Your portfolio is a curated collection of your very best images and represents the types of work you hope to create in the future AND the type of clients you hope to attract. In this episode of Cowgirls with Cameras, Phyllis, Kim and Cara take a deep dive into the importance of curating a portfolio, how to best structure your portfolio, and provide some tips on how to put that portfolio to work for you.
In addition, they discuss their recent experience at Animal Image Makers.
Transcript
It's time to laugh, learn, and take your photography to the
Jaz:next level with your favorite cowgirls with cameras, Cara, Kim
Jaz:and Phyllis.
Kimberly Beer:Hey there photographers It's Kim with Kim
Kimberly Beer:Beer photography
Cara Taylor Swift:and Cara with Fast Horse Photography
Phyllis Burchett:and Phyllis with Phyllis Burchette photo.
Kimberly Beer:Welcome to Cowgirls with Cameras. So
Kimberly Beer:today's episode is going to be devoted to learning all about
Kimberly Beer:how to create and use and curate a portfolio which is a huge
Kimberly Beer:important piece in any photographers professional
Kimberly Beer:appearance and professional business standing. So it's very
Kimberly Beer:important whether you're brand new as a photographer, or
Kimberly Beer:whether you are a photographer that's really established your
Kimberly Beer:portfolio is something you've got to go back and visit with a
Kimberly Beer:lot. So that's going to be our topic du jour today. And we do
Kimberly Beer:have a lot of information to cover with that. But, before we
Kimberly Beer:dive into that Cara and Phyllis have had an interesting
Kimberly Beer:adventure that I think they would like to share with you
Kimberly Beer:guys. They got to go to the Twin Cities and visit with some other
Kimberly Beer:photographers. I unfortunately had to miss out but I'm dying to
Kimberly Beer:get a report y'all on what happened at AIM.
Cara Taylor Swift:Well, we really missed you. I mean,
Cara Taylor Swift:Phyllis and I we didn't know what to do without our third
Cara Taylor Swift:Musketeer running around with us. But I think we had a good
Cara Taylor Swift:time. Didn't we Phyllis? We had fun?
Phyllis Burchett:Yeah. It was just sad to not have Kim with
Phyllis Burchett:us.
Cara Taylor Swift:That's right. But you know what? We
Cara Taylor Swift:represented Cowgirls with cameras well, I still believe
Cara Taylor Swift:that we did that. So it was a lot of fun. This was the first
Cara Taylor Swift:year that I think I know for me, I don't know about you, Phyllis.
Cara Taylor Swift:But it's the first year I got to go in person.
Phyllis Burchett:Me too.
Cara Taylor Swift:Yeah, you were okay for you, too. Yeah.
Cara Taylor Swift:So,
Phyllis Burchett:Of course we all signed up back in 2020 and
Phyllis Burchett:they had to cancel of course,
Cara Taylor Swift:Right. So we did the virtual last year, which
Cara Taylor Swift:was pretty neat. And I was so impressed with how they ran
Cara Taylor Swift:over. I'd never had attended a virtual conference. I felt like
Cara Taylor Swift:that was ran so well. It was really amazing. So the in person
Cara Taylor Swift:conference was a lot of fun for me, I was able to attend a few
Cara Taylor Swift:of the breakout workshops, got to chat with a lot of new
Cara Taylor Swift:photographers. But the part I was most excited about was the
Cara Taylor Swift:trade show and getting set up for the trade show. And then I
Cara Taylor Swift:ended up not even being able to stay for it. I had to get home.
Cara Taylor Swift:So I abandoned Phyllis at Animal Image Makers. Did you want to
Cara Taylor Swift:talk about how the tradeshow went?
Phyllis Burchett:Well, yes, but I was just thinking maybe we
Phyllis Burchett:should let people know what Animal Image Makers is. It
Phyllis Burchett:basically brings together pet and animal photographers from
Phyllis Burchett:all over the world for a great weekend of education and
Phyllis Burchett:networking. The love of, of everyone that attends that we
Phyllis Burchett:all have for animals really creates a great instant bond
Phyllis Burchett:between each other and a great energy at the conference. It's
Phyllis Burchett:100% about animals and the business of photographing our
Phyllis Burchett:furry friends. Some of the top animal educators in the world
Phyllis Burchett:had been brought together. It was just a great experience for
Phyllis Burchett:everybody. I really enjoyed it. I got to meet some people that I
Phyllis Burchett:had always wanted to meet. So everybody left me alone for the
Phyllis Burchett:trade show. I had to run the booth all by myself
Cara Taylor Swift:You were abandoned
Phyllis Burchett:Poor me. It was terrible. No, it wasn't it
Phyllis Burchett:was great. I had a great time. I got to meet a lot of wonderful
Phyllis Burchett:people. We got a lot of interest in Cowgirls with Cameras and got
Phyllis Burchett:our name out there and got to talk up our Cottonwood Ranch
Phyllis Burchett:event. I think it was well worth being there. And I really
Phyllis Burchett:enjoyed it. Like I said I got to meet some wonderful people, some
Phyllis Burchett:other vendors and people that were attending the conference. A
Phyllis Burchett:lot of great photographers, animal photographers, so had a
Phyllis Burchett:great time. Oh, and our T-shirts were selling like hotcakes.
Cara Taylor Swift:That's right or over shooters anonymous
Cara Taylor Swift:T-shirts. They are pretty much sold out at this point. Yep. And
Cara Taylor Swift:both Kim and I are wearing Cowgirls with Camera shirts
Cara Taylor Swift:today. So yeah, they're pretty much sold out at this point. But
Cara Taylor Swift:we'll have another run coming sometime soon. But you know, one
Cara Taylor Swift:of the other things I thought was really neat about that event
Cara Taylor Swift:is that we got to see our pal Terri Cage of Terri Cage
Cara Taylor Swift:photography, talk about equine photography, so we got to go and
Cara Taylor Swift:support her. And that was pretty neat. She did a great job.
Phyllis Burchett:She did a great job getting the word out
Phyllis Burchett:there about telling people how to go about doing equine
Phyllis Burchett:photography safely and how to present the horse well in your
Phyllis Burchett:images. And also another really great highlight of my trip. And
Phyllis Burchett:I think for you to Cara was to get to meet someone that I've
Phyllis Burchett:been friends with virtually for years is Shelley Paulson. So
Phyllis Burchett:Shelley came and picked us up Thursday, Cara and I, and we
Phyllis Burchett:headed over to the Minnesota Horse Expo in a blizzard. And we
Phyllis Burchett:had a great day. So I was freezing. Of course Cara from
Phyllis Burchett:Florida was freezing. I think we had a really nice day we get to
Phyllis Burchett:see some a few horses that we hadn't seen before some breeds
Phyllis Burchett:and it was really cool, cold. It was it was a great day. It was a
Phyllis Burchett:fun day we spent we spent a lot and not probably not all day we
Phyllis Burchett:went maybe three or four hours at the expo and then we went and
Phyllis Burchett:sat in a coffee shop and talked the rest of the afternoon. So we
Phyllis Burchett:had a great time and then Shelley came back the next night
Phyllis Burchett:and took Cara and myself and Terri out to dinner because
Phyllis Burchett:she'd never met Terri before. So we had a really nice time.
Cara Taylor Swift:Don't forget, we got to go to Mall of America,
Cara Taylor Swift:which I found super fascinating that they had an amusement park
Cara Taylor Swift:in the mall. So that was pretty amazing. I'd never seen anything
Cara Taylor Swift:like that. So yeah, we had an amazing time with Shelley big
Cara Taylor Swift:thank yous going out to her for entertaining us and getting to
Cara Taylor Swift:meet her for the first time and just the four of us getting to
Cara Taylor Swift:sit around talk shop was a lot of fun. So it was it was really
Cara Taylor Swift:cool.
