This image is what I consider a WIN!! Why? Because it took a lot of thought to create it!

This shoot took place on the property of a modern fine art museum in Richmond, Va. 

This location was beautiful, but it was stark and lacked soft textures that could add depth and visual interest to an image.  By the time we came to the end of outfit one, I thought “you know I have to find a way to step it up a notch” and make this location more visually interesting.  

After locating a simple FLOWER POT, I was able to come up with a solution! ……

In this video you’ll see me take this potted hydrangea and turn it into a beautiful foreground that surrounds the couple and creates visual interest! 

However, was it as simple as just “shooting through the petals”. 

No. There is so much that goes into making this type of shot actually work and I’m sharing all of it in this brand new Youtube video!!

In this video you’ll see me do a few things:

• Set the stage for the situation I was in that explain the issues I was experiencing during the shoot

• Actually WATCH me set up this shot behind the scenes during the real shoot!

• Watch and hear me make adjustments in order to make the image what I envisioned in my head! 

• See the settings for the image

• Hear me explain what was working and what wasn’t! 

• Get a quick lesson in composition management!!!

You get access to this all for FREE! Enjoy and if you’re a photographer wanting to learn from Behind the Scenes, you can start TODAY! Signup for our FREE TRIAL HERE!

The post Creating a Soft Image in a Harsh Environment <span class="kj-subtitle">New Youtube Series!</span> appeared first on Katelyn James | Online Educator for Photographers and Entrepreneurs.

As a photographer, the thought of not documenting the birth of one of our children and knowing that all of the others had been documented was incredibly sad to me! So, we created a plan!! 

Together, with the help of Tyler Herrinton and our new R6 Mirrorless Canon Camera, we were able to capture and document baby Rhett’s birth and I’m so incredibly thankful!!! What a gift!! 

In this Youtube video, I’m sharing the following information: (heading3)

• What gear we used
• Our filming setup & positioning of the camera
• Settings to consider
• Things to look out for when filming a birth
• And the unexpected blessing of a restricted Covid-19 birth!

Overall, I wish we could have had a photographer there but I am THRILLED with the results of our make-shift setup. I never thought I would have to brainstorm a way to document my own birth but like we all experienced, anything was possible in 2020!! 

Enjoy this video and if you’re considering documenting your own birth, I hope you’ll find these tips and tricks to be insightful and helpful! 

The post How to Document Your own Birth <span class="kj-subtitle">Using the R6 to Film Our 4th Baby’s Birth!</span> appeared first on Katelyn James | Online Educator for Photographers and Entrepreneurs.

I’ve collected some of my best tips for transforming LOUSY LOCATIONS and I’m sharing them in today’s Youtube Video!! :

I hope you enjoy and take away a few tips for the next time you find yourself in a less-than-ideal shooting location! If you didn’t have a chance to watch the video, here are some quick tips that I mention in the video!! :

HOW TO TRANSFORM A LOUSY LOCATION:

• Get creative with your crop:

This means paying attention to ways that you can strategically crop out distractions in the background and foregrounds to make your images appear more high end! You can also use your crop to eliminate unnecessary negative space as well! 

• Use high compression lenses:

If you have followed me for any length of time, you know that I love prime lenses and I love high compression! That is why my 85mm is my FAVORITE portrait lens and will always be my top pick! I love how high compression makes the background blurry and almost like it’s RIGHT BEHIND the subject while also creating a creamy, highly compressed foreground! It’s a perfect way to hide elements in your location that you want to hide! 

• Shoot vertically:

This seems so simple but it’s a learned skill to remember this when you’re working with a poor location and feel stressed! Simply shooting vertically (and closer to your subject) will eliminate distractions and allow you to frame your subject more effectively! This will not only allow you to photograph more intentionally but it will save you editing time and image quality because you wouldn’t be cropping out so much negative space that isn’t necessary! 

• Create foreground and add visual interest & hide distractions:

You know this is my favorite thing ever. FOREGROUND! It’s just so much fun to photograph and I love the layering that it provides! When I’m working hard to make a hard location usable, this is my favorite trick!!! You can basically use it at any time and you can do it manually! Sometimes I don’t have an actual bush, flower, or branch to shoot through and so I have to hold objects in front of my lens to make it happen!! This technique can hide distractions but more importantly, it softens your images and causes

• Use bodies to block distractions: 

last but not least, use your client’s bodies to hide unwanted parts of the location that you’re shooting in! If you don’t look at a location and think “could I block that with their bodies?” then you will probably miss out of so many spots that could hold so much potential! This, much like the other tips I’m sharing, is a learned thought! This is a fun tip to implement because it instantly opens up more possibilities! Now, in order to block unwanted things in a location, you have strategically pick a pose that makes this possible! Often times, this makes using a pose where their bodies are close to one another without any space between them!

