Stacy | One-on-One Session 102 [January 31] | Orlando, FL Photography Instructor

Next up for today? Stacy!

I met Stacy just a couple days prior when she participated in the Group Session 101. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed working with Stacy to help clarify some of her goals, adjust her pricing, revise her workflow, and simplify things! We covered SO MANY things that our session didn't end until the sun was setting lol!

One of the things we keyed in on were pricing and package adjustments. I know she was nervous about implementation but receiving this email from her just a short time after our session made my week!

It makes me soo happy when my mentees are not only able to see the improvement in their work, but also in the success of their businesses! It is a major confidence booster and enables them to keep moving in the right direction!

Back to our day together though :) Of course, headshots were included! Stacy is so bubbly and such a joy to be around, so capturing her was an absolute pleasure! Here are my faves from her headshot session:

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What did she think of the session? Hear from Stacy directly on her DFinney Mentoring experience:

"There are countless ways to learn: webinars, podcasts, teleconferences, video tutorials, blogs, major conferences... sometimes it can be OVERWHELMING!! And despite all the information, it may not get to the heart of YOUR specific needs. What I walked away with from both of DFinney's mentoring sessions was AMAZING! Her teaching style cuts through all the noise, fluff and distractions. I only wish I hadn't waited so long to make the investment in myself!"
-Stacy

If you would like to have the DFinney Mentoring Experience yourself, check out full details here! Email me today if you’re interested in scheduling your own one-on-one session!

Fran | One-on-One Session 102 [January 30] | Orlando, FL Photography Instructor

Happy Mentor Monday!

I'm finally (somewhat) on a roll with catching up on my recaps, so let's keep the ball rolling, shall we? 

Last week, I shared the first mentoring session of the year in Orlando and today I will share the one-on-one 102 sessions I had on the following two days!

First up? Fran!

I met Fran back in 2014 when she attended my first group session in Miami! This time she reached out for the business session and I was excited to work with her again :) We went over and revised her pricing, as well as her website and workflow amongst many other things!

Also included? Headshots! It was such a beautiful day- perfect for pictures :) Here are my faves from her headshot session!

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If you would like to have the DFinney Mentoring Experience yourself, check out full details here! Email me today if you’re interested in scheduling your own one-on-one session!

3 Generations | Washington, DC Family Photographer

Happy Friday to you!

I have a beautiful 3 generation family session to share with you on this Family Friday :) 

I met Morgan back in 2014 when I taught my first Chicago group mentoring session. Later in the year, I met her husband and their beautiful daughter when we did fall family portraits, and I have been working with Morgan's lovely family ever year since! It has been a joy documenting their family.

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This spring she reached out to do a 3 generation shoot with her mom and daughter and I was so excited to make it happen! The day for their session arrived, after having to reschedule the first because of rain, and it was perfect! It was a joy to see how quickly her daughter is growing, meet Morgan's mom, and see where she gets her wonderful spirit from :) Everything came together just as it should, and I am so so happy to share this session with you ❤

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If you’re interested in a family session and would like to have the DFinney Experience yourself, email me and schedule yours today! Currently booking: September and October 2016.

ORL 101 Group Session [January 29] | Orlando, FL Photography Instructor

Happy Mentor Monday! Today's recap is from my first session of 2016 💙

I visited Orlando in January at a really hard time for me personally (I talked a little about that here), so this was quite possibly one of the most difficult mentor sessions that I've ever had to do... I am SO thankful for this wonderful group that I worked with. Like I'm not sure how I can even express how thankful I am for them. Everyone was SO warm, so welcoming, so easy to work with, and we all had a blast learning and creating together!

While in Orlando, I worked with makeup artist Sarai who did a beautiful job on our model, (Pelu)'s, makeup! When I tell you everyone was awesome? Everyone was awesome! I think you can get a feel for how great this day was by taking a look at the pictures :)

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What did the attendees think of the session? Hear from one directly on her DFinney Mentoring experience:

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'I don’t think I can put into words how amazing my experience was. I am a newbie to photography and I was very nervous about how I would be received, but Danielle made me feel such at ease! The experience was a breath of fresh air and very eye-opening. Her teaching style is like nothing I’ve seen online, or would have been able to learn on my own. Under her guidance I was able to capture my BEST work!

