It's that time of year again...

You guys, it's that time of year again! Every year my favorite people over at Photography Concentrate have a KILLER Black Friday sale (which has already begun!) on their amazing photography tutorials, and as per usual, I have to tell you all about it.

While I AM a member of their affiliate program, helping to promote these amazing learning tools is the most natural thing in the world to me - a perfect partnership because I TRULY believe in these products and have used them and benefitted from them myself, long before I was an affiliate. Going through the tutorials was the single best thing I ever did to jumpstart my photography, in particular the Extremely Essential Camera Skills tutorial (which effectively teaches you to shoot in manual mode and understand the ins and outs of your camera) and the Super Photo Editing Skills tutorial (which teaches Lightroom and which I'd have been LOST without).

I remember I paid $99 for a four hour Photography course here in Austin a few years ago, and I left feeling almost as confused as when I came. Then shortly thereafter, a photographer friend of mine that I admired recommended Extremely Essential Camera Skills, and  I went home that same day and looked it up. Besides her recommendation, the tutorial really kind of sold itself. I purchased, went through it in a few hours one afternoon, and it was like a lightbulb went on. I switched to Manual mode and never looked back, and so began my long and illustrious career.... I kid, I kid. ;) But really, it's incredible what these tutorials can achieve for you in one afternoon or evening. You could literally spend hundreds or thousands on classes and still not "get it" as quickly and efficiently as with the Photography Concentrate tutorials. I really believe Rob & Lauren (the husband and wife team behind P.C.), are natural-born teachers and designers, which makes their tools as useful and truly priceless as they are!

Anyway, enough of MY rambling. If you'd like to check it out, HERE is the main page with all the fun info about the sale, awesome giveaway going on, and links to all the various tutorials. Below I'll leave links to my four favorite tutorials, as well. Their already super-affordable prices are now DIRT CHEAP, and won't be priced this way again until next Black Friday week, so get on it! ;)

PS - I forgot to mention, the Really Easy Retouching tutorial is literally worth its weight in GOLD. I went through it just this last year, and learned for the first time how to do "compositions" or head swaps in Photoshop - I can't believe how many amazing photos I've been able to salvage since then that I otherwise would have lost (one family member looking away or blinking, etc), and I can't believe I lasted so long WITHOUT knowing how to do it!

Here's all my favorites...

EXTREMELY ESSENTIAL CAMERA SKILLS

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SUPER PHOTO EDITING SKILLS

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REALLY EASY RETOUCHING

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INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT COMPOSITION SKILLS

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Photoshop tutorial for portrait photography

Rob & Lauren over at Photography Concentrate have done it again. Those two are seriously the photography tutorial ninjas, and they have finally provided an incredible Photoshop tutorial. (Where was this two years ago when I first started learning Photoshop?!!).

You've heard me talk about Extremely Essential Camera Skills, Super Photo Editing Skills, and Incredibly Important Composition Skills. The first two were a huge part of my education before I started up my business, and I thank goodness for those and the way they helped me learn my camera and Lightroom so quickly and so easily. LIFE (and money) SAVER.

I went through their newest tutorial, Really Easy Retouching with Adobe Photoshop, and even though I've been using Photoshop retouching techniques for two years now, I still learned so much I didn't know before. For example, HEAD SWAPPING. When you're photographing families with young children, it is damn near impossible to get everyone looking at the camera at the same time. One of the videos in this tutorial explains how to seamlessly bring a head over from one photo to another, to complete that happy, smiling picture where all family members at least APPEAR to have been fully cooperating. ;) No more throwing out otherwise perfectly good shots because I don't know how to head swap!

Other techniques addressed in the tutorial are as follows:
+ Photoshop skin retouching such as brightening undereye circles and smoothing skin/removing blemishes & shine
+ Brightening eyes and whitening teeth
+ Removing distracting elements in your background
+ Slim down chins, arms, waistlines, etc
+ Composite images (head swaps!)
+ Photoshop shortcuts and other tips on layers, masks, and panels

This tutorial is worth every penny and absolutely perfect for the new portrait photographer looking to save time and money on their photography education. Check out all Photography Concentrate tutorials here, and go here for more info on Really Easy Retouching.  It is currently 30% off through June 30th only (this coming Monday), which makes IT UNDER TWENTY DOLLARS! That is insane, you guys.