If you’re wondering about how you can get better at actually taking these tips and applying them to your shooting, here’s what I do. I think about this stuff all of the time. When I’m driving, I’m constantly passing by locations and thinking, “Ok, how could I make that work”? Medians on highways, Target parking lots, random flowerbeds at the mall…. I think about how I would make it work if I HAD to shoot a portrait there. It sounds ridiculous that THAT is what goes through my mind when I’m out and about and not working but it’s just engrained in my head! I encourage you to think about it too next time you’re in town and driving around!!

Thanks for reading, friends! Be sure to check out the rest of our Youtube Channel for more free education! 

The post Tips for Dealing with Lousy Locations <span class="kj-subtitle">How to make a poor portrait location work!</span> appeared first on Katelyn James | Online Educator for Photographers and Entrepreneurs.

If you’re not using OCF, chances are… your images from receptions look somewhat like this…..

Dark background

Flat and dull

Just kinda…. Blah. 

But with just ONE Off Camera Flash and some basic flash setting knowledge, you can transform your reception shots to look more like this!! : 

When you’re using Off Camera Flash, the first thing you have to do is recognize that there is a system for setting it up! 

Now, this is just ONE of the setups that I recommend when using just ONE Off-Camera-Flash! 

This is the setup that I recommend for specialty dances (not party-dancing!). This is important to pay attention to! If you want to hear my setups with ONE OCF for cake-cutting and toasts and party-dancing, I’m explaining it all in this YOUTUBE EPISODE!! (link) 

Ok, so for the first dance, father/daughter and mother/son dances, here is what I recommend:

FIRST – DETERMINE YOUR BACKGROUND (your direction) :

When I’m setting up my one-CFP setup, I am normally doing it on the dance floor and I’m deciding what I want in the background. Unlike shooting outdoors with natural light, I have CONTROL over where the light source is going to come from! So I normally choose to have my background free of the DJ and his equipment. 

SECOND – PLACE YOUR FLASH 45 DEGREES (to your right or left) :

This is important! You don’t want your flash in the background of your shot, we are using your OCF to expose the FRONT of your subjects. Your on-camera bounce card will provide some extra light but the main light source is your OCF placed 45 degrees from you to your couple! 

THIRD – TAKE A TEST SHOT AND DETERMINE YOUR SETTINGS:

This is the technical part that gets a little tricky! I explain it more in-depth in this Youtube video! Overall, I don’t want a crazy amount of flash power coming from my one OCF. If it’s too powerful, my clients will be over-exposed and if I try to adjust my camera settings to fixed the over-exposure issue, the background will literally become black and dark! Not good! So, I prefer a lower flash power (1/64 is a good place to start) and a higher ISO! This allows the flash hitting my couple to be softer and the background glow to show up! I also recommend not shooting higher than a 2.8 aperture with this setup! 

There is so much more to share! If you want more OCF insight and education, here’s a 14 minute Youtube Video that breaks down what I just shared and much more!! 

In this Youtube Video you’ll find:

• Why OCF matters and the difference it makes in your images!

• My simple ONE OCF SETUP that I used when I first began using OCF! 

• How to use this setup in different scenarios: Dances, Cake Cutting and even Toasts!!! 

Enjoy and if you want to watch me shoot a REAL WEDDING day for FREE, click HERE!!! This is an amazing opportunity to what this FLASH education in action in a real situation! KJ All Access as been called “A Visual Learner’s DREAM!” CLICK HERE!

The post Simple Off-Camera Flash Setup <span class="kj-subtitle">One OCF Setup for Wedding Photography</span> appeared first on Katelyn James | Online Educator for Photographers and Entrepreneurs.

Well, before I dive in, let me first give you some stats and info on my Family Yearbook process:

1. Time it takes to complete: 10-12 hours of work during our “Netflix” time on the couch in the evenings! 
2. How big is it?! Well, the last two years I have overdone it. I actually have created over 400 pages and two volumes. NORMAL people wouldn’t do this. They would probably have a 100-150 page book. I’m excessive and I know it! 
3. What size is your book? It’s a 12×12 photo book! 
4. Where do you get it printed? BLURB! With Standard Pages!
5. What album are you using to design your spreads? Smartalbums and I LOVE this program!!! 
6. Do you do one album per year or per kid? Just one album! It’s too overwhelming to try and divide up images per kid. I can’t imagine how I would make that work! 

In this Youtube Episode, I’m going to be taking you through the thought process behind piecing together my Family Yearbook Spreads. There are so many aspects of this process that are just second nature to be but I actually really enjoyed breaking it down and thinking through WHY I made certain decisions and what visual patterns I was paying attention to! 

Overall, here are some design tips that I shared in the video! ….

When designing album spreads, I’m looking for:

• Variety of pulled back and tightly cropped shots
• Simple groupings (not too many images on one spread)
• Images that can fit over the spine and not get lost in the crease!
• Images that share similar color patterns
• Out of a group of related images, I look for a dominant photo or a dominant pattern (ex: One bold image to be big and the focal point or a dominant pattern like using all verticals)

There are so many other tips shared in this episode! If you find it hard to comprehend what I just listed out, be sure to watch this video to see real examples of them in action!!!  Enjoy! 

