It's Been A While | Truthy Tuesday

*peeks in* 

Heyy loves! I know, I know, I’ve been majorly absent with blogging, but I’m here today to try and make up for that :) I guess you can consider this a late Truthy Tuesday post, but I just wanted to say hello!

I’ve been somewhat MIA these days because things have been beyond busy over here! The first quarter of 2014 has been the busiest EVER since officially beginning business back in 2009! That is great of course, but quite honestly, I don’t think I was ready for it :( I am still struggling with procrastination and time management (THIS article and THIS book have been very helpful in that regard) but I just… I know that change doesn’t happen overnight so I’m trying to honor my small victories along the way and not get too down on myself that I don’t see immediate change. To say I’m experiencing growing pains would definitely be an understatement.

But I don’t want this post to be a pity party. That’s not it at all! I am BEYOND thankful to even be faced with these “problems” and wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you beautiful people! There’s not a day that I’m not thankful that I’m able to do what I love for a living… but I don’t want to romanticize the reality of owning and operating your own business. I thoroughly love what I do, but it is still WORK. A lot of it. As mentioned before, when you’re a small business owner, you wear many hats- especially early on, when you can’t afford to outsource-  yet you only have 24 hours in a day.

It isn’t always smooth sailing. Honestly I don’t even want it to seem that way because that’s not realistic… and I would hate for someone to aspire to do what I do without actually knowing just what’s involved. So hopefully I can get back on track with my Truthy Tuesday posts and begin sharing the details of how I’m working through my procrastination/ productivity issues and some of the behind the scenes things that are dealt with as a small business owner. 

I just want to say thank you again guys for hanging in there and riding this crazy ride with me :) 

‘Til next time,

-Danni

P.S. Yes! I’m finally at that point… I need an assistant. This is crazy for me because apparently I like to do everything lol. But those 24 hours aren’t allowing me to do so anymore and having help is always a good thing :) I will post an official listing soon, so please keep an eye out for it if that’s something you’d be interested in.

Giveaway | Branding Workshop Seat! [CLOSED]

UPDATE 2/6: Bree Thomas @bananaboatbreezy of @noellethomasphoto is our winner of the free seat!

I was moved by her heartfelt entry and feel that she is definitely deserving of the free seat to my workshop! You guys all rock because I had so many great entries so thank you to everyone who participated!!

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Happy Wednesday lovelies!

Fresh off of Monday’s big news, I’m back with something exciting to share with you guys- a brand new giveaway!

I want to give away one of the few remaining seats to the Branding Workshop!!!

From now until February 5, you have a chance to win a FREE seat to the Branding Workshop! That’s ONE WEEK! The winner will be announced on February 6.

Entries will only be accepted via email.

Nominations are accepted as well! So if you know someone who would like to attend this workshop, you can email me sharing why they deserve to win the free seat with a link to their website.

If you’ve already secured your seat for the class, you ARE eligible to enter as well! If you are selected, your payment will be refunded.

I think that’s it, but if you have any questions, please leave a comment below and I will respond as I’m sure others may have the same question(s) as well :)

Thank you again guys for all of your support! 

Have a great Wednesday!

-Danni

EXCITING NEW FEATURES + Limited Spring Availability

Happy Monday!!

I am super duper excited about this news today you guys!

NEW Blog Features!!

You see those shiny new buttons over there to the right??

—————————————————->

They lead you to BRAND NEW PAGES!!

BEFORE & AFTERS
I’ve been asked quite a few times about showing before & after images of my photos, so now I’ve added that as a permanent feature to the blog! That way both clients and photographers alike can see exactly what I do to get my images to look the way they do :)

FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS
This will eventually be a separate site, but for now, all information regarding mentoring and upcoming workshops will be housed here!

Super pumped about this becauseeeee…. I’m now offering GROUP MENTORING!!

GET EXCITED!!! Lol

One-on-one mentor sessions are still very much available, but I will also now be offering group mentor sessions! 

Group mentor session dates for early 2014 are as follows:

Little Rock, AR
February 3

Charlotte, NC
May 16

Washington, DC
May 24

Atlanta, GA
June 7

If you are interested in participating, please email me ASAP to secure your spot! Group mentor sessions are limited to 4 people only so if those spaces go quickly, second dates may be added if there is enough interest. For those in DC, group mentor dates will be added as frequently as the need arises, so no worries if you’re not able to get in on the May 24th date. If that date fills up, then I will place your name on the waiting list and you’ll be first on the list for the next date.