GOOD LUCK! :)

PS - Did you know you can download a free 30 day trial of the latest version of Photoshop HERE? (top right, blue button!)

You can also download a free 30 day trial of Lightroom HERE (again, top right, blue button!) My favorite editing software is Lightroom, and I use it for about 90% of my editing, however, Photoshop IS necessary for certain types of retouching, unfortunately!

Then & Now

This morning I decided to do a little "then & now" exercise in regard to my photography, just kind of for the heck of it and to see how far I've come. Even I was a little surprised - it's been so long since I revisited my very first photo shoots.  I was surprised, and then I was humbled.

I SUCKED. The composition was bad, the editing was bad effing horrible, I was shooting in an automatic mode with a crappy kit lens, and I basically just had no clue whatsoever what I was doing. And this was just two and a half years ago!

Exhibit A:



I know. The "then" is pretty ghastly (not the adorable family - just my terrible photograph!). The funny thing, though, is that I received SO much praise and encouragement from family on those first photos. I remember setting up a slideshow to show off my first photo shoot (the session in the "then" photo above, which was with gracious family members, thank God!), and my family ooh-ed and ahh-ed and told me how beautiful the photos were and how much potential I had. I was absolutely beaming and so proud of myself.

And now I look back at those photos and basically want to scratch my eyeballs out.

But like I said, it's so, so humbling. It's easy to forget our beginnings. It's easy to forget that we ALL start somewhere, and it's not at a place of perfection. It's a place of amateur fumbling, guessing, making all the wrong choices, making mistakes, displaying our weaknesses. And constantly pushing to learn, grow, and get better. That's the key.

Exhibit B:



I am so guilty of judging beginners too harshly, and this morning's little "exercise" pushed me right back in my place. If friends and family had been completely honest with me instead of so damn encouraging, I would probably not be where I am today. I would have shriveled up into a little ball of shame and embarrassment and lack of confidence in my amateur abilities, and I never would have grown. But the wonderful, kind, uplifting people in my life saw a glimmer of talent in me, and more importantly passion for the work, and they grasped on to that and propelled me forward with their kindness and words of affirmation.

And we all need to do the same. When someone in our life is just beginning something, even if we know better and know they suck right now, it's our job to lift them up, not tear them down. Because everyone starts somewhere, and it's not always very pretty.



In two more years, I bet I'll look back at my work now and notice all the flaws. The things I hadn't learned yet, the things I could have done better. But right now, wherever we are in our journey, it's important to be proud of what we're doing, how far we've come, and how much we've learned. Your only real competitor is the person you used to be.

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Incredibly Important Composition Skills

Happy Monday everyone! Hope you had a great Easter weekend! Today I'm a bit busy with guests in town, but I wanted to drop in quickly and let you photography enthusiasts out there know about the new Photography Concentrate tutorial just released. It's on sale right now for a few more days, so if you're interested, get it while it's hot!

I'm sure many of you have heard my recommendations for Extremely Essential Camera Skills (best little investment I've ever made), and now a sequel has been released called Incredibly Important Composition Skills. You can know all there is to know about your camera, but if you can't compose a really stand-out photo, you'll always be a sub-par photographer, unfortunately. I felt like this tutorial was super helpful for bloggers, too, who may just want some pointers on taking beautiful photos for their blog. Definitely check out the page detailing what this awesome tutorial includes, and see if it might be the right thing for you! I was incredibly impressed with my copy, but would expect nothing less from Rob and Lauren over at Photography Concentrate. If you're looking to learn photography or amp up your current skills, please do yourself a favor and peek through all their tutorials HERE.

Have a great day! :)

Photography Concentrate Black Friday SALE!

Hey my fellow shutterbugs! Just thought you might like to know our friends over at Photography Concentrate are having their annual Black Friday tutorial blowout sale. It only happens once a year - all of their awesome tutorials are 40% off their already ridiculously low prices! You've undoubtedly heard me raving about them here before. I think I'm seriously one of Photography Concentrate's biggest fans, and I feel so indebted to Rob and Lauren (the masterminds behind the site) for creating such simple, beautiful, and incredibly helpful tutorials that made learning the technical aspects of photography an absolute pleasure for me. And more importantly, affordable and easy. Learning photography doesn't have to be expensive and hard. I hear about people taking all these pricey classes just to learn, for example, what Extremely Essential Camera Skills taught me in three hours. So I feel it's my duty to educate the masses about all the money and time you can save with Photography Concentrate!

Go on over here and peek through the tutorials offered (amazing giveaway going on over there, too!), and if you've considered getting serious about learning photography, whether for professional use or just so that you can take better photos for your blog or of your family or for fun, NOW IS THE TIME! :) Enjoy!

PS - I learned on Extremely Essential Camera Skills and Super Photo Editing Skills. Both are fantastic.

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j. noel shop talk: confidence

I know most of you who visit this space are probably more interested in hearing funny stories or seeing style posts or, if you're local, getting some good ideas for places to go around Austin. Or maybe you stop in for posts like this one, about real life, or because you read our love story and felt invested ever since. But the truth is, this blog is influenced and based very much on what's going on in my life, and increasingly over the last year, my life has started to really revolve around my photography business. It keeps me very busy and consumes so many of my thoughts. So, I thought I'd give some business updates, i.e. "shop talk" posts here every now and then, to document my progress and to maybe even offer encouragement to those of you venturing out on your own business endeavors!

So... where to begin?

I think one thing that has really helped me out in growing the success of my business is confidence. I embrace every stage of the learning process and accept where I'm at, though that doesn't stop me from growing and getting better. I think a lot of creatives get really caught up in the comparison trap, when it's just easiest and best to let your talent unravel fluidly without always being down on yourself for not being as good as so & so. You will not be perfect in the first year of business. Or the first two years. Or ever. You will always grow and evolve and get better, though there will come a point when you're feeling a lot more secure and happy with the way you run things... I hope. I'm almost there, but not quite yet. So yes, BE PROUD of what you do. I remember being SO proud when I opened up an Etsy shop full of shitty prints a couple years ago, and now I literally laugh at what I hoped people would actually purchase from me (a couple sweet people actually DID order some prints, and that was the nicest thing ever. I am so grateful for all those who built me up instead of tearing me down during a time when I had unbridled confidence in a product that really wasn't there yet... at all.)

Lately I have been seeing the quality of my work-product improve pretty substantially. After a year and a half of honing my editing skills, I think I've learned to cut the fat and my eye has grown to notice subtle differences in natural editing and over-editing, and my work has improved because of it. I look back at past edits and cringe a bit, but I was proud of my work then, and that's all that matters. Again, BE PROUD of what you do. One year from now I may look back on my current work and notice all the places I went wrong, but for now I know I'm doing the very best I know how to do. And that's the most important thing.  (If you struggle with confidence in the beginner stages of your work, please read this, it totally changed how I view things!)

Is there anything you'd like to see discussed in Shop Talk posts? Let me know in the comments!

And please take a moment to visit today's featured SOML sponsors. HAPPY FRIDAY!

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Pretty Britt is the brains behind a lifestyle blog called One & Twenty, which also touches on beauty, wellness, and balance (which the tag line suggests!). ;) Britt occasionally discusses hair products, health, and like on today's post, her journey to become less guarded and/or cynical. Pay this sweet lady a visit!

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Miss Emily is a journalism student and the author of Sparrow in the Treetop, and she and her man live in Canada's capital city of Ottawa. The first post I ever read on Emily's blog was this TRUE ghost story. It will BLOW YOUR MIND, read it! Both parts! Do it now, it's so timely. Halloween is coming and all. ;) You can also get to know Emily a bit better right over here, in today's post! You will fall in love with this sweet girl. Go say hello.

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Photography tips for beginners, part 2: Starting a business

cute baby courtesy of Christina, photo by j. noel photography (aka me)

I promised more parts to my photography tips series, and today I'd like to share a few pointers on getting a business off the ground, since this past year, I did it! These are simply things I've learned along the way and am happy to share with those of you who might be interested. Also, don't forget to check out part one's tips on how to get started with photography, if you missed it. Lots of good pointers for beginners there too.

OK, starting a photography business! Here's my best advice.

1.  Educate yourself. These days, teaching yourself photography is totally doable. I find that Pinterest is a wellspring of fantastic ideas and links to amazing tutorials and articles that will be invaluable to you.  Just search for photography tips and I promise you'll stumble into multiple boards that will be overflowing with fantastic links. You can start here with mine!

