Sorry that I haven’t been blogging as of lately! I’ve been really sick, blast school and all of its germs!
I’ve been doing a lot thanks to Heather Lilly and experienced some pretty cool things. Two I would love to talk about is the business fair and a beautiful wedding.
A couple of weeks ago, Heather invited me to tend a business fair. I’ve never gone to one and frankly, had no idea what it implied. Basically, it was a fair that small businesses would go to and distribute their business cards and what they’re selling (we would, of course, be advertising Heather’s photography).
I had to dress professionally for it, which makes sense because who would take me seriously if I showed up in sweats? Heather had us set up across from the door so we would not only be the first people to be seen, but we were also the closest from the food that was given to us (go Heather!).
Many of the other businesses seemed extremely intrigued by Heather and loved her romantic pictures of engagement portraits and weddings. Others loved her night photography, senior portraits, and Rock the Dress.
She had me go around and hand our business cards to everyone else. I learned a few things through this. I learned that many people are extremely nice, which I was insecure about because they were all adults and here I was, just a girl who was trying to sound like she knew what she was saying. I also learned that I would need to age more before everyone take’s me seriously. I remember passing out cards and a few people politely declined and it was obvious that it was because of how young I was (which is completely alright, I totally understand the age issue).
I learned that I need to be quick on my feet, especially when someone comes up to me instead of Heather and ask about her company. I know a lot about it already because I shadowed her last year, and so I was extremely thankful for that. Imagine looking like a fool in front of all these corporate leaders!
So many people were relaxed, which I didn’t think was a common thing. But no, there were many who would come up to Heather and I and joke around about things and ask about our lives. I always had a small fear to ever be around these people because they seemed so terrorizing with their success, but they are all normal people!
I also saw the marketing side of photography. I don’t know why, but I never really thought about this section of it. Of course photographers need to figure out ways to sell their company! I thought that Heather was really brilliant for going to these types of functions. Mostly everyone had her card by the end of the night and I bet that her schedule has been swamped since.

Then two weekends ago, I also was lucky enough to go to Red Lion Restaurant with Heather to shoot a wedding. She believed that it was important for me to see what she needs to do at the wedding and how to act. Believe me, weddings are not just a walk in the park. There is so much that Heather needs to think about! Not only does she need to plan and shoot pictures based on what the groom and bride wants, but she needs to know names of everyone in the party and be acquainted with all of the other workers at the place. Not only is she the photographer, but she is also helping out any way that she can for the party.
We left a few hours early so that we could scope out the place and start imagining what scenery could look good in the pictures (we also stopped at Silly Moose Deli which was delicious). It was overcast, which is always wonderful for the photographer, and the lovely company was so nice and very relaxed; I have never seen in all of the weddings I have attended.
I held Heather’s umbrella and had to open it up a few times so I could cover her camera lens from the rain (which was smart because lens are incredibly expensive). We walked all over the place to make unique pictures. I helped out anyway that I could, whether that was holding people’s champagne glass or ruffling the brides beautiful dress.
We had to get all of the family members organized throughout the wedding to take family pictures. I found out this was harder than imagined. People are usually having a good time with each other to really want to take pictures, but everyone was good sport.
After the reception, I left because I had been on my feet for about eight hours. I had to give props to Heather Lilly; she’s a beast at this kind of stuff! She had to stay all night.
I learned that photography also has extremely odd hours and that I need to buy comfortable shoes. We need to be wiling to commute for a client and remember that the pictures aren’t for us, but for them. So, we need to always have their interests in mind.
Photographers will also need to do more than what is described. We need to create relations with people we will be photographing and, like a bride, be ready for something to go wrong and improvising.
I’m starting to get that photography isn’t as easy as I thought it would be. However, it’s still really fun and I have to give thanks to Heather Lilly ☺