Photos: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Trella-Photography/141106929247077
Introduction
Work experience can be extremely valuable when considering starting out your own business. I decided to search around for someone who has a high quality of work in an area I am interested in. Jane Allert’s photography first captured my attention earlier this year when I noticed her work on a social media website. I decided to make the most of this opportunity and approach her regarding work experience.
Meet Jane
Jane Allert is Mum of two energetic and bright eyed kids. Her husband bought her a Canon 50d and from there she began to teach herself the basic controls of using a DSLR. She would put these photos up on facebook and would receive comments saying she puts up a lot of kids photos. Taking this as maybe she was putting up too many photos and people were possibly sick of seeing them, she made a personal page. This was unknowingly the beginning of her business. From here people began to ask how much she charges for her portraits. Realising that this was something she could pursue and with the support of her husband she opened Trella Photography in August 2010.
Trella Photography
Jane’s business grew very quickly with sessions quickly booking out months in advance. She operates two days a week, Tuesdays and Saturdays and has a very quick turnaround time. One of Jane’s key strengths is her interaction with young kids. Children can often be challenging to work with and Jane takes this on with a big smile.
Equipment and Technique
Jane quickly upgraded her camera to a Canon 5d when her business began to grow. Enjoying the full frame camera she uses a 70-200mm 2.8 lens, a 50mm 1.2 lens and an 100mm macro. She has a small home studio set up with two studio lights and a back drop. Jane prefers to shoot with natural light believing that it adds to the natural emotions of the subjects. Her editing techniques are quite consistent using detailing in the eyes, colour changing and textures as her main tools. She really focuses on bringing out the eyes naturally and in post-production. She uses soft natural lighting and crisp focus with a wide aperture. Her editing includes sharpening and defining this area by use of dodge and burning and it is apparent in her photos that it is a defining feature to her style of work.
Jane’s main shooting technique is to create a comfortable environment with a fun atmosphere and relies on her fantastic ability to interact with kids to get the shots. Some tips I learnt are to always get the parents to stand near you as the kid will often look to their parents and in turn near the camera. She also said she always wears white or light clothes when photographing as it helps to create catch lights in the subject’s eyes in outdoor environments. Jane gets her subjects to wear neutral colours with no distracting logos and encourages them to bring any sentimental props.
Work Experience
I was invited to assist with one of Jane’s Christmas mini sessions. She did something similar the previous year and advertised a two day block of 30 minute mini sessions. