One of our favorite parts of our 'job' is when we get to hang out with other photographers. The longer I am involved in this industry the bigger I feel our world is getting. By 'our world' I mean mine and Luke's world. And that's just the best way that I know how to describe it. The world of photographers is so big, and I'd venture to say no matter where you are located at, there's a photographer who could be a perfect fit for you. Just the other day, I had a Facebook friend (never actually met her in person) message me and ask if we were ever coming to West Virginia. While the answer was, "No, not in the immediate future" (booo) I did have a wonderful photographer that I could refer her to that I knew who was almost in her backyard.

Add another photographer to my list now who I'd be happy to refer, if anyone is around either Wyoming or Missouri. Kassi is originally a livestock photographer. For my non-agriculture related friends, YES there is an actual profession for that. And it ain't easy, either. A lot of people view wedding photography as a tough genre just because of the different situations you can get into (dark churches, rainy outdoor weddings, etc.) while the show must go on. Imagine photographing a moving 1500 pound animal who may or may not like you being there in the first place, in lighting situations you might not have control over, and having to 'pose' an animal who you can't easily communicate with! Posing a couple doesn't sound that hard, now does it? :) So... I came into this mentorship with a tremendous amount of respect for Kassi.

So Kassi has relocated her business from Wyoming (yee-haw) to Missouri and is building a senior-focused business. I love that! Being a specialist is the way to go, and Kassi has a real knack for working with seniors. She already had an awesome senior portfolio, so we knew this was going to be a great mentorship. Kassi has a really sweet personality and is easy to be around - we had a great time with her. We spent most of the day pouring over her business and talking through where she is now and where she wants to go, and then in the afternoon we had our trusty model for the day, Abby, all dolled up and ready to help us teach Kassi how we shoot our photos.

Here at the beginning of the shoot Luke is showing Kassi how we use a custom white balance to make sure we get our photos as close to perfect straight out of the camera, because Photoshop = time waster! Can I get an amen?

Here Luke was changing a few of the custom function settings on Kassi's camera to help her get the images she is wanting!

Plenty of laughs were had, of course. You know us.

One of the specific things that Kassi wanted to know about as far as how we shoot is how we shoot our photos that have a sun-flare. These are our favorite images of any shoot and we may or may not be a little pouty if it is cloudy and we don't get a sunset.

We did take a few photos of Abby ourselves that evening while we were teaching, and here's the results!

Like I said earlier, we believe Photoshop is a time waster and therefore shoot our photos so they are ready to go as soon as we download them off our cards. From downloading cards, importing into Lightroom for minor tweaks (mainly just bumping up the color just a little bit), to uploading to our blog, the only thing we had to do in Photoshop was run our little blog action that puts our logo on the picture. In the words of our preacher friend, "Shazam!"

Here's what Kassi had to say about her mentorship experience with us:

"After making a good name for myself as a livestock photographer, I found my creativity being stifled and, for me, the answer was to start focusing more on "people" pictures, specifically targeting seniors. I've been watching Luke & Cat's work since they started and it was a no-brainer for me to partner with them on a mentorship session. Even though I don't have plans to be a wedding photog, Luke and Cat are business savvy photographers and helped get me on the right track to expand my business into a new market. It was a day filled with laughs, planning & questions, and I couldn't be happier with my experience!"

Did we mention Kassi is also a Luke and Cat bride!? We can't wait for her wedding in Wyoming next summer, and keep an eye out here for her engagement blog post coming up.

The fall TV shows are just getting started, and I'm excited to be watching a few new shows this season.

The reason I say we're watching "a few" this year is because in previous years, we have started watching some very interesting shows and get very invested in them, and then they get cancelled. Then we're left wondering what the big event was (The Event) or what caused the blackouts where people could see a glimpse of their future (FlashForward) or if there was really magic out here (The River) or which reality was the actual truth (Awake.)

Those are just a few of the ones we've gotten hooked on that left us hanging.

One of the new shows we're watching this fall is Revolution on NBC. The network had been really marketing this new show heavily, so when it premiered, I was excited to watch it. Luke's a pessimist about new TV shows and really doesn't like to get invested, partially because we've been burned so many times. But we both sat down and watched the pilot of this show and really enjoyed it. Now that Episode 2 has aired, it's safe to say that we're fans and like it.

As best I can figure out, the show is set 15 years after a major and permanent worldwide blackout of all technology - from cars, computers, phones, lights, electricity... everything. That, in itself, is fascinating to me. It's hard to think about how reliant we all are on technology. I think to myself, hey, if the lights go out for a few hours, that's not so bad... I can play on my phone (still technology.) Recently, one of our past brides posted that they were without power for a few hours so she was sitting in her car charging her iPhone so she could play on it. (Good idea, by the way.) But in the world these characters live in, none of that technology worked. It wasn't a matter of having your iPhone charged up when the blackout happened, because even if your battery was 100%, it was technology, so it was blacked out.

So, in the past episode, one of the characters (remember, this is 15 years from now) had an iPhone in her backpack. One of the other characters said to her, "What in the world are you doing with an iPhone?" and she explained that the only photos she had of her family were on that iPhone. I immediately thought... wow. I wasn't the only one, either. A few of my photographer buddies posted about the same thing on Facebook. The character said she was holding on to her iPhone incase someday the power came back on, so that she would have those photos again.

