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EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT RUNNING A PHOTO BIZ
Why Boring Systems Create Exciting Brands
There is no better way to build a strong brand than with consistency (IMHO), and the absolute best way to achieve consistency is with.... (drumroll please)..... SYSTEMS. Yeah... kinda boring right? If you’re the kind of person that doesn’t exactly grab a bag of...
I’m New! How Do I Get My FIRST Client??
Jeff and I have had an “eventful” few years. In October of 2012, Jeff and I launched a new wedding and portrait photography studio called Clove & Kin, and then in January of 2013, we purchased Bauman Photographers, a commercial studio in San Diego with a...
The #1 Way to Attract Your Dreamies Online
Jeff and I were meeting with a Dreamie couple last year when the groom - who was looking through our sample album - pointed to my favorite black and white image and said: “I love black and white photos. They feel so timeless and classic. Can we have a LOT...
Be an Amazing Second Shooter
In a recent post, we talked about how to find your style as it relates to photography and the discussion was really centered around just getting out there and shooting a whole lot. One of the ways to do this is to be a second shooter for other photographers during...
Why the Wedding Day Runs Late | (And 5 Ways to Prevent It)
We’ve all been there before – something runs late on the wedding day, and suddenly that cushy hour of photo time that was on your schedule evaporates into 15 minutes of chaos with a 24 person bridal party and a list of family portraits a mile long. Perfect… The...
Married to Your Business Partner? | The Key to How We Do It
I'm not gonna lie - owning my own business with my hubby is a pretty cool gig. Nay, it's better than just cool. It's FABULOUS. When we dream, we dream together. When we travel, we travel together. When we shoot, we shoot together. We when we wake up, go to bed,...
Dying to Shoot More First Looks?
What I love the most about writing this blog for photographers is that Jeff and I get to say we've been there. Any frustration, roadblock, and disappointment you could throw at us, we probably have a story of our own to tell. If you've walked around all day at a...
How To Capture Authentic Emotion at Engagement Sessions
We absolutely LOVE that all of our couples have such unique stories and personalities – we wouldn’t trade this job for anything – but photographing so many different types of personalities can also be challenging, right? Wouldn’t it be so much easier if...
When President Obama Crashed Our Wedding |(What We Learned from Photographing POTUS)
Just so you know, I almost passed out. My bride, Stephanie, and I stared at each other in disbelief as she clutched her dad’s arm, shaking from head to toe, and we replayed the last five minutes in spouts of ‘Can you believe it??’ and ‘WOW.’ I grabbed Stephanie’s...
Five Steps to Discovering Your Ideal Client
Everyone talks about it all the time online - your target audience, your perfect bride, your dream clients. These are all different ways to talk about the same thing - your ideal client. Everyone talks about it, because it's really important. In...
Five Simple Productivity Mindset Shifts
In my last blog post here, I mentioned a quick tip that will help with the busy season stress that you might be experiencing right now: The tip is that while you’re in the middle of the shooting-editing-delivering cycle of busy season, create a list where you can...
In Pursuit of Dreams… and Community
** I posted this same post over on our main wedding photography blog, but I just had to share it here, too. All of you - the down-in-the-trenches creative entrepreneurs that are pursuing your dreams - are the reason I love speaking so much. Your hearts, your...
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HOW DO I GET MORE (AND BETTER) WEDDING INQUIRIES?
Every wedding photographer desperately wants to know the quick answer to this one question: “How in the world do I get more wedding inquiries???" So in this mega-post, I’m sharing how to build a solid marketing STRATEGY – the same one that has continually brought high quality wedding inquiries to our business for the past ten years.
SIX EMAIL TEMPLATES YOU SHOULDN'T LIVE WITHOUT
A full inbox causes so much stress in my life that it’s the #1 thing that pulls me away from important work. So what's my single most effective weapon against ‘email overwhelm’? EMAIL TEMPLATES. Here’s my pick for the six email templates that every wedding photographer should have in their business and why.
HOW TO SHOOT BEAUTIFUL PORTRAITS IN HARSH SUNLIGHT
When it comes to lighting, wedding days are totally against us as wedding photographers. Most of the time, we’re shooting the First Look, wedding party and family portraits ALL in the harsh afternoon sun. So how do Jeff and I handle the tough light to shoot soft, natural skin tones in super harsh sun? Check out my six technical tips…
CREATIVE RISING
the podcastA show about what it’s really like to run a PHOTOGRAPHY business
We teach photographers to build life-giving businesses that they absolutely love.
About Us
We're Jeff & Erin
We’re Jeff and Erin Youngren – and it’s our mission to help you thrive not just as a wedding photographer, but as a business owner. It’s time to set aside the stress and comparison of a hustle mindset, and build a life-giving business instead.
We met in college, got married, and started corporate jobs before we discovered (and fell in love with) wedding photography. But like many creative entrepreneurs, we were booking anything we could, strapped to our laptops and living dangerously close to burnout.
So we dug in and learned how to build a thriving business that supports our dream life – instead of a joyless business that runs a stressed-out life.
Today, we photograph only 10 Dreamie weddings per year, but we also run two other wedding brands plus a commercial studio in San Diego, CA. And we do it by only working the hours that fit into our life. The other hours? We spend those living a joyful life raising our two beautiful sons, James and Samuel.
hugs,
Jeff and Erin