Nighttime Camera toss with 3 wireless flashes!

At my recent workshop last week in San Luis Obispo we did a camera toss on the beach of the whole crew! Thanks to Evandro Rocha from Brazil, he put together this little video!

Casual Portraits in the Snow | Mark & Christyn, Denver, CO.

I LOVE the snow. Right during the snow, we shot these shots for a demo I was shooting for a Pictage PUG (Pictage User Group) Presentation.

I shot Mark & Christyn's wedding back on 7/23/2007 at the Montage in Laguna Beach. Check out the link to the post here What a beautiful wedding they had. Since we have become great friends and

Thanks you for helping, and thank you to God for making it snow in Denver!

(P)ictage Camera Toss (ver 2.0)

In Preparation for the WPPI Convention in Las Vegas, Pictage asked me to

They are about to release their logo and I'm really excited about it!

Mike Larson Photography Workshop Day 2

guest post by Matt Hollingsworth

After the great free Biblical Business Principles workshop on Monday, today we began the actual photography workshop. Each day is divided up into two parts - a speaking and interacting session in Mike's studio in the morning, then an afternoon and evening shooting session.

Mike began the morning by talking about the reason he is doing this, and what his desire is for us: that we would not waste a single day of our lives, but that we could have knowledge and training to effectively grow our businesses so that we can effectively grow our character.

Too many people don't learn new things because they don't think they need to. This is the growth-inhibiting pride that we talked about yesterday, and we need to be able to be humble enough to know that we can learn something from anyone. In fact, there are two ways to learn: through the wisdom and instruction of other people, or through your own experience. Since you can only have a limited number of your own experiences, why not try to learn as much as you can from others, which will make your experiences even more valuable?

With this encouragement, we began the day of learning and growing.

Right off the bat Mike shared an idea that really convicted me. I actually heard this from him when I saw him last month at a PUG (Pictage User Group) meeting, and it hit me like a ton of bricks. Are we as photographers consumers of our own service?

If you are a photographer, when was the last time you hired another photographer to do a shoot for you? For me, it's actually been a long time, and I came to realize how hypocritical it is of me to talk about the value of photography and the photography experience with clients, but actually not value that experience enough to consume it myself. Yes I take pictures of my family and we enjoy them. But I want to hire a photographer - and yes, pay them - and live the whole experience with my family (and actually have myself in a photo!). Small nugget of truth, but it was a big impact to me.

Next we dove into the first tool that equips us to be more effective and valuable at our craft - shooting right the first time.

The simple principle is this: the more time it takes to post-process your images, the less time you have to spend on every other part of your business. If it takes you 10 hours to edit your images from a wedding, then if you can cut it to 5 hours then you've just doubled your efficiency - and pay - for that portion of your work. But you've also gotten back 5 more hours you can spend focusing on your clients, meeting with vendors, growing your character, or spending time with your family.

What can help you shoot better the first time? Like most things, there are two elements: education and practice. Mike gave some instruction on how to better setup your camera to give you more control on focusing, about how to nail your exposure every time by knowing some reference points and then adjusting from there, as well as some other practical tips from his own experience.

And then there is practice.

How important is practice? If you took your child to the hospital to have surgery, and the doctor fumbled around with his instruments, tried one scalpel, then said "oops, let me try a bigger one and see if that works", cut in different places until he got it right, would you have much confidence in him? Would you want to pay him? Would you think he had ever done that surgery before?

We can approach photography the same way. But we have the benefit of being able to practice on live bodies! Mike encouraged us that if we need to work on shooting and editing, then go talk to 50 people and ask them to do a photoshoot for you. Chances are you may get 10 who actually will agree, and then schedule them all on the same weekend, back-to-back so you can be more efficient. Then process them all, and go evaluate yourself and your photos. Write down what you learned, what was good, what wasn't so good. And then do it again. Put in the work required to master your craft as a professional.

