One of the subjects we covered in Monday’s workshop were the pre and post wedding shoots. Now I do know that some photographers seem to think that they invented this additional service however I must disappoint and say that many studio have been offering this add on since the early 80’s and possibly before. Its like the wheel, its been done before, will be done again all you have to do is throw a new twist on it and that will reinvent it again.  Pre wedding, or engagement, or E Sessions were originally simple, studio based sessions that produced a nice portrait as gifts for the immediate family in celebration of the engagement. This, over the years, became an opportunity to work with your wedding clients before the wedding giving you time to get to know the couple and to see how they worked in front of the camera. You could give them tips and pointers for the day, show them how to relax and pose etc. In the 90-‘s we used images from the engagement session for our Romantica Signature Mounts which we then took to weddings for guests to sign. Now these pre wedding sessions are becoming an integral part of any wedding photographers service either as an additional service or as a inclusive part of the wedding package. Now, taking this a stage further we can offer the Wedding Book through suppliers like Loxley. 10×10 custom designed books, image of the couple on the cover, date and wedding info on the inside followed by several pages, some lined for signatures and some left blank for drawings, poems etc. In addition why not add additional images of the couple at random staged throughout the book, some full page some half page some even positioned randomly on the page. On the back of the book have your studio name and contact details discretely but obviously positioned. All wedding photographers should take advantage of modern technology to add value to their wedding packages and profit to their business.

Then we have the post wedding session but we will leave that topic until tomorrow.

Delighted to hear that our talk on the 6^th of July for the London Portrait Group is sold out. Faye and I are very much looking forward to our return visit.

Today’s image is a sample cover for The Wedding Book. Taken way back in 1987 on a Hasselblad with a 150mm lens on T Max 100 and used as the cover shot for a magazine.

We have had so many emails and posts on Facebook about our Monday workshop in Wessex that I thought I would post just a few of them here. Thank you to all who took the time to write to us with such kind and generous comments.  If you would like to discuss our speaking in your region please contact us.

I just wanted to say thank you soooooooo much for yesterday, it was great!  Thank you again for all the information you shared with us I have a least 10 things on my list that I am going to implement for my business within the next month or so.
Hope to see you guys in the near future.
Kindest Regards

E

Hi Trevor & Faye,

Just a quick note to say how much I enjoyed your seminar yesterday, I am sure we all learned a great deal from you both.
Thank you so much for being so generous with your time and knowledge.
Hopefully we will meet again.
Kindest regards,

C

Hello Faye and Trevor,

Firstly a very big thank you from me here at XYZ in Salisbury.  I was at your Wessex branch shindig on Monday and believe that I have come away with an awful lot – the main thing being that I should actually do what I preach… more exactly what you preach in fact!  25 years I have been doing photography and have been telling myself to put things into action.  Now it is time and I thank you both for kicking me up the rear aperture of my camera… asante sana.

I have attached a couple of shots which I took on the day and wondered if you could comment on at least one of them.  It would be great to hear what you think of my effort and whether you have any criticism at all.  I know you are very busy indeed and that probably you get this from every manjack (or should that be womanjackie) lucky enough to have watched you work so understand that you may not be willing to micro-critic.  Either way many thanks indeed and trust that we meet up one day sooner or later; if you are ever in Salisbury… karibuni.

Regards,
reflectorholic
A

Thanks so much for such an inspirational and fun day in a train shed – gives a whole new meaning to ‘training’ days! you are incredibly generous in sharing your knowledge and your passion…

Thank you both Trevor and Faye, a truly inspirational day. You both worked extremely hard producing classic, timeless work.

Some photographers and trainers just have it. Unique.

Enjoy your romantic evening together.

Xx

thanks so much for such an inspirational and fun day in a train shed – gives a whole new meaning to ‘training’ days! you are incredibly generous in sharing your knowledge and your passion…

We are now in the final stages of designing our Studio Mentoring Programme. We will be offering One to One sessions, small Group Mentoring sessions and Tele Mentoring. Of course the One to One courses will take place here @ Claremont which is situated 25 minutes from Edinburgh city center,, 10 minutes from Edinburgh International Airport, 2 minutes from J4 of the M8 Edinburgh – Glasgow motorway and 10 minutes by taxi from our local train station which connects directly with Edinburgh mainline station. Small Group mentoring can be held anywhere but travel and accommodation will be in addition to the fee. These boutique workshops will be limited to 4 delegates. Tele Mentoring can take place by landline or Skype and will be in units of 30 minutes. Each Tele Mentoring session will be followed up with an email highlighting all the areas discussed. In addition we will have a new blogsite which will be devoted to our Studio Mentoring while our images and general work will remain on the YerburyStudio.com site. A new site for our Art Nudes will be online towards the end of the summer.

Our Mentoring is all about giving constructive advice and guidance to professional photographers working in the social market. We are not a high volume training business we simple want to pass on our creative and business knowledge to a small number of photographers who are dedicated to achieving the most from their business.  We care deeply about our work and have a driving passion for passing on our knowledge.