Kimberly Beer:I'm so bummed I missed that.
Cara Taylor Swift:Yeah, you really missed a good time. I'm
Phyllis Burchett:We did not
Phyllis Burchett:telling you,
Kimberly Beer:But I'm more bummed that I missed the
Kimberly Beer:amusement park in the Mall of America. Did you go on any rides
Kimberly Beer:in the Mall of America?
Cara Taylor Swift:We had an amazing charcuterie board at the
Cara Taylor Swift:restaurant.
Kimberly Beer:If I would have been with you, we would have had
Kimberly Beer:to have gone on a ride.
Phyllis Burchett:We almost did the carousel.
Kimberly Beer:That's way too tame.
Phyllis Burchett:Yeah, we almost did the carousel ride but
Phyllis Burchett:none of us really we were close.
Cara Taylor Swift:They had a roller coaster
Kimberly Beer:That's why you need me there, is to go on the
Kimberly Beer:roller coaster.
Phyllis Burchett:Oh, I so would have done the roller coaster.
Cara Taylor Swift:There was another reason you were in
Cara Taylor Swift:Minnesota as well. Or another another fun thing you got to do
Cara Taylor Swift:when you were there. Did you want to share that?
Phyllis Burchett:Yeah, I met a friend of mine Karen Blenker
Phyllis Burchett:that I think you and I had met before doing the Outer Banks,
Phyllis Burchett:the horses, the wild horses in the Outer Banks years ago. And
Phyllis Burchett:I've gotten to be friends with Karen. I had been up to
Phyllis Burchett:Minnesota to shoot great gray owls with her. But this time we
Phyllis Burchett:had she picked me up at the airport and we headed up to
Phyllis Burchett:Wisconsin to shoot sharp tailed grouse. And then we came back
Phyllis Burchett:down and got to shoot some more owls. I got to see some long
Phyllis Burchett:eared owls and great horned owls. Well, I had never seen
Phyllis Burchett:long eared owls before. So that was a first for me. So it was
Phyllis Burchett:pretty cool. We got to do that in a blizzard too.
Cara Taylor Swift:It was a great time, I would totally do
Cara Taylor Swift:it again. So anyone who's out there that's thinking, should I
Cara Taylor Swift:go to Animal Image Makers, if you're really focused on animal
Cara Taylor Swift:photography, whether you're a horse photographer or a dog
Cara Taylor Swift:photographer, cat photographer, I didn't feel like they talked a
Cara Taylor Swift:lot about wild animals. At some of the presentations, mostly
Cara Taylor Swift:domestic animals, I would just suggest if you're into
Cara Taylor Swift:photographing pets or equines, that it is worth going and
Cara Taylor Swift:enjoying and the trade show was a lot of fun to you got to
Cara Taylor Swift:really spend some time talking to the folks at the trade show.
Cara Taylor Swift:So I mean, the different vendors that were there, so Kim, I know
Cara Taylor Swift:you missed it. But we did the best we could to represent and
Cara Taylor Swift:to bring back tons of awesome information and sent, we sent
Cara Taylor Swift:you your swag bag and all of that. So your swag box and all
Cara Taylor Swift:of that. So I know you receive that this week. But what have
Cara Taylor Swift:you been up to anything you want to chat about since you missed
Cara Taylor Swift:us?
Kimberly Beer:I did get to go to an expo on my own. So I did a
Kimberly Beer:one day table at the networking event that I belong at. And I
Kimberly Beer:was actually there representing my Gestalt business, not as a
Kimberly Beer:photographer. But my booth was right next door to a wonderful
Kimberly Beer:photographer. And so we got to talk shop and they actually do
Kimberly Beer:senior portraits and headshots portraits for corporate folks.
Kimberly Beer:We got to talk about the fact that occasionally they cross
Kimberly Beer:over into the equine world. So I got to share some tips and
Kimberly Beer:tricks about how to get good pictures of the horses for them.
Kimberly Beer:Very talented photographer and her husband that run a business
Kimberly Beer:and just really nice people. So it's always nice to connect and
Kimberly Beer:do that. Otherwise, I have been home taking care of my health,
Kimberly Beer:which is why I had to miss AIM. Just trusting in my own process,
Kimberly Beer:being an entrepreneur sometimes means you have to slow it down
Kimberly Beer:and make sure you take care of you. And that's where I've been
Kimberly Beer:at for the past month or so is just focusing on one step and
Kimberly Beer:one day at a time.
Cara Taylor Swift:It's right where you need to be.
Kimberly Beer:Right where I need to be. So now let's switch
Kimberly Beer:over our topic here to growing your portfolio. And I cannot
Kimberly Beer:stress enough how important having a portfolio is to a
Kimberly Beer:photographer. And I know we have a lot of young photographers,
Kimberly Beer:maybe not in age, but experience per se, listening to the podcast
Kimberly Beer:and following us and looking to us for suggestions. And
Kimberly Beer:portfolios are such an important place to begin and to build to
Kimberly Beer:get your career in the direction that you want it to go. Now if
Kimberly Beer:you're a more established photographer, it's also
Kimberly Beer:something that you can't just put a checkbox that by and say
Kimberly Beer:you're never going to touch it again, like your website, like
Kimberly Beer:all your marketing, like all the things you put out into the
Kimberly Beer:world, you really need to pay attention to it. So hopefully,
Kimberly Beer:if you are a more experienced photographer, you will hang out
Kimberly Beer:with us here and listen, because there's ideas that are going to
Kimberly Beer:be coming your way about how you can improve the portfolio that
Kimberly Beer:you currently have, and be able to utilize it even more. So I'm
Kimberly Beer:going to turn this over to Cara because she's got some fantastic
Kimberly Beer:ideas in true Cara form a beautiful list of suggestions
Kimberly Beer:for you. So Cara, you take it away.
