day with davina.

A couple of weeks ago Mikki came to visit here in South Carolina for a Day with Davina.  We had such a great time talking about all of the ways her life and business are intersecting and the road she would like to be on that will help her arrive at the place she dreamed of when she first started her business.

So often when I get to meet with photographers the thing they feel most is: overwhelmed.  They've gotten to a place where they are shooting to make it through to the next session.  They're giving their clients great work but their heart has gotten lost in the hurry of the whole process.  It's one of my favorite moments to get to sit with these photographers and look at their lives and their business and talk and discover ways to make it all have more meaning and more functionality.

I'm so excited about Mikki...her work, her business, her passion, her heart.  The photo shoots since she got back have been so much more full of emotion and depth.  I'm thrilled for her!  I've loved getting updates about how she's rediscovering herself, spending more time with her family, and streamlining her workflow.

Here's what Mikki said:

"It was an absolute dream for me to be able to come out and spend that time with you.  I keep thinking that I shouldn't have waited that long to do it.  But I feel so grateful for the things you were inspired to share with me.  Without knowing every detail about me or my background, you truly said the things that I needed to hear.  You've opened my mind and my heart and it feels incredible to finally be breathing again!

I had my first shoot since the workshop...in between their outfit change, I sat in their car and felt something I'd almost never felt while shooting.  For the first time, in a long time, I shot with purpose.  I was shooting with my heart, instead of just my head.  I totally got emotional and had chills everywhere.   It was special to spend that time with this little family, capturing moments of them playing T-ball, catching bugs, tickling each other, and then to see the young parents snuggling up to each other and so in love.  I felt like I was witnessing their unsaid secrets and I felt so special that they asked me to photograph that for them.  What a joy your style of photography is to people.  What a gift.  I was happy while shooting and still feel excited about so many shots that I got.  Thank you for helping me to see another way.  This is going to be such a beautiful experience and I hope I can continue to attract beautiful people with special stories to tell."

...and some images from our session...

**To book your Day with Davina and learn more info click here or email info@davinafear.com.**

love. LIFE.

Nicole.

I've been excited to meet with Nicole and she didn't disappoint. She came so excited to learn about business, marketing, pricing, studio organization, creating a studio space even at home, branding, finding your style, being a lovemark, setting up client folders, workflow, growing over the next year, and hiring. We covered all of these topics and more and I am so excited to see what she does this year. Her work is beautiful and after doing a website and blog review with her I think she's going to getting some even more amazing images in the coming months.

Nicole is a great listener, thinker, creator, and business woman. She sees color in a way that I love, some of her newborn images are so striking because of the color and scale she sees when she goes into someone's home.

One of the things I loved about her was that I could see her mind working the whole time. As we talked through out the day about so many topics, together, we were coming up with ways to make the principles work for her business life. It was so FUN!

Nicole sent me this note:

"Inspiring. Encouraging. Challenging. Amazing. Four words that describe my time with you today. I knew you would be amazing, but I didn't know how amazing. How do I thank you? You helped me out in so many ways and hope that I can make you proud of me one day. I am telling everyone about my experinece with you. Thank you, thank you. All my love!" - Nicole

If you would like a Day with Davina:

To learn more, click here.

Or contact the studio at davina at davinafear dot com.

learn. LIFE.

Day with Davina.

I will be scheduling Day with Davina sessions for a limited time. You can register now for sessions that will begin in April. See below for more details on what we might cover in a custom session for you.  You can also Click here to learn more.   Contact the studio soon at info@davinafear.com

or click here:

(when we receive your payment we will call to schedule)

Some of the things that may be included in your customized Day with Davina:

the details of how I’ve organized my studio.

my workflow.

tracking clients.

how to hire staff.

working with a staff.

organizing files.

creativity in shooting.

balancing life and business.

establishing your style and lovemark.

organizing your business so that you can have a life.

critique of your business organization and branding.

getting to know your clients and essence of who they are and helping them to take risks.

inspiration: How and where?

critique of your online work (website and blog).

anything else you want to chat about.

it's all fair game.