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The post Family Album Spread Design Tips <span class="kj-subtitle">Being Creative with Spread Design!</span> appeared first on Katelyn James | Online Educator for Photographers and Entrepreneurs.

When Canon made the switch from the Mark III to the Mark IV, they changed the RAW file type and that resulted in a dramatic shift in our post-processing. This is the same type of issue photographers are running into today with the switch from the Mark III to the R6. 

I’ve seen some very established photographers actually RETURN their R6 because they didn’t like the massive shift and they are defaulting to their Mark III again. 

That is totally fine but eventually…. like, several years from now…. they will need to transition. There WILL come a time when almost every photographer will have to go through the nitty gritty process of figuring out WHY images look different with a new camera and learn how they can replicate an edit that they love! My hope is that I can help make that transition easier! 

That’s why I’ve created this Youtube Episode!!! 

I took some of the nitty gritty process of comparing RAW files, assessing the differences and making notes on which sliders are affected the most and I made a video for you!!! 

This video doesn’t just address the Mark III to R6 issue, these tips can be used to determine the struggle between any two types of cameras. 

In this episode I’m sharing the foundational steps I took to solve the editing discrepancy between two different RAW file types.  

If you find yourself in a situation where you were shooting with one type of RAW file and now, a new camera body is causing you to have to change your editing approach, here are some steps to take to work through the struggle:

• Assess the difference: These raw files need to be compared side by side! This is what I noticed about the two file types:

1. 1. The Mark III has more dimension and more highlight and shadow
   2. The R6 looks flat and boring and just overall dull!
   3. The R6 also has bland, dull whites
   4. Mark III has more vibrant colors in RAW

•  Decide which file you need to match to! 

If you don’t have an action plan for how you’re going to approach this transition, you’ll find yourself recklessly moving your sliders all around without any strategy at all. This just leads to more confusion and frustration! In this video, this was my approach:

1. 1. Edit the Mark III RAW file to the edit I wanted
   2. Copy those edits to the R6 RAW file
   3. Tweak the R6 edit to match the Mark III edit
   4. Compare the sliders in each section to understand what needs to shift in my new R6 edits to achieve the Mark III look

When editing anything, I highly recommend editing the exposure and POP first (if you don’t know what I mean about POP and haven’t explored the Tonal Curve, you would THRIVE in the KJ Consistency Course! (link). 

Another tool that you saw me using in this episode was the KJ Preset Process (link)! This is the innovative Four-Step editing process that I created in Lightroom to empower photographers to grow in their consistency and their efficiency! Unlike traditional presets, the KJ Preset Process combines the power of presets AND profiles in a step by step system!! You can learn more about why over 4,000 photographers are using this process HERE! 

I hope this video provides some clarity and encouragement if you have ever struggled with how to edit during a camera-body transition or really have ever struggled in general with editing overall! 

The post Solving MarkIII to R6 Editing Problems <span class="kj-subtitle">Simple fix, once you know the issue!</span> appeared first on Katelyn James | Online Educator for Photographers and Entrepreneurs.

However, after I spent several years being completely miserable with the amount of work that was looming over me and all of the business responsibilities that I couldn’t keep up with, I finally surrendered to the concept of outsourcing. Now, I’m addicted to it. 

I’ve realized that I can actually make MORE money and be LESS STRESSED if I handed over the parts of my business that didn’t need my personal touch!  One of the areas that we started outsourcing was hiring a CPA to handle our taxes! However, for years, we only used our CPA for taxes and nothing else and we realized that we were missing out on so much.  We were using this resource for the BARE minimum and after some research, we realized that we were leaving so much on the table in this part of our business.  We now have handed over not only taxes but also all of our bookkeeping and payroll. It’s life changing and so freeing to have an actual professional taking care of this side of our business! 

Today in our brand new Youtube Episode, Michael is sharing THREE QUICK TIPS that we have implemented in regards to how we handle the end of the year and our finances!!! 

Thank you Michael for picking up the slack when I’m in no way wanting to be filmed right now at 38 weeks pregnant!! I can’t wait for this baby to be here!!! 

If you’ve missed some of our past videos, here are some of our post popular episodes from the last few months:

Shooting My First Wedding with the New R6

The Impact of KJ Education

The New Color Grading feature in Lightroom

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The post Quick end-of-year tips from Michael! <span class="kj-subtitle">Things you don't want to forget</span> appeared first on Katelyn James | Online Educator for Photographers and Entrepreneurs.