Cara Taylor Swift:Well, I know Phillys will have a lot to chime
Cara Taylor Swift:in here too, but one of the things that when I think about
Cara Taylor Swift:my portfolio is that it's a constantly evolving collection
Cara Taylor Swift:of work. So it's changing and it's changing as I continue to
Cara Taylor Swift:grow and learn in my photography. So my portfolio
Cara Taylor Swift:from when I started shooting regularly six years ago, it's
Cara Taylor Swift:very different than what it looks like today. And there's a
Cara Taylor Swift:lot of reasons for that, not just that my work has changed,
Cara Taylor Swift:and I hope it has gotten better, but that I have different needs
Cara Taylor Swift:for my portfolio. And it needs to fill kind of some different
Cara Taylor Swift:buckets that it didn't need to fill back when I was first
Cara Taylor Swift:getting started. I think I have some tips that I thought would
Cara Taylor Swift:be helpful for folks. And the first one that I can think of is
Cara Taylor Swift:that a lot of times when you're in the early days of portfolio
Cara Taylor Swift:building, you don't have a lot of work. So you don't have a lot
Cara Taylor Swift:of paid shoots. Maybe you don't have a lot of unpaid shoots,
Cara Taylor Swift:you're just trying to get out there and shoot. And that's
Cara Taylor Swift:honestly the best thing that you can do. So even if you don't
Cara Taylor Swift:have sessions scheduled, you have to find a way to keep
Cara Taylor Swift:shooting and keep getting people in front of your lens. It needs
Cara Taylor Swift:to be, to me, whatever you're photographing, whether it be
Cara Taylor Swift:people or just horses, or animals or horses and humans
Cara Taylor Swift:together, it needs to be something that you see yourself
Cara Taylor Swift:wanting to photograph in the future, because you want to show
Cara Taylor Swift:what you hope to sell one day or show what you hope to shoot one
Cara Taylor Swift:day. So you really need to be thinking about who is your
Cara Taylor Swift:audience, who are you going to be and I put this in quotations
Cara Taylor Swift:"speaking to with your images", so that you can start thinking
Cara Taylor Swift:about putting together shoots that will represent that. So it
Cara Taylor Swift:needs that needs to be your target audience, once again,
Cara Taylor Swift:show the what and the who of what you hope to photograph in
Cara Taylor Swift:the future. Another thing that I think sometimes I see is that
Cara Taylor Swift:it's so important that the images that you're showing that
Cara Taylor Swift:you're using in your portfolio, or that you're putting on your
Cara Taylor Swift:website are really only your best images. With social media,
Cara Taylor Swift:it's so easy to get caught up on showing everything that you
Cara Taylor Swift:might do a photo dump of every image from a session or your top
Cara Taylor Swift:10 favorite images from a session. And really, you don't
Cara Taylor Swift:need to show those things unless they're your best. Because every
Cara Taylor Swift:image you put out there, I hate to break it to you guys, it's
Cara Taylor Swift:going to be out there forever, I have some images that will pop
Cara Taylor Swift:up in memories, and that my clients will share because they
Cara Taylor Swift:love them. But I'm like, oh no, that image is gonna haunt me for
Cara Taylor Swift:the rest of my life. Because it's not an image that is the
Cara Taylor Swift:best representation of my portfolio. These days. Any
Cara Taylor Swift:photographer that's out there in the time of social media, and
Cara Taylor Swift:the ability to share and be super proud of your work
Cara Taylor Swift:probably feels that way too, at some point. And they just never
Cara Taylor Swift:go away, I would definitely spend some time once again,
Cara Taylor Swift:thinking about the audience and who you're trying to speak to
Cara Taylor Swift:and then look at your portfolio and say, Do I have holes in my
Cara Taylor Swift:portfolio buckets that I need to fill by creating images that
Cara Taylor Swift:really are going to go to work for me. So you know, go through
Cara Taylor Swift:your images look for that, that unique eye that you have that
Cara Taylor Swift:unique asset or your unique point of distinction that is
Cara Taylor Swift:represented in your images that will really set you apart from
Cara Taylor Swift:other photographers in your field. It might be a way that
Cara Taylor Swift:you shoot, the type of shooting that you like to do, or even the
Cara Taylor Swift:way that you process your images when you're done. You're looking
Cara Taylor Swift:for that thing that really defines you and set you apart
Cara Taylor Swift:from every other horse photographer that is available
Cara Taylor Swift:to be found on Google. I would love it if we talk about this
Cara Taylor Swift:more in detail maybe on another episode, but definitely go out
Cara Taylor Swift:and actively plan shoots just for the purpose of portfolio
Cara Taylor Swift:building where you sit down and plan out the concept, you
Cara Taylor Swift:determine your end goals, hire models, and collaborate
Cara Taylor Swift:potentially with other business owners to make sure that you're
Cara Taylor Swift:creating images that are going to work for you. And you're not
Cara Taylor Swift:just creating when you're being hired to create. I also
Cara Taylor Swift:recommend if you can do a portfolio review. So take those
Cara Taylor Swift:existing images that you think best represent you and sit down
Cara Taylor Swift:with a mentor or another photographer in your industry
Cara Taylor Swift:that you really trust and that understand your industry and get
Cara Taylor Swift:some feedback from them. Anytime I have done this, I have found
Cara Taylor Swift:it. so eye opening to see how my images are viewed by other
Cara Taylor Swift:people. I think we get caught up in being afraid of criticism,
Cara Taylor Swift:and being afraid of hearing that we could do better or do
Cara Taylor Swift:something differently. And if we can get past some of that I
Cara Taylor Swift:think our work just goes to a whole nother level. If we can
Cara Taylor Swift:take the criticism and actually like process it and think it
Cara Taylor Swift:through. I think that's probably the biggest thing. I think the
Cara Taylor Swift:last thing I would say just because I love doing this is I
Cara Taylor Swift:love to team up with another photographer and do shoots
Cara Taylor Swift:together. It's a great way to get creative and bounce ideas
Cara Taylor Swift:off of each other. You can split the cost of model hires or some
Cara Taylor Swift:of the props that you bring in and it's just a really fun way
Cara Taylor Swift:to get creative. And I think some of that's what we bring to
Cara Taylor Swift:the table with Cowgirls with Cameras workshops.
Phyllis Burchett:I think you really covered a lot of bases
Phyllis Burchett:there. I was just going to add also that I think attending
Phyllis Burchett:workshops, whether it's ours or anybody's it's a great way to
Phyllis Burchett:build your portfolio. So I'm going to talk a little bit more
Phyllis Burchett:about how to structure your actual portfolio and your visual
Phyllis Burchett:portfolio, I guess is what I'm talking about on your websites.
Phyllis Burchett:Back in the day, of course, we used to have a portfolio book,
Phyllis Burchett:you know, but I think one of the biggest things is, whatever you
Phyllis Burchett:do is make your passion very prominent in your portfolio,
Phyllis Burchett:what you really want to be hired for and to make sure that that
Phyllis Burchett:interface on your website or in the portfolio, that you're
Phyllis Burchett:showing that it's clean and very visually attractive for people
Phyllis Burchett:to look at. Maybe even try to inspire your audience a little
Phyllis Burchett:bit by combining words and images that make people want to
Phyllis Burchett:act and respond to what they're seeing. Again, like Cara said,
Phyllis Burchett:choose only your best images, ask someone to look at your
Phyllis Burchett:portfolio that you're wanting to put up and give you some
Phyllis Burchett:feedback and but make sure it's someone you trust their opinion.
Phyllis Burchett:I would also say choose photos where each image stands on its
Phyllis Burchett:own. You can do a story building portfolio, but I think it just
Phyllis Burchett:depends on if you're being hired by a client and you're showing
Phyllis Burchett:them this portfolio, you can read your client, you can read,
Phyllis Burchett:do they want to do a story building series? Or do they want
Phyllis Burchett:images that stand on their own? When you're doing it for a
Phyllis Burchett:client, think about creating a portfolio that's focused on
Phyllis Burchett:images that will show them that you're the right person to hire.
Phyllis Burchett:And if you do shoot a different photography niches, like you
Phyllis Burchett:know, maybe you shoot landscape, maybe you Shoot horses, maybe
Phyllis Burchett:you shoot portrait. It's okay to make multiple portfolios, you
Phyllis Burchett:know, to best suit your audience. So I think it's good
Phyllis Burchett:to show the client that you can do a variety of jobs. I know
Phyllis Burchett:back years ago, I got hired to do, I was wanting to do a lady's
Phyllis Burchett:ride and or look at a place was actually a cabin for hire in
Phyllis Burchett:Colorado. And I actually got the job because they wanted somebody
Phyllis Burchett:that could do architectural images along with landscape and
Phyllis Burchett:horses. So it's good to be able to show that you can do a
Phyllis Burchett:variety, a client will be looking for variety. And I
Phyllis Burchett:think, lastly is, gosh, take risk. I think risk are a really
Phyllis Burchett:important part of the world of art it extends and this extends
Phyllis Burchett:into your portfolio, don't be afraid to take a risk that you
Phyllis Burchett:think is going to show examples of your creativity and
Phyllis Burchett:innovation and stay current and modern with that be sure to
Phyllis Burchett:update your work, which I'm bad to not do.
