Here's part 2 of 2 of of our Real Wedding Workshop AND Jenni and Stevn's wedding day. After the ceremony, we headed off to celebrate at the beautiful William Aiken House. Sara Hosch, Sr. Event Planner, from Southern Protocol made every ounce of Jenni's wedding a dream come true! There wasn't anything missing from their puppy, Jackson, greeting them with his bow tie, to every single perfectly placed candle and hanging chandelier. She and her team did an amazing job! The William Aiken House is the perfect location for a Southern wedding and I love that the movie "The Notebook" filmed the wedding dress fitting scene in the room that Jenni and Stevn cut their cake.

The love in the house was overwhelming... and it's no wonder. Jenni and Stevn are nicer than they are beautiful and that says a lot because they are both gorgeous. After everyone danced the night away, Mr. and Mrs. ended the evening with a sparkler exit and off they went in a rickshaw... so much fun!

Day 3 of our Real Wedding Workshop was quickly upon us. We spent the morning at the Charleston Center For Photography looking through images from the wedding and recapping what Bob had shared on Day 1 and wedding day as well as going through our approach to sales, marketing and branding. I love this part of the day because it's where I get to share how we run our business. Bob and I have made our fair share of not so great decisions in our business that have brought us to where we are today. I'm grateful for those mistakes as we've learned a lot from them. It's nice to be able to share what has worked for us and what hasn't.

After lunch we hit the streets of Charleston again for another session with Jenni + Stevn. I'm amazed they were up for it as they had a long evening dancing the night away at their beautiful wedding. We began at the United States Custom House and ended at the famous Pineapple Fountain. I love these images because the kids were so amazed that Jenni and Stevn were in the fountain all dressed up! It was so cute to see their reaction.

This was definitely a once in a lifetime experience. Jenni and Stevn, we are so happy for you and wish you both and your beautiful families a lifetime of happiness. Thank you so much for trusting us with your very special day. We love you both!!!

xoxox,

~ Dawn and Bob

It's hard to believe it's August 1st... where did July go? Where did June go? It's been a crazy busy summer and we're so excited for Skip Cohen University August 11-14, 2013. This is a conference you will not want to miss. It's at the Doubletree Hilton Hotel in Oakbrook, Illinois which is not far from where we live! It's a close ride from O'Hare and Midway airport, so no excuses! Come and join the fun. The group of speakers is incredible. There will be so much to learn and the networking possibilities are amazing! Last year Bob and I spoke on the husband & wife panel for married photographers. What a blast! The energy this conference brings will be sure to set you up for success for the rest of the year!

The list of speakers is crazy cool from, Clay Blackmore, Michele Celentano, Bob Coates, Joe McNally, Adam Sherwin, Zach & Jody Gray, Dixie Dixon, Justin & Mary Marantz, Jen Rozenbaum, Ryan Schembri, Suzette Allen and of course, US, there is sure to be some amazing sharing of knowledge going on.

A HUGE thank you to Skip Cohen for organizing this event all these years! I know this is going to be one of the BEST conferences yet! Thank you for providing an incredible atmosphere of learning. We have never been more proud to be part of such an amazing industry!

There are MANY big incentives going on right now to sign up, so please check it out. You will be glad you came! To register, click HERE.

We can't wait to meet everyone and share the love and passion with everyone who will be attending!!!

xoxo,

~ Dawn & Bob

Well friends, this is way too good not to share! If you're struggling with finding the time to blog, like I do, then you need to know about BlogStomp. It's an amazing tool created by photographers for photographers... and bloggers! It's so simple and so fun... you will just freak out! I'm totally serious! And for the whopping price tag of $49 for the app, you will agree that it's so worth the money. After one blog post, you will get your money's worth. If my testimony doesn't convince you, then go to BlogStomp's website and download the free trial.

You just drop your images into BlogStomp, and once you have your image(s) selected the way you like it, just click "stomp" and it automatically gets renamed and saved into a "Stomped!" folder on your desktop! You can select how many images you want to have stomped into a collage, select with template you want to use, and click "Mix it Up!" until you get the desired effect you're looking for. Easy peasy! You're going to LOVE this!!!

There are so many reasons to love this program, you are just going to have to try it to see for yourself! Not to sound like a Men's Warehouse commercial, BUT, you're gonna like the way you look... I guarantee it!

THIS COURSE IS FOR ANYONE WHO WANTS TO LEARN HOW TO USE (OCF) OFF-CAMERA FLASH

25% OFF - Retail $69 ON SALE for $52 - Find it here on UDEMY.

It's a new year and a time to challenge yourself to get your flash out of the hot shoe and start mastering off-camera flash. Bounce flash is great, but after a while it all looks the same, flat and dull. My goal for you is to create images that sparkle with depth and dimension. I'm excited to share my NEW online class that begins with the basics to form a solid foundation and quickly get into one, two, three, off-camera speedlights with lighting techniques for weddings and location portraits. I demonstrate the equipment I use to create stunning images no matter kind of lighting situation comes my way. My editor, Bob Kotalik, at the Chicago Sun-Times used to say, "Come back with a good picture or don't come back at all. We don't publish excuses."

So, join me on this journey as we explore many of the features and tools built into your camera and explore off-camera flash. I want you to master these techniques and make it your own so you may build upon this solid foundation and follow your dreams of earning more money while doing what you love.

There are several FREE videos you can watch to determine if this is the right course for you before investing in it.

