You love hearing how other photographers got to where they are today and this week we have another inspirational ‘my photography journey’ here for you from one of our CMpros, the incredibly talented Justine Knight!
my photography journey | justine knight
I am going to be completely honest; I am really only at the beginning of my photography journey! Every week I discover more and more that I need to learn, try and master. Actually, this is one of the reasons why(…)

by Jen Bebb
For any visual artist, putting a portfolio of work together can be a daunting task. After all, that portfolio becomes your “message to the world”, if you will and represents the way you, as an artist, wish to be received and seen.
STEP 1: PULLING PORTFOLIO IMAGES
The first step is gathering images you love, images that make you happy, images you are proud of and images you have had a lot of positive feedback about. Choose images that showcase(…)

Being a mother is one of the hardest jobs; it’s a 24 hour position with incredible responsibility.  And here at Clickin Moms, we know how seriously moms take their role.  To all the mothers out there, thank you for the incredible and selfless job you do every single day!  We love you all and what better way to celebrate Mother’s Day weekend than with some beautiful mom photos from CM members?!

Danielle ‘nellie_m’:

Kim Gasper ‘Kim’:

Fran Dellaporta ‘frandellaporta’:

Christine Lambeth ‘laneydo’:

Dalayna McKnight ‘layn’:

Lacey(…)

You love hearing how other photographers got to where they are today and this week we have another inspirational ‘my photography journey’ here for you from one of our CMpros, the incredibly talented Cassandra O’Leary!
my photography journey | cassandra o’leary
I cannot tell you how happy and excited I am to have this opportunity to share my photography journey with you as well as to share my love and appreciation of all things Clickin Moms! I have so much that I(…)

Personal photography projects can be incredibly beneficial to your growth as a photographer.  Whether it be a 365 or a series of self-portraits, it will stretch you beyond your safety zone.  And what could be more fun than seeing what personal projects the CMpros are up to?!  In this new series, we’ll feature a different CMpro and follow along as they show off some of their images and share about their unique project.  Today we are excited to have Beth(…)

It’s time for another addition of our monthly series “Ask a CMpro” here on the CM photography blog in which we give our CMpros one question and they dish.  Their answers alone are always inspiring and this week we asked them, “How do you assess your value as a photographer and for what you bring to a client?”
 
*image courtesy of Lissa Chandler
Elena Blair, Washington
I assess my value based on how I feel after a shoot. If I feel like I(…)

You love hearing how other photographers got to where they are today and this week we have another inspirational ‘my photography journey’ here for you from one of our CMpros, the incredibly talented Liz Labianca!
my photography journey | liz labianca
As I sit here thinking about the last 19 months as a photographer, I am hard pressed to say that there isn’t one thing that I would do differently—and  that is a BIG statement since I pretty much did everything that(…)

Personal photography projects can be incredibly beneficial to your growth as a photographer.  Whether it be a 365 or a series of self-portraits, it will stretch you beyond your safety zone.  And what could be more fun than seeing what personal projects the CMpros are up to?!  In this new series, we’ll feature a different CMpro and follow along as they show off some of their images and share about their unique project.  Today we are excited to have Lisa Tichané(…)

Personal projects can be incredibly beneficial to your growth as a photographer.  Whether it be a 365 or a series of self-portraits, it will stretch you beyond your safety zone.  And what could be more fun than seeing what personal projects the CMpros are up to?  In this new series, we’ll feature a different CMpro and follow along as they show off some of their images and share about their unique project.  To start us off, we have Carol Swaitkewich(…)

by Beth Orey
A warm, quiet room, the soft lullaby of a white noise machine, a beautiful baby that curls up into any position and sleeps soundly, and the stunning photographer who’s making this all happen.  It’s every newborn photographers dream!  But it doesn’t always happen, unfortunately.  Sometimes we get those dream babies but (at least for me), more often than not, we have to work for it.  And even if you do get the awesome sleeper, do you really want(…)

It’s time for another addition of our monthly series “Ask a CMpro” here on the CM photography blog in which we give our CMpros one question and they dish.  Their answers alone are always inspiring and this week we asked them, “How long did it take you to find your photography style and how did you get there?”