I can’t tell you how excited I am to have my first group mentor session in Little Rock next Monday and I can’t wait to share with you all how it goes :)

So this is all very exciting, but I have oneee more thing to share today…

Limited Spring Availability

With my schedule is filling up so early in the year, dates are being booked farther out and as a result, Spring dates are just about gone!

The following dates are available for Spring sessions:

2 Available dates in March
Friday, Mar 28 [BOOKED]
Sunday, Mar 30 [BOOKED]

2 Available dates in April
Friday, Apr 4 [BOOKED]
Sunday, Apr 20

3 Available dates in May
Friday, May 9 [BOOKED]
Friday, May 30
Saturday, May 31

That’s it for Spring!

Not to worry if you’re interested in minis, those will be held on May 3rd & 4th and will be available to book in March. But if you’re interested in a standard session, you’ll need to email me ASAP to secure your date while they’re still available. Depending on the timing, headshot sessions may still be scheduled during the week on occasion.

Well this was certainly an action-packed News & Updates! Let me know what you think about the new blog features and about the group mentoring!! I can’t wait to hear from you guys :)

Talk to you soon!

-Danni

Models Needed + Winter Vacation

Happy Tuesday!

Just wanted to pop in for a brief update! I have quite a few one-on-one mentor sessions coming up, and as always, we will need models :)

This time we are looking for couples! We will need two so when you email your photo for consideration, please indicate which of the two above dates you are available or if you are available for both.

The Feb 1 session will be taking place in Washington, DC around 1p and the March 1 session will be taking place in Alexandria, VA around 2p. Exact times will be finalized by the time the models are selected :)

The Feb 9 session will be taking place in Alexandria, VA around 2p. Exact time will be finalized by the time the model is selected.

For your participation, you will receive a complimentary digital gallery of your images and a complimentary 11x14 print. All participating models must be able to pay $70 for professional makeup application (your only cost).

Unfortunately due to the high volume of submissions, you will be contacted only if you are selected to participate. Thank you in advance! You guys always are so eager to participate in these and I’m bummed that I can only select a few.

What else is new?

Well I’m officially going on my first planned vacation in… I don’t know how long! Lol DFinney is heading west!

This weekend I will be heading to San Diego and Los Angeles with my girl Dori for vacation! This will be my second time visiting LA, but it’s been a long while! I’ve never been to SD so I’m definitely looking forward to it. This is also Dori’s early graduation trip because she graduates from UMD in the spring, so yayy! Early congrats to her!! :D

I will officially be “off the grid” workwise beginning Friday through the end of next week. You can follow our journey on instagram @dfinneyphoto as I’m sure we’ll be sharing tons of pictures :)

Have a great day loves!

-Danni

2014 DFinney Workshops | Natural Light Shooting

Happy Thursday loves!

As promised last week, details are finally here for the next workshop!

Workshop #2 for 2014 will be held on April 26 at a beautiful Washington, DC hotel for a full-day workshop all about shooting with natural light!!

This comprehensive workshop will teach you everything you need to know about how to take a well-exposed photo EVERY time with natural light! We will cover everything you can think of related to taking great photos with natural light- and some things you probably haven’t thought about :)  

• understanding the different elements of natural light
• the importance of correct color & white balance
• why calibration matters
• how to “find the light”
• how to best use natural light to achieve the look you want
• how to take a well-exposed photo EVERY time with no guesswork!

And much, much more!

This workshop will be $495 and includes:

• continental breakfast & boxed lunches
• natural light workshop booklet
• hands-on shooting w/ models
• post-processing instruction

We will meet up to discuss the basics, and not-so basics of shooting with natural light. After lunch, we will head outside and SHOOT so you can practice what you just learned. Models will be on hand so you can practice correctly photographing clients of varying skin tones. After shooting, we will head back in where I will discuss my post-processing methods.

This class will NOT touch on the business aspect of photography as it relates to building a business. We will, however cover photographer/client relationship pointers as it relates to being a natural light photographer. 

In order to make sure everyone is able to receive individual attention and have adequate time for questions, there will only be 10 seats available for this class.

Ready to book your spot?

EMAIL ME (danielle@dfinneyphoto.com) if you’d like to snag your seat while they’re still available! All spots require a $100 deposit to secure your seat.

I’ve gotten so much positive feedback leading up to this and I CAN’T WAIT to actually hold this workshop and share exactly what I do to get my photos to look the way they do. No secrets over here! My methods and workflow are very simple- but consistent!

I look forward to working with you!!

-Danni