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The Last Thing I Never Knew I Needed

Yesterday, Jeff and I had some work to do (on a Sunday I know – we can normally take the whole day off but there were pressing deadlines), and my mind was everywhere but where it needed to be. My brains were in a fog – I couldn’t think, I couldn’t focus, and I wasn’t getting any work done. I slogged through the two red hot must-get-done-now items on my to-do list and then I wandered around the house, grabbed a swiffer and vaccuum and began working on the floors. But ten minutes later, I found my foggy self standing…

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Pictage PartnerCon, Bedroom Voice, and Our Biggest Fans

“Not everyone gets to have a mom that is their biggest fan.” So true right? The lovely Jan Cleveland, a photographer friend of ours from Milwaukee reminded me of this on Monday after Jeff and I just finished speaking at Pictage’s PartnerCon at the Hard Rock Hotel in San Diego, a conference for wedding and portrait photographers. Since we were getting to speak in our hometown – a rare treat for us since we’re usually speaking while we’re on the road – Jeff invited his mom to come watch us. She was DELIGHTED to come be a part of her…

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A Week in Our Life: Wednesday

(I’m writing a short series on the blog about a week in the life of The Youngrens. This is the second installment – read all about Tuesdays here.) Most Wednesdays are typical workdays for us (i.e. pure madness), but once a month Wednesdays mean something different. For the past four years, Jeff and I have been privileged to lead the San Diego Pictage Users Group, otherwise known as the PUG. You’ve probably seen us mention it a bunch on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and wonder why in the world we keep talking about dogs and showing pictures of people giving…

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The Eyes of a Ten Year Old

Remember how Jeff and I just went to our photography conference in Las Vegas? Well, Heather and I got to go to Vegas a few days early without Jeff (he had a shoot commitment in San Diego) and teach kids about photography. Well, it wasn’t so much teaching as it was running after crazy happy kids that were wielding cameras and had insatiable shutter fingers… A couple of times a year, Pictage teams up with Boys and Girls Clubs to put on Lens and Learns – one day programs where professional photographers teach kids about the joys of photography. I’ve…

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New Orleans Shooting Workshop | Recap

When Jeff and I teach, we are not perfect. When we shoot, we are not perfect. And when we tell jokes and try to be entertaining, we are definitely not perfect! So here’s a big THANK YOU to the wonderful people that attended our shooting workshop at PartnerCon in New Orleans! Thank you for smiling back at us as we lovingly imparted our knowledge and for squeezing out a few laughs when we tried to be funny (you guys are the best). Thanks for your patience when the fire department hijacked our alley that Pictage had reserved for the shoot…

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The Corner Table and The Pictage Blog

It’s like I get to pretend I’m one of the cool kids or something. Like I get to sit down at the honored corner table in the cafeteria and flip my glossy hair with the high-heeled, short-skirted pretty girls of school instead of snickering in the ‘other’ corner with my AP English classmates. It’s almost like that. Except that instead of flipping my glossy hair, I’m rubbing my shaky, sweaty hands in anxiety as I try to piece together yet another article that will be worthy to sit next to the articles of my fellow writers. Somehow I feel out…

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Summer Camp and The Lineup

I feel like I’m packing for summer camp. Only this summer camp is for wedding and portrait photographers in the middle of November in the heart of the French Quarter in New Orleans. But other than that, it’s just like summer camp. Particularly the part where I pack way too much stuff because I’m so nervous and excited. Jeff and I are headed down to NOLA for Pictage’s annual photography conference, PartnerCon, so we’ll be out of the office for the week. If you’re going to PartnerCon, I’ll be the one sweating and smiling while dragging my enormous suitcase out…

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We’re Headed Back to NOLA

Can we pick favorites? Are we allowed?? Because I want to be super opinionated right now and say something that I truly believe. For all of you wedding and portrait photographers out there, don’t spend your money on any other industry conference this year besides Pictage’s PartnerCon this November in New Orleans. Period. You’ve probably heard us say it before, but you need to be very careful with how you spend your money in your business. Don’t go into debt if you don’t have to, and invest in the right places – especially when it comes to your growth and…

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Speaking at the Connecticut PUG Tonight!

Webcam chat at Ustream What: We’ll be speaking tonight at the Connecticut PUG, and we’re so excited! We’ll be doing a talk titled “Keepin’ it Real in a Rockstar World” which is the same talk that we gave at Pictage’s Partner Conference earlier this year in New Orleans, but with some fun changes. We can’t wait Time: 7:30 PM (EST) on Wednesday, December 16th. The video stream should be available above, but if it isn’t here’s the link to the video stream. Please note that we’re not completely sure that the venue will have sufficient bandwidth to broadcast, so the stream may…

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