MEET ALYSON:

Alyson is a KJ Student who started her business in the midst of so many other responsibilities happening in her life. I loved reading her responses to our questions because I can resonate with her business journey. It’s so hard to start a business in a season of life where it can’t be your main focus! I love that one of the key moments where she has felt successful has been the season where she took the leap to be full time! We hear this over and over again…. as a photographer, there is such a feeling of freedom and excitement when you finally get to be full time and do what you love as your career!!! I’m thrilled for Alyson! She has worked so hard for this amazing season that she’s in! I hope you enjoy getting to know her and reading her responses!

1. What has recently happened in your business that has made you step back and go “Oh my gosh! That just happened?!”

First of all, just being asked to be a featured photographer on the Katelyn James Blog was one of my biggest “OMG!” moments of my business! I have admired Katelyn’s work, drive, and ambition for so long so this is a true honor! With that said, another one of my biggest and proudest moments in my business is wrapping up my first year as a full-time photographer! For the last nine years I juggled high school, sports, college, internships (not related to photography) while also running my photography business and it was one of the most challenging things I’ve ever done. Finally being full-time felt like a weight off of my shoulders and gave me so much more time to invest in my clients, education, and more importantly, myself. I am so proud of myself for going through all of the struggles to get here because it has been my most successful and profitable year that I have ever had! I am already so excited for what’s to come next year and the years to follow!

2. What part of your KJ Education experience has impacted you the most?

This one is tough, I feel like every time I re-watch the courses I have purchased from Katelyn James I find another valuable piece of information to implement into my business! However, if I had to choose just one, I would say Katelyn’s organization process. Ah, I struggled with organization of my photos so much before taking the Consistency Course. When I would edit I’d have all of the photos from the session in one place and I would pick and choose as I was going which photos I wanted to edit and deliver. This took up so much of my time and became so frustrating when trying to get images back to my clients! When Katelyn explained how she culled her weddings, set up designated folders for each category of the wedding day, and how she chose images to blog, I immediately implemented that into my workflow process. Now, my external hard drive is so organized and I’ve even carried that organization into my personal images as well. I know exactly what month my photos were taken, where to find the raw images, the blog images, and the gallery images. I feel more professional now that my images all have a specific place! Is that even a thing?!

3. If you could sit down with a photographer that feels incredibly defeated and discouraged, what would you say to help them? Is there a story of overcoming and victory in your own story that you could share?

I love this question because I wish others would have said this to me when I first started my business at thirteen.

“In your business, whether you’ve been photographing for two weeks or twenty years, you will have moments where you struggle. This may be in editing, posing, blogging, etc., but just keep practicing and learning. Invest in education as much as you possibly can because sometimes even the things you think you may already know may be explained by someone else that could change your whole outlook on the way you are running your business. As a photographer that had no past experience working with another photographer, I felt like I started from scratch without any guidance or help on how to run my business. I juggled between whether I wanted my photos to be “light and airy” or “dark and moody” for the longest time. I purchased so many presets that I don’t even touch now. Once I stopped comparing myself to others in the industry and stopped letting others control my business, I was able to really put forth photos that I really loved and that others loved too. It is so important to genuinely love what you’re creating because you give off a different vibe to your clients when you do. Go for the editing style that makes you giddy to get up in the morning and edit, market for the clients that you want to photograph, and educate yourself in the areas you struggle with most and I promise you will see drastic improvements not only in your work but in yourself.”

FOLLOW ALYSON: Website, Instagram

MEET JONI:

Joni is one of our most active and engaging students in our Facebook groups! She’s passionate, she’s dedicated and she’s talented!! I love seeing Joni’s posts about her wins and I also love how effortlessly Joni has become involved in our online community.  She mentions below that COMMUNITY is one of the greatest gifts you can receive as a photographer. No one should do this alone!! She also mentions that when it comes to feeling inadequate, she remembers this :  “One of the things I’ve stuck to recently, especially in the realm of comparison, is something KJ said. You can’t compare yourself to anyone else because there isn’t another you anywhere else in the world. You are the only you that’s out there. Your story is unique and no one can copy that.” I firmly stand by that quote and I love that it’s made an impact on Joni! She has so much to be proud of and I’m so thankful that she’s in our KJ Community!!!

1. What has recently happened in your business that has made you step back and go “Oh my gosh! That just happened?!”

One thing that’s made me step back and do a double take was going through the KJ Bridal Details course, I finished it all in one day! I then recently had a wedding where it was super difficult to find a spot for the detail shots. The only place was right outside the getting ready room on the ground of the little stone patio that was there. It was super cold and windy and the sun kept going in and out from behind the clouds, making lighting a challenge. But channeled my inner KJ and chose to use the dress bag to lay on the ground for a white clean background and added the veil to soften it. The sun and wind were a challenge but I took deep breaths and held my patience. I ended up getting the BEST detail shots I’ve ever done! Because I followed KJ’s order of shooting for the details and once the light cooperated, I was able to whip out the flat lay first and then re use that same area for all the details and got through it pretty quick! Once I came home and started editing I was blown away with what I got! It was like a lightbulb clicked!