2. At the risk of being obvious and redundant, my most important piece of advice is to PRACTICE. Practice like crazy. Practice on your dog, your food, your family members, indoors, outdoors, and in all types of light situations. Make your mistakes on people who aren't paying you.  Get to know your camera and what it's capable of. I was taking photos for my blog for a good year and a half before I started offering my services to others, so I was somewhat familiar with my camera by then.

When you feel like you're ready to start practicing on people in a more professional format, offer free photo sessions to a couple of your friends or family members to start building your portfolio, and try and be strategic about it. It's always a good idea to practice on people who have a large network and can help spread the word about your work in exchange for the free session! :)

3. Once you have a bit of a portfolio together, create a place where people can go to see your work, and start charging. Not much at first, but enough to make it worth your time. I did $100 sessions my first summer, and the practice I got during this time was invaluable. As for a place to showcase your work, a Facebook page is easy to start up, and I highly recommend creating a blog or website, as well. It is crucial to have a place where people can go to see your work, if you want to start charging. Why would anyone hire you if they have no idea what the results will be like? (see #6 for more info on websites.)

4. Decide on your business name and get together some preliminary branding. I, personally, think it's better that you not get too tied up with having THE perfect branding right away. This can cost THOUSANDS. I bought my logo premade from Etsy, where there is an incredible selection of beautiful logos for dirt cheap. Go here and browse!

5. To make things all nice and legal, file for your LLC. I used Legal Zoom. If anyone else has some advice to share on a different or perhaps cheaper way to do this, please let us know in the comments! I believe it cost me about $400 through Legal Zoom.

6. As an extension of #2, once you have your logo and business name all figured out, buy your domain (I used 1&1 Internet) and start up a simple website. It can be super duper tempting to spend thousands of dollars on professional branding right off the bat, but sometimes I think that's a mistake people make when they lack confidence in their work - which you probably will, at first, and that's OK! But all you really need in the very beginning stages is a nice simple platform where people can go to view your portfolio. I use Squarespace and am SO pleased. There are tons of different templates that you can customize yourself, and they are very simple and beautiful. I have the least expensive package ($8/mo) and it's been all I need to showcase my work so far. Check out my website here, to get an idea of one way you can set up a Squarespace site!

As a side note, I DO think you should have really great and cohesive branding at some point. It's much more professional, and people will be willing to pay you more when you are much more professional. But you need to be savvy in the beginning. Starting a business is extremely expensive, and if you're not careful, it will be a money suck that takes months and months or even years to get out from under and start actually profiting from. Try to strike a balance between looking legit and professional to potential clients and going overboard and spending more than you can afford.

7. Don't be afraid to reach out and ask other photographers for help. Some photographers are a little snooty about sharing info with their "competition," but most are perfectly willing to share some pointers with you or answer your questions.  Personally, I prefer to ask photographers who aren't my direct competition. For example, since I don't do weddings, I'll ask wedding photographers for some pointers or a photographer from a different city or state all together. It just seems, to me, like they'd be more inclined to help. I know I would be! ;)

Organize some coffee dates with local photographers in your area, or even start up or attend a support group. I have learned some of my very most valuable information from other professionals in my area. I highly, highly recommend networking in this way - it's priceless! However, remember there's a fine line between using people and making mutually beneficial relationships. Professional photographers have spent years and years honing their skills and often learning the hard way, so you must be respectful and not expect them to pour out all their knowledge into you. That's not fair. Do your due diligence, but don't be afraid to ask for advice along the way!

8. Invest in good equipment. The first several months into my business, I was doing all my editing on my Sony laptop, and that thing got bogged down QUICK. I spent hours upon hours of wasted time waiting for that laptop to get its ish together, and it was pretty much the most frustrating time of my life. I am pretty cheap sometimes and didn't want to have to cough up the money for a good Mac desktop, which is what all creatives tend to recommend, but once I finally did, it was LIFE ALTERING. I think I cried the first time I edited a session on this thing. Lightning speed, I tell you, and incredible colors and graphics which allow you to do a much, much better job for your clients. Do it. Time is money.