*image by Lisa Tichané
Pam Korman, Pennsylvania
I think finding your style is, to some degree, an ongoing process. Each time I think I have(…)

Each year, over ten thousand photographers gather together in Las Vegas for WPPI, the largest photography convention in the United States. And for yet another year, Clickin Moms was thrilled to have taken part in this fabulous event. While most people probably venture to WPPI to take classes and to learn more about this art and business, the underlying goal of those of us who represented Clickin Moms was to connect. To connect to our members who attended, to each(…)

by Jenni Jones

Is your website doing what it is supposed to?

The very idea of website analytics is enough to keep most people from even trying to mess with it. It’s overwhelming, nebulous, and probably the least sexy topic for photographers (well…that and taxes). But, knowing whether your website is effective and understanding what people are doing (or not doing) on your site is powerful, actionable knowledge. How will you know if you have an effective website if you don’t look(…)

It’s time for another addition of our monthly series “Ask a CMpro” here on the CM photography blog in which we give our CMpros one question and they dish.  Their answers alone are always inspiring and this week we asked them, “Do you find that your personal life and feelings show through in your daily photography and how?”

*image by Celeste Pavlik
Celeste Pavlik, Texas
Yes, absolutely! I find that I tend to shoot macro when I need a mental break. Macro work(…)

by Leah Cook
Recently a friend asked me for tips on shooting maternity sessions.  I started rattling off some ideas and decided to put them all in one spot.  Belly shots are some of my favorites for a lot of reasons.  They have definitely gotten a bad rap over the years and we’ve all seen the ‘what not to do’ images on those funny websites, but really they can be so beautiful.  It’s a time of anticipation, change and excitement…all of(…)

About a month ago we asked CM members to show us their favorite photo they took in 2012 and boy did they!  The thread has nearly 500 posts and the work shared in it is absolutely incredible.  We’ve known it for a long time but this confirms that the Clickin Moms forum is filled with utterly talented women!  Enjoy just a few of of the members’ favorite images!
favorite CM member images of 2012
Jessica Nelson ‘JessicaN’:

Jessica Remus ‘jremus’:

Elizabeth Blank ‘ElizabethBlank’:

Megan Axelsson(…)

by Parikha Mehta

I am a detail oriented person by nature, and motherhood has done little to change that. I have a habit of studying my children in snippets—as in, I’ll take an extra moment to notice how my 3-year-old’s eyebrow arches just like mine, instead of noticing the entire expression on his face at once. Part of me feels like if I focus on one thing intently for a few extra seconds, without distraction, I’ll always be able to remember(…)

by Beira Brown

The first year of a child’s life is filled with awe and amazement. It’s a time of many changes for a family and many opportunities to make new memories. It is a time, that as a photographer, we get to stop time when babies keep growing.  For parents, they simply want beautiful images of their equally beautiful baby.

Educating parents in the process that we take is a very important part of the experience and memories tied to the(…)

by Tracy Ritter
This is the first picture I ever took at a concert (well, since my days of going to see New Kids on the Block when I was 16).  I was about 7 or 8 heads back in this general admission crowd of 20,000+ people. I held my little point & shoot camera high above my head, trying to dodge hands, heads and other cameras, zoomed as far as I could, and prayed to come back with something decent.(…)