2. What part of your KJ Education experience has impacted you the most?

The part of my KJ experience that has impacted me the most would have to be the incredible community that KJ has created. The love and support of other like-minded photographers who are all there to help each other and lift each other up no matter what level they are in in their photography journey. It’s been so incredibly helpful and inspiring and even life saving at times! I don’t know where I’d be with my business without KJ and the amazing tribe she’s created that’s purpose is basically to love others.

3. If you could sit down with a photographer that feels incredibly defeated and discouraged, what would you say to help them? Is there a story of overcoming and victory in your own story that you could share?

If I could say anything to a discouraged photographer, I would say I feel you. I was there so many times. I’ve been a photographer for 5 years and it’s not been an easy journey for me. There were times I wanted to quit and almost did. There were times I was super passionate about pushing forward and doing it for real and then someone told me I needed to step down from it and give it up. I’ve had my heart broken over it and have felt so inadequate before. But one of the things I’ve stuck to recently, especially in the realm of comparison, is something KJ said. You can’t compare yourself to anyone else because there isn’t another you anywhere else in the world. You are the only you that’s out there. Your story is unique and no one can copy that. If we look at everyone else’s work and see that that’s their personal brand and their story of who they are, we look at it through the eyes of appreciation rather than self doubt. We can appreciate others for their craft and their work because it’s them. Just like my work is me. If this is your true passion and you also have a feeling of using your business for a higher purpose than just making money, stick with it! Don’t give up. Push through the difficult things and trials and use those as learning opportunities. Never stop learning and honing your craft. If I can do it, you can too!

FOLLOW JONI: Website, Instagram

MEET TALIYA:

What I love the most about Taliya’s answers to our questions is her honesty. This interview is transparent and genuine and I’m so glad she agreed to share with us (and you!). Taliya mentions below that she has struggled with ADHD and this is why the KJ Posing Course has been the most impactful educational KJ resource that she has invested in! It makes sense because the KJ Posing Course gives photographers a posing system and the ability to execute it with confidence when you’re with your couples during their day or during a shoot!! I’m THRILLED that she has found that course to be a game changer!! As you read through Taliya’s responses, pay attention to her final response. She encourages us to take time and create space to be able to really analyze why we feel discouraged sometimes in business and I echo that advice!!! It’s so wise take a step back, especially in photography, and really process what we’re feeling about our work, our position in the industry, how we’re handling comparison and why we sometimes get discouraged. Taliya thank you so much for your answers to these questions!! It’s an honor to feature you!

1. What has recently happened in your business that has made you step back and go “Oh my gosh! That just happened?!”

This wedding season in particular I have felt amazingly confident in my work! I’m starting to really feel my consistent look. My October weddings made me feel over the moon. I come home, get the preview up and my boyfriend is even like, “wow, you did amazing, babe! The lighting looks perfect.” And things like that. Although, because I’m raising my prices little by little and not everyone of my friends can afford me anymore, this year in particular they have all been asking for sessions or saying they wish they could afford a session with me. Even though I can’t book everyone, the fact that they really want to means the world to me.

2. What part of your KJ Education experience has impacted you the most?

From the All Access, to the posing course, every little thing KJ has said has helped me. I love that the All Access is a little bit of everything and we see examples of exactly what Katelyn and her team were doing. I love the Posing Course the most though, for me personally. I have anxiety and ADHD and before her posing course I STRUGGLED with direction. I had posing cards on my phone and I’d be like, “uhhh do this?” I wouldn’t get very many images let alone strong ones. I would take hundreds of photos and only give them 25-30. Now I still take hundreds of photos but I have the final image gallery to back me up. It’s amazing how much more variety I have. Look, lean, laugh; him, her, hands, saved my life. When I struggle. Those two phrases save me every single time. Posing is so important me because I’ve always had trouble public speaking, but with those two phrases, I’m golden every time.

3. If you could sit down with a photographer that feels incredibly defeated and discouraged, what would you say to help them? Is there a story of overcoming and victory in your own story that you could share?

I’d say, get analytical. What is it that’s making you feel discouraged? Try to understand where those feelings are coming from and tackle them one day at a time. If you’re not booking, try going to styled shoots, 2nd shooting, or using a friend as a model to keep active and grow your portfolio. When I’m feeling a little lost or in a slower season of my business, I try to keep taking photos no matter what. Don’t put the camera down. I went to some styled shoots this year when all my summer weddings were moved due to COVID-19. I felt so good being around other photographers that I could learn from and it was a great chance to get more pretty photos into my portfolio. I got to shoot a designer wedding dress, a Hayley Paige dress (eeeek!), which I had never had the opportunity to do before. I put that photo on instagram and got so much attention. While likes don’t measure success, I found that it helped me feel confident in my work during a really stressful time in the world. As I have mentioned, I battle with depression, anxiety, and ADHD. When I have my camera in my hands, I feel inspired and creative. The world is at my finger tips, and every click is progress towards my goal, even if they aren’t all keepers. Keep clicking!

