Tag: fine art pet photography

Do I have to be a pro to attend Unleashed?

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The short answer is NO!  We have often had non-professionals attend and love having them. We teach professsional photography, but you don’t have to have a business or a website –just the desire to shoot like a professional. Unleashed is a great place to figure out if this is the right business for you –BEFORE you take that first big step!

The two days in Dallas will be jam-packed with learning about different types of equipment, different types of dogs and different kinds of light! We’ll be helping you choose the right locations, position your subject(s), select the right lens and create the look you want. And that doesn’t even count what you’ll learn from the other photographers in the group.  We will be covering most of the sales and marketing questions in the follow-up webinar so that our time together in Dallas will be primarily shooting time. Lots of models and different locations to give you the greatest range of experience.

We do ask that all attendees be shooting with DSLRs and have at least a basic working knowledge of the manual settings on their cameras.  So get ready to dive in to one of the most creative and exciting photography workshops you can imagine!

teresa berg for Unleashed workshops

Unleashed Workshop 2012 | sneak peek

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Registration has started and already we’ve got photographers flying in from all over for Unleashed Dallas 2012! This week I spent an hour at The Aloft Hotel, where some of Unleashed will be held. We’ve received permission from this dog-friendly hotel to use their lobby and outdoor areas for shooting during the workshop and our supermodel Sophie and I immediately loved all the natural light and bright colors. I can’t wait for June!

Teresa Berg Photography Unleashed Dallas 2012

Photographing pets | Unleashed Workshops

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Are you ready to start photographing pets?

Let’s pretend that you are an experienced photographer shooting babies, kids and families. There are only 100 of us per square mile these days.  How do you set yourself apart from your competition? Start shooting pets, right?  They’re cute, everybody’s got one –how hard can it be?

Think about a few of these scenarios before inviting pets in to your studio:

  • What happens if Max, the black lab, refuses to look at the camera and chooses instead to take off after a squirrel?  Chaos follows.  Now you’re watching your profits go flying out the window as everyone takes off after him, messes up their hair and clothing, scaring the baby who erupts in to tears.
  • A 50ish couple calls and books an appointment for a session with their elderly Schnauzer. After they arrive, they announce that he’s deaf and almost blind – but that’s okay, right? How do you get his attention, where do you seat the three of them and how do you make all three of them look younger, healthier and blissfully happy?
  • Your favorite clients want you to photograph their new baby with their old baby – a 9 year old Golden Retriever. How do you set up the shot?
  • The Smiths show up with their three Jack Russell Terriers and want great portraits but they forgot to tell you they didn’t want to be in them.  Now what?
  • The young couple down the street wants shots of their Australian Shepherd catching his Frisbee in mid-air, in the park, in the middle of the day on a Saturday. Are you ready?

You’re laughing now because you KNOW one of these things is going to happen to you (or already has) and you know you were unprepared.  So back up a few steps. There are lots of great reasons to photograph pets and it WILL increase your sales and it WILL bring new clients in your door –but be a professional and do it thoughtfully. Take a workshop, buy a book, get some practice and build a great pet portfolio that will actually BRING in new clients.  Find out what Pet lovers buy and what you have to charge to actually make a profit. Then update your website and start marketing to pet lovers. Adding pet photography brings all sorts of benefits to your existing business –not to mention puppy breath!

Unleashed dog photography workshop

Okay, Okay, Unleashed is back!

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Thanks to all of your kind and gentle urgings, we’re setting the wheels in motion for a new Unleashed Workshop!  A few changes and lots of energy are going in to the plans for our next pet photography adventure. Early summer 2012 is looking pretty good, but please stay tuned to this blog for all the latest information!

pet photography workshop

Unleashed – The Fine Art of Pet Photography Workshops – Virginia Registration is Open!

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Well, we’ve brushed ourselves off and recovered quite nicely from Dallas – Unleashed.  The surveys are in and we had some lovely testimonials:

I say keep up what you are doing. You 3 are a wonderful combination of energy! There is no way that you can cover everything, but you have remained so available for further contact and that has been invaluable. I have taken other workshops where that was not a possibility. The other thing that I really appreciated is that you provided what you said that you were going to provide in the workshop. I also feel that by offering the possibility for all attendees to connect prior to the workshop really provided an awesome atmosphere of cohesiveness right from the get-go!

And now, on to Virginia! Registration opens today. You can find more details throughout this blog by clicking on the cost tab.

After much consideration, as well as receiving feedback from our Unleashed – Dallas attendees, we have made a few significant changes.  We feel these changes will make the workshop experience even better for you.

First, we have a conference hotel! Due to the amount of information packed into our workshop we’ve found the need to simplify everything else as much as possible.  In the past,  attendees were required to shuttle between locations for breakout sessions. This ate up valuable time and we felt, in some ways, it took away from the overall workshop experience.