You’ve probably seen Matt Armendariz’s work and don’t even know it.  His photography has been in numerous national magazines, several books, and all over Target during the Thanksgiving season.  Matt is an incredible food photographer that loves to share his knowledge with others and is also the author of a new book called Food Photography for Bloggers published by Focal Press.  Please enjoy the most mouth watering interview we have ever featured here on the Clickin Moms blog!
an interview with(…)

by Elena Blair
In a field that is becoming increasingly over saturated, photographers need to know the importance of clever marketing.  Since making the shift to professional photography two years ago, I have found that my relationships with businesses have been the most solid form of marketing.  These relationships have brought me clients, trade for services, and more.  In this article I am going to share with you how I have formed and maintained these relationships, and how they are mutually(…)

by Sharon Johnson

Birth Photography. If you haven’t heard of it or seen a session you must have been living under a rock. National news sources as well as hundreds of local broadcasts, blogs, and articles have covered the new trend of Birth Photography and while some people love the sessions, others despise the idea. Regardless of your opinion, this is one trend that is growing quickly and doesn’t appear to be going away any time soon.

I’m one of those that(…)

It’s time for another addition of our monthly series “Ask a CMpro” her on the CM photography blog in which we give our CMpros one question and they dish.  Their answers alone are always inspiring and this week we asked them, “What method do you use for setting your white balance in camera and why does that method work for you?”

*image by Lora Swinson
Beth Orey, Texas
I use Kelvin for my white balance. I always prefer warmer images and can usually(…)

by Angela Pointon
Yesterday, I received something in the mail that made me say, “huh?” I found it astounding that the company that created the marketing piece I got has one of the biggest budgets in the world yet I had no idea what they were trying to sell me. I not only couldn’t understand it; I couldn’t connect with it.

This proves that money is not what buys brand clarity.

I’m not here to talk to you about having a high impact logo or a(…)

It’s time for another addition of our monthly series “Ask a CMpro” in which we give our CMpros one question and they dish.  Their answers alone are always inspiring and this week we asked them, “We’ve asked before what tips you would offer to a new photographer but this time we’re wondering what the best advice you received was when you first got started in photography?”
 
*image by Caroline Jensen
Courtney Keim, New Jersey
Don’t sell myself short. I was priced way too(…)

by Helen John
Hi, my name is Helen and I am a prop addict. If you’re a photographer like me, you probably are one too. While this can be quite the expensive habit, you don’t have to spend a ton of money to expand your prop collection. Of course it’s easier to just buy something that already looks awesome and is ready to use but there’s a very distinct thrill of achievement in making something yourself on the cheap. And here’s how!
1. fun colored furniture
Did you(…)

by Haley Lorraine

I LOVE designing albums. I LOVE telling a story with photographs. I LOVE when my clients walk away from their session with a stunning book filled with their beautiful photographs.

Albums can add quite a bit of profitability to your business if you price them right and design them quickly, efficiently and without errors. I want to share how I create my albums and how I have built in steps along the way to increase efficiency and reduce the(…)

by Lisa Harrison
So are you still undecided about making the jump to Adobe Photoshop CS6? Go for it!  You’ll love it! If you’re familiar with CS4 or CS5, you really won’t have much of a learning curve at all. The main thing that is different is how the adjustment panel works. You still have an adjustment panel but you now have a Properties Panel where you make changes to your chosen adjustment. You still choose your adjustments from the adjustment(…)

Next up in our ‘peek inside’ series on our photography blog is CMmentor Stacey Haslem.  Stacey is kind, helpful, incredibly talented, and has created some of the most beautiful black and white images we’ve seen!  She also helps field questions in the Help Desk in our photography forum and is a teaching assistant for many of our online photography workshops.  Stacey is an all around great person and friend and we are thrilled to have her as part of the(…)

by Kate T Parker
We all can use more drama in our lives, right? Especially at home. Who doesn’t like drama at home?

(Crickets)

What?!? Am I alone here??

Wait, I think you misunderstood.

I meant dramatic light. You know, darks and lights intersecting with a gorgeous subject placed just so. Just the thought makes me want to grab my camera (and my unwilling kids).

That kind of drama is always good…at least when we’re speaking photographically. All the other kinds, eh, let’s leave it to(…)