FOLLOW TALIYA: Website, Instagram

The post KJ Student Spotlight <span class="kj-subtitle">November 2020</span> appeared first on Katelyn James | Online Educator for Photographers and Entrepreneurs.

The CREATIVE side of your BRAIN works the same way.

If you’re a wedding photographer, whether you like it or not, you need a “warm-up” period! 

Bridal details are the most natural time and opportunity to do this on a wedding day! You aren’t interacting and posing your bride,  you’re working with details and you have some time to yourself! The secret to a successful warm-up period on a wedding day is to have PATTERNS and a PLAN! Without these two things, you’ll find yourself frustrated and floundering around… just throwing together detail shots and hoping something will turn out.

There is a better way!!!

In our KJ Bridal Details Mini-Course, I outline everything I do to ensure that my time capturing bridal details is effective and efficient! From the way I order my priorities as to what needs the most of my time to the patterns I use to get the shots I need, it’s all strategic yet flexible. That’s the beauty of my approach! I’m not going to give you strict rules to follow because where is the creativity in that?! But I AM going to give you patterns and systems that can be applied to ANY situation, ANY style of wedding and ANY amount of details!

In the KJ Bridal Details Mini-Course, I walk through my approach to tackling Bridal Details in a creative, stress-free way that results in images that flow together and can pair well together without competing or being overly redundant!

So, if you’re not a member of the KJ Bridal Details Mini-Course, here are a few things you need to have in order to capture Bridal Details in an editorial way:

1. Have a list of priorities and an order for your shooting that you replicate at EVERY single wedding! (I share mine in the course!)
2. Have a step-by-step approach to styling an invitation flat-lay! This means approaching invitation-shooting the same way every time so that you start to memorize a system that works instead of haphazardly piecing it all together and getting overwhelmed! 
3. Memorize the basic design rules of styling a flat lay! : Margins, negative space management, adding line, softeners and some form of “dots” (I share all of this in full detail in the course!) 
4. Make sure your detail system allows you to shoot in not ONE background setting but TWO if there is time! (Our course students learn that this is the KEY to great pairings!) 

Oh, there’s so much more I could share but this blog post is getting long! So here are the final images from the Bridal Details Mini-Course!  I originally created this post for our course students so that they could see how I took the images they watch me style and capture and see how I organize the blog post!!!!

So, as you scroll through these images, I’ll be speaking directly to our course students to help them see how the process they have learned is coming to life!

So, the image above is the second pattern in action and the left image below is the third pattern to my overall approach to prioritizing my details in a certain order! The image below on the RIGHT is the result of Pattern #5! Notice the backgrounds of these paired images aren’t competing but can be used together well! This doesn’t happen by chance, it happens because of deliberate decisions while shooting!

Another result of Pattern #3!

These are two examples/results of Pattern #3 that work side by side because of different angles that they were shot and the amount of compression behind the perfume bottle. The compression creates non-competing edges.

I blogged this dress shot in B&W because (if you’re in the course, you know!) this wasn’t the best location for a dress shot. It worked but this hotel room had a weird, yellow hue to the walls, the windows were tinted grey and so even with the best adjustments, the colors of the dress shot were too far from the theme of the other detail images and so a B&W shot was less distracting!

Mini-course students, you can view this ring shot as another take on Pattern #5! Above, you saw the ring shots on the invitation… by applying Pattern #5 to my ring shots as well as some other details, I get so much more variety and often times, great horizontal images to break up the busyness of so many paired vertical images!

This pairing below is the results of Pattern #5 applied to the rings and doing Pattern #1 fully!

If you read through this and you’re wanting to know more about my patterns, my priorities, my systems and my solutions to the common frustrations of shooting bridal details, you’re in luck! The KJ Bridal Detail Mini-Course is still available and it’s only $149!!!

Whether you’re a new photographer who is just diving into the wedding industry or you’ve been doing wedding photography for a long time, this Mini-Course will be a game changer for you!  When we first released this course, we made it available on a Thursday and photographers saw results after their weddings THAT SAME WEEKEND!!!!

If you’re wanting to learn more, CLICK HERE! We would absolutely love for you to have access to all 15+ lessons and 3+ Hours of content that include teaching and demos!!!

The post How To Photograph Bridal Details <span class="kj-subtitle">KJ Bridal Details Mini-Course</span> appeared first on Katelyn James | Online Educator for Photographers and Entrepreneurs.

I LOVED IT!!!!

• It’s SHARP!

• It’s FAST!

• It’s a dream for someone who loves amazing composition!

• It’s amazing in LOW LIGHT (even after a major mistake I made…. watch the video to hear what I did!)

• I will NEVER FOCUS & RECOMPOSE again!!!
• I don’t need NEW LENSES! (And my old lenses seem brand new again!)

