As many of you might have read on my blog I am currently in the running to be voted photographer of the year with Photobiz! I would LOVE to have the honor of being voted photographer of the year! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE go vote for me! If I win, I’ll receive free hosting on a Photobiz Diamond plan for one year! And of course, the recognition would be AMAZING! So please go vote for me! You can vote here.
As most of you have probably seen on my twitter or facebook page, my husband and I went to Colorado to visit family this past week. We had SUCH a wonderful time! I’ll be doing a much bigger blog post later but I wanted to get a photo up first and make a couple of announcements. First I will not be doing any Rock On Photographer installations until after the first of the year. I am going to take a little break and regroup because next year is going to be a busy year. Second I was invited to be a vendor at a wedding show for the Metro Club in Willis Tower, previously known as the Sears Tower, on January 23rd from 2pm-6pm so if you’re a bride in Chicago or you know a bride in Chicago please encourage them to come to the show! It’s a very formal cocktail party style show. The address is 233 S. Wacker Drive. Pre-registration is going on now and is $10, it’s $15 at the door and children 12 and under get in free.
Lastly, I was recently selected to be in the running for an amazing award of Photographer of the Year for Photobiz. If selected I would win one year of hosting and a 12,000 photo allotment for my website, plus the recognition of course! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE GO VOTE AND TELL YOUR FRIENDS! To vote, visit the below website and vote for me. I was the November photographer of the month. You can only vote once.
http://bit.ly/869o2D
I’ll leave you with one of my favorite photos of our trip to Colorado. More to come on that, probably tomorrow.
I’ve heard a ton of great things about the book Fast Track Photographer by Dane Sanders. I finally decided to purchase the audio book today which came with a pDNA quiz. This quiz is a quiz of 150 very well thought out questions and at the end it gives you a full synopsis of where your strengths and weaknesses are and what you need to be careful of. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I’m already on top of my game, but the area where I need the most help is my branding and my image to other people, which I’m in the process of updating. If you’re seeing my blog right now, you probably see that it is much different than it was a week ago, a month ago, even a year ago. Branding, to me, has always been a refinement process, that is until a few nights ago. I watched this fabulous video on the [b] school about branding. Soooooooo much of it hit home for me. If you read my previous blog post to this, you saw that one of the most important parts of that video that resonated with me was what you want your brand to say to the world. You were supposed to write out 5 descriptive words on what you want your brand to represent to the world. I ended up writing out 9, to which I’ve added two more already, and realized absolutely NOTHING about my brand said anything to the world that I wanted it to say… How sad is that? So, as a designer, I got to work. I redid my logo, which you may have also seen in my previous blog post, but you can also see in the header on the top of the blog, and I’m still refining my blog and website. I’m hoping that my new branding will be reflective of the following adjectives: 1. Sophisticated 2. Couture 3. Elegant 4. Classy 5. Modern 6. Sexy 7. Clean 8. High End 9. Luxurious 10. Simple and 11. Chic.
While I’m still working on my rebranding I would hugely encourage other photographers to get this book. I purchased the audio book and it really is fantastic so far.
Ok, so I watched this FANTASTIC video on the [b] school last night about branding. There was a TON of great information but a few things resonated with me. One in particular was that your logo is the the base of everything. Everything is built around your logo. Your logo is also your face to the world. What does your logo represent? The challenge was to write down 5 adjectives that you want your logo to portray to the world. I ended up writing down 9. Here they are…
1. Sophisticated
2. Classy
3. Sexy
4. Modern
5. Couture
6. High End
7. Clean
8. Chic
9. Simple
I realized that my current logo and letterhead don’t really say any of that. One of the other things that resonated with me, that I’ve always had a problem with, is that your logo/branding has to be versatile. It has to look good both large and small, vertical and horizontal, and fit whatever color schemes you are using whether on the web, paper, album boxes, business cards, foil stamps, etc. While I really liked my old logo, it wasn’t versatile AT ALL! Between the logo with the JS and the pink bubble in the middle to the letterhead with my name and “photographer” written underneath it, it just wasn’t able to fit all of those things.
I stayed up quite late last night trying to figure out exactly what would describe all 9 of my adjectives to the world. So, here is the grand unveil of my new logo. It’s sophisticated, clean, modern, couture, sexy, chic, high end, classy, and simple. I present to you the new Jen Shannon Photography logo!
So I set out to get some more head shots today. I wanted something where I could use my colorful scarf. Something fall feeling (even though the leaves already fell) and something where I could have some amazing sun light. I asked Colby if he would take a few pictures for me and, of course, he said, “Yes Dear.” LOL! So Here are my favs. I might post another few at some point but these are my favorites. Thanks Colby! I love you!
Jen Shannon Photography, Chicago Wedding Photographer
I’m excited to announce our holiday specials for the 2009 season! Each package includes custom designed holiday greeting cards. You also have the option to purchase wallet sized photographs to include in each greeting card that you send out to your family! For additional packages, see our website at www.Jen-Shannon.com. Package 3 offers a DVD slideshow that is perfect to pop into your DVD player and play on Christmas day while opening presents in front of your tree or fireplace!
Jen Shannon Photography, Chicago Wedding Photographer
I wanted to say thank you again for selecting me as Photographer of the month. Here is the video they posted. I’ve also pasted the interview below. I hope that someone can benefit something from this and am happy to answers any questions you have!
1. What equipment you do you use?
I’m a loyal Nikon user all the way 
I currently shoot with a D700. I also use an SB800 for my flash, when I use a flash, (usually rent a couple more for weddings) with a couple of pocket wizards. For my lenses I LOVE LOVE LOVE my 1.4D (wish they had a 1.2), a 3.5 18-200 VR, my LensBaby Composer and I’m planning to get the 2.8 70-200 before the end of the year. I do my main edits in Lightroom then I sharpen and add my finishing touches in PS4.
2. How long have you been shooting?
I’ve been shooting for 6 years total, but one year professionally.
3. Where are you located?
Joliet, IL (suburb of Chicago) but will soon be relocating back to Jacksonville, FL.
4. What type of photography do you take?
I take a photojournalistic approach, though I know it is not true photojournalism. I really don’t like “say cheese” photography though I do think some photographers are really great with it. It just isn’t my style. My focus is on wedding photography but have recently taken a big interest in fashion photography, mainly bridal glamour. When I started professionally, I was doing pet photography. I still do some pet photography, but mainly of my own pooches (I have three). I love landscape photography, though I don’t do much of it because there isn’t much to see around here (unless you like smoke stacks and run down buildings… hahaha).
5. Price range of events?
For pet and lifestyle portrait sessions it starts at $500 and includes a DVD of images. For weddings I start at $2400 and go up to $4600 (4-12 hour packages). All of our packages include an e-session, usually a second photographer (we don’t guarantee a second photographer unless it is specifically paid for), a DVD of the images, and online proofing. We also offer A La Carte items that they can add to their base package such as custom guest books, albums, extra hours, slideshows, folios, etc.
6. When did you notice that you had passion for photography?
I’ve had a passion for photography since about 6 years ago. I wanted a digital camera really bad and my husband surprised me with one (he was my boyfriend at the time) for Christmas. It was a little 3 megapixel Kodak EasyShare. When it became more than a hobby was one evening when I lived in Florida, a rain storm had come through and I noticed the blinds, which were shut, were glowing pink. I looked outside to witness the most amazing sunset. I ran outside with my camera and took a few pictures. The pictures were amazing without any adjustments. The sky was just glowing. That’s when it turned into a passion. I later upgraded to a Canon Powershot (not a DSLR) and ended up with my first DSLR a little over two years ago. I switched to Nikon when I bought the DSLR. I bought a D80. It’s been a great starter camera but I’m ready for the real deal!
7. Is there anything unique about what you do?
I think every artist has something unique about them, it’s bringing that unique side out that is difficult. You see so many people doing so much of the same that it’s hard to think of how YOU as an individual are unique. What separates me from others is my business knowledge and customer service. Many photographers don’t understand how to run a business, so they become a photographer, blow their money and end up out of business in a few years. Coming from a business background and working a corporate job helped me to get it right from the get go. Keeping straight books, yearly and monthly goals, targets, scorecards, etc has helped me to stay on track and run the business, not just be a photographer. I also think my personality goes hand in hand with my customer service skills. My focus is not to always land the job, but to make the people who do work with me remember me for how much they enjoyed working with me. This way they walk away happy and end up referring others to me.
8. Have you had to changed anything to adjust in current economic times?
Something I learned very early on is great customer service goes a long way. One of the things I love to do is make the experience my customer has with me unique so that they refer other people to me and become walking advertisements for me. Although I’ve had to keep my prices fairly conservative for my area, I’ve found people are willing to pay for quality.
To give you a few examples, for every wedding I book, my Client gets a “Thank you for booking with us” gift. You can view an example of it on my blog. They are always so thrilled with the gift. You can choose what you want to put in there but I chose a couple of things that I know every time they look at them they will remember that I purchased those as a thank you for them and they are more likely to refer other people to me. Also, for all of my wedding Clients I give them a really nice package for their DVD. It’s called a DVD folio that I order through Cypress. You can also see an example of that on that same blog link above. I have swatch samples for them to choose which colors they’d like.
Ultimately customer service is a big driver. People are willing to pay for a better experience and more people are willing to come back for other things when they had a great experience with you. One example is I have a bride who’s wedding I photographed that has booked me for her baby’s 6 month photos.
9. Describe your shooting style?
As one bride wrote on her questionnaire, “Jen Style!” Ha! Love it! I think editing style also goes hand in hand with shooting style. When I shoot, I am always looking for a vantage point that most people don’t see because most people are only looking at things from eye level. I like to create an interpretation of something, someone, etc that everyone can see but that has show them from a different vantage point and something that is different and unique. I try to get up higher than everyone or lay on the ground. It also all depends on what I’m photographing. I also do whatever I can to use natural light. I don’t like shooting with a flash so most times I won’t shoot with one. If I can avoid it than I do. I think natural light has a beauty that flash doesn’t do justice to, although I do think flash can help in certain situations. So much of today’s digital photography is defined by the photographer’s editing style too. I like bright, contrasty images, which I think my work reflects, that really pop when you look at them.
10. What are your goals for the future?
Great question! Aside from the business aspect of it with meeting numbers and targets, my goal is to develop my style and focus on specializing in one type of photography. Since I really enjoy glamour and fashion I’d like to develop my eye for that type of photography and incorporate that into my wedding photography. Let’s face it. The bride is THE one to please. She feels the most beautiful and exotic that she has ever felt in her entire life and she wants photographs that will reflect that. Why not mesh that with bridal glamour so every time she sees her photos it invokes the feelings she felt on her wedding day?
11. Do you have a Facebook Fan Page or a Twitter account?
Yes! You can become a fan by going to Facebook or follow me on Twitter. My Twitter name is JenStarlight.
12. Do you have a blog, and if so, how have you found it has enhanced your business?
Yes, I do have a blog. I would love to see Photobiz come out with a blog for us to use that is incorporated into the control panel (hint hint Dave!! haha). I have found it has helped my business tremendously. Aside from being able to show my personality through my blog entries, potential clients are able to go through my blog and view photography in my daily life, view photos from jobs that don’t necessarily go into my portfolio, and it’s a great way to take the formality out of the business website and really put my personality into it so they can determine if I am a good fit for them.
I recently had a wedding Client (who booked with me) that my husband, Colby, and I met with at Starbucks to sign the contract and as soon as we walked in she said, “Happy belated birthday Colby!” He said, “Thanks. How did you know I just had my birthday?” She said, “I read it on Jen’s blog. I love her blog. I follow it all the time!” It was good to know and hear.
13. What advice would have for someone starting out?
Don’t quit your day job! At least not yet. Seriously, I’ve seen a million times where someone gets a business idea, they quit their day job to pursue it, their business goes under and before they know it, they are out of business with no job, no income, no way to pay next month’s mortgage payment, etc. A business takes time to build. You have to be willing to put in your 8 hour day job hours and then another 8 hours a day into your business. If you happen to be one of those lucky people who is supported by someone else and your income doesn’t matter, well, then you are lucky, but most of us have to have day jobs when we start out. Eventually I hope to quit my day job (corporate job) but not today!
Advice on a photography related note… I would really recommend finding a photographer that inspires you and try to practice underneath them or pick their brains to find out what worked for them. What worked for them may not work for you and vise versa. Don’t be afraid to ask questions because that’s the only way to learn and if you’re asking someone who makes you uncomfortable because you asked, then find someone else. There are great places/forums where you can excellent advice for seasoned experts in the industry. The Photobiz fan page on Facebook is an excellent resource. Also check out the Photobiz blog because they periodically post videos that are super helpful.
I’ll make this my last piece of advise… There is more to running a photography business than just taking pictures. I would recommend taking some business classes to make sure you run a successful business (success being defined as an organized business that is profitable, not necessarily achieving “rock star” photographer status). Be sure to watch the video on the Photobiz blog about creating a business plan. You NEED a business plan. Make reasonable goals for your business. Hold monthly meetings with yourself/your associate(s) and go over your numbers and make sure you are doing everything you can to improve yourself and your business. I make monthly goals for myself. I don’t beat myself up if I don’t achieve those goals but it helps me look at where I am and decide what I need to be doing to achieve those goals next time. I also keep monthly Google Analytics reports to direct my business to the appropriate geographic location/audience. Keep a running record of you inquiries (I use Quickbooks for this) and which ones result in bookings. There is so much to know and so much I could tell you but it would take a REALLY long time (aka my college degree!) to give you all the info. I hope this helps. The irs.gov website has great resources for small businesses that you should take advantage of if you haven’t already.
I’m so excited, humbled, and honored to have been selected as Photobiz’s photographer of the month for November! For those of you who don’t know, Photobiz is a website service that I use for all of my website needs (with the exception of my blog… that’s WordPress). They have tons of great flash and html templates to choose from (I use their flash templates) that are super customizable. They also have something called “mini sites” that you can purchase for a one time fee and market them as part of your packages to your clients. Basically you create a site, such as http://jenandcolby.jen-shannon.com, you then send your client to a website where they can access the mini site you create for them, then the site is customizable by your client, they send all of their family and friends there with your branding on it and it creates great exposure for your brand. They also offer a shopping cart, which is great right now, but they are revamping it to make it totally awesome! I love Photobiz. They are so affordable, especially for photographers who are just starting out, they are completely customizable and I love them to death! If you are not a fan of theirs on Facebook, you can become a fan by clicking here. You should also check out their blog on a normal basis by clicking here.
I also wanted to mention that I couldn’t have gotten this far without my great friend and fellow photographer Monica Starr Brown. She is my best friend’s sister and has become a great friend of mine. You should check out her work when you get a chance by clicking here.
Thank you Photobiz for selecting me as November’s Photographer of the month!
Jen Shannon Photography, Chicago Wedding Photographer
The winner of our iPod Nano Giveaway drawing is Jenny Appleseed! Congratulations to Jenny!
I believe in being bold. I believe in being a go getter. I believe in saying, “So what?” I believe in looking at the odds and knowing I can beat them. I believe in not caring about what other people think. I believe in going after what I want. There is nothing wrong with going after what you want. I believe in taking chances. I’d rather try something and fail at it than to have never tried it at all and never know what could have been. We all have aspirations and ambitions and dreams. Why not go after them and live a life that makes you happy than submit to doing something you don’t enjoy?
I was inspired to write about this today because I have noticed so many of the people I know are submitting to doing things that they don’t enjoy to make a buck. Although I believe in working while you build your dream so eventually your dream can support you, I don’t believe in not chasing your dream at all. What a meaningless life to have not lived it to what you feel you love and were born to do. I love being artistic. I love arts and crafts. I love who God has made me to be. I always wondered why God gave me such a strong personality… I now realize it is because he knew I was going to be a business woman someday. He knew if I didn’t have a strong personality I would give up, give in, and never chase my dreams. He knew if He made me the way He did I would have the courage to say, “So what?” when people say, “You’ll never make money in the art industry” or “You won’t be able to run a business” or “You won’t stick with it” or worst of all “There are too many of them in your area, you’ll never get any business.” God has been so good to me and I’m super happy with where I’ve been and where I am today. I can’t wait to see what He has in store for my future.
Here the photo of the day for today Remember that if God can move mountains, He can pave your way to success.
Jen Shannon Photography, Chicago Wedding Photographer
