These girls are awesome! They turn everything into magic. If you haven't seen it yet, check it out here.
www.whiteboxweddings.com. Also, you guys totally hit the motherload of cool photographer links below. Thanks Sara!
Next week will be Part Two of the Whitebox Weddings Rockstar Team, Melanie Litchfield. WOO!!
What drew you to photography?
I was born "the family historian". My parents were they type of people to put all of their photos in a drawer or a shoe box. I started making my own scrapbooks around 3rd grade. I was a very sentimental kid (pack rat is how my mom would describe me)! Even at such a young age I would think about how cool it will be for my grandkids to find my scrapbooks one day. Recently, I lost my dad to cancer. My loss made me realize how important my family photos are to me. My dad was my biggest hero. I want my daughter, who is 3, to know what an amazing person he was. She will know him through stories, but she will remember him by photos.
Are you self taught or do you have formal training?
I graduated in 1998 with a bachelor's degree in tourism management and I wound up with a desk job. I HATED it. I am a dreamer, so I would sit in my cubicle and day dream of ways that I could make a living and do something I love at the same time. I wanted a job that would allow me to do something different everyday. A job where I could be my own boss. I was also looking for a creative outlet. photography was something that I loved and it seemed to meet all of my requirements. My family and friends thought I was crazy, but in the summer of 2001 I got married and quit my job. My husband and I bought a house, we adopted 2 more dogs, and I started photography school. I like to multitask! : ) I went to a 2 year technical school, randolph community college, for photography.
How did you make the leap into making photography a career What did you do to start?
One of my internships during school was shooting for a huge furniture photography studio. I learned a lot about large format photography and lighting, but I also learned furniture has no personality and that it does not talk much. I feed off of interacting with others and building personal connections. I knew I wanted to photograph people. I decided to make the leap to start my own business as a wedding and portrait photographer when I had my daughter. I joined 2 of my friends, melanie and stacy hanies in a studio share. I built a website and put my name out there!
How did you and Melanie meet?
Melanie and I met in photo school then we shared a studio space for about a year. We always wound up assisting each other on jobs and decided that it was more fun to work together!
What inspires you?
Personal connections. I love to people watch. Interpersonal relationships fascinate me. I love to capture human emotion.
What other jobs have you had? (if any)
I have had a lot of jobs. Lifeguard, dance teacher, waitress, nanny, I even worked for the phone company! All of my jobs have related to customer service. I like to make people happy! My job as a waitress has helped my through out my life. You really learn how to multitask and how to deal with all sorts of folks as a waitress. I also think that my work as a nanny has helped me with my current career. I learned a lot about entertaining kids and parenting as a nanny.
What’s your favorite part about being a photographer? Least favorite?
My favorite part of being a photographer is shooting of course! I love that i get to do something different almost every day. Meeting new and interesting people and traveling are also perks of my job. a lot of times i do not feel like i am working! : )
My least favorite part is being tied to a computer. With digital photography the photographer spends a llllooooottt of time at the computer! I get what i call "mouse hand" from working on the computer all day. i finally got a vertical mouse, which helps. Also, my sweet husband gives me forearm and hand massages!
How do you deal with creative blocks?
Every person and every relationship is different, so i approach each shoot as a new challenge. sometimes melanie and i will give ourselves mini assignments to do on shoots. We get all of the safe/must have shots, then we try to capture whatever our mini assignment or goal. For instance on a shoot we may say our goal is to get an amazing close-up of the bride or to try a new perspective on a group shot to make it more interesting, things like that. I also blog stalk other photographers to get inspiration.
How do you define success?
Success to me is doing what I love and making enough money to support my family, while balancing my time between work and life. It is difficult to "stop working" when you love what you do!
Who is your favorite photographer and why?
I have a lot of favorite photographers. There is a long list of people whose blogs i stalk. Right now I am into chris+lynn, wedding photographers out of canada, and jasmine star from california. both chris+lynn and jasmine have amazing color and clarity to their work. their photos have a high fashion/ commercial look that i love. i met jasmine at a workshop in january. she and her husband 2 of the nicest people that you could ever meet. I appreciate the transformation that i have seen in her work. She has taken her business to the next level in the past 7 months.
Here is my bookmarks page of "cool blogs". these are photography blogs of people i have met and/or peoples work that i love and appreciate.
Do you have a favorite lens?
I love fixed lenses. i am a canon girl, so i prefer the 85mm 1.8. I also us the canon 70-200 mm IS a lot. i am a face girl. I love to shoot really tight shots of people. in our dynamic duo melanie is the wide angle girl. I am the telephoto person.
What do you do to get a great shot in bad lighting?
when presented with bad lighting you have to make your own good lighting! We do a lot of bouncing and diffusion with the flash. We also shoot at a high iso and try to do light balancing.
