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 info@napcp.com with questions or inquiries.

MembershipInterested in applying for

membership? Learn more

about the benefits of a NAPCP

membership on our site!

Directory

Looking for a photographer in

your area? Visit our exclusive

NAPCP Member Directory on

the site today!

DIRECTORYAPPLY NOW

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