Cara Taylor Swift:That part about staying current and modern
Cara Taylor Swift:can be really huge. Because I've seen photographers really date
Cara Taylor Swift:themselves and date their work by using types of editing or
Cara Taylor Swift:shooting that is maybe just not done as much right now. So if
Cara Taylor Swift:you've got some of that in your portfolio, and it's not
Cara Taylor Swift:currently the trend, you know, really think about how that fits
Cara Taylor Swift:in with what you want to shoot. I'm not gonna give any examples,
Cara Taylor Swift:but that's, you know, just something to really think about.
Phyllis Burchett:I think that's really important too, because
Phyllis Burchett:photography does go through trends, just like fashion. Just
Phyllis Burchett:this morning, I saw somebody's work that was which is great
Phyllis Burchett:work. Don't get me wrong, but they're kind of living in what
Phyllis Burchett:was current five years ago, which isn't that way now. So
Phyllis Burchett:yes, look at the modern trends, just like reels is a trend on
Phyllis Burchett:Instagram right now, but it's not really a trend. I think it's
Phyllis Burchett:gonna be here for a while. So
Cara Taylor Swift:Do you guys want me to talk about model
Cara Taylor Swift:calls right now? Or do you want me to save it for the end? What
Cara Taylor Swift:do you think
Kimberly Beer:Models are something I think that newer
Kimberly Beer:photographers are really afraid of, right? It's a scary thing to
Kimberly Beer:put out a model call for the first time and working with
Kimberly Beer:models can get really complicated. And I do know we do
Kimberly Beer:need to do an entire episode on it Cara, or at least that's what
Kimberly Beer:my feeling is. But I think here it's really appropriate to talk
Kimberly Beer:about when you're building your portfolio, having a model and
Kimberly Beer:making sure that you have your t's crossed and your i's dotted
Kimberly Beer:you know, have your model releases and stuff. But just the
Kimberly Beer:the asking and planning part. And we have some friends that we
Kimberly Beer:hang out with, and it's a true privilege to hang out with them,
Kimberly Beer:that have really good model ideas and ways to get models
Kimberly Beer:into their business and also to work with models. So yep, go
Kimberly Beer:right ahead.
Cara Taylor Swift:I do agree with Kim that this could be an
Cara Taylor Swift:entire episode in itself. But where models are concerned for
Cara Taylor Swift:portfolio building and model calls, I have definitely used
Cara Taylor Swift:them in the past. And I've had some successes and some failures
Cara Taylor Swift:with that. One of the things I realized when I was first
Cara Taylor Swift:starting out and I would put out a model call is I would have a
Cara Taylor Swift:ton of interest 50, 60, 100 inquiries would go through my
Cara Taylor Swift:website and want to be on the model call. So what I found was
Cara Taylor Swift:happening is that I would go through when I would pick who I
Cara Taylor Swift:thought was a great fit for the project I was trying to create,
Cara Taylor Swift:I would go through the process of setting up a date and a time
Cara Taylor Swift:with those people and talk through what I needed from that
Cara Taylor Swift:shoot. And then what would happen is I would drive out and
Cara Taylor Swift:to meet them on the day of the shoot and no one would be there.
Cara Taylor Swift:They just wouldn't show up. And so that was a lot of time and
Cara Taylor Swift:energy invested other people could have taken that out what I
Cara Taylor Swift:thought was a great opportunity and participated in that. One of
Cara Taylor Swift:the things that I started doing in the early days of model calls
Cara Taylor Swift:is I created well actually I didn't create this part of it is
Cara Taylor Swift:I participated in an online program called in person sales
Cara Taylor Swift:mastermind and there was a workshop that was called the $50
Cara Taylor Swift:model call. And when I went through that program, I realized
Cara Taylor Swift:that even on a model call situation sometimes your models
Cara Taylor Swift:need to have a little skin in the game in order to go through
Cara Taylor Swift:your entire process. And for me in that model call, I wanted to
Cara Taylor Swift:test my workflow. So it wasn't just about shooting and
Cara Taylor Swift:portfolio building. For me it was the initial inquiry working
Cara Taylor Swift:with clients, getting them prepped for the photoshoot, the
Cara Taylor Swift:actual session itself, meeting with me afterwards to view the
Cara Taylor Swift:images. So I needed them to go through that whole process. So I
Cara Taylor Swift:actually started charging my models to participate in the
Cara Taylor Swift:model call. And then that is when I realized I really was
Cara Taylor Swift:able to slim down the amount of interest to people that were
Cara Taylor Swift:really interested and were going to show up. And then also get
Cara Taylor Swift:them to a place where I was learning, I was going through my
Cara Taylor Swift:process, I was testing my process, and we were shooting,
Cara Taylor Swift:and they were getting images. So the way that I always structured
Cara Taylor Swift:that was that any money that I requested for them "to book",
Cara Taylor Swift:I'm putting that in quotations book their model called spot
Cara Taylor Swift:they got back when they completed the process. So they
Cara Taylor Swift:got the money back, but they could go through the process.
Cara Taylor Swift:And all that did was encouraged people to actually participate.
Cara Taylor Swift:And it worked out really, really well for me, in the beginning, I
Cara Taylor Swift:got a ton of portfolio work, I got a ton of new sessions. And
Cara Taylor Swift:then from that, I was able to build much more of an online
Cara Taylor Swift:content presence and actual good portfolio work. Now I'm not
Cara Taylor Swift:saying that I think every model call needs to be paid, I'm just
Cara Taylor Swift:throwing out some ideas out there that you don't have to
Cara Taylor Swift:offer it for free all of the time. And you need to remember
Cara Taylor Swift:that when you're offering a model call for free, you are
Cara Taylor Swift:directly potentially undercutting other photographers
Cara Taylor Swift:in your area. So you really need to think about how you do that.
Cara Taylor Swift:And be really just be super thoughtful about when you're
Cara Taylor Swift:advertising free photo shoots, as model calls Phyllis, and Kim
Cara Taylor Swift:did you guys want to add anything to that?
Kimberly Beer:When you offer something for free people take
Kimberly Beer:it at the value that you offer it. So that's nothing. And even
Kimberly Beer:if you don't want to, let's say you charge them a $50 fee or
Kimberly Beer:$100 fee, you don't always have to give that money back to them.