I'm guilty of it too. We are photographers, for pete's sake, and we don't print nearly enough photos. I mean... we are shooting film now, but instead of ordering prints of the film, we're requesting digital scans from the lab. When we have our own picture taken, if I sit back and really think about it, I honestly think that I'm satisfied with something as insignificant as being able to change my Facebook profile picture, as opposed to having a picture printed to frame. Even as I write it... I'm irritated with myself!

One of my favorite things to do growing up was to find a box of photos and look through them. My parents and my grandparents each have cabinets in their house stuffed with boxes that are overflowing with old photos. I loved to look through them. That was a great way to kill an afternoon... no technology required. At the rate we're going now, Luke and I won't even have enough actual prints to fill up 1 box. We have 2 or 3 actual nice albums from our wedding and a few portraits we've had taken, but our kids and grandkids could look through them all in about 10 minutes or less. That certainly wouldn't kill an entire afternoon. But I have my iPhone, right? Hmmm... doesn't seem nearly as fun.

So I'm going to start doing better myself. We're going to print stuff more often. I don't want all of my memories trapped in an antiquated piece of technology years from now (and yes, even Luke's iPhone 5 (I'm still stuck with the 4, booo!) will be antiquated one day: think about if all your pictures were on a floppy disc, nowadays.) I want my kids and grandkids to have our boxes of photos. So I'm going to do better.

By the way - it's a good show to watch. It's on Monday nights and it's only aired 2 episodes, both of which can be watched free on NBC.com. Enjoy :)

A little while ago, we got an e-mail from another photographer, Lindsey Connally, who was interested in spending a day with us learning about how we shoot and how we edit our photos. We started e-mailing back and forth, and before we knew it, we had a date on the books when Lindsey was going to come and hang out with us!

We feel strongly that just because you are a photographer doesn't mean you know how to run a photography business. The same could be said with us - we love cooking and baking but we wouldn't know the first thing about owning our own restaurant. That being said, we started the day off talking with Lindsey about how her business works at this point, then we dove in head first to the nitty-gritty details, starting with how we started our business, the things we did wrong and the things we did right, to the point we are now, where our business works for us and we're able to generate the income we need to support our life and our future family.

After a full day of visiting and brainstorming with Lindsey, we had an exciting evening planned of shooting! Lindsay (yes, we had 2 Lindsey's that day) and Dane served as the models for our shoot, and they were truly amazing! We know Lindsay (model Lindsay) because she is a fabulous Houston wedding planner and has her own company, Lean On Me Events. We shot a wedding a few months ago, met Lindsay, and hit it off. These two have been married just over 1 year now, so it was really fun to treat this like a 1 year anniversary shoot!

Here's some pictures from the day! By the way, these pictures haven't seen any Photoshopping with the exception of running our little blog action to put the logo in the corner. Everything else was achieved in-camera with small Lightroom tweaks! Hello... freedom from computers! Hello... more time for life!

There's (photographer) Lindsey grabbing a custom white balance before she started shooting.

Someone might have needed a new headshot... doesn't this make you want to have this lovely chick around when you're planning your wedding?

Here's Luke and Lindsey crouching in the tall grass of a field. I could only love this photo more if somehow I was in it!

We had a fabulous day with 'the Lindsey's."

Lindsey Connally is a spectacular photographer with tons of natural talent and an eagerness to learn. I was blown away by her focus and the fact that she is completely dedicated to achieving her goals. I truly believe that if you want to be successfull, the information is out there, but it takes focus and determination to put things into action and 'make it work.' Lindsey is totally headed in that direction.

On top of that, Luke and I were both very impressed with Lindsey's photography skills, as she is working to define her own style, and brave enough to do so... not just follow trends and try to imitate others. I can already tell we're going to love watching her career and business as it grows! Luckily, she's just a few hours away from us so we can get her to take OUR picture :)

Here's what Lindsey Connally had to say about her mentorship with us:
"From the day I first contacted you guys about the possibility of working with you I knew it was going to be a great experience. You truly made me feel you were just as excited as I was about our session and when I got my questionnaire I was over the moon. The pre-work alone made me realize how much time, thought and effort you were putting into my session and when I arrived at your home my hopes were confirmed. I couldn't believe the details you shared with me and it is easy to see why your brides love you like they do. My business is in it's early stages and I truly feel like my time with you saved me from so many frustrations and mistakes as I get my feet off the ground. Every question was answered, every situation discussed and every expectation exceeded! I've invested in photography workshops before and I've never received the kind of feedback and personal attention you gave me. I would do it again in a heartbeat and I'm more confident in my future for it!"

Lindsay and Dane also sent us a nice little note about their day of getting their photo taken:
"Luke and Cat mentored Lindsey during our photoshoot the other day and she was fantastic. We had such a great time hanging out with them and have never felt more relaxed taking pictures. Thanks again guys!"

For a little more eye candy, check out Lindsey's blog post she wrote with the pictures from this day! We love her photos and all day we were thinking, should we switch to Nikon? I love that little Nikon shutter sound!