So why photography? The biggest thing about photography, if you want to succeed, if you want to set yourself apart from other photographers in the industry, you really need to now your why. And you know, few of us really know our why. Most start with our what, and they go to how, and what's your background? So, why did you become a photographer? Most of us start photography because we love taking pictures of our children, or we studied it in college. I did not, I was an Opera major. And then I was a speech pathologist, and then here I am, so, and that's a lot of us probably. Anybody in this room totally change careers? Right, and it's just because, we're a lot of moms and we love connection and that's what we need to come back to. So, how does this turn into career? Why do you need your why to be successful? You need your clients, or your soon-to-be clients to look at your work and be like, "You know what, I know how she shoots, "I know how her heart works, "I know how she works, "and ...

that's how I work". So, you need to be able to have your people that you're hiring, or that are hiring you rather, feel like they know you. So you need to know your why in order to be able to do that. Why did we start to begin with? Did we start because we needed an income? Did we start because your kid was the cutest kid on the planet and they were going to be the next Gerber Baby? You have to know all of these things when you're starting your photography journey. When did you become a photographer? Your business will be guided differently, and we're gonna get into this in a little bit. Depending upon why you're doing this, sales will be different. How you present your shoots to your clients will be different. Some of us are just doing this part-time. Some of us are doing it full-time. My husband, Kenny runs the business side of things, so he and I have a full business, so not only is this my passion, not only do I love people, but this is what supports my family. So, I have my business constructed in a way that is meant to deal with that. Okay, so what are you taking photos of? Are you taking photos of flowers and you're like, "Huh, that's a really pretty flower, "but what am I gonna do with it? "Maybe I can put on the bathroom wall". So, we all kinda go through these things and, this is a gorgeous picture, and I love street photography, I adore street photography, and I see others taking these amazing pictures, but when you have kids, you want the kids on your wall. So, what do I do with them? And I see Ken and going to Cuba and her photos are gorgeous and she gets to experience these things and so you need to think about what are you taking photos of? What makes your heart sing? And why are you taking photos? Does it make you happy? In a quest to learn, the rules as a photographer, you might start to neglect the most important element of photography, which is really a story. So you need to keep thinking about that strong element of photography, composition, telling a story. It's not a science project, you need to enjoy what you're doing. It's really, really important. This is very abstract stuff, but it's important to me, so I want you guys to know. So, look at what you shoot right now. Everybody think about, what am I shooting right now? What, do you keep doing the same thing? Are you shooting seniors? Are you loving shooting seniors? Are you shooting babies? Do you love shooting babies? You know, we've tried it all. Back in the day when we all first started being a family photographer meant that you had to photograph babies, and if you photographed babies then you had to photograph them as children. And you know what, if you started off photographing children, parents and people would ask you, can you photograph my newborn? And you're thinking to yourself, "Oh my gosh, I do not like babies, but sure", because you felt like you had to. Don't do that. Photograph what you love and your images are gonna be so much better. Don't feel like, "I am a newborn, child, family, maternity, family of 60, wedding photographer". I do photograph a lot of things and that's fine, but don't feel like you have to. Let the rules go. I am not a rule follower, I don't read manuals. Just let it go. The biggest thing is, why are we afraid of change? Think about that. Everybody wants to conform to what's going on. If you know your why, if you can let go of things that don't matter. Do you really need 20 amazing photos of your kid's cake on the second birthday party? (audience member laughing) No, but we all do it! I'm gonna get the perfect bokeh, I'm gonna get Superman in focus, and everything behind it is gonna look awesome. But, let that go. What happens if the cake shop doesn't drop the cake off? Are you gonna panic? No, who cares. When you look back, you're not gonna care about the cake. Who cares? Remember your why. Connection, people, timeless imagery. So why are we afraid of change? We're afraid we're going to lose our clients. We're afraid we're not gonna get new clients. We're afraid we're not gonna get the right clients. Let it go. I'm gonna start singing. Let it go (audience laughing) Okay, let it go. We do not need to conform to the norm. Let it go. Fear, we're scared. We just talked about that. Scary, it is scary. We're gonna talk about how to break into this in just a minute. We don't have a why. If you don't have a why, why are you shooting? For fun, no. You shoot, 'cause you love it. We become linear, clicking to get the perfect shot. Conformity will end your business. Why are clients gonna hire you if you look like everybody else? It's a good question. They're a lot of lifestyle photographers. Lifestyle photography is hard. It's hard to feel natural when you walk into a home. It's hard to direct. It's hard to get clients to feel relaxed. It's hard to get Dad to not look at the camera. It's hard to get Mom to not feel like she has to control every single thing that's going on in the house when you arrive. We're gonna go over all of this. And it's hard for moms to let go of not being perfect. But, if you can get past all of that, which we will by the end of this course, you'll be so excited. Your clients are gonna feel really confident in you, because you're gonna be really confident too. So whatever feeling you have inside of you, take that and go with it. If you notice in my imagery, for the most part, everything is really happy, and colorful, or clean, white and bright. I'm not a moody, dark photographer. I wonder why? Do I seem moody and dark? No but, there are moody, dark photographers that I'm obsessed with, totally obsessed with. And I tried it, I tried it, I do, and we do, do some in the live shoot, but it just doesn't come across natural for me. So, I'm not gonna pretend to be the moody, dark photographer when I'm never crabby. I'm just not. And if you guys are more of an introvert, use that, and really learn how to use the shadows and shoot for highlights to keep the, we're gonna go over all of that. So, what images are you drawn to of your own children? The ones of you guys making a cake, in the kitchen? The ones of them playing Legos? Or the ones of you guys snuggling? So, think about, this is gonna help you develop your why. What do you love, why are you doing this? What are you drawn to? If you go to, there's an amazing contest, a Shoot & Share contest, are you guys familiar with this contest? So, when you go on there, you can favor your images. Do something for me. If you're a part of this, or if you're not part of it, head to Pinterest. Start looking at, what are you favoring? What are you pinning? You'll notice a trend, and that's gonna help you really find your why. Just what you're really, really drawn to. I noticed that the other day when I was looking at my favorites. I was like, "Huh, Everything, everybody's smiling, "and happy, and playing, and Dad's throwing kids. "I guess I'm just consistent". The risky part of conformity. So, over the years, we talked about this briefly, but so many posed workshops have emerged and they're beautiful. There's nothing better than a beautiful posed baby. I still pose, I do, because there is still a place for that. But my heart is drawn to lifestyle. So, the majority of my clients, and we will talk about this in a minute, book a session in the studio and we'll only do two poses and the rest natural. We'll get into that, how to transform your business in a way that's gonna make you not have a panic attack. So, anybody can replicate a top pose. Moments cannot be replicated. So, when you are in a home, and you see something organically unfolding, you have not put your camera down, and you'll know this by the end of the class. I always leave my camera on me, because things just organically happen. You'll see that in the live video that we show way later in the class. When mom was unfolding the baby from the swaddle, that's when the stretching happened. That's when the yawn happened. Had I not had my camera on me, that moment would not have been captured. You can't force a newborn baby to yawn. You can't force a newborn baby to smile. So, you need to be ready to capture that moment. And over the years, their so popular, parents think they want to pose session until they really see some really meaningful lifestyle shots. So, more of my clients have been really asking for blended sessions.

