Jenna Cole Photography – Chicago, IL

I named my workshop “Aspirations” because I want attendees to know that this isn’t a day for a specific group. Moms with cameras, those who received a dSLR for Christmas and have yet to take it out of the box, those who have been shooting for a few years but haven’t been able to make the leap they’re looking for… you’re all welcome. My full-day February workshop in Chicago had three lovely participants, Jessica, Kathy, and Cathie and I was really happy with how things went. I spent a few hours in the morning talking them through camera settings and composure and different types of light. We ate lunch, and then spent some time working with our models* before bundling up to brave the bitter cold as the sun went down. Getting outside and working with a variety of light sources was crucial! We ended the day in one of the the best ways I know, with hot chocolate and brownies.

*Friends from church. It was important to me that we worked with real people, because that’s who we’re going to be taking pictures of on a day-to-day basis!

I started the day off with banana bread.

Made sandwiches, soup, and a variety of salads for lunch.

And ended the day with crock-pot hot chocolate and caramel brownies for dessert.

I never want to be the workshop host hogging the best angles and preventing attendees from getting good shots, but I did step in a few times to get my friend laughing and playing with her sweet daughter.

Look at those eyes!

Thanks to Kathy for providing me with some outtakes.

I didn’t think it would be good to have that little baby in the cold, so we said goodbye to our models and headed outside with me acting as the “model”. My intention was to reinforce to them that good photographs are all about light not about location. It was a time for them to practice what they learned earlier in the day, identifying and working with different types of light (direct, shade, back-lit, sunflares), as well as choosing the correct settings for each location while operating in manual mode.

I put each of them on the spot when they showed up, handing over my camera and asking them each to take a picture using my equipment, in manual mode, and then giving them the opportunity to repeat the process at the end of the day. They were each able to take three images for the before shot, and three for the after, and I chose the best of each. All of the images you see below are straight -out-of-the-camera, with no editing at all. The differences are due to a better understanding of how ISO/aperture/shutter speed work together to make great portraits. Hooray!

On the left you can see the before of Kathy, and on the right her after shot.

This is Cathie’s.

And this is Jessica’s.

Enough of my self-promotion! Two of the attendees provided feedback that gives you better insight into who they are, and what kind of experience they had.

Cathie

What camera body and lenses do you own? – Nikkon D7000, kit lense and a Nikkon 35mm/f 1.6

How long have you owned a dSLR? – since October 2010

What was the most helpful thing that you learned at the session? - metering on camera!

You have a friend that is on the fence regarding an Aspirations session with Jenna Cole. What would you tell this friend to convince them it’s a worthwhile investment? It helped me feel more confident about really understanding my camera and taking the theories I sort of got and really seeing how they work in reality.

Jessica

I’m considering doing another one of these in Utah this Summer, and I’m definitely planning to do one in San Francisco once we’ve moved. If you’re in either of those areas and would like to attend, send me an email using my contact form above!

Benita and I lived together for 3 years during our time at BYU, and when her engagement ring popped up on Facebook I knew that I would be flying out to the wedding in San Diego to celebrate with them. A few weeks later Benita asked me if I would be interested in flying out as her photographer as well, a question I didn’t even have to consider for a moment. As much as I wanted to be a guest, what I wanted even more was to give Benita the best wedding photos possible, and I know that no one was going to work as hard as I would to make that happen. Because she is kind, and sweet, and one of my best friends.

I love you Benita. (And you too Scott, thank you for taking such good care of her!)

Benita trusted me completely, and when I told her that I had found the perfect location for her first look photos, she went for it. Even though it meant climbing up and down rain-soaked, muddy, steep terrain, wearing towering heels and the most expensive dress she will ever own, to get to the man she was about to marry in a few hours.

I think the risk was worth it.

I’ll be back in a few weeks to tell you the whole story.

My photography peers are getting honest in the blogosphere and I like it. Somehow we had all been convinced that unless we pretended to be perfect, always busy and desired, our inboxes flooding with inquiries, clients would not be interested in working with us. In 2012, two fabulous ladies decided to lay it bare. Yan is new to her area, and is tired of pretending like her business has exploded right away. Tara feels overwhelmed trying to manage family life and work life.

If I could, I would reach out and give these ladies a big hug and thank them for showing us that we can get real. Since I moved to Chicago (17 months ago), I’ve only photographed six paid portrait sessions and five weddings. Three of those weddings were back in Dallas, one was in the northeast because I offered free travel, and the last one was a lucky break with an awesome Chicago couple. Most of the portrait sessions were discounted for friends. It feels so nice to say that this photography stuff is hard work. Moving to a new place and trying to establish a new client base is awful, and a large part of the reason I didn’t seek to grow in Chicago was I knew I’d only be here for two years. I have a darling son, I enjoy writing on my personal blog, I’m trying to graduate from college and I have a husband who is often gone 12 hours a day while he tries to graduate. If I’m not careful, I become like Tara and I don’t like myself when that happens.

The best thing that I learned from my Francypants Academy course was that every minute spent on photography was a minute spent NOT doing something else, like spending time with my family or cleaning my house or holding hands with my husband. I cost more than your friend putting up her pictures on Facebook because I’ve learned that staying up until 3 am editing, knowing the baby will be up in a few hours, with your husband asking why you can’t just watch the newest episode of 30 Rock already is just not worth $75. Because when I do something, I do it all the way, and I do it right. Thanks mom, you taught me that lesson via your instructions that I would clean that bathroom mirror yet again, and I would keep cleaning it until the streaks were completely gone.

And I think my work is good. I’m not Jonas Peterson, but I am Jenna Cole, and I know that means something to the people who have hired me in the past. Working with me you’re going to get color and laughter and lame attempts at jokes that fall flat. You’re going to have clear, sharp portraits that you want to hang up on your wall. If I photograph your wedding, you’ll look beautiful and simultaneously be able to remember the reality of the day, in all its multi-faceted glory (that isn’t something everyone can do you know).

My last session with Paige? I asked her to let me photograph her so I could try some new things. The same thing goes for this couple as well. I wanted to work with snow, reflected light, direct light, diffused light, shadows, rim light, sunflares, freelensing, and the sunset. I wanted to grow creatively, and I’m so happy that Yan helped me realize that I don’t have to feel ashamed for admitting that I did this (shot an unpaid session) because I did grow, and I plan to keep doing this unpaid session thing over and over with different people and lighting and backgrounds so that when those paying clients come my way, I can give them something that makes them say, “That’s me. I see myself in this, and I love it. Thank you.”