9. Miscellaneous tips: I like TinyPrints for business cards (or Etsy!), and I love this Etsy shop for a great and inexpensive way to package clients disks. I have disks with custom labels printed here.

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Next time I'll talk a little bit about working with clients, and as always, if you have any more great tips to share with us in the comments, sound off! Have a great day. :)

(and don't forget to check out Part 1 of the photography tips series!)

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Tips for beginner photographers, part one: How to get started

I can hardly believe it's already been a year since I've been in business with j. noel photography, but it sure has. I actually had my very first paid session in May of last year, filed for my LLC in fall of last year, and have been learning lessons and having a blast as a new business owner ever since! :)

I believe in spreading the love, so I'm going to share some of my biggest lessons and tips with you over the course of a few posts. Obviously these tips are aimed towards beginner photographers, but feel free to chime in and comment if you're a seasoned pro that has some tips, too! We can all learn so much from each other.

Today's focus is the very basics of getting started, but in following posts I plan to share some knowledge on the business aspect of things and working with clients during sessions. Stay tuned for more!

GETTING STARTED

1. Learn to shoot in manual... and then practice, A LOT. Once I fully understood my camera's capabilities and how to control its settings, a whole new world opened up to me and my photography improved by leaps and bounds. There were no longer any befuddling light situations or unnecessary hours spent editing photos that I could have gotten right SOOTC (straight out of the camera). 

I promise, if you aren't shooting in manual, your work is suffering!

A photographer friend recommended this amazing tutorial to me when I first got started last year, so I bought it (WELL WORTH the tiny investment), and after the few hours it took me to work through the thing, my world was turned upside down. I switched my camera to manual and never looked back!

Helpful hint: it WILL take you a while to get adjusted and start doing this second-nature. Practice, practice, practice, and after a little while you'll be changing settings in your sleep!)

2. Invest in the best possible equipment you can afford. Invest will be a key word in this particular part of your process as a beginner. It hurts, but it's necessary. I understand that not everyone can afford to shell out three grand for a top-of-the-line full-frame camera, but do research your options and go with the best you can afford, even if it pinches a little. Your lens is just as important, so don't forget to factor that in! Believe it or not, I currently own only ONE lens, the 50mm 1.4.  It's been running my business and blog the entire last year! It's really affordable (and the 1.8 is even more so, if you're on a very tight budget), and it produces amazing results and that beautiful depth of field (the blurry background!). Pop one of those babies on your camera, and your photos are already on their way to looking profesh! 

As far as editing equipment goes, don't mess around. Buy professional quality programs if you'd like to achieve professional quality results.  I sing Lightoom's praises all day long (it's very inexpensive at only about $100 to $150 depending what version you get - I use v.4), and it's super simple, super user friendly (WAY less confusing than Photoshop!), and super powerful. While I recommend having Photoshop on hand as well for skin edits and its other endless possibilities, it IS a pricey program and if it's out of the question, Photoshop Elements may be all you need to start. 

Helpful hint #1: This is a little sneaky, but maybe you can even find a student willing to purchase the programs for you with their discounts! We bought mine with my husband's law school student discounts, and it was a steal!

Helpful hint #2: Invest in this Lightroom tutorial. I don't know where I'd be right now if I didn't! It also comes with some really useful presets and, of course, tips you might never learn if you just play around with it yourself.

3. When it comes to editing, less is more. When I look back on my editing style one year or so ago, I recognize that I lacked confidence in my skills and somehow that translated into being really heavy-handed with the editing. It's kind of like that girl that plasters her face with makeup because it makes her feel more confident... because she doesn't recognize her own natural beauty. Funny enough, most photographers I talk to say this very same thing was the case when they first began, too! I know I, personally, relied a lot on actions and had no idea how to intuitively customize images myself, but over time, as I learned my editing programs better, I started to ease off actions entirely and just use my noggin when it came to making the adjustments a photo might need. My finished products improved tremendously because of it!

And that's all for now, folks. Stay tuned in the weeks to come for more handy photography tips for beginners, and if you have questions or comments, please sound off below!

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Disclaimer: I know I still have a looooong way to go in photography, and one year from now I'll probably look back on my work today and notice all the things I should have done differently, but for now, I'm proud of where I am and that's why I'm not ashamed to share what I've learned so far. Just wanted to put that out there! ;)

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