The longer I’ve been in business, the more I’ve honed in on this passion to help other small businesses succeed. We live in a social climate where EVERYTHING is driven by photographs. It’s become this critical element to helping any business survive, wether the photographs are on their website, social media or in print, having good photographs of your “portfolio” is essential. Having a skill that is so desperately needed, I’ve enjoyed teaching workshops over the last year to TEACH people who genuinely want to learn in order to make themselves (or their business!) better. It is so satisfying to be able to help people develop a skill that will in turn, help them do something better.
After the Photography for Mom’s Workshop Series was completed in the Fall of last year, Jamie Tiralla of Monnett Farms and AllAg Media approached me about possibly joining forces and teaching a workshop geared towards farmers using only their SmartPhones. Being the marketing expert she is, she understands the need to help the farm industry reach new and existing customers by taking better photographs of their products, farms and presence in the community. We came up with the idea of a “walking workshop,” that would give the attendees a more hands-on approach with one-on-one access to learning from an instructor. We developed some teaching opportunities and exercises that would be applicable to these farmers, and would allow them to take their newly developed skills and put them into use immediately on their own farms.
Jamie and her husband, owners of fourth-generation Monnett Farms in Prince Frederick, Maryland were our gracious hosts and organizers of the workshop this past Friday. They outfitted one of their old tobacco barns on their property to seat all 15 of the attendees. Each attendee was able to bring a few products from their own farms to use as subject matter “practice” so they could realistically use the images afterward. Styling carts and backgrounds were carefully curated to provide the attendees with things to style their products. During the workshop, we discussed lighting, composition, styling and marketing tips to help them when taking pictures. Most of the workshop was taught while walking around the farm, making stops in different locations and practicing in the moment. It was so amazing to see how quickly everyone caught on, and how anxious everyone was to learn and make their skills better. Having farmers from diverse industries made the workshop so interesting, and everyone was able to learn a little bit from each other. Some of the farms included wineries, flower farms, meat farms, agritourism farms, fairs, and more! My sweet friend and fellow photographer, Catalina Devore was there to document the morning!
We had a few other local vendors involved, which truly brought out Maryland’s Best in this workshop!
Picnic Lunch: No Thyme to Cook
Photographs of the event: Catalina Devore Photography
Workshop Speaker: Melissa Barrick of MB Photography, LLC
Workshop Host/Organizer: Jamie Tiralla of All Ag Media and Monnett Farm
Calligraphy: Lynn Theresa Designs
Custom Cookie Favors: Kathryn’s Crafty Cakes
Previous Blog Post
Next Blog Post