It was an amazing week. Well … 4.5 days actually. This is the first real “school” I’ve participated in for photography. My instructors … Monica Sigmon and Michael Taylor are absolutely amazing photographers. I mean A M A Z I N G.
I have been in awe of Monica since I first saw her speak in March 2006. She’s only got 7 years under her belt, but she’s an amazing marketer… and an amazing photographer.
So when I learned, in March 2007, that she’d be teaching at East Coast School, I jumped on the chance to be in her class.
In 4.5 days I learned more than 8 weeks on that BetterPhoto class I took in 2006. I learned more about marketing and lighting and photographing than I have experienced in the last 2.5 years. I took 32 pages of notes and now, of course, have to cull through them.
There will be MAJOR change in my studio’s structure and organization. There will be significant adjustment, probably price increases … again. It’s going to be a restart “of sorts” and it may all happen with the new studio’s grand opening, rather than “right now”. Why? Because I want to make an impression … a big *bang* … a tremendous buzz and if I time it right my existing customers won’t feel like I’ve just done them a huge disservice.
Anyway … back to class. I participated with 25 other photographers from around NC. We spent our days immersed in Monica and Michael. Their work. Their businesses. Their lives. Their charitable causes. Their everything.
They shared. We shared. We laughed like crazy. We asked for critique. They offered constructive criticsm.
Monica actually told me she LOVED my image … and gave me wonderful, insightful input into minor tweaks to make it a winning image instead of just a beautiful image.
Michael shared his amazing work … his techniques and for the first time in 2 years, I moved my lights around … to places I’d never have considered before.
They challenged us to look at our businesses as BUSINESSES, not just passions. They challenged us to look at our work and make it better. And they identified that winning businesses don’t win on good images alone … the cheap studio mills *can* sometimes, produce good images that consumers don’t see the difference in… but that the experience and the marketing is the part that is so key to a custom photographer.
I was blessed to be in their class this week. It was worth every penny … every single one. 😀