Being in the dental field is a funny thing. There’s SO many things that change year to year, and one of the most important things that I do to maintain my credentials is to get at least 12 hours of continuing education every year. It’s actually a requirement of the Dental Assisting National Board that I do so they can be sure their accreditation is going to those that are serious about their work.

Now I know what you’re thinking. “Misty, but your a photographer. Why are you telling us about your dental field work.” Well, friends, that’s a good question! HA! Just like my dental credentials need to be renewed and I need to learn more every year about that work, I think with being a wedding photographer, continuing education is just as important. Things change! New equipment comes out! People think of different better ways to do things. Ways to be more efficient. Lightroom comes out with new tips, and things like Photomechanic come around. If you are content with just sitting on the skills you have RIGHT now, chances are that others who are more willing to learn are going to be surpassing you in the long haul.

That’s not supposed to be harsh, but maybe a little tough love. I don’t think I’ll ever be done learning what I can when it comes to photography. There’s SO much helpful information out there!!

One of the decisions I made this year was to take the Katelyn James Consistency Course.  It knocked my socks off and you can read all about it over here! She not only helped me with editing in Lightroom, but I also learned how to make my work more consistent. This was SO helpful for me, and it’s made my work in turn look so much better this year. It’s crazy to how just editing can make THAT much of a difference. But boy did it ever!

During the consistency course, Katelyn had mentioned that her and her hubby, Michael, had talked about creating a posing course. I knew as soon as I heard about it that I HAD to take that course. Posing for me hasn’t ever been too difficult, but I knew that I wanted, no needed, to be able to get more images out of a short amount of time that I was getting. Wedding days are crazy and it wasn’t uncommon to only have 15-20 minutes for bride and groom portraits. I knew that I needed a better way, instead of getting down to it and wanting to change locations about 342 different times in that short 15 minutes because I didn’t know what pose to put them into next.

I can happily say that with the help of Katelyn’s posing course, I have the knowledge to do just that now. For instance, I had a wedding just a few weeks ago that I had plenty of time for portraits. I knew that in the 30 minutes I had, I could get SO many amazing images in just one location with it looking redundant. And I did!!! I was able to deliver over 115 bride and groom formals in just that 30 minutes of time. But the kicker, they were all different!!!!! WHAT!?!?!

You read that right. I didn’t have 6 images that were the exact same pose, and still delivered over 100 images. One of my biggest take-away from the course was to just keep talking! Whether you are talking about how they are posing, or praising them for how great they are doing, or just talking to them like normal people, you shouldn’t ever have a pause that’s upwards to 10 seconds. Now this can be a bit of a struggle, but the more I have practiced this, the easier it gets! I have found myself not every thinking about it, and just talking away, like I was besties with my clients. I LOVED THIS! Seriously, loved it.

I could go on and on about how amazing Katelyn is for her sharing all her knowledge with us, but I don’t think I’d be able to stop. Side note: If you get the chance to take either or both of these courses, they are ABSOLUTELY worth it! And you will be able to give your clients an experience they didn’t even know was possible!

Thanks Katelyn and Michael, AGAIN, for putting your heart and soul into something SO great for others. You guys are just amazing, and I really am SO stoked for you guys to have your baby girl! Keep rocking it, and I owe you one! 🙂

In the mean time, I’ll just show these off like they are a new pair of light-up tennis shoes! 😀