Today’s image is from a portrait session with 2 sisters from a couple of weeks ago. Our usual, simple but effective lighting, and captured on my D700 with 85mm prime, 200 iso and 125th @ f7.1

Tuesday’s Bridal Boudoir workshop was a great success. Our 10 delegates listened to us talking about the business side of Boudoir, marketing, promotion , sales etc. followed by a practial demonstration with our 2 excellent models for the day, Holly and Anita. We worked initially with the wonderful daylight that is all around Maunsel House and while Faye was demonstrating her ‘dress dropping’ technique I took the opportunity to set up our favourite Bowens 500 Gemini head fitted with our favourite Fresnel spotlight, next door in the dining room. Here we demonstrated the various effects that the Fresnel spotlight can help photographers to achieve especially our favourite 1930’s film noir look. After lunch we split into 2 groups Faye going to the King’s bedroom while I set up 2 Quantum head’s  one fitted with a softbox and the other a reflector with coloured gel fitted. This was simply to show our delegates how to add a fashion style image to the Bridal Boudoir Collection and so adding additional sales opportunities to the studio. After we had accomplished this we moved into the main front facing, bedroom which I knew from past experienced offered the most wonderful soft, romantic daylight. Here we worked to both classic boudoir poses mixed in with a few ‘different’ images and the miniatures that all help to add variety to a Boudoir Collection Book. Faye worked in the King’s bedroom where the choice of backgrounds is any photographers dream. Our 2 groups swapped so every delegate had the opportunity to shoot with both models in very different environments. During each of these sessions our delegates worked one to one with each of the models so ensuring they had their own unique images. After the break we returned to the main ballroom where Faye did a short demonstration on how we process our images and, more importantly, how she use the liquify tool to such great effect.

So another BOUDOIR ACADEMY workshop came to an end, our delegates had a excellent day and left with some superb images to use on their websites and in their marketing material. Our models were, as always quite outstanding and again Faye and I thank them for all of their help throughout the day. Thank you to all of our sponsors, LOXLEY, BOWENS, AsukaBooks,  KUBOTA and TotallyRad.

The October BOUDOIR ACADEMY workshop in Guilford is sold out but we are now investigating a venue in either Manchester or Birmingham also in October. Details soon. Here are a few of our images from the day.

We received these wonderful emails this morning from Kate and Lisa, two of our delegates on Tuesday.

Dear Trevor and Faye, I wanted to say at once how much I enjoyed the course yesterday and what a lot I got out of it. Your expertise and instruction was given so generously and in a way I found easy to absorb and truly inspiring.
You managed to control the groups so that all of us had a chance to shoot the models from the best position unlike some other courses where I have been/and seen others elbowed out by the most selfish participants, and unable to gain the maximum benefit of seeing the angles that can provide the most satisfying shots.
I fully intend to act on the brilliant ideas you gave us and hope to be able to come to another of your courses and show you what I have achieved purely from your course yesterday.
Thank you again and very best wishes
Kate

Hi Trevor & Faye,
Pleased to hear you got home safe and sound with no hitches.
I’m sure I’m about to repeat everything that my colleagues from the course have already said, however I just wanted to thankyou both so much for a really enjoyable course on Tuesday at Maunsel House.  Yet again you made it relaxed, informative, and incredibly encouraging, instilling confidence and leaving me with an “I can do’ and ‘I will do’ attitude.
I’m not the most confident of individuals when it comes to my photography,  but working with you both I’m never left feeling embarrassed or out of my depth by my lack of technical knowledge or ability,  it’s both refreshing and appreciated.
Once I get a chance to process the images I’ll send a few through – any feedback good or bad, always welcome!
Thankyou both again, you do an amazing job and are an inspiration.
Best wishes,
Lisa

When I posted an image on Facebook about the above workshop which will take place on Monday the 21st of June we received some wonderful comments some of which I have taken to liberty of posting below:

“It is very rare that i see a Yerbury image which doesn’t make me wish I had taken it. In an oversaturated market place of mediocre photography,  there are very few photographers whose portraiture contains such timeless energy and elegance.
What a great opportunity.”  Bella West

“what an absolutely gorgeous image”  Chris Hanley

We have spent the past 3 days working in the garden. The only sounds being the birds, waterfall, Classic FM and the occasional aircraft, sheer bliss though very hard work. Filling 18 hanging baskets was only the start but we can now settle back and look forward to a wonderful and colourful  summer although we do have a couple of large trees to remove but’s that all for another weekend! What these past few days has allowed is some quiet thinking time which was very welcome. Time to consider all the requests for workshops here in the UK, Europe and  America and the increasing number of photographers looking for mentoring in a wide variety of area but all relating to becoming and maintaining a successful wedding and portrait business in difficult times. As you may have noticed we have posted some business ideas in previous posts but mostly the site has been about our general work, Art Nude, Boudoir and seminars. We already have a new website in design that will host all of our Art Nude work, our seminars and Limited Edition images for sale and that will launch some time in the next couple of months. So it was while I was planting a bed of ’snow in summer’ I came up with the idea of a site that would just be devoted to our musings on the business and practical side of modern social photography. Not just how to take pretty pictures, not just how to use a reflector or how to pose a child but the mechanics behind a successful business. The Marketing and Promotions, the PR and Presentation, the Sales and Products all contribute, along with quality portraiture, to running a successful business whether it’s home or high street based. So for all of you who have been emailing us about mentoring you have been listened to and our ideas are being formulated, however it will come with a cost, a reasonable cost but then knowledge and experience do count for something. It may take a couple of months to see the best way to offer this service but it will happen some time this summer. Please be patient but we will be offering group mentoring, one to one mentoring, tele mentoring and email mentoring so no matter where you live in the UK we can offer you help and our advice. We are also looking to host mentoring clinics around the UK for a small groups of selected studios where we can have face to face meetings and brain storming sessions with studio owners. If you would like to receive advance notice of this new project please drop me an email to trevor@yerburystudio.com