We then moved on to talk about developing the client relationship. The themes are trust, caring, and servant leadership. The relationship with your client really starts with you - how you treat them, how you appear to them, how you talk with them.

Your goal should be to develop a trust between you and your clients, and trust takes time. Therefore we need to prioritize time with our clients. Find out about your clients' background, interests and lives so that you can be better equipped to meet their needs.

Also, find ways to "wow" your clients. Do you ever hear your clients say "wow" when they interact with you or talk about you? Wowing requires forethought, initiative and sensitivity to your clients' needs so that you can give them something unexpected. Mike actually wowed us with some gifts for each of us at the start of the day:

Market your relationship-building to your clients as one of your strengths. Educate them on the importance of having this relationship with their photographer. Help them think through "Who will take better care of you on your wedding day - someone who knows your or someone who doesn't?"

"Photographers are problem-solvers of light and social situations." The technical aspects of photography solve light problems, but we must be equipped and prepared to handle the social situations as well. This also requires that we spend time and effort developing our communication and relationship skills. If you need more instruction and resources to help you develop in this area, take advantage of things like Toastmasters International, where you can learn confidence in speaking and giving presentations.

All in all, having a quality, genuine relationship with your clients should be at the heart of what you do. The trust you build with them can then be easily transferred to people who they recommend you to.

When you serve your clients with genuine care, find ways to deliver the unexpected and share your passion with them, you will become known more for your character and how you make your clients feel than for just your images. And when that happens, you can have the kind of meaningful referrals that will allow your business to grow.

Next we discussed some ways to implement both the technical and the relational business practices we had just learned about.

Here are some quick ideas:

• Be first in something in your area or sphere of influence.
• Meet with up-and-coming vendors who are at a similar level of experience and growth as you are. Do joint marketing with them. Find ways to give them something truly valuable to them and serve them. Build that relationship of trust with these vendors.
• Have an assistant film a photoshoot, but have them focus on your interactions with your clients. Go back and watch yourself - painful as that may be - and seek their input on what you could do better.
• Meet the owner / manager of a wedding venue and do a walk-through with them, suggesting things that may enhance the artistic and photographic qualities. Give them some images of the venue they can use to market.
• View yourself as a humble leader, and take ownership of having positive and encouraging influence over other peoples' lives.
• Specialize in what you do best, and then you'll eventually be known for what you do best. Find ways to delegate and outsource what you do not do well and be humble enough to let go of those things.
• Don't get overwhelmed by a perceived lack of progress. Think about how a brick wall is built. The bricklayer doesn't throw 20 bricks down all at once. He puts down one brick at a time in exactly the right place. Then he builds on top of it. Track your progress and keep moving forward.

We had two focused presentations by members of Mike's team today as well. Sophie, Mike's studio manager, walked us through the Lightroom workflow they use, and Jake, who does the graphic design for Mike, talked about the importance of logos and branding. Both Sophie and Jake provided some great ideas and resources for us.

Sophie:

Jake:

By this time we had all had lunch:

and were basking in the perfect February afternoon sunlight that was pouring through the windows in Mike's studio. It was time to go to the beach!

We met two couples and Mike walked us all through some different types of shoots - portrait, lifestyle and an engagement-type shoot. Mike talked through posing and lighting approaches in several different situations. More importantly, he modeled the type of leadership and interaction that we had talked about all day.

Check out some of the images from the afternoon below. The images of the couples are Mike's.

And finally, a nighttime camera toss of the whole group, complete with the sunset!

Thirst Relief Benefit: Photography Mentor Auction (open until the 17th!)

Grow as a photographer while saving lives!

I'm participating in the 2010 ThirstRelief Mentor Auction. Our mission is to save lives by tapping into the incredible talent and generosity of the photo industry.
Did you know that every 15 seconds someone dies of a waterborne illness? That's 5760 people every day! You can help. Bid on a mentoring session with your favorite photographer!