For those worried about the R6 and the lower megapixels and thinking that you need to spend more for the R5 (despite many of its features being more beneficial to videographers)… take a look at this….

First of all… how about that eye focus?! What a dream.

Also, notice how zoomed in that image of the bride’s face is! You would have to zoom in even further to begin to see pixelation!

Now, if I was in an industry where I needed my work to be printed larger than life-size regularly, I would seriously consider whether the R5 would suit me better. However, that’s not my reality!

So, after looking over the details and specs of both camera bodies, it was clear that the R6 was all that I needed… and after photographing a full wedding day, I can honestly say that that’s true! The R6 was the best choice for us! It’s fast, the focus is incredible, my old Canon lenses work so well and I don’t even notice the adaptor.  I made sure that I explained in this video what was challenging for me and what was exciting for me photographing a full wedding day with a brand new camera!

If you want to learn more about the differences between the R5 and the R6, WATCH THIS VIDEO!

If you want to hear my honest feedback on my first time using the R6, WATCH THIS VIDEO!

Ps. If you would love to watch and learn from me photographing real wedding days, we have a solution for you! KJ All Access is a monthly membership that allows photographers to grow and learn from watching real-life experience in-action!!! Click HERE! 

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The post Real Wedding Canon EOS R6 Review <span class="kj-subtitle">My first wedding with the R6!</span> appeared first on Katelyn James | Online Educator for Photographers and Entrepreneurs.

“We want the sunset, clouds and sky color… no flash…. and we want the water to show up perfectly exposed too!” ……. Right, but your ceremony is in the middle of the day so…..

Ok, so not all requests are that specific or that impossible! (Thankfully our KJ Couples are realistic!!)

… but I know that for a lot of photographers… these types of requests happen all of the time when you’re shooting…. especially when you’re shooting in epic locations!

I remember shooting in Lake Como, Italy! It was bright and the light was harsh throughout the majority of the day but, thankfully, the bride’s family trusted me when I said, “We have to wait until closer to sunset to have photos that will capture you in great light AND capture the background at a proper exposure!!” …..

But what do you do when you’re shooting a wedding, an elopement or even a special-situation portrait session in an epic location in the MIDDLE OF THE DAY?

….. How do you shoot in HARSH LIGHT?

… How do you protect your clients from horrible shadows?

… How do you expose for your clients AND

the mountains or lake or even GLACIERS behind them?!

Well, I have some tips that may help!!

There are a few tips that I have to share with you that will help you conquer tough lighting scenarios in epic locations when the expectations are high and you desperately want to walk away with portfolio shots that you love!!!!! ……

The post Epic Locations in Harsh Light <span class="kj-subtitle">When your clients ask for the impossible!</span> appeared first on Katelyn James | Online Educator for Photographers and Entrepreneurs.

I’m obsessed with it!!!!

We may still have some tweaks here and there to handle…. but it’s live and it’s beautiful!

Jen, our designer, is forever patient! She’s talented and has a gift for looking beyond how things have always been and creating new online experiences while also maintaining brand elements that our people have some to know and love about us. I can’t see past what I’ve always had. I’m so limited in my view of what my online presence could be and I’m so thankful for Jen’s eye and her willingness to give me a fresh start online!

So what’s so great about this new blog?!  Let me tell you!

• It has better navigation!
• Categories reflect of what is important to me these days in my business!
• It houses content and showcases it a way that encourages viewers to keep clicking!
• It’s not just a blog…. it’s basically a continuation of my website! – This is the perk of Showit. We took canvases from my main site and duplicated them underneath my open-posts to make the user experience all-encompassing with my brand! Instead of just showcasing a blog post, my viewers are introduced to so many parts of my business after each post ends!
• It’s cleaner
• It’s visually more appealing thanks to more negative space, bolder fonts and re-designed sidebars!

There is so much more that I could share but I’ll just let you take a tour for yourself!

Thank you Jen for your amazing work! Thank you Nate and Kylen at Showit for being incredible resources for us with our hiccups and hurdles! So thankful for this incredible team. Our industry is unlike any other. The more we grow as a company, the more I’m realizing this at a new level and I’m grateful!

Photographers and creatives alike, if you’ve never experienced TONIC SITE SHOP Showit Templates, you need to check them out! Use the code : KJSENTME to get 15% off!

Also, if you’re a KJ ALL ACCESS active member, you get 20% OFF Showit MONTHLY!!!!! Learn more HERE! 

The post Introducing the New KJ Blog! <span class="kj-subtitle">A Showit Blog on a WordPress Site</span> appeared first on Katelyn James | Online Educator for Photographers and Entrepreneurs.

You can purchase the flashes at the link below!

CANON 600 EX-RT Flashes

I hope you enjoy this video on how to set up your flashes for wedding days!

