napcp NEWSLETTERFebruar y 2012
The Latest News &Announcements,
Workshops, Updatesand much more!
INSIDE: a special giveaway of Tamara Lackey’s new Envisioning Love
Featuringthe wonderfulKara May of
Kara MayPhotography
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Balance: a state of equilibrium; equal distribution of weight, amount; a mental
steadiness or emotional stability … a habit of calm behavior.
If someone was selling “balance” by the bucketful, the line of customers might
wrap around the world. Many strive for it, fewer achieve it. And especially in our
industry, we’re constantly talking about it. How do I grow and maintain a successful
business while not ignoring my family (and myself!) in the process? How do I mentally
reconcile the feeling of being weighted down by the “busy season” with the lightness
and emptiness of the post-season salad days?
If these thoughts are familiar, you are not alone. In the Member’s Spotlight this
month, Kara May of Kara May Photography chats with us about striving for balance
while rebuilding her business three times and combining her love of children’s por-
traiture with commercial photography.
And remember, as the Beatles said, you can “get by with a little help from [our]
friends”. You have access to plenty of those inside the NAPCP community. With re-
sources galore at NAPCP.com, check out the latest industry workshops, books, guides
and good-ole-fashioned advice from like-minded professionals in our industry. On
the forum this month, our new “Ask Jane” section, conveniently located within the
Resources area, provides important business tips and rebranding roadmaps for those
at any stage in the game.
And when you are craving to unplug and curl up with a great book, we highly
recommend Tamara Lackey’s latest, “Envisioning Family: A photographer’s guide to mak-
ing meaningful portraits of the modern family.” Recently released by this month’s Fea-
tured Vendor, Peachpit, this book shares Tamara’s heartfelt vision of family along with
her techniques for getting each member of the family to feel at home in front of the
camera–whether they’re in her studio, at home, or on location. Win a copy of your own
from Peachpit, or take advantage of their NAPCP members-only discount.
So much goodness in store this month. Read on friends.
Hello friends!
SincerelyThe NAPCP Team
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Pg. 5 ................ Featured Photographer: Kara May
Pg. 19 ...................................... Tip of The Month
Pg. 21 .......................... Featured Vendor: PeachPit
Pg. 23 ..................................... Image Competition
Pg. 24 .................................Apply For Membership
Pg. 3 .................................................... Workshops
Pg. 4 ...............................News & Announcements
WORKSHOPS
Barb Uil of Jinky Art Photography
will officially kick off her 2012 work-
shop tour in March! Stops along the
way include France, Singapore,
Ontario, British Columbia, as well
as 8 stops in the U.S. (Washington,
Florida, South Carolina, Arizona,
Texas and Alabama). Don’t miss
your opportunity to learn from one
of the absolute best in the business!
Barb Uil & Jinky Art
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Thrive WorkshopTHRIVE will be held by Karen Carey
August 27-29, 2012 in California. This
workshop is designed to increase your
sales and make your studio more profit-
able. Period. You can put your camera
down this time because this workshop
is all business.More Info Here!
More Info Here!
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NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
The NAPCP January 2012
International Image Competition
just wrapped! We had some stunning
images submitted and can’t wait to
share the winners with you! Thank
you to all who enetered and stay
tuned for future announcements!(photo: Amy Tripple, “Summer Blondies”)
Image Competition
That’s right...NAPCP has just
recently let our curiousty get the
best of us as we took the plunge
and joined Pinterest. We would love
for you to take a quick spin around
our boards as well as help us spread
inspiring photography to the
Pinterest community everywhere!
To follow us, please visit our profile
page here! Happy Pinning!
Follow Us on Pinterest
FEATUREDPHOTOGRAPHER
KARA MAY PHOTOGRAPHY
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FEATUREDPHOTOGRAPHER
Images by Kara May of Kara May Photography
fter winning the hearts of her clients in the
Washington and South Carolina markets, Kara May of Kara
May Photography has once again rebuilt her business - this
time amidst the fragrant orange groves and saguaro cac-
ti of Arizona. Combining beautiful imagery of children
with her love of commercial photography, Kara’s work
continues to attract folks from around the globe, while,
as she shares with us, continuing her search for balance.
A
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Tell us your story. How you started and how your photography, brand,
and business transformed over the last few years...