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Emily Lucarz

Emily Lucarz is a newborn and family photographer located in St. Louis Missouri. She began her career, like many photographers, after the birth of her first child in 2009. Known for her happy personality and extreme patience with children, she has quickly become the most sought after family photographer in her area, booking consistently almost a year in advance. Emily credits her love of people and outgoing personality to help her business grow the way it has.

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topics covered in this class

Family & Lifestyle Newborn Photography Portrait Photography Digital Photography

Ratings and Reviews

JennMercille

Oh my goodness!!! This was such a wonderful class. Not only is Emily a very gifted pro, she is the personable mentor that makes learning simple and the fun big sis you want to be around. She is a wealth of information and a total open book about it all. Being in her studio audience was so much fun, and the time flew by way too fast. I highly recommend this class not only to newbies trying to find their style and refine their technique, but also to seasoned pros looking to tweak their art with a creatively authentic perspective. As a newborn photographer with an established studio business model, I cannot wait to infuse what I have learned into my style and incorporate her business genius into my session and pricing structure. Thank you Emily Lucarz for sharing your creativity, knowledge and uplifting energy with us both in the class and behind the scenes! You are awesome!

Jessie Fultz

Buy this course! If you are at all interested offering lifestyle newborn sessions, whether you are a new photographer or you have been in business for years, buy it! It's 100% worth your time and money and you won't regret it. Emily is so fun and genuine which makes learning from her such a joy! Not only does this course go over troubleshooting different scenarios that are bound to happen during some sessions, but Emily also gives all sorts of other tips that you wouldn't even know you needed to know until she offers up the advice. It's fun to watch her interact with her clients to ensure that she is able to make beautiful pictures in such a natural setting. Thank you Emily and CreativeLive for coming together to make this course happen! I am beyond thrilled that I was able to watch these last two days and learn SO much!!

Hiba Alvi

Emily is amazing! I love how detailed she is and tells you how it is. It is nice she shares her personal journey and what she does - which is great! Love it and would highly recommend this course! I don't have a studio, and normally travel to clients home to do photoshoots - so all the tips here are more than helpful! I am so excited to do my upcoming photo session this weekend - can't wait to put these tips to use!

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What is Lifestyle Newborn Photography?

What is Lifestyle Newborn Photography?

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2. What is Lifestyle Newborn Photography?

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Class Introduction