1:1 Maternity & Newborn Photography Mentoring

LaurieL Photography offers several different Mentoring options for aspiring or seasoned photographers who want to start a Maternity and Newborn Photography business, or just sharpen their existing maternity and newborn photography and post-production skills.  Mentoring sessions can last one to four days, depending on how much YOU want to learn.

 

LaurieL’s Maternity and Newborn Photography Mentoring sessions consist of intensive 1:1 teaching, and will provide you with the knowledge you need to create beautiful, ethereal maternity and simply stunning newborn pictures, and put the quality of your work at a level guaranteed to generate real income!

 

Our Post Production and Photoshop Mentoring covers variable skill levels, and are tailored to YOU.  Whether your skills are just emerging, or you know Photoshop well, but want to advance your skills to produce images that are sure to sell, we will tailor the teaching to your skill level and beyond.  Taking a good picture is only half the job.  Your post-production skills can make or break an image…and we’ll teach you how to take your images from Acceptable, to Exceptional!  You’ll even be provided a disk of LaurieL’s favorite Actions!

 

Maternity and Newborn Photography Business Mentoring will cover all the things you need to know to open and run a Maternity and Newborn Photography studio.  We cover what you need to run a business, marketing, advertising, required documents, forms, client communication pieces and items you’ll need to set up and run your studio.  Important customer forms and emails will be provided to you…saving you tons of work.

 

On-Line Photoshop Classes

Classes are geared toward post-production on Maternity and Newborn Photography.  These classes are pre-scheduled and are group classes in an on-line, screen sharing environment.  You will be able to watch LaurieL working on images in her post-production utilizing Photoshop, and discuss what she is doing and the reason for each step she takes.

 

 

What our Mentoring Sessions Include:

 

ONE-ON-ONE MATERNITY PHOTOGRAPHY TRAINING WITH LaurieL – Full day $1200

This is an intimate, one-on-one, hands-on training, providing you with the ultimate learning experience.  There is so much more to know than meets the eye when creating truly beautiful, ethereal maternity photography, and we will show you exactly how to do it.  This is a one-day class, and will include some Post Production.  In this session, we will cover:

Camera Settings – ISO, Shutter, Aperture

White Balance

The best lenses to use

Lighting – positioning and settings

Items needed to be prepared for a successful session

Client stress relievers that are imperative for a good session

Getting your client to do what you want them to

Why most men don’t want to participate in the session, and how you can get them to

Incorporating a man into your session perfectly

Wrapping and draping your client

Positioning the client for the most flattering results

Getting it right SOC (straight out of the camera)

Creating movement in your images

The importance of talking to your client, and what to say to get that perfect pose

What props and fabrics are best, and where to get them

Assuring your client(s) leave feeling totally comfortable and happy

LaurieL’s post production

 

ONE-ON-ONE (or 2:1) NEWBORN PHOTOGRAPHY TRAINING WITH LaurieL – Full day $1600

This is an intensive, one-on-one (or 1:2), hands-on training.  We cover so much in these sessions, that we only work on newborn posing the entire day.  These are not group classes where you have to share your time and questions with a dozen other people, fighting for your spot to get the perfect shot.  I know that some of the best newborn workshops out there are taught by two people working together.  What a wonderful way to get great baby poses!  But what if you don’t have the luxury of having another set of hands posing the baby while you click away?  Most of us don’t.  LaurieL will teach you careful, patient positioning, including the head propped up on hands shot – which we NEVER composite.  After teaching you…I will have YOU posing the baby until you master it.  You will not get this kind of ‘hands-on’ in a group session.  You will watch me explain, prepare, pose and shoot, and then YOU will be posing and photographing.  I’ve done enough of these training’s that I know there really isn’t time to give you all the 1:1, hands-on time you need to master every pose I want to teach you, and then have time for post production the same day.  The newborn hands-on training takes a full day.  If you also want to learn post production on newborn images, you should be sure to include a separate day of of training on this.  Please know that LaurieL shoots in a studio using studio lighting.  This is not a natural light class.  In this session, we will cover:

Camera Settings – ISO, Shutter, Aperture

White Balance

The best lenses to use

Lighting – positioning and settings

Must haves for a successful session

What to say and talk to the parents about before the session starts

Getting it right SOC (straight out of the camera)

How to make your studio lights look like natural light

Posing on mom

Posing on dad

Posing on siblings

Beanbag posing

Chin Prop posing (no, I don’t do composites on these)

Stork Sling posing

Basket posing

Wrapping babies

Keeping baby asleep

Smooth transitioning between poses

Baby safety during the session

Back drops and floor drops that work best

Obtaining great props inexpensively

NOTE: (2:1 clients receive $100 off each, for each day of training)

 

POST PROCESSING – Full day, in LaurieL’s studio – Full day $800

FACT:  Your digital editing skills alone can make or break your images!  Taking the picture only gets you half way there.  The other half happens in the digital darkroom.