Kimberly Beer:It can be prepayment, and you can say I'll exchange this for X
Kimberly Beer:number of prints or two or three digital files that you can share
Kimberly Beer:out with you. Because let's face it, if people are showing up for
Kimberly Beer:model calls, that means they have an interest in making money
Kimberly Beer:in this too, or getting something else out of it. And if
Kimberly Beer:they can see more of that benefit of what they can get out
Kimberly Beer:of it in the future, then they're more likely to be
Kimberly Beer:participatory in the process, they're more likely to show up
Kimberly Beer:where they're supposed to be, they're more likely to be more
Kimberly Beer:engaged with making sure that it's done right that they're in
Kimberly Beer:our case that their horses are groomed and everything looks the
Kimberly Beer:way that it should for the same way a potential client would
Kimberly Beer:look. So it's to me, it's important that they do have skin
Kimberly Beer:in the game, I have had zero luck with free model calls. In
Kimberly Beer:my career, what I have had luck with was charging a set fee
Kimberly Beer:that's much reduced from my normal fee in exchange for the
Kimberly Beer:fact that I have to have X number of shots. And I'm really
Kimberly Beer:very upfront with the people that I ask to help me build my
Kimberly Beer:portfolio, I will simply say I am building my portfolio, I am
Kimberly Beer:looking for these shots, when I first got into reining, you have
Kimberly Beer:to be able to shoot a stop if you're going to do reining
Kimberly Beer:shows. And that's what the show staff wants to see in your
Kimberly Beer:portfolio. So I contacted really high end what I would, high end
Kimberly Beer:for my area, mind you I'm in the middle of the Midwest, so barns
Kimberly Beer:that had good reining horses and said here's the deal, I will do
Kimberly Beer:you know, X number of stallion shots, which already had a good
Kimberly Beer:portfolio for but I need stop shots. So I need you to be able
Kimberly Beer:to stop that horse X number of times I need an arena that looks
Kimberly Beer:good, I need to have dirt that's going to fly, these are the
Kimberly Beer:things that I need to have, I need you in your show gear. So
Kimberly Beer:you're gonna have to outfit your horse the same as you would for
Kimberly Beer:a show. No jeans, no braided tails, you know, I need you to
Kimberly Beer:be like really on top of it. So I'm asking a lot of that model
Kimberly Beer:and giving it something back.
Cara Taylor Swift:That's 100% I think you can't just do a
Cara Taylor Swift:blanket model call. Like I just I personally have never been a
Cara Taylor Swift:big fan when people just say I just want to take pictures
Cara Taylor Swift:people like let me know, you know, if you want your picture
Cara Taylor Swift:taken, like you need to be super specific about what you need for
Cara Taylor Swift:your portfolio. So if you're trying to build the commercial
Cara Taylor Swift:side of your portfolio, you need to be working with small
Cara Taylor Swift:businesses and looking specifically for the types of
Cara Taylor Swift:products and services that you want to photograph. And that's
Cara Taylor Swift:who your model call needs to be targeted at. If you're trying to
Cara Taylor Swift:photograph a certain type of horse, a certain breed, or do a
Cara Taylor Swift:certain type of discipline, you need to be super specific about
Cara Taylor Swift:that. And that's going to help other you know, it's going to
Cara Taylor Swift:help you get what you need for your portfolio. It's going to
Cara Taylor Swift:help narrow down and make sure that you've got the right people
Cara Taylor Swift:and it's going to help other photographers in your area
Cara Taylor Swift:respect and understand what you're doing. I would add one
Cara Taylor Swift:more thing about that. Yeah, I mean, I've spoken about how you
Cara Taylor Swift:want your model sometimes to have skin in the game on the
Cara Taylor Swift:flip side of that there are times when I have paid models to
Cara Taylor Swift:get access to a particular breed of horse or a particular person
Cara Taylor Swift:that I really wanted to photograph. So I think as
Cara Taylor Swift:photographers, you have to balance what that is that you're
Cara Taylor Swift:looking for and where you are in your game of portfolio building.
Cara Taylor Swift:And horses, are property
Kimberly Beer:Exactly. Do make sure that you have your
Kimberly Beer:Horses are property. Well, I wanted to
Kimberly Beer:legalities taken care of though, when you're doing this, because
Kimberly Beer:there's nothing worse than getting into you know, go going
Kimberly Beer:and shooting and getting the exact shots you need for your
Kimberly Beer:change this conversation over unless you have something you
Kimberly Beer:portfolio. You use them for a little while, and then all of a
Kimberly Beer:sudden, the model comes back and says, hey, you're, you're doing
Kimberly Beer:really well after those shots you took of me, I need XYZ now.
Kimberly Beer:And you're like, yeah, there's model releases all over the
Kimberly Beer:internet. I mean, they're not hard to come by. So grab a
Kimberly Beer:model, release and familiarize yourself with the process of
Kimberly Beer:that. And I also encourage people to definitely get a check
Kimberly Beer:mark on a property release, especially if you're going to
Kimberly Beer:somebody else's facility to take those photos. I know I did that
Kimberly Beer:want to add here into how to use your portfolio because I think
Kimberly Beer:that's a place though to building the portfolio is like
Kimberly Beer:a lot. When I was building my portfolio, I was at nice
Kimberly Beer:the fun part for most people. They're all down for that let's
Kimberly Beer:facilities of famous people. And I needed to have some ability to
Kimberly Beer:be able to know I could use those images legally and without
Kimberly Beer:strings and horses, our property horses our property, well, I
Kimberly Beer:wanted to change this conversation over unless you
Kimberly Beer:have something you want to add here into how to use your
Kimberly Beer:portfolio because they think that's a place though to
Kimberly Beer:building the portfolio is like the fun part. For most people.
Kimberly Beer:They're all down for that let's let's build our portfolio. Let's
Kimberly Beer:let's build our portfolio. Let's go shoot. You know, people even
Kimberly Beer:go shoot, you know, people even kind of bite the bullet even if
Kimberly Beer:kind of bite the bullet even if they're shy about you know,
Kimberly Beer:they're shy about you know, finding people to photograph and
Kimberly Beer:finding people to photograph and that kind of stuff. But when it
Kimberly Beer:that kind of stuff. But when it comes to actually using your
Kimberly Beer:comes to actually using your portfolio, I see some feet
Kimberly Beer:portfolio, I see some feet dragon. Now we used to back in
Kimberly Beer:draggin'. Now we used to back in the day have printed portfolios,
Kimberly Beer:the day have printed portfolios, and I'm sitting over here
Kimberly Beer:and I'm sitting over here thinking I still have printed
Kimberly Beer:thinking I still have printed portfolios. I have several books
Kimberly Beer:portfolios. I have several books that I carry around with me when
Kimberly Beer:that I carry around with me when I am in a target rich
Kimberly Beer:I am in a target rich environment that people can just
Kimberly Beer:environment that people can just pick up and thumb through. And I
Kimberly Beer:pick up and thumb through. And I have to tell you, I have booked
Kimberly Beer:have to tell you, I have booked more jobs off of those
Kimberly Beer:more jobs off of those portfolios than I can count.
Kimberly Beer:portfolios than I can count. It's it's absolutely the best
Kimberly Beer:It's it's absolutely the best way to sell stuff. And it makes
Kimberly Beer:way to sell stuff. And it makes sure you curate your portfolio
Kimberly Beer:sure you curate your portfolio for the audience that you are
Kimberly Beer:for the audience that you are going to be showing that
Kimberly Beer:going to be showing that portfolio to I believe that was
Kimberly Beer:portfolio to I believe that was Phyllis, you had that piece of
Kimberly Beer:Phyllis, who had that piece of advice, which I also think is
Kimberly Beer:advice, which I also think is super important. So if you're
Kimberly Beer:super important. So if you're looking for commercial work,
Kimberly Beer:looking for commercial work, what you can do is you can take
Kimberly Beer:what you can do is you can take your digital portfolio, usually
Kimberly Beer:your digital portfolio, usually in the form of your website, or
Kimberly Beer:in the form of your website, or in the form of maybe a video
Kimberly Beer:in the form of maybe a video that you can send to people via
Kimberly Beer:that you can send to people via email or snail mail, if you're
Kimberly Beer:email or snail mail, if you're going to print it, send it to
Kimberly Beer:going to print it, send it to the people that you'd like to
Kimberly Beer:the people that you'd like to especially work for if you have
Kimberly Beer:especially work for. If you have shot some of their items for
Kimberly Beer:shot some of their items for that particular brand, either on
Kimberly Beer:that particular brand, either on purpose or by accident, and if
Kimberly Beer:purpose or by accident. And if you would like to look at maybe
Kimberly Beer:you would like to look at maybe doing some work for that
Kimberly Beer:doing some work for that organization or brand, then
Kimberly Beer:organization or brand, then definitely include that in the
Kimberly Beer:definitely include that in the portfolio, do your research on
Kimberly Beer:portfolio. Do your research on the brands that you're going to
Kimberly Beer:the brands that you're going to approach to see if you can work
Kimberly Beer:approach to see if you can work with them. You want to make sure
Kimberly Beer:with them. You want to make sure that you capture the look, the
Kimberly Beer:that you capture the look, the feel the emotion of that brand.
