Have you heard of Tamara Lackey? I hadn’t until about 8 months ago. I was living in my closed off little world and I decided I was going to expand it. I joined an on-line community and I kept hearing her name. Then I heard about creativeLive. I missed the opportunity to watch Tamara but heard she was amazing. I watched the introductions and immediately thought … she’s cool. Yeah I know … very descriptive. What can I say? She seemed down to Earth and the little that I watched drew me in. I immediately downloaded the sample from her book onto the Kindle App for iPhone. I purchased the entire book at like 2 am (when I finished reading the sample) and then promptly went to sleep excited about what the book would bring. Have you ever tried reading a book on photography on an iPhone. No bueno. This was before I realized you could download the app for Kindle to your computer. I never said I was a genius. I tried to read it. Really. I did. Then I got busy and well … that was that.
Have I mentioned I was at WPPI? What do you mean about a million times? Ok fine. Anyway, I got to see some amazing classes. One of which was Tamara Lackey’s class on “The Fusion of Work and Life”. I am a busy woman after all. I help run a non-profit, I’m getting this photography business off the ground, I’m homeschooling, busing my boys to sports and events and my dog is afflicted with every allergy known to man. Oh yeah and I have a husband and a house to keep happy & clean. Yes, I mean happy & clean for both house and husband. I needed that class. I was half awake when I arrived at 7:30am to the classroom. I got to sit in the front row thanks to Katie Fulton (one of my three fab roommates) who had saved me a seat. Once again, she was down to Earth and funny. I learned quite a bit in that class. My favorite quote: “Being busy does not mean you’re being productive.” Even though I was ridiculously tired and starving (would have been rude to be sitting in the front row eating …) I immediately made a mental list of about 20 things I do, that produced nothing. It was a good class. Chock full of eye opening realizations and tips to simplify. If I wasn’t a fan before, I was now. I had a couple of opportunities to meet her, but I have to admit … WPPI was a lot like high school was for me. Full of shyness and uncertainty. Now I’m kicking myself. I would have loved a picture with her. Dane Sanders too. Oh and Me Ra Koh ….
It’s been a few weeks since WPPI and I’m just now really starting to incorporate some of the things I learned. I decided after I bought a ridiculous amount of stuff I saw used at the Flashbus Tour, that I was also going to buy the actual book by Tamara Lackey.
The Review … It’s excellent.
I read ALOT. It’s actually one of the things that I do that I wondered if it was hampering productivity. I’ve been know to stay up until 5, 6, 7 am because I don’t want to put a book down. When you have to be up at 7:30am with your children, it doesn’t quite work so well. I love a novel, however, textbook type books are like Chinese Water Torture. I was worried that after my experience with iPhone version, it was going to be hard to read. Instead I finished it in one sitting. It reads like she’s chatting with you about photography.On top of that it’s full of beautiful images of children and families to help you understand just what she means. Those I might add were not on the kindle version. It’s sort of a guidebook on photography. It touches on every thing you need to know. There is information on basic portraiture photography, working with children, and business information. My favorite part? Working with children. I love children. I am far more comfortable around kids than I am with adults. One of the things I have struggled a little bit with is understanding what they need right away. Tamara gives you some advice on how you can understand them a little quicker and get to the fun part for everyone faster. Complaints? It’s not bigger. I was actually surprised at how thin a book it was. I feel like there is so much more that can be learned from her.
Cheers!
Kellianna