Being the last child of 3, I was always excited when my parents found pic-
tures of me (since there weren’t as many as with a first child). I think that’s
where my obsession began. In high school I saved my allowance and bought
my first Nikon 35mm SLR, with the help of my dad, and began experiment-
ing with DOF, light, and composition. But studies pushed my passion to the
back-burner once I went to college. It wasn’t until the birth of my son and
crazy dreams about light, art, and other creative ideas came rushing through
my head. They occupied all my thoughts and reigniting my desire to pick up
my camera again. Like most photographers, I started as a hobby. I went back
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to school for photography so I could properly delve into the technical aspects
of my camera. I didn’t intend to go into business. I was a new stay-at-home
mom. I had left my high stress Financial Analyst job at Microsoft and I need-
ed something that I could focus my thoughts and energy on that was ‘just for
me’. This was perfect! Soon I was asked to photograph friends and friends
of friends children. Shortly after that and with a lot of hesitation, my busi-
ness was born. That was in 2003. Since then I have learned more and more
every day. You never stop learning in this industry. It’s constantly evolving
and with that, your business needs to reflect these changes, whether that’s
with new products, advanced technology, improved equipment, or economic
changes. This industry is never static, it’s constantly progressing.
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Who or what inspires you and your work? How?
Real moments, music, everyday life and my kids inspire me. Though my
pictures aren’t ‘lifestyle’, these ‘real’ moments inspire me. Music is really
what inspires me most. I’ll turn on Pandora to my favorite station and I’m
inspired for hours while editing, session planning, or coming up with new
concepts and ideas. I get lost in my thoughts when I listen to music.
Tell us about moving across the country to start your business over again.
I’ve lived in 3 different states since the start of my business. Each move has
been a major one (from one side of the country to the other) and with that
means starting out fresh again. It’s painful leaving my loyal clients and feel-
ing like I’m deserting them and then going through the process of gaining
new ones. Each environment has been vastly different as well. I moved
from Seattle to South Carolina and then to the Arizona desert. So learning
the different lighting and environment was a bigger challenge than I antici-
pated. Arizona’s light proved to be a curse at first, but now it’s a blessing.
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I love the light here. I obtained new clients in each new city via word-of-
mouth and through my blog. Once friends and acquaintances saw my work
and I gained a client or two, word quickly spread.
How did you get started doing commercial photography work? How has
this impacted your business? I began doing commercial work when I was
living in South Carolina. I did a clothing shoot for a designer; we hit it off
and word spread. Since then I’ve worked with designers that are local here
in Arizona and some as far away as Japan and Australia. I love commercial
work. Most designers give me 100% creative freedom with my shoots and
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those are my favorites. I don’t plan any shoots until I receive the items to be
photographed. The item/clothing is what will inspire the look of the shoot.
I’m like a kid in a candy store when it comes to that kind of creative freedom.
What are currently some of the biggest challenges you face professionally?
I think my biggest challenge right now is trying to figure out how to grow my
business while still spending time with my family. I feel like I’m neglecting
my kids and husband sometimes in this business and that’s painful to me.
My husband works pretty long hours so it’s hard to balance the kid’s needs
and my desire to be with them and watch them grow, while growing my busi-
ness. So this is a learning process.
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Tell us about how your style, your sessions and how you capture such
beautiful expressions in your children.
Photographing my children wasn’t easy at first. They had to be conditioned
to put up with my camera. I started doing commercial shoots with Brielle
when she was 2 and she wanted nothing to do with my camera. She would
look the other way and completely ignore me. I had to find things she liked
– ladybug hunting, butterfly catching, roly-poly collecting, etc. and work in
these exciting adventures at our photo shoots. That’s when she began to give
me sincere looks and honest expressions of intrigue and discovery. Now my
kids are used to our sessions, we still make it about fun and adventure - with
exploration time built in at the end.
What would you recommend to many of us who try to balance family life
and a busy photography business? How do you make it all work? Oh I wish
I had a magic answer for this one. I’m still trying to figure this one out.
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Thank you so much Kara!
Although I think I’ve gotten better at balancing it all over the years. When
I first started out I had a hard time saying no. I think balance was finally
felt when I was able to say no and draw clear lines about how much I can
and would take on. Being able to say no to a job when you’re starting to feel
stretched is so important to balancing business with family. I now have a set
number of sessions I’m willing to take each week and I really try to stick to
that.
What is one business lesson you wish you learned a long time ago?