Kimberly Beer:feel the emotion of that brand. All of those things are really
Kimberly Beer:All of those things are really important to commercial
Kimberly Beer:important to commercial businesses. And it's important
Kimberly Beer:businesses. And it's important that they have photographers
Kimberly Beer:that they have photographers that they work with that
Kimberly Beer:that they work with that understand that and a lot of
Kimberly Beer:understand that and a lot of small businesses and a lot of
Kimberly Beer:small businesses and a lot of big ones for that matter, they
Kimberly Beer:big ones for that matter, they need commercial imagery. So if
Kimberly Beer:need commercial imagery. So if that's the place that you're
Kimberly Beer:that's the place that you're wanting to look for, to me, that
Kimberly Beer:wanting to look for, to me, that particular line of showing your
Kimberly Beer:particular line of showing your portfolio is the most curated
Kimberly Beer:portfolio is the most curated line that you're going to find
Kimberly Beer:line that you're going to find you're always going to choose
Kimberly Beer:you're always going to choose just exactly the most specific
Kimberly Beer:just exactly the most specific images to be able to show to
Kimberly Beer:images to be able to show to those potential clients. If you
Kimberly Beer:those potential clients. If you are wanting to work in the fine
Kimberly Beer:are wanting to work in the fine art world. You can take your
Kimberly Beer:art world. You can take your portfolio either digitally or
Kimberly Beer:portfolio either digitally or printed and you can approach
Kimberly Beer:printed and you can approach galleries about doing a show or
Kimberly Beer:galleries about doing a show or having some of your images
Kimberly Beer:having some of your images featured in their space. I've
Kimberly Beer:featured in their space. I've done this on a couple of
Kimberly Beer:done this on a couple of different occasions and had some
Kimberly Beer:different occasions and had some really nice luck with it. If you
Kimberly Beer:really nice luck with it. If you get to know the gallery pretty
Kimberly Beer:get to know the gallery pretty well a lot of galleries like the
Kimberly Beer:well a lot of galleries like the gallery where I have a small
Kimberly Beer:gallery where I have a small studio space in Kansas City they
Kimberly Beer:studio space in Kansas City they have member only shows several
Kimberly Beer:have member only shows several times a year that I will also
Kimberly Beer:times a year that I will also participate or hang other images
Kimberly Beer:participate or hang other images throughout their seasons in the
Kimberly Beer:throughout their seasons in the gallery and there's a lot of
Kimberly Beer:gallery and there's a lot of galleries in that little area
Kimberly Beer:galleries in that little area that I have approached about
Kimberly Beer:that I have approached about having my work displayed in so
Kimberly Beer:having my work displayed in so you can take your portfolio and
Kimberly Beer:you can take your portfolio and show it there. You can also
Kimberly Beer:show it there. You can also approach businesses about
Kimberly Beer:approach businesses about showing your images in their
Kimberly Beer:showing your images in their spaces. So I work with a lot of
Kimberly Beer:spaces. So I work with a lot of visual artists other than
Kimberly Beer:visual artists other than photographers in helping them
Kimberly Beer:photographers in helping them market and I've not seen a
Kimberly Beer:market and I've not seen a photographer do this personally.
Kimberly Beer:photographer do this personally. I know there are some that have,
Kimberly Beer:I know there are some that have that I have seen a lot of my
Kimberly Beer:but I have seen a lot of my visual artists that I coach and
Kimberly Beer:visual artists that I coach and work with and mentor that have
Kimberly Beer:work with and mentor that have approached restaurants and
Kimberly Beer:approached restaurants and offered to hang their work in
Kimberly Beer:offered to hang their work in that restaurant or coffee shops,
Kimberly Beer:that restaurant or coffee shops, I've had a couple they've been
Kimberly Beer:I've had a couple they've been very successful with coffee
Kimberly Beer:very successful with coffee shops or even corporate
Kimberly Beer:shops or even corporate businesses. Now I've had a lot
Kimberly Beer:businesses. Now I've had a lot of my work is displayed in
Kimberly Beer:of my work is displayed in corporate offices, but they've
Kimberly Beer:corporate offices, but they've purchased it through different
Kimberly Beer:purchased it through different channels than me showing up with
Kimberly Beer:channels than me showing up with a portfolio, there's always an
Kimberly Beer:a portfolio. There's always an opportunity to get your art out
Kimberly Beer:opportunity to get your art out in places. And that becomes a
Kimberly Beer:in places. And that becomes a living portfolio for you as well
Kimberly Beer:living portfolio for you as well because whoever is coming in and
Kimberly Beer:because whoever is coming in and out of that space is also seeing
Kimberly Beer:out of that space is also seeing your work, whether it's in the
Kimberly Beer:your work, whether it's in the gallery or the restaurant or the
Kimberly Beer:gallery or the restaurant or the coffee shop or the corporate
Kimberly Beer:coffee shop or the corporate building. If you're looking to
Kimberly Beer:building. If you're looking to do a portrait or private work
Kimberly Beer:do a portrait or private work taking your portfolio and
Kimberly Beer:taking your portfolio and printed form, or on a tablet to
Kimberly Beer:printed form, or on a tablet to a booth or a table at local
Kimberly Beer:a booth or a table at local events where your ideal client
Kimberly Beer:events where your ideal client will be like my new friend that
Kimberly Beer:will be like my new friend that I met at central exchange, she
Kimberly Beer:I met at Central Exchange, she had a booth right next to mine,
Kimberly Beer:had a booth right next to mine, she had it done up really nice.
Kimberly Beer:she had it done up really nice. She had her portraits, her
Kimberly Beer:She had her portraits, her portfolio stuff all laid out all
Kimberly Beer:portfolio stuff all laid out all over the table, and she had a
Kimberly Beer:over the table, and she had a couple of really fun doors. She
Kimberly Beer:couple of really fun doors. She does a lot of her headshots with
Kimberly Beer:does a lot of her headshots with doors in the background. And so
Kimberly Beer:doors in the background. And so they had some really colorful
Kimberly Beer:they had some really colorful doors there. And it really drew
Kimberly Beer:doors there. And it really drew people over to the booth, I
Kimberly Beer:people over to the booth, I thought she did an outstanding
Kimberly Beer:thought she did an outstanding job. And another thing I thought
Kimberly Beer:job. And another thing I thought she did really, really well was
Kimberly Beer:she did really, really well was a printed piece, which I'm going
Kimberly Beer:a printed piece, which I'm going to show Phyllis and Kara, where
Kimberly Beer:to show Phyllis and Cara, where she does high end senior
Kimberly Beer:she's does high end senior portraits. It's like a lookbook.