Danielle your mentoring session has ignited the little flame I had in me and I am falling in love with the process all over again. I admire your talent and humility so much and I am grateful that we were able to cross paths during my journey.  I cant wait to see everything else the Lord has in store for you Danni. I will forever have dfinneyphoto engraved in my heart."
-Francesca

Francesca! Thank you soo much. Working with you and Stacy was an absolute blessing. You both reminded me why I do this, and how thankful I am for such awesome mentees like you. Seeing your progress since the class has been amazing! And I can't wait to see how you grow even further on your photography journey ❤️

If you would like to have the DFinney Mentoring Experience yourself, check out full details here! Email me today if you’re interested in attending the next group session in DC on September 16 OR if you'd like to schedule your own one-on-one session!

Learning to SEE the Light | Throwback Thursday

Good Thursday afternoon to you :)

I was feeling nostalgic this week and decided to do a long look back at the progression of my work from when I began my business in 2009, until now. I can hardly believe my 7th year business anniversary is coming up next month!

I did an (incomplete) How I Got Started series on the blog a few years ago, so today's post is a modified and updated version of that. 

I want to show this because I think it's really important for folks to know that you don't get awesome overnight. Well, some may, but for the vast majority of us, it takes time. A lot of time. Time to learn, experiment, re-learn, experiment, unlearn, experiment some more, learn some more, solidify what you know, aaaand then keep learning lol.

This is my progression beginning from 2009 until to now.

Summer 2009. 

I had an idea of the kinds of things I liked, but I was still really all over the place with my execution. The lighting in my photos was very inconsistent and my editing "style" (if you can call it that), varied widely as well.

I hadn't yet learned the importance of professional makeup to the final quality of the image. 

I didn't put much thought into my location choices/nor was I aware that I really had a choice. I usually just defaulted to taking photos in a park because that's what I thought was "professional".

Summer 2010.

I remember this was one of the first shoots I was super proud of- the light, the colors, location. I just wasn't sure how to duplicate it. That would happen often where I would "strike gold" but not be sure how to make it happen on purpose.

My style was becoming a little more defined. I knew that I liked color, and was learning I preferred urban locations, but my lighting, posing, composition, and editing was still a little inconsistent. I knew that having makeup done for photos was important, I just hadn't yet learned that using a professional was best :)

Spring 2011.

Tilt City! Clearly I was on a tilt composition kick lol. I remember doing this shoot and pretty much trying to experiment with a bunch of different styles (of styling, shooting, and editing). I loved how this session turned out, but this was an editorial style of shooting I was trying to imitate, not one that happened naturally.

I learned the importance of the use of a professional makeup artist :)

Summer 2012.

I think I found my style! In the spring of 2012, I rebranded when I realized that I had found a style I was happy with (and that felt like me), and wanted a cohesive new look for my business to support it.

I still struggled a bit with posing and composition, but I was learning that posing was NOT what's most important- making sure that my subject was comfortable, IS. I still experimented a bit with my framing and location choices (not all worked). Professional makeup became a standard part of my sessions.

Spring 2013.

I think I got it! I found a way to duplicate the look I wanted! Even lighting and subjects that coordinate with their surroundings :)

My framing and composition was improving as well!

Spring 2014.

Now that I knew how to achieve what I wanted- even light, bright colors, complimenting locations, crisp focus, clean makeup- my focus shifted to perfecting it.

Summer 2015.

Happy with the progress I made perfecting my style, that part became second nature. I began to shift my focus to capturing more authentic moments -consistently- during my sessions. 

Summer 2016.

Where am I now? Well I'm back to experimenting :) I've got "clean" light and happy photos down, so I'm beginning to experiment a bit with light I wouldn't normally shoot in, to challenge myself, and (for the moment) I'm drawn to more moody images.

This was a fun post to do! I hope you enjoyed it! 

I'm thinking about doing a couple other versions- for families and couples to show the progression there as well...

Anyway, if you'd be interested in improving your natural light shooting, I'd be more than happy to help! Please check out my mentoring programs and shoot me an email if you'd be interested in scheduling one for yourself! 

Oneee last comparison photo :) This one is an almost 10 year difference! From when I began experimenting with photography in 2006/2007 to where I am today! I can say for certain that the photo on the right is what I was trying to go for there on the left, but I had no idea how to achieve it. Now? I do!

So if you've found yourself at a "stuck" point, and would like to improve your shooting, I would absolutely love to hear from you!

That's all for today! Let me know what you thought of today's [long] post!

-Danni