100% of the proceeds directly benefit Thirst Relief. Add to that the incredible wisdom and talent that is being shared in the one-on-one mentor sessions and you have better and more successful photographers! It's truly a win win for everyone involved!

The winner of the auction of me will win the following, above the 90 minute mentor session:

- A seat in any workshop coming up during 2010 in either Europe or in the states.
- Shadowing/assisting at a stylized casual portrait session
- Shadowing me at a 2010 wedding
- A Tour of our studio and operations facility
- My studio resource manual
- A hug

Mike Larson's Workshop Day 1 In Review

Hi. I am Matt Hollingsworth and I and guest-blogging for Mike this week to bring you some of the highlights of his San Luis Obispo photography workshop. I'll be sharing my perspective on each day, some of the things that really impacted and challenged me, and some photos of the day.

Today Mike put on a free one-day seminar as a precursor to the photography workshop that starts tomorrow. The topic - Running your business on Biblical principles.

Did you know that the Bible has more to say about money than about any other single topic? God doesn't necessarily place a greater importance on money than on other truths, but our attitudes about money and the way we use it indicate our deeper spiritual condition. Since business involves the exchange of money, it stands to reason that God places a significant value to the way business works.

Indeed, today we really saw that a business run by Christians should not just be better than other businesses, it should be totally different. If Jesus is really at the center of our own individual lives, or if we aspire for Him to be, then our lives should reflect changes as we grow and allow Him to refine our character. And then, as business owners, as our individual lives change to become more Christ-like, our businesses should also become more Christlike.

What, then, is a Christ-like business, and why would we try to have such a business?

The answer to the second question actually answers the first question.

A big revelation for me today, something that completely resets my approach to "work" - especially as a new business owner - is this big-idea truth that Mike shared:

Business is a tool that God uses to refine our own character and to glorify Him in ways that our personal lives may not allow us to do.

As I let that sink in, it changes how I see what I do. Business for the Christian isn't just making better products, isn't just sending invoices and receiving payments more efficiently, isn't just becoming the market leader, isn't even just giving people something great that they will treasure for a lifetime. Business is about God's deeper work in us and the people around us.

This means that God is ultimately more concerned about our character than our profit. Of course profit is important and necessary in a business. Without profit, there is no business and you just have a nice hobby that doesn't provide for your needs. But at times God calls us to sacrifice in the area of profit for the sake of doing what is right so that He can shape our character to be more like Him. Profit and the money the business produces will be a by-product, or "symptom" as Mike put it, of a business run on Godly principles.

This means that as a business owner, I have a not just the opportunity, but the responsibility to lead and develop the character of the people that work with and for me. Wow. Have you ever thought of your position as an employer as including the responsibility to help employees personally develop, and not just do their job? Jesus set the example for us as a leader by pouring His life into the lives of those around Him.

This means that as the leader of our businesses, we take ownership of communicating the style, the values, the principles by which we conduct business to everyone on our team. We ensure that everyone is on the same page and we take the initiative and time to train each person. We provide both correction and praise to people who work with us, just as God does to us - all in a backdrop of patient love.

And this means that we deal with and understand people not in terms of their status - "boss" vs. "worker", or "$400k revenue business" vs. "$40k revenue business", or "been shooting weddings for 7 years" vs. "I've shot 2 weddings", or "my camera costs $x" vs. "your camera costs $y", or "client who makes $500k a year" vs. "client who makes $35k a year". All these things simply promote pride and arrogance, which are only obstacles to our growth. All people are equal in God's eyes, and when we relate to our staff, our vendors, our peers and our clients we must honor them as individuals rather than as categories.

Pretty challenging, isn't it? But if business is a tool that God uses to develop our character and to glorify Him, it will be different than just going to work.

Mike also talked about six symptoms of business bondage - signs that your business may not be in line with God's ultimate purpose for it. These aren't death sentences, though. Just like pain in our bodies, they are signals that we need to change in some area in order to experience God's best for us.