Kimberly Beer:portraits. It's like a lookbook. It's like a lookbook. It's a
Kimberly Beer:It's like a lookbook. It's a little portfolio of her work. It
Kimberly Beer:little portfolio of her work. It features local kids that people
Kimberly Beer:features local kids that people are going to recognize it has
Kimberly Beer:are going to recognize it has suggestions about how to book
Kimberly Beer:suggestions about how to book your senior sessions, and about
Kimberly Beer:your senior sessions, and about what to expect and little fun
Kimberly Beer:what to expect and little fun sayings that are very
Kimberly Beer:sayings that are very appropriate to the current
Kimberly Beer:appropriate to the current generation that's out there. And
Kimberly Beer:generation that's out there. And all of her photos are mixed in
Kimberly Beer:all of her photos are mixed in with it. So it just makes it
Kimberly Beer:with it. So it just makes it really easy for her to be able
Kimberly Beer:really easy for her to be able to hand what I call a walk and
Kimberly Beer:to hand what I call a walk and talk piece. You can talk with
Kimberly Beer:talk piece. You can talk with people and then people walk away
Kimberly Beer:people and then people walk away with it. And it's printed on
Kimberly Beer:with it. And it's printed on some really fun to feel paper.
Kimberly Beer:some really fun to feel paper. It's too bad you guys can't feel
Kimberly Beer:It's too bad. You guys can't feel it. It's very fun to feel
Kimberly Beer:it. It's very fun to feel paper. So you actually really like
Kimberly Beer:paper. So you actually really like touching it. So it's just a
Kimberly Beer:touching it. So it's just a really nice way to be able to
Kimberly Beer:really nice way to be able to display the portfolio of her
Kimberly Beer:display the portfolio of her work. And I can tell you she's
Kimberly Beer:work. And I can tell you she's very talented. If I had a senior
Kimberly Beer:very talented. If I had a senior I would definitely hire her to
Kimberly Beer:I would definitely hire her to shoot my senior.
Kimberly Beer:shoot my senior.
Cara Taylor Swift:I was just sitting here thinking I'd slap a
Cara Taylor Swift:QR code on that and make it a digital lookbook so people can
Cara Taylor Swift:take pictures of it and pop it onto their phones.
Kimberly Beer:Yep, well actually they picked up the
Kimberly Beer:Cowgirls
Cara Taylor Swift:I'm very QR Cody right now
Kimberly Beer:You are but they picked up so I took our stuff
Kimberly Beer:over to their booth and handed her our stuff because I'm like,
Kimberly Beer:you never know when a photographer I did the same
Kimberly Beer:thing at a horse expo, there was an equine photographer had a
Kimberly Beer:booth at the horse expo, and I went over and introduce myself
Kimberly Beer:and said I was Cowgirls with Cameras. But anyway, the lady I
Kimberly Beer:met her name is Rye, by the way. And she's a photographer in
Kimberly Beer:Stillwell Kansas. When I handed her our card her husband
Kimberly Beer:immediately saw the QR code and was like, oh, how do you get
Kimberly Beer:these I need to put them on there. So Cara, they're already,
Kimberly Beer:already on to the next step.
Cara Taylor Swift:They're on it. They beat me to it.
Phyllis Burchett:Cara has turned me on to the QR code.
Phyllis Burchett:I've already created mine in canva, so
Cara Taylor Swift:I know between my QR codes and my
Cara Taylor Swift:digital business card. I'm having people scan me all day
Cara Taylor Swift:long. Scan me baby scan me.
Phyllis Burchett:Yeah, that's all about staying current and
Phyllis Burchett:modern. Right?
Kimberly Beer:Well, I think that trips us over into another
Kimberly Beer:topic that we wanted to bring you guys today. And that is our
Kimberly Beer:gadgets, gear, and software section of the show where we
Kimberly Beer:want to talk to you today about alternative input devices when
Kimberly Beer:you're working on your computer. And I know that sounds really
Kimberly Beer:fancy and fun, but basically it means a Wacom tablet and both
Kimberly Beer:Phyllis and Cara have Wacom tablets, I have one as well. But
Kimberly Beer:I'm going to reserve my comments for the end because I want to
Kimberly Beer:talk about some of the things that I've been up to with a
Kimberly Beer:tablet of a different color.
Cara Taylor Swift:Well I'm new to Wacom tablets so I've been
Cara Taylor Swift:only using mine now for about three months and it has been
Cara Taylor Swift:touch and go literally the whole time and I have enjoyed it and I
Cara Taylor Swift:do use it I would say 80% of the time for my editing now because
Cara Taylor Swift:I'm getting more and more used to it. I still think there's
Cara Taylor Swift:some kinks I have to work out in like my pressure sensitivities
Cara Taylor Swift:and and stuff like that. But I really do love how detailed I
Cara Taylor Swift:can be with stuff. So Phyllis, I know you've been using a Wacom
Cara Taylor Swift:tablet for a very long time. Can you talk more about it?
Phyllis Burchett:Well, my current Wacom tablet is pretty
Phyllis Burchett:old but it's very similar to the one that I did a little research
Phyllis Burchett:on just finding out what the latest and greatest is is just
Phyllis Burchett:the Wacom Intuos Pro mine is a Wacom Intuos mine's pretty
Phyllis Burchett:similar to the new one because it does give really accurate
Phyllis Burchett:results. It has a lot of customizable buttons on it. It's
Phyllis Burchett:perfect for Photoshop. I really don't have anything negative to
Phyllis Burchett:say about this particular Wacom tablet. It is a little pricey.
Phyllis Burchett:It's about I think it's a little over $400 It does take time to
Phyllis Burchett:get used to I think you have to give yourself two to four weeks
Phyllis Burchett:to really dive into it.
Cara Taylor Swift:They say you have to put your mouse
Cara Taylor Swift:completely away, like just get rid of your computer mouse and
Cara Taylor Swift:use nothing but your your pen or what do they call it a stylus or
Cara Taylor Swift:something, use nothing but your pen, I call it the pen
Cara Taylor Swift:That's the one I have
Phyllis Burchett:That would probably be helpful. I have both
Phyllis Burchett:my mouse and my Wacom tablet sitting here. So I use both but
Phyllis Burchett:I don't do a lot of meticulous work like I used to. When I used
Phyllis Burchett:Is that the one you have? Yeah, it's about
Phyllis Burchett:to do a lot of background replacements and stuff like
Phyllis Burchett:that. I don't do as much of that anymore. Like I used to, gosh, I
Phyllis Burchett:don't think I could have lived without it back when I was doing
Phyllis Burchett:a lot of that. I mean, you can you can you can do it with a
Phyllis Burchett:it's only about $150 or something like that. It's great
Phyllis Burchett:mouse. But it just makes things so much easier and so much
Phyllis Burchett:faster to have the tablet there is a Wacom Intuos medium, it's
Phyllis Burchett:it's smaller, it's about
Phyllis Burchett:for beginners, I highly suggest that if you find that you're
Phyllis Burchett:really loving the one you have Cara you may end up wanting to
Phyllis Burchett:step up to a more expensive one, just because it it will give you
Phyllis Burchett:more sensitivity. And I think you'd really like it. And I
Phyllis Burchett:think being able to customize it is a big plus too. I think the
Phyllis Burchett:less expensive one use, there are some customizable buttons in
Phyllis Burchett:it. I'm not sure I've never seen it before. But you could talk
Phyllis Burchett:more about that than I could. I think if you would like to do
Phyllis Burchett:photoshop work and you're into doing that and you love doing
Phyllis Burchett:some editing and being creative that I highly suggest you get a
Phyllis Burchett:Wacom tablet.
