Category Archive: Inspired Project
  1. Inspired, A Very Special Project | Cora Edwards Photography

    Name Cora Edwards

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    What is your Business Name? Cora Edwards Photography
    What is your Facebook Fan Page?
    https://www.facebook.com/CoraEdwardsPhotography

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    What is your Camera Body?
    Canon
    Website http://www.coraedwardsphotography.com
    What inspired you to become a Photographer?
    My parents gave me an Olympus OM-1 for Christmas in 1997. From the moment I took my first photo, I knew it would be a part of my life forever. Considering how introverted I was (am), I found it to be another method of communicating how I visualized the world around me. I loved that I could highlight details and movements of light and darkness which others may overlook. It quickly became my art, my inspiration, and finally, my profession.

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    If you could only keep three things in your camera bag at one time, what would they be and why?
    Besides my camera body? My 85mm f/1.8 hardly ever comes off my camera when I’m shooting portrait sessions. I also love my 35mm f/2.0 IS, it’s an amazing lens – so sharp and fast. Then of course there’s my 70-200 lens, which is perfect for weddings and those drives around the countryside in search of wildlife.

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    If you are a Professional Photographer, what was your first paid session like?
    It was nerve-wracking, exciting, and awesome! It was such a rewarding feeling, knowing how hard I had worked and studied and practiced to get to this point. One of my first paid sessions was a wedding actually held on a moving steam train. Taking photos on a train as it meandered up a mountainside and shook like a washing machine proved to be such a challenge, but how many people can say they’ve shot a wedding on an old steam train?! Not many that I know of… what a fantastic opportunity that was!

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    Jump in a time capsule. What would you do differently if you could? Do you have a cautionary tale?
    The only thing I think I would have done a bit differently is perhaps doing an internship. I would have loved to study under a professional photographer until I was more confident working with the general public and learned more about the business side of photography.
    So many people just pick up a camera at a big box store and and snap a few photos and then start charging people. They create a website and a facebook page and think that’s it. There’s so much more to it than that. Photography is business like any other. It can’t just be a hobby-turned-business-overnight kind of thing. You need to master it. You need to know how to shoot in any given lighting situation. You need to know how to run a business and get a business license. You need to know how to market. You wouldn’t hire a plumber who just picked up a wrench for the first time last week, would you? Study and practice and experience are everything. Never, I repeat, never charge people money until you have achieved these goals.

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    What’s in your camera bag?
    Camera body, 3 lenses, 3 speedlights, triggers, batteries, makeup, bobby pins, benadryl, a pair of earrings I made, a pack of peanut butter cheese crackers, lens cleaner, memory flash cards, and a small bottle of germ gel.

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    Above all, what inspires your art the most?
    God above all. He puts ideas where there were none, inspiration where there is desolation, and guides my thought process during a shoot. Music also inspires me greatly, especially during the editing process. Currently, my playlist features the bands Sam Cooke, London Grammar, Pokey LaFarge, Seryn, Milosh, MS MR, and Sohn.

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    Do you have any personal projects in the works?

    If I don’t have constantly have a project I go crazy. haha My imagination is always spinning, creating, weaving. I have several irons in the fire at the moment, but I can’t divulge the details. Ancient Chinese secret. 😉

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    Any one token piece of advice to someone that has just picked up a camera for the first time?
    Yes. Study. Intern under someone more experienced than you. Practice. Take business classes or attend workshops. Get a business license and insurance. Never charge money for your photo shoots until you have done all the above.

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    What is one thing you will never get tired of photographing?
    My family. My French Bulldogs, Quincy and Camille. Tennessee.

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    If you could sit across any one photographer with a cup of your favorite warm beverage, and talk shop for an hour, who would it be and what would you talk about?
    Oh wow, I’ve never thought of this before! I don’t think I have any one photographer I particularly look up to. If I had to pick only one for today, I think it would be Paolo Roversi. His portraits are so moving, classic, and mysterious. Ethereal, yet dark and foreboding. Everything I love basically.

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    Favorite Snack to Edit to:
    coffee or sweet iced tea, twizzlers, and/or doritos

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    Favorite time of Day to Shoot at:
    Most likely evenings because I’m not a morning person at all unless I absolutely have to be.

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    Favorite Quote:
    “Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary.” – Cecil Beaton

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    One thing you do NOT like to Photograph is:
    Please don’t hate me for saying this, but babies and children. It takes a special photographer to be able to work with children and I admire them greatly. I just don’t have the patience for it. (-I could NEVER hate you ha!! -Sarah)
    If you could Photograph anyone, who would that one person be?
    Kate Winslet. She is a classic beauty.

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    One thing no one knows about you?
    I know the lyrics to every Radiohead song.
    Best Photography Investment you ever made:
    My speedlights. Worth every penny and then some. I love being able to bend light at will.
    Photoshop or Lightroom?
    Both. I couldn’t have one without the other.
    If you could live anywhere it would be:
    Tennessee! Love it here.
    Pants or No pants?
    I like to wear pants. Pants are nice. And dresses. Oh, and don’t say pants in England, it means underwear.
    Natural Hair Color?
    Auburn
    Last Book you Read was?
    “Johnny Cash – The Life” by Robert Hilburn
    Can you sum up your Photography in just four words?

    Light. Dark. Soul. Dreamy.

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    If your Photography had a theme song, what would it be?
    “Dream” by Priscilla Ahn
    Favorite Non Photography Related Website is:
    www.pinterest.com… So addicting.