1. Superiority, which is really just pride and arrogance. Do you compare yourself to others and either think you're less of a person when you don't measure up, or more important and valuable when you come out ahead of someone else? The answer to this is humility and esteeming others higher than ourselves.

2. Selfishness, which we can understand as greed. In place of greed, we need to give.

3. Overwork, which is an indicator of financial bondage.

4. Excessive use of credit means that we're not completely trusting God to provide for us with what He has already given us.

5. Disorganization, which has at its root laziness.

6. Trying to get rich quick - this indicates our love of money above our love for God.

Finally, we talked today about some practical strategies to implement these ideals and qualities in our lives and businesses, and to address some of the root problems that the symptoms of business bondage bring to our attention.

Here are the highlights:

• Pray - praying is a muscle. If you don't pray when you don't have to, then you won't be able to when you need to. Pray specifically for wisdom and direction each day.
• Make mentoring a priority in your life. Find a person or people who agree to spend time with you regularly and give you part of their lives - their experience, wisdom and knowledge. Be open to their guidance and to learning from them, putting aside your own pride.
• Know your vision for your life and your priorities and write them down. Make your life vision the lens through which you make your everyday decisions.
• Have people around you that hold you accountable. Ensure there are one or more people who have the ability to stand up to you when you need to be corrected or instructed. Don't surround yourself with "yes men" and be humble enough to accept the correction.
• Ensure you have time each day for prayer and connection with God in your own personal life.
• Spend quality time with your family. Compartmentalize work so it does not take over your life.
• Debt is bondage, so avoid it wherever possible.

Today I am renewed in my approach to work. I not only have a better understanding of God's true plan for business, but a vision of how amazing and fulfilling a business could be when surrendered to God. Business can bring growth to my character; strength to my family; blessing to people who work with me who may not have otherwise been blessed. It can give me the chance to learn through sacrifice and giving.

It may or not bring a lot of money, but it can be something that brings me closer to God.

Here are some more images from the day. I'm looking forward to tomorrow!

Workshop Day 1 of 3

Today was day 1 of the 3 day workshop and it was great to see everyone here. We had guests from Brazil, Austria, Idaho, North Carolina and all over the state. Here is a group shot of us! Matt is going to be guest blogging this week. You can follow as Matt guests twits and updats on twitter of some of the wisdom, and cool thoughts and photos as they happen!

Lake Tahoe Engagement Session #2 | Chase & Bernie

Chase & Bernie met us up at Lake Tahoe for their second casual portrait session and we got some sweet shots. When it comes to these portrait sessions, it would be easy to hit up a field, park or beach, but we spent some time location scouting the days before and found some sweet spots that worked perfect. The last spot was my favorite and I'm showing a sneak peak here on the Blog. I'll be posting more soon!

Digital Photo Buzz Spotlight

A fun feature about the camera toss on Digital Photo Buzz - Check it out! Thanks Mark!

Squaw Valley Resort, Lake Tahoe Wedding Photography {Jon & Jessica}

Last nights wedding was SO amazing. I love how couples get original and just do something risky. Get married on superbowl weekend in the winter at 8,206 feet in the Mountains above Lake Tahoe. For me, it was 100% worth 12 hours of covering a spectacular group of people, wonderful family, and friends gathering to celebrate Jon & Jessica celebrating their nuptials at High Camp at Squaw Valley Mountain Resort.

It was snowing all day and created an amazing aurora that surrounded them as if a big white fleece blanket of quiet and warmth. That's one of my favorite things about the snow, it makes everything clean and quiet. Here is Jessica proudly walking towards her bridesmaids a few minutes before the wedding.

Then Later after sunset, at 5:45pm, with almost no light, using my new Canon 1D Mark 4, at ISO 1250, 1/50th, & 1.2, I was able to grab these shots. The only way I was even able to focus was by having my assistant (sweet Rachel) hold up her iphone near their faces and focus on that.

Thanks to this new gear and some tricks, I was able to get an extra 30 minutes of shooting in. Later at the reception, it was a fun reunion to see 2 other couples we had photographed in the last year there. Near the end of the night our highly anticipated slideshow was about to play and the projector bulb went out, JUST as the DJ cued the soundtrack for the music. I had nothing else to do but pray for the gear to work. God was victorious and everyone was amazed that the "burned out" bulb worked one last time. The slideshow was sweet and was such a hit. Thanks guys for a great night. I'll be posting more of the images in a few days.

Latest Speaking Tour

Thanks to Pictage, who sponsored the 1st 11 days of 20+ in my "Character Marketing" speaking tour to the Pictage user groups, or PUG's. It was an open invite however to photographers in each city. Here is Nashville

The Nashville crew here with a wireless flash setup on each side. Simple.

Here is a shot from a friend who was shooting me speaking.

The week earlier I was in Portland, Oregon and met with a sweet group of photographers there.

Eric Farewell's wife, Nellie was there, they were such a help to me during my shoot in San Francisco and again here in Portland. Great people.

Eric shot these shots of me sharing about character marketing and growing ourselves as much as our art.

The Portland skyline, Here we used the YongNuo wireless transmitters, which powered my Canon 580ex II flashes at 1/128th power.

Same exact settings, just a couple, and you get sweet light.

I stopped in Seattle and this was the 1st day that I was able to speak after 5 days of being on 100% vocal rest. Thanks to everyone who was praying. It was a blessing to be able to share that night!

Again, a great group of photographers in Seattle as well.

Here is my view, for 2 hours sharing my heart and experiences. I was blessed to hear people share how they walked away with renewed vision.

Tech specs, 1/5 second, F 1.2, ISO 1000, shot on the ground so the middle ground was limited to the couple standing, the orange clouds are from the city lights.

Here is the view of the photogs surrounding and the flash setup. Simple 1/128th power on the flash heads. I did 11 demos, and 2 weddings on the same batteries before I had to switch them.

San Francisco. Thanks to Gene Higa for helping out shooting this shot!

On Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, this is the leftover crowd from the demo shoot we did for the Los Angeles PUG.

Detroit Michigan. All I can say is that it was 13 degrees out! But it was worth flying up and sharing with another great group of photographers here.

This was the 1st stop in the tour in San Diego, thanks to the Youngrens, and the La Vida Crew, they took great care of me.

Near the end of the 1st 3 weeks, about the 1/2 way part of the tour, we stopped at Kevin Swan's house for the presentation, where we did the camera toss. I should have had my fisheye on for this shot, as in the Camera toss which was a few posts earlier.

I wanted to give a special thanks to Pictage, for sponsoring this, also for Drobo, for giving away a gift certificate, Album Exposure for giving away a year subscription, and to Show-It sites, for giving away a special discounted rate on their AMAZING slideshows and websites for photographers.

Upcoming on the tour are the following cities: Philly, DC, NYC, uptown NYC, Baltimore, Boston, Salt Lake City, Pheonix, Orlando, Miami, Hartford, Chicago, Sacramento, East Bay Area, Vancouver, and maybe Kansas City. I hope to see those of you in those cities coming up. For more info, check out my workshops site.

Etsy Spotlight

For all brides, Etsy is an amazing resource for unique handcrafted special touches for your big day. One of our dear brides, Lauren of Lo Boheme, makes custom vintage inspired accessories that several of our brides has sported. It was fun to see so many familiar faces in the pictures of ours that she has posted on her website. Check it out!

Where have you been in the world?

I found this cool map locator and it shows you what percent of the world you've been to! It really puts how big the world is, into perspective. If only flying over the country counted as well! I'd have "seen" more of the world too! Visit the link, put in your own travel, then copy your "world map" in the comments section below. I feel so blessed and thankful to have my photography clients and business development partners ask me to travel all over the world! I've learned so much and yet learned how much more I have to learn.