Today’s image is from a recent studio session. Simple, classic lighting.

We are delighted to have been invited to host a Wedding Workshop for the members of the above region. The day will be split into 2 sections, the first being by far the most important  ‘BE THE DIFFERENCE’ will be all about setting yourself apart from the competition and create an individual identity in this vastly, and increasingly over saturated market. In the afternoon we will demonstrate how we work with brides to create our images. Delegates are welcome to take record shots from the side from where either Faye or myself are shooting  but the is not a delegate shooting workshop more a watch and learn! You must attend both parts of the day as the morning session is about building your business and reputation, we can all take pictures its how we sell our service to the bride and groom which is where many photographers need help implementing a proper business strategy with targeted aims.

Sunday we hosted another of our highly successful Boutique Boudoir Academy workshops here @ Claremont. Our normal number of 4 delegates was regrettably due to family illness reduced to 3 however that only meant more shooting time for everybody. Our model for the day was the beautiful Aicha, one of our brides from 3 years ago and who had a Boudoir Book done for her husband obviously an ideal subject for our delegates. The first part of the day was spent looking at the business part of running a successful Boudoir Business and as always we have test marketed all of the marketing and promotional ideas that we suggest so that way we know what did and did not work for us. Our first promotion produced over 380 leads of which we converted in to over 80 paying sessions! If you want more information then you will have to come on a workshop, sorry. After a couple of hours devoted to the business of boudoir we met up with Faye and Aicha to start the first of several location shoots both in and around our home and into the studio in the afternoon. We always begin, as we would with a client, with simple daylight shots usually in a man’s shirt before we progress to the lingerie part of the session and after a wonderful lunch we moved into the studio where we demonstrated the various light modifiers that we use on Boudoir sessions. The standard soft box, Bowens Beauty Dish and of course our favourite the Bowens Fresnel spotlight. As always Aicha was a star, very patient and understanding with our delegates and I am sure they all left with some stunning images. All our images were shot on Nikon D700 & D300 and post processed with Kubota DASHBOARD.

We have managed to post process a few of our images from yesterday and first we have an image of mine from the very start of the day, husbands white shirt and beautiful soft window light makes for a gentle start to any Boudoir session.

Then we moved into one of our bedroom where Faye captured this very sensual image of Aicha again light by windowlight and a small reflector as a fill.

The it was on to another of our bedrooms where Faye got this very sexy and provocative image of Aicha. This image was lit with only window light.

During the shoot I always remind delegates to never forget the ‘detail images’ from the session and Faye’s example of the legs and shoe shot is a prefect example. What lady does not love her Jimmy Choos?

And finally for today an image of mine after we had moved into the studio after lunch. Scatter cushions on top of a bed spread give a Boudoir feel to the images and light with my favourite Bowens head and softbox.

Of all our studio styles the one that retains its popularity year in year out are our classic Black and White Signature Portraits. They still make up to 60% of all our sessions and despite the ‘white’ wrap round so popular with many photographers our clients still love our distinct and different approach to the portrait market. In other words we set the trends and don’t follow like sheep. Its all about a personal style or even a studio style, many photographers tell us they can spot a ‘Yerbury’ portrait a mile away because of the strong classic element that has a timeless quality unlike some of today’s portraiture which, though fashionable, is, like fashion offering clients a product of a limited lifespan. Regrettably in this day and age many photographers are failing to find a personal style preferring instead to latch onto the style and technique of others. If you have no personal style then you will always struggle to achieve success so you will always find us reinforcing this during our workshops where we ask delegates not to go away and copy our style, or indeed any other successful photographers style, instead take what we do, what others do and go away inspired to develop a unique style that you can be proud to call your own. You want your clients to look at your work as unique to you and not available anywhere else. As I always say, whatever other photographers are doing in your own vicinity don’t make any attempt to copy them or undercut their fees but simply run at 100 miles an hour in the opposite direction.

Today’s image is from a recent Yerbury Signature Portrait Session and we will be running a workshop in July here at Claremont, limited to 4 delegates, on classic posing, studio lighting and how we present our Signature images.

Now for a few images from last Sunday’s Boudoir workshop held here at Claremont. 4 wonderful and enthusiastic delegates and at last an opportunity to work with Rebecca Amy who we had the pleasure of meeting at the SWPP Convention back in January.This is one of my images from the day shot in the studio with a Bowens 400 head and softbox.