25% Off Thru 01/31/13 for $52.00 with CODE: Jan2013Sale-eb130108

Bob and I teamed up with Westcott to create a lighting kit that Bob uses to make stunning images and we are thrilled to share this news with you. I could say I'm a little giddy over this, but that would be a total lie! I'm A LOT giddy and you can probably see my smile from your where you are at now... it's that big! Thank you Kelly Mondora and your team at Westcott for brainstorming this idea with us. We are so thankful for your support. And Brandon Heiss, wow, you blew us away with the box design. Thank you!

A PERFECT PAIR FOR PURE LIGHTING CONTROL:
Whether you're just getting into off-camera flash or you're a seasoned professional, the HaloTM and ApolloTM are wonderful light modifiers that can take your location or studio lighting to new heights. They're fast, easy to set up and produce a wonderful quality of light. Bob uses the Halo & Apollo with both speedlights and mono block strobes.

PERFECT PAIR LIGHTING KIT CONSISTS OF:
(1) 45" Round Halo
(1) 28" Medium Apollo with Grid
(2) 8' Light Stands
(2) Adjustable Shoe Mount Brackets
(1) Carry Case

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and our 2nd (smaller) kit is a

45" HALO LIGHTING KIT CONSISTS OF:
(1) 45" Round Halo
(1) Adjustable Shoe Mount Bracket

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You can find more details, and where to buy these kits at Westcott.

We are loving our new business cards by Studio-Z. When it came time to selecting who would re-print our letterpress business cards, it was an easy choice. After seeing the beautiful cards Zida made for Kenny Kim, I knew we would be in good hands.

I can't stress enough how important it is that love your business cards. Bob and I are educators in the photography industry and we travel the world teaching lighting techniques and business strategies. More times than not, we are handed business cards with an apology or a statement of being in the middle of re-branding.

I remember the days that I felt that way. Many, many years ago and I have to stress "many", I designed our first business card and it listed documentary style weddings, elegant parties, private galas, corporate events, editorial, magazine style books, full service retouching and design, portraits and advertising. Yes, that's right, all that was on our card, not to mention our logo, name, title, phone, cell, email, and address. It was a disaster in the making!

What's important to remember when designing your card is to make sure it reflects who you are. You are your brand and you need to brand yourself beautifully because if you don't love the direction of your brand then chances are your potential clients won't love it either. And when I say brand, I mean your entire brand; your website, blog, business cards, marketing materials, social media accounts, etc., should all be consistent. I'm not a brand expert but I can tell you that I love what Bob and I have created and it reflects in everything we do.

Remember not to overload your business card with information. You do need to have your name, email, website and phone number. You wouldn't believe how many people do not have any contact info on their business cards, only their website. You don't want to lose a client because they have to go searching for your info when their time is valuable. I feel that adding a photo to your business card is an option, one that we decided against. We wanted our cards to have a clean, professional look and we feel that our logo clearly states that we are a photography company.

You also want to have a unique card, one that someone will remember and not toss when you walk away. We selected a die cut shape that matched our brand. Our logo and text is letterpress onto Cranes Lettra 600 gram paper. It's beautiful to the touch and piece of art which always elicits a compliment.

Avoid cheap, do-it-yourself, cards. You only get one chance to make a first impression!

Thank you so much Zida for your patience with me. You are a true delight to work with and I'm so happy with our business cards. I'm very proud to share these with the world...!

I hope this helps. Enjoy the weekend everyone!

God bless you and yours,

~ Dawn + Bob

Welcome to the beginning of our Italian adventure. Bob, our kiddos, + I flew to Italy to host a real wedding workshop where we photographed the beautiful wedding of Giulia + Marco, along with 11 of our second shooters. Yes, you absolutely read that right. As many of you know, we host photography workshops around the world and this one was beyond our wildest dreams! With the help of our dear friends, Max + Cris who organized our workshop and introduced us to our bride + groom, we spent 6 glorious nights + 5 fun days photographing a pre-wedding session, sunflower fields, a wedding in a castle, and the rolling hills of Umbria and Tuscany... a dream come true! After countless hours of laughing and sometimes crying, we all said goodbye in tears. The friendships that were made were incredible and will last a lifetime. I can't wait to write more about that soon.

Bob and I are super excited to share with the world a video created by Anton Lorimer of Lorimer Works. I'm not sure how to quite describe this video other than it being a workshop promo video, however, this wasn't filmed at one of our workshops. It was filmed at our Ghost Town photo shootout in Vegas. A big thank you to Crystal Pickering, Bob Young, and Tracey Taylor + Dee Green for the most incredibly kind words in the video. They have all been to one of our workshops in the past and we have remained friends and always will.

Enjoy, and let us know what you think!

xoxox,

~ Dawn

So, I've been holding out this amazing shoot from our REAL WEDDING + WORKSHOP of the year, where Tiffany + Miles said "I Do" in front of 100+ friends and family at the most beautiful southern chic venue, Cedarwood Weddings in Nashville, Tennessee.

We all arrived the day before the wedding to begin our workshop and take Tiffany + Miles out for an incredibly fun photo shoot that Arline + Doug, T+M's parents set up for us. We were so excited to begin this day........ and you can see why when you look at the photos.......... A TOTAL DREAM!!!

Their wedding day photos can be seen here:
Tiffany + Miles | Wedding on our website
Tiffany + Miles | Wedding on our blog
Tiffany + Miles | Wedding book design
Tiffany + Miles | Wedding on our Facebook Page.

Enjoy and leave us some love! Tiffany + Miles will love it and so we'll we!!!!

God bless you always!

~ Dawn + Bob