The once business lesson I wish I had learned a long time ago was to focus on
‘balance’. The first 2 busy seasons I had nearly drove me to leave the indus-
try and it was my own doing. I wanted to make everyone happy even if it
meant sacrificing time with my family. It was a hard way to learn but now I
know my limits and I make every effort to stick to a more balanced shooting
schedule.
What advice can you give to those starting out?
Try everything! Try different techniques – long exposures, painting with
light, macro, HDR, night photography. Explore. Also, use a variety of sub-
jects to see what you enjoy photographing. Experiment as much as you can
before you decide on a particular niche in this industry.
What is your desire and hopes for our very specialized and unique industry?
My hope is that this industry continues to drive and challenge our abilities.
To stretch us in a positive way. Our industry is constantly changing with
new technology, better cameras, more advanced software, and products that
are making photography more user friendly. With that I hope that people
still try to think outside of the box and keep the art of photography honest
and distinguished.
To see more of Kara’s work, please visit her site here, and her blog here!
Dogding & burning without compromising pixels - Most of us know that direct
‘dodging and burning’ to your image is destructive to the pixels. So to protect
the integrity of your photo use a new layer to dodge and burn. First, add a new
layer - fill to 50% Gray and change the blending mode to ‘Soft Light’. Using a
soft brush, paint the areas you want to be darkened or lightened toggling be-
tween black and white. Merge the two layers when your happy with the results
and no pixels are harmed. Final results and pixels still intact (see above).
DODGING & BURNING WITHOUT COMPROMISING PIXELS
TIPS OF THE MONTHBY KARA MAY
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CORRECTING LENS DISTORTION
This is something that I’ve become more picky about in my own work. Pho-
tographs become distorted and without that being the intent. There’s an easy
solution in Photoshop. If you go to ‘Filter’ - ‘Distort’ - ‘Lens Correction’ you can
alter the annoying warping that takes place in some of your images. It’s most
apparent in architectural images and in the lines of buildings and doorways.
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With this book you’ll learn how to use backgrounds that complement your
subjects, set up and shoot in-studio, light your images anywhere with
straightforward lighting setups and diagrams, pose your subjects in a
beautiful but natural way, nail your exposure, and create meaningful
family portraits that leave everyone feeling and looking their honest best.
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FEATURED VENDORPEACHPIT
In Tamara Lackey’s Envisioning
Family: A photographer’s guide to
making meaningful portraits of the
modern family, Lackey reinvents
the family photo for photogra-
phers. A top portrait photogra-
pher and sought-after speaker,
Lackey reveals her techniques for
getting each member of the fam-
ily to feel at home in front of the
camera whether they’re in her
studio, at home, or on location.
Want a chance to win your own copy?
N A P C P N e w s l e t t e r J a n u a r y 2 0 1 2 | 2 2
1) Like both Peachpit’s and NAPCP’s Facebook pages
2) Share on your wall - I would love to win <insert Peachpit’s facebook fan page>’s
“Envisioning Love” by Tamara Lackey sponsored by <insert NAPCP’s facebook
page> because....{and fill in your reason! The more creative, the better!}
3) If the comment does not show up on our facebook wall, please comment
directly on our wall with your reason.
Contest ends Friday, March 2, @ 11:59 pm EST
GIVEAWAY
IMAGE COMPETION
NAPCP’s January 2012 International Image Com-
petition closed on Friday, February 17th! The
purpose of NAPCP’s Image Competitions is to
recognize the accomplishments and creative ex-
cellence of our members, rewarding their talent
with medallions, priority listing on our directory,
vendor endorsements, member points, titles and
professional recognition. Members each received
a total of 2 Competition Credits with their Mem-
bership so they could submit their best images!
They say a picture is worth a thousand words … and
yours may be featured in our next press release.
For the past two International Image Competi-
tions, the winners announcement highlighted the
names of the competition winners and received
great exposure – collecting thousands of views,
postings to other websites, and search index hits.
We had some stunning images submitted and
cannot wait to share the winners with you! Thank
you to all who enetered and stay tuned for future
announcements!
Thank you for entering!
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DANA PUGH
JENNIFER HUDSON
KAREN CAREY
JUDGES
please visit napcp.com or email us at [email protected] with questions or inquiries.
MembershipInterested in applying for
membership? Learn more
about the benefits of a NAPCP
membership on our site!
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the site today!
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(c)
Jan
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