I love spending time with new photographers and teaching them all about this thing I love, photography. I especially love it, when it’s family!! Meet Kristyn, my cousin and brand new [talented] photographer. It was exciting to hear all about Kristyn’s goals and dreams. We also talked about workflow, lighting, web presence and the Knoxville wedding scene. This girl has drive and I look forward to seeing where she takes her talent. To check her out click HERE!
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!
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:
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
so here’s the deal… this year I’m wanting to give lots and lots of info about LHP behind the scenes.. I get questions ALL THE TIME about how I got started, how I chose the equipment I chose, lighting, vendors and editing. Instead of offering those folks mentor sessions [which I will still do a limited number this year].. I hope to share any answers to any questions.. here
I thought it would be fun to go ahead and start this learning fun with an editing post. So here we go!
I first import all RAW files into Adobe Lightroom to cull the images [choose the images I want to keep], correct the color [White Balance, Exposure + blacks], take out any distracting elements of the image or and erase blemishes with the Dust Removal tool and then export the edited images to a new folder on my external hard drive [no images are ever on my main computer].
Up until a few weeks ago.. this is all I did in LR before working in Ps… until I found the amazing amazing amazing film tools from VSCO [Visual Supply Company].. I apply my favorite film preset to each image [in the case of the image below it's KODAK PORTA 130]
Once in Ps I work with several sets of Actions I’ve bought + have been given. My favorites are Jesh De Rox COLOR SHIFT actions + TRA [Totally Rad Actions] … when you work with these sets and combine their goodness to your taste they are called recipes and these are the things I will be sharing this year. Send your questions to lori@lorihensley.com or posting them on my Facebook Page // facebook.com/knoxvillephotos
RECIPE FOR THIS IMAGE:
JESH DE ROX // BEFORE DUSK.. 50%
TRA// Warm It Up Kris… 100%
TRA // A Better Web Sharpen .. 100%
VWALLLA!
Lori, these are such beautiful pictures! And the fact that you are taking someone under your wing and showing/teaching them just shows how true your heart is and your love for photography. These are beautiful images and I’m sure that Leah learned an immense amount!
Beautiful photos!! I’d love to be mentored by you some day.
Great pics, Lori! Only one question…how does she get her hair to look so perfect?! Super jealous