To get your Day with Davina scheduled just let the studio know a few dates that will work for you. A retainer fee of $500 will get you on the calendar. Full payment of the balance will need to be made at least 2 weeks before your session. Can’t wait to spend the day with you!

COMING SOON!!!

GET TO KNOW YOU QUESTIONNAIRE KIT  (update:  now available.  click here.)

Later this week I'll be releasing for the first time my Get to Know You Questionnaire.  It has been used by 100s of photographers to get wonderful, fun, relaxed, passionate, real images of their clients.  Now it's going to be available!  I've been working on this for quite a while now and I'm very excited to putting it out in a new and improved format.  Be watching and keep checking back...it's coming soon!

To get on the first-to-find-out list contact the studio at info@davinafear.com

learn. LIFE.

business and shooting.

Evelyn has been in business for just a little while as friends and family have asked her to do sessions for them...now she has people paying her and she is looking to grow her talent into a business.  She's also so young and has such a great future ahead of her.  I was so impressed that at such a young age she understands the value of learning what mistakes not to make right off the bat...before she even opens her business door.  She's going to be an amazing business woman!

She knew she needed some tools to get started.  So before I left Utah, she and I got together for a Day with Davina.  We talked at length about business licensing, financials, the best companies to partner with, how to set up an office (even if you are a team of one), how to prepare to have more than a team of one, and so much more. 

In the afternoon we looked through her portfolio and went over all of the ways she could improve her shooting, what she was doing well, how to get the most out of her camera, and adding emotion to her images.  When Misha and Braden arrived for the afternoon photo shoot the we had even more fun and packed in the tips for getting a great image.  I was so impressed with the way Evelyn picked up everything we discussed and applied so much of what we talked about.  Here are some of my faves from our session together.

To schedule your Day with Davina contact the studio at info@davinafear.com

new. LIFE.

angela. gerado.

I knew that my time with Angela and Gerado was going to be fun but I had no idea how wonderful it would be to hang out with them all day.  When the end of the day came I was sad to see them go.

We talked all day long covering so many topics.  They have 4 girls...and they don't want to miss any more time with them.  They've been shooting for over 10 years, in business for 5 years...but officially for one.  They have bookings coming in like crazy but they've lost their life somewhere in the middle of it all.  After looking over their questionnaire and some emails back and forth we decided that what would be best is a day all about taking their business and making it work better and more efficiently.  Their work is beautiful and they've really been getting gorgeous lighting into their portrait work.  We wanted to cover their website and portfolio but not do an actual shoot.  And it's so good we decided that since we were still talking business by the end of the day (and could have talked even more business). 

We went into detail doing a website critique and talking about branding and helping everything to be cohesive and sending the message that they want to send through their art and studio, financials, studio management, workflow, client information gathering, a studio bible, payroll, the hiring process and how to hire a great team, having a beautifully organized studio space and workspace, working with a team, balancing business and home, organization systems that free you to enjoy yourself when you do get to be home...getting it all out of your head, and enjoying the process of it all.

I'm so grateful for the time I got to spend with Angela and Gerado.  I'm so excited to hear from them every time they complete some thing from their 14 step program that we came up with just for them, their life, and their studio.  I'm looking very forward to hearing about where they are at in 6 months and a year from now!  It's going to be amazing! (At the end of the day Angela asked if they could do another Day with Davina after I move to NC...I would love to see where they are at then!)

Angela and Gerado left me these notes:

Wow Davina!  Every penny was totally worth it.  Thank you so much for  your time and talent and your willingness to share it with us.  Not many photographers go so in depth in the subjects you covered.  We know that we will implement the ideas you've given us to help our business grow, but more importantly to keep our family together and grow stronger.  We certainly feel we found an answer to our prayers when we were able to do this session with you! Thank you from the bottom of my heart! -Angela.

I learned the importance of managing my time, that I can become a better photographer but more important a better dad and husband.  And it is ok to give responsibility to others to help me.  Davina, thanks for everything.  We love you tons. -Gerado.

(to schedule your Day with Davina contact the studio at info@davinafear.com .  we are almost full before leaving Utah and are already booking for when i arrive in nc.)

learn. LIFE.