Cara Taylor Swift:Yeah, I have found when I'm doing things like
Cara Taylor Swift:cloning, or trying to if there's like an edge, say like around a
Cara Taylor Swift:horse, and there's a fence I'm trying to get rid of, and it
Cara Taylor Swift:edges right up to the side of the horse that I can make such a
Cara Taylor Swift:cleaner line and it's it seems to flow so much easier with my
Cara Taylor Swift:Wacom tablet than it does using the mouse. And that's probably
Cara Taylor Swift:been one of the biggest features that I've enjoyed from it so far
Cara Taylor Swift:is the detail work seems less clunky than it did with the
Cara Taylor Swift:mouse.
Phyllis Burchett:Yeah, definitely, if you're doing a
Phyllis Burchett:lot of fine detail work, I highly, I highly suggest you get
Phyllis Burchett:a tablet
Kimberly Beer:about it that if you tried a tablet years ago,
Kimberly Beer:and you decided it wasn't for you, you need to try it again.
Kimberly Beer:Because Photoshop has made amazing strides in being able to
Kimberly Beer:offer pressure sensitivity to their brushes, and to all of the
Kimberly Beer:tools that has gotten better as well. So it's not just that the
Kimberly Beer:tablets have improved some but the software that you're using
Kimberly Beer:has dramatically changed. Even in the last 24 months, it has
Kimberly Beer:made big strides in being able to make that pressure
Kimberly Beer:sensitivity a real key attribute in how you can utilize it inside
Kimberly Beer:of the software on your images. And so much of Photoshop and all
Kimberly Beer:of the tools that we use really, that are digital that will take
Kimberly Beer:advantage of a Wacom tablet, they really have all come a
Kimberly Beer:really long way. All of that said, I chose to go with a
Kimberly Beer:different type of a system where I use my iPad Pro. And it's the
Kimberly Beer:same concept, you're still using a stylus and you're still
Kimberly Beer:utilizing that versus a mouse for your input to be able to
Kimberly Beer:alter the image. And I absolutely love doing my editing
Kimberly Beer:on my iPad Pro. Now, if you have an iPad, and you want to dabble
Kimberly Beer:to say with this pressure sensitivity would a tablet
Kimberly Beer:actually work for me and you do have an iPad at your disposal,
Kimberly Beer:there is a software that you can download. It's not very
Kimberly Beer:expensive. I think it's like $20 it's actually available for
Kimberly Beer:Windows tablets as well. It's called Duet, D-U-E-T, like a
Kimberly Beer:duet in music. And it will let you use your tablet, your iPad
Kimberly Beer:tablet, as an input device. So you can kind of experiment with
Kimberly Beer:it. You can utilize your Apple pencil if you have one if you
Kimberly Beer:have an Apple device and be able to use it as a pressure
Kimberly Beer:sensitive input device to edit your photos with so that's a
Kimberly Beer:another opportunity if you if you want to dabble in this and
Kimberly Beer:you're not quite sure you want to invest in a dedicated tablet.
Kimberly Beer:It certainly is a way for you to experiment and to try some new
Kimberly Beer:stuff.
Cara Taylor Swift:I love that there's so many more people I've
Cara Taylor Swift:seen doing edits on their iPads, if it's not something that
Cara Taylor Swift:they're doing, maybe they just need to do quick edits, that
Cara Taylor Swift:they're using their iPad a lot. And so to know that there's that
Cara Taylor Swift:option. That's a pretty cool feature. I think a lot more
Cara Taylor Swift:people probably have iPads already, especially with some of
Cara Taylor Swift:the newer ones that are coming out. So that's fun idea.
Kimberly Beer:Yeah. Someday we'll have to just chat all
Kimberly Beer:about my iPad work.
Cara Taylor Swift:Yeah, no kidding. There's probably some
Cara Taylor Swift:people that'd be interested.
Kimberly Beer:It took me a year. I spent last year figuring
Kimberly Beer:it out. I was, yeah, I was throwing things it was it was
Kimberly Beer:ugly for a minute but now I love it and don't want to ever go
Kimberly Beer:back.
Phyllis Burchett:I remember those days
Cara Taylor Swift:I know, I kind of remember those days too.
Cara Taylor Swift:Well, I think that what we wanted to do here was just to
Cara Taylor Swift:throw out another idea give you our take on using a tablet for
Cara Taylor Swift:your editing. So if you guys have given it a try and you love
Cara Taylor Swift:it, let us know, we definitely want to know more. Should we
Cara Taylor Swift:move on to our final segment the challenge?
Kimberly Beer:Yeah, Cara, why don't you issue the challenge
Kimberly Beer:this episode,
Cara Taylor Swift:Since I'm the one that came up with this
Cara Taylor Swift:challenge, I'll chat a little bit about it. I thought maybe
Cara Taylor Swift:that for this time period, we could do a challenge on creative
Cara Taylor Swift:framing. So framing refers to using elements of a scene to
Cara Taylor Swift:create a frame within your frame. And I love that because
Cara Taylor Swift:I'm a big goof for looking for foregrounds looking for frames
Cara Taylor Swift:all over the place to frame my subjects in. So a great example
Cara Taylor Swift:might be that you shoot your subject through a barn door or
Cara Taylor Swift:over branches or fences or on a trail or you look for arches and
Cara Taylor Swift:buildings, some things are really highlight the focus of
Cara Taylor Swift:your subject as the focus. So with this composition, you can
Cara Taylor Swift:really create depth in a photo and make it a little more
Cara Taylor Swift:interesting. So we would love to see your creative framing. If
Cara Taylor Swift:you've done some creative framing, share it with us. If
Cara Taylor Swift:you haven't done some creative framing and you want to get out
Cara Taylor Swift:and give it a try. This is a great time to do it. Share with
Cara Taylor Swift:us online at #CWCPhotoChallenge. And our goal is that if you tag
Cara Taylor Swift:us, we're going to try to share it. We would love to share it
Cara Taylor Swift:and get some folks to see your work out there.
Phyllis Burchett:I think that's a great challenge for the week.
Phyllis Burchett:I like that.
Kimberly Beer:It is a fun challenge.
Phyllis Burchett:I think we all love framing. That's always
Phyllis Burchett:cool.
Cara Taylor Swift:That is a fun challenge. Alright, so that
Cara Taylor Swift:wraps us up for the week. You guys. It's been awesome. If you
Cara Taylor Swift:haven't checked us out online, we are on Instagram and Facebook
Cara Taylor Swift:at Cowgirls with Cameras. You can also go to our website and
Cara Taylor Swift:see some of our upcoming events. Did you two want to give a plug
Cara Taylor Swift:for any events you have coming up that you are looking to fill?
Phyllis Burchett:We still have some space left in the Art of
Phyllis Burchett:the Cowgirl summer event that we're holding in Big Timber
Phyllis Burchett:Montana at the end of August. And then we also have I think a
Phyllis Burchett:couple of spaces left for the Cottonwood Ranch.
Cara Taylor Swift:That's right, we sure do. Go check those out
Cara Taylor Swift:online. I think that's it for us. So I hope everybody has a
Cara Taylor Swift:great couple of weeks of shooting and we'll be back in a
Cara Taylor Swift:couple weeks.
Jaz:Thanks for listening to this episode of Cowgirls with
Jaz:Cameras. Don't let the laughter and learning stop here. Join our
Jaz:community on social media. And be sure to visit our website for
Jaz:more opportunities to fulfill your photography goals head to
Jaz:cowgirlswithcameras.com. That's cowgirlswithcameras.com See you