The post How to Setup the Canon 600 EX-RT II Flashes <span class="kj-subtitle">Flash for Wedding Photography</span> appeared first on Katelyn James | Online Educator for Photographers and Entrepreneurs.

Maybe you use one but not all!

Maybe you use all three but haven’t implemented one tool in a while.

Overall, I hope this video give you a little editing BOOST at the end of this workday and inspires you to continue growing and learning all that Lightroom has to offer!

The post Three Lightroom Tools You May Not Be Using!! <span class="kj-subtitle">But you should be!</span> appeared first on Katelyn James | Online Educator for Photographers and Entrepreneurs.

I get that.

It’s almost like our JOB steals the JOY of photography away from being used in our everyday lives!

However, I have found that when you set aside some intense expectations and you just allow yourself to capture your family when it feels natural to and when you’re excited about it…. It CAN be done in a fun way.

We have had a REALLY busy few weeks recently. Since mid-July, my personal family documentation system has been put on hold as I launched a new website, shot three weddings and 3 other shoots, pursued some other personal projects and filmed a mini-details course (That is still coming! I promise! And it will be WORTH the WAIT!).

Oh yes…. And I’m pregnant and have two kids 3 and under.

Life gets crazy….

But last week, I had an evening after bedtimes were done that I printed a few family photos and culled through images I had taken during the summer and even though I’m not caught up on every aspect of my system from my busy weeks, because I have a system, I’m not stressed about it. I know exactly where to pick back up and I never get so far behind that I can’t catch back up!

Come January, I’ll be finalizing my 2020 Family Album and adding it to the collection!!!

So far, I’ve shared……

• How to Document, Organize & Print Family Photos
• How to Use Your DSLR Camera MORE Often in Everyday Life
• How I Organize All My Family Photos on my Computer

And NOW I’m releasing a video that is just focusing on the process and tips about actually making your family yearbook come to life each year!!

The post Have unorganized family photos? Here’s what I do with them… <span class="kj-subtitle"></span> appeared first on Katelyn James | Online Educator for Photographers and Entrepreneurs.

If you answer YES to at least 2 of these 5 questions, then it may be time for you to either consider a website overhaul or a least a major website update!!

“IS IT TIME FOR A NEW WEBSITE” QUIZ:

1. Do you cringe when you click through your current site because it doesn’t represent your current level of work or clientele?

2. Does your site fail to resize and restructure when you make your desktop browser window more and more narrow? (This means your site is not “responsive”)

3. Are there current offerings missing or not fully represented on your current site? (Maybe you have shifted what you’re offering in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and yet your business changes aren’t represented online in any way!)

4. Is your current website missing strategic conversion-based design elements/structure?

5. Are you actively directing people to your Instagram page instead of your website because you aren’t proud of that representation of your brand?

If you read through these questions and you still aren’t sure if a new website is something that is necessary for your brand, we have a brand new Youtube video that may shed some light on why I decided to re-do my own website recently!

In this episode I’m talking through:

• What it means to have your website viewer on a “journey” through your site…
• What it means to design with conversion in mind…
• Why my designer and I talked more about the PURPOSE of each website section first and THEN made it PRETTY….
• And so much more!

WATCH HERE!

Jen Olmstead is my designer and the co-owner of Tonic Site Shop! Their templates are gorgeous and they are giving KJ Students 15% off if you use the code: KJSENTME

The post Is it time for a new website? <span class="kj-subtitle">Take the quiz</span> appeared first on Katelyn James | Online Educator for Photographers and Entrepreneurs.

Why is this the case?

Well, I think offering professional albums are a tangible product that can be intimidating for some photographers, especially if they are new to the industry. The options are overwhelming, the pricing structure has to be done well in order to turn a profit and the process seems like more WORK than it’s WORTH!

I totally get that. I used to feel that way too…..

However, now that I have a system and two companies that I trust and that make my life easier, offering albums is a no-brainer!

Why would I NOT offer this amazing legacy-product to my couples and bring in more income in the process?!

I’m explaining more of why I love offering albums, why I choose KISS Books as my album company and how I couldn’t live without Align Album Design!!!

The post More income from the work you have already done!! [new video!] <span class="kj-subtitle"></span> appeared first on Katelyn James | Online Educator for Photographers and Entrepreneurs.

In this video, Michael is walking you through all four steps of his wedding-prep process which includes:

Focusing on Gathering Information

Focusing on Gear

Focusing on Bags

Focusing on the Car

Each section includes detailed explanations as to how he prepares and makes sure that he doesn’t miss anything!

If you’re more of a “Checklist” person, you’re in luck because in this video we’re sharing about a BRAND NEW downloadable resource that we created for you! Click the video below and find the download, “Michael’s Wedding-Prep Checklist” linked under the video!

The post Pre-Wedding Prep Checklist (new download!) +Video! <span class="kj-subtitle"></span> appeared first on Katelyn James | Online Educator for Photographers and Entrepreneurs.