No longer! Unleashed- Virginia has secured meeting space and rooms at the beautiful AAA 4-Star Lansdowne Resort & Conference Center. All shooting will take place at the Tranquility Farm & Barn Studio of Bev Hollis Photography. However, when we are not shooting or doing lighting lectures, we will learn in the comfort of this beautiful meeting place.

Second, it can be difficult to coordinate travel between lecture sites and location shooting. No longer! We will provide transportation from Lansdowne Resort to the Tranquility Farm studio for all sessions. You are welcome to drive yourself but it is not necessary.

Third, some attendees do not like the added expense of a rental car. No longer! Lansdowne Resort will provide transportation between Dulles (IAD) Airport and the resort for all attendees who are staying at the resort.  There are ample restaurants within the resort complex. A town center is also about a mile away for more dining choices.

Last, Don Dechow’s sales presentation rocked! So we are bringing him back for a longer session in September to include a walk-through sales session.

We are thrilled to be putting together what we know will be a truly amazing learning experience.  We’ve worked with Lansdowne Resort to secure pricing that we feel will continue to make Unleashed a great value for attendees.

For more information on pricing and how to register click on the COST tab above.

Our Report Card

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Well, it’s hard to brag – but the dust has settled and the word is out on the first Unleashed workshop. We rocked! Part of our success was due to the great group of attendees, the terrific studio environment and just the vibe and the passion we all shared for the art of pet photography — I think we all inspired the best in each other. I know lots of great friendships were created and I feel like we all did our part to raise the bar for pet photography as an art form.

These are actual quotes from the anonymous feedback survey:

“It was invaluable! I think you could charge much more for this. You gave us information that saved us tons of money and time. Money and time that would have been spent making mistakes and bad decisions! I think the money I spent on this workshop was the best investment I could have made for my business – and is perhaps some of the best money I’ve ever spent period!”

“Unleashed was even more than I was hoping it to be! You guys were all so helpful! And you accepted us all for who we were. Whether we were beginners, or more advanced. I loved how open you all were- no secrets, you just wanted to help! I loved everything we did… I wouldn’t want one thing to change- except the length of the workshop! (longer please!) I thought the price was very fair. I had been planning on going to another pet photography workshop, and Unleashed was much, much less! I have taken so much from Unleashed. So much, I can’t even begin to cover it! I would recommend Unleashed to anyone in, or interested in, pet photography. I would even come again myself! Thank you so much!!!”

“Being part of Unleashed was an incredible experience. The insight into both the business and artisitc aspects shared by Bev, Teresa and Barbara was invaluable. The friendships formed during the workshop are providing much needed post workshop support as I try to apply what was learned”

“I love the way the three of you work together, and you have the perfect blend of being well prepared while still being willing to be flexible”

“I honestly can’t think of anything to help you improve. For me, this workshop was beyond my expectations, As a beginner photographer I have only attended one other workshop. I had such a wonderful time attending this workshop. Not only because of the tremendous talent of the three women hosting it but, from the other attendees. Everyone was so willing to answer questions, offer advice or lend a hand; and this continues to be the case even now on the unleashed private chat board on Facebook, I’m just so happy to have met all of you.”

What is Fine Art Pet Photography?

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We refer to ourselves as fine art photographers but what does that really mean?

 According to wikipedia (www.wikipedia.com) fine art photography “refers to photographs that are created to fulfill the creative vision of the artist. Fine art photography stands in contrast to photojournalism and commercial photography.”

So the question I often ask myself is “am I fulfilling my creative vision?” Some days I feel like I’m just creating-to-sell, in other words, creating a product instead of a work of art.

To help ease my conscience and to continue my growth as an artist, I spend a few minutes of every session doing something experimental –I really strive to make it something I’ve never tried before. And I’m the first one to admit that at times it’s very difficult. When it’s the third or fourth shaggy white dog that I’ve shot that month and I KNOW the shortest route to a good sale is to shoot from a certain angle – well – you know what goes through my mind. The temptation is pretty strong to just do what I’ve done before and call it a day –but I rarely give in. I’m almost always driven to try something new.

 Which is why I really really like difficult subjects. The dogs that just don’t want to settle down, or won’t look at the camera no matter how many crazy noises I make.  You do have to know their body language to know what to do and when it’s okay to do it.  I photograph a lot of dogs for a local rescue organization and many of them have been traumatized by abandonment, abuse, or health issues. By the time they arrive at my studio they’ve really been through a lot. These and other difficult pets are the ones that force me to think outside the box. I’m exhausted when they leave – but excited by the new things I’ve learned.

And just in case we make it look easy? I want everyone that’s considering our workshop to know that being a pet photographer is physically and mentally demanding and if I didn’t love dogs and cats I wouldn’t be successful at it –no matter how good I was with my equipment. I do it because they are perfect little works of art, I adore them and anything that loves so completely and unselfishly deserves to be cherished forever as a work of art.

 When people tell me how lucky I am to have a job where all I have to do is play with dogs all day — I just smile.

Teresa

fine art pet photography rescue portrait