.. but these are my favorites at the moment. I’ve had several photographers ask for more info about this look and VSCO Presets. What these LR Presets claim to do is work hand in hand with your Canon or Nikon RAW settings/components to exactly replicate the look of folk’s favorite films Fuji + Kodak Porta. This set also gives you a tool kit to tweek your images even more like one might do in the darkroom. I’m so hooked on these! I’ve yet to really develop the desire to shoot in film professionally and most likely will not because I love the instant gratification of digital… but I’m SOOO thrilled that I can have the best of both worlds.

I’ve attached an image below so you can see for yourself.. Here are the settings for each image using LR VSCO Film Presets.. ENJOY!

1. RAW image straight from camera

2. Fuji 160C

3. Fuji 160C + magenta shadows toner + darker skies + more grain + faded++

4. Illford HPS

Let the office construction begin. I don’t know what to call the little house/apartment/garage behind our house that we are transforming into an office space/studio so I’m just going to call it the cabin from this point on. It’s a little cabin-esk I guess [photos to come].. it’s brown, it’s made of wood and smells like cedar. It works.

So right now, at this moment [well, about an hour ago] we started the demolition of some things and so the adventure has begun. To kick of this little slice of excitement we bought the first piece of decor this weekend in Nashville. There was a cute little interior store going out of business + were selling these sAweeeet twig chandeliers that just screamed Lori.

In typical HENSLEY fashion this adventure, as is all of them, was not as simple as drive, pick up item and drive back. Nothing ever works out that simply.. even when we plan for it to. Especially when we plan for it to. Luckily, we’re pretty easy-going [a trait I have taught D. Hensley over the years] and try to make a good story out of everything. So when we try to fit the HUGE chandelier into our Jeep Commander [who would have guessed it wouldn't be big enough?? Anyone with a brain] it started to brake and snap in all the wrong places. The lady that owned the store was trying to coach the whole event + got on my bad side really quickly [who knows how that happened.. but it did, hardcore].. so, of course, I throw my hands in the air and wonder [out load] where the nearest UHaul was. Yes, we were getting this monster home.. Jeep or no Jeep. Fast forward a few hours, add a pseudo shady deal with the UHaul guy, the best spaghetti + meatball I’ve ever had in my life [Amerigo's near Vandy], a quick-disappointing trip to Antique Archeology which ended up being a T-Shirt shop/Tourist Attraction instead of a great antique shop, a pair of boots from Macy’s [on sale, YAY!] and 6 hours + we are the proud owners of a white bundle of twigs that will soon hang from the ceiling of my new office! Yay!

a few frames I shot with my Nikon 1 point + shoot

Meet Ericah + Mark! Ericah + I met a few years ago when she was my boss when I worked at a mortgage company in downtown Knox. I only lasted about 6 months in the position [I'm not cut out for the corporate world] BUT THANKFULLY our friendship lasted so much longer. When Ericah emailed me last year about shooting her wedding I felt honored. I think a lot of this girl + now of her new hubby as well. What a sweet sweet couple. I’m so happy for Ericah + her new life with Mark and his ADORABLE kids. I’m so glad I got to document their day at White Stone Inn in Loudon, TN. Great day, Great family. Thanks Ericah and I wish you every happiness there is the wish!!