If you think all those beautiful baby images are coming straight out of the camera (SOOC) that way…then you’re in for a real surprise.  I can assure you that the ‘perfectness’ of newborn photography images is done more in Photoshop than in camera. As a photographer and graphic designer, I’d feel comfortable saying that every image you see on maternity and newborn photography websites have gone through digital editing.  For the most part, extensive editing.  Ever look at your images and think they are lacking the WOW you see in other photographers images?  It’s may not be because you didn’t shoot the image well enough to get a GREAT final image.  It may be that you are just lacking the post production skills to accomplish it.  This workshop will include extensive digital image editing for maternity and newborn photography in PHOTOSHOP.  Sit next to me while I show you how to polish your images, sharing with you some of the most popular Photoshop techniques used today.  As with all my teaching…this will be hands-on.  I will explain, and show you, and then you will be working on images yourself as I coach you.  With 20 years of graphic design background, you can be assured that you will learn the techniques that will make YOUR work stand out from the rest.  These workshops will be customized to YOU and your particular needs. You will leave this workshop with all the knowledge you need to create stunning maternity and newborn images, and a disk of LaurieL’s favorite Actions, which include all the Actions sold on the Maternity and Newborn Photography Prop Shop and more!  In this FULL DAY session, we will cover:

First things first,…what you need to do with your images right away

Managing your images (this can be a nightmare unless you do it right!)

Color space

Correcting white balance issues

Correcting skin tones

How to get baby soft, creamy skin – but not over doing it  (Babies are NOT made of plastic!)

Making eyes ‘pop’ – but not overdoing it

Adding DOF (depth of field)

Fading your background on blankets and also into your floor

Textures & Overlays

Blending Modes

Layer Masks

Actions (using them, and creating simple Actions to speed up your workflow)

Composites

Cropping an image, and why I never do it!

Speeding up your post processing time

Readying images for print, web & Facebook

Slenderizing your maternity clients

The flawless way to get rid of stretch marks

and more…

 

Maternity and Newborn Photography Business Mentoring – Full day $800

This day will take you through what you need to know to set up and start a Maternity and Newborn Photography Business.  In this session, we will cover:

The materials you need to set up a maternity and newborn photography studio space

Where to buy the things you’ll need – the best websites, and the best prices

How to ‘lay out’ your studio for efficiency and client comfort

Establishing your business’s ‘look and feel’

Marketing

Advertising

Web presence

Social media and its importance

Where do I get my clients?

What Forms do I need?

Standard client emails

Product packaging – how to do it, and where to get it

Things that will help you in the day-to-day running of your business

Legal issues will not be covered, as I am not a lawyer, and can only offer ‘advice’ and my personal experience of running a maternity and newborn photography business for the past 10 years.

 

On-Line Photoshop Classes – 4 hours $250

Classes are tailored to post production of Maternity and Newborn Photography.  Classes are done in an on-line, screen sharing environment, and consist of up to 10 participants.  You’ll be able to ask questions and get immediate responses from LaurieL.  In these sessions, we will cover:

Correcting white balance issues

Correcting skin tones

How to get baby soft, creamy skin – but not over doing it

Making eyes ‘pop’ – but not overdoing it

Slenderizing secrets for your maternity images

Adding DOF (depth of field)

Blending your background into your foreground

Blending Modes

Layer Masks

Actions (using them, and creating simple Actions to speed up your workflow)

Composites

Textures

Overlays

By special request: editing hi-key images (images shot against a white backdrop)

 

1:1 On-Line Photoshop Classes – 4 hours $450

The same information is covered as in our Group Classes…but, you have me 100%, and we can cover whatever you would like to cover! In addition, you may send your own images so that we can work on them together, and tailor the session to YOUR exact needs.

 

LODGING

No need to find and pay for a hotel!  LaurieL will provide lodging at her home studio.  Your room is single occupancy, unless you have a friend who is also interested in the workshop.  Your lodging for the night is a private guest room located within LaurieL’s studio.  Complete with a Queen size bed and private bath, it is comfortable and cozy!  Of course you are welcome to get a hotel if you feel more comfortable with that, and we can recommend one for you if needed.

TRANSPORTATION

Pickup and drop off to and from Portland International Airport (PDX) is included.  No car rental is needed.  PDX is only 15 minutes from our studio and we will be happy to drive you back and forth.  Feel free to rent a car if you would like. Portland is a beautiful city to explore!

MEALS

and snacks will be provided

1:2 OPTION

Come with a friend and share the session(s) – each person receives $100 off each day!  (Maximum of 2 people)

 

Call our studio at 360.253.4142, or email us at admin@laurielphotography.com to schedule your personal mentoring session – and get ready to take your work to the next level!