    5 Lovely Comments  •  Leave a Comment for Sarah

  2. Inspired, A Very Special Project | Jamie Faulkner Photography

    Jamie Faulkner has a way with the everyday. She transforms what are seemingly mundane moments into something effortlessly beautiful. She has a special way of photographing her family in a way that you just can feel her love for the ones she holds dearest to her. Her work is a breath of fresh air.  I always manage to get sucked right in. She will also be modeling for me in an upcoming workshop so I am excited to get to meet her in person!

    Name: Jamie Faulkner

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    What is your Business Name?
    Jamie Faulkner Photography

    What is your Camera Body?
    Nikon

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    Website http://www.jamiefaulkner.com
    What inspired you to become a Photographer?

    Wanting to capture and persevere the real, natural moments in ones lives. My husband and I had a house fire in the fall of 2008 resulting in a total loss. Yes, total loss of just silly material things. But in those material things were memories from my childhood and teenage years. Something just changed for me then…I started wanting to capture every little detail…to remember. to keep. So in 2009 I started my business and of course when we had our first child in 2010, the passion quickly become stronger and switched gears and I fell in love with childhood. I truly believe I always loved the essence of childhood, but when you have your own, the love for it becomes stronger. Or that is how it was for me. After having my babies, I knew that childhood and family photography is where I was meant to be. I also knew I that I wanted to head down a lifestyle path for my work. it is where my passion lies. The real, the honest, the natural images move me.
    If you could only keep three things in your camera bag at one time, what would they be and why?

    camera with 35 attached for the obvious reason

    extra card (I am an over shooter!)

    boogie wipes. The actual brand boggie wipes. they do not leave the face red and irritated like most wipes do.

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    If you are a Professional Photographer, what was your first paid session like?

    oh, a dis-organized mess. Shot at the wrong time of day (high noon! eek!) But I made it out alive. I truly believe there are no mistakes, only lessons. And I learned a ton of lessons that day. 🙂
    Jump in a time capsule. What would you do differently if you could? Do you have a cautionary tale?

    I would worry just about me and what I was doing. It is so easy to get caught up in the drama of this industry (and there seems to be a lot of it!). I would stay true to myself and keep my focus on me and my work.

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    I wish I would have put more value on my work.
    What’s in your camera bag?
    Nikon D4s
    35 1.4
    50 1.4
    24-70 2.8

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    Above all, what inspires your art the most?

    childhood

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    Do you have any personal projects in the works?

    Just capturing my children in their daily life. the good and the bad.

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    I also would love to dive into learning to shoot film sometime!

    Personally, I have a goal of seeing my work published. So that is a goal I will always be working at achieving.

    I have also made so many friendships with fellow photographers (you included Sarah!) and I want so badly to meet them. So that is on my bucket list so to speak. I want hug all the friends that I have made and thank them for the strength and kindness they have shown me. (and I get to do that with you this year!!!!!!!!! eek!)
    Any one token piece of advice to someone that has just picked up a camera for the first time?

    Shoot what you love. what inspires you. Be you.

    and shoot, shoot, shoot. Practice a ton and then practice some more. and never give your work away. I wish I had done a “portfolio building” mode of my business longer. Where they pay a portfolio building price, and not just give my work away. And choose your models wisely. Do not let people take advantage of you.

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    What is one thing you will never get tired of photographing?

    children and families

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    If you could sit across any one photographer with a cup of your favorite warm beverage, and talk shop for an hour, who would it be and what would you talk about?

    Katherine Heise from Lamb loves Fox. Her work just inspires me. I love the way she sees things. I would want to chit chat just about life, our babes, and how she sees the world and only hope that a sliver of her awesomeness rubs off on me.

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    Favorite Snack to Edit to:
    not so much of a snack…COFFEE and lots of it.

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    Favorite time of Day to Shoot at:

    the one and only golden hour

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    Favorite Quote:

    “You will never have this day with your children again.
    Tomorrow, they’ll be a little older than they were today.
    This day is a gift. Breathe and notice.
    Smell and touch them; study their face and little feet and pay attention.
    Relish the charms of the present.
    enjoy today, mama. it will be over before you know it.
    Jen Hatmaker

    and the second one is from Liz Labiana

    The camera is like my stage… the second I am behind the lens, everything around me disappears and I come alive in a way I have never felt before.
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    One thing you do NOT like to Photograph is:

    seniors and large groups

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    If you could Photograph anyone, who would that one person be?

    Yan Palmer. She just seems so fun. So free. I need some of that in my life.

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    One thing no one knows about you?
    i used to write poems and stories when I was younger. Always wanted to be a writer.

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    Best Photography Investment you ever made:
    a workshop with Sarah-Beth Photography. She was a breath of fresh air in this industry that has a tendacy to be mean and cruel. i learned so much, gained a friend, and got the confidence I needed.

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    Photoshop or Lightroom?

    PS

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    If you could live anywhere it would be:
    this is going to sound cliche….the beach. love the beach. love the peace i feel there. Plus my hair does amazing on the beach. 😉

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    Pants or No pants?

    LOL! Pants all the way…Im shy. 🙂
    Natural Hair Color?

    Brown
    Last Book you Read was?

    Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks. I am a hopless romantic
    Can you sum up your Photography in just four words?

    real | emotive | personal | fun

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    If your Photography had a theme song, what would it be?
    Priscilla Ahn “Dream” I just love that song.
    Favorite Non Photography Related Website is:
    www.houseofroseblog.com such an inspiring blog and fun, happy blog. She tells it how it is and is just plain cool IMO.

    1 Lovely Comments  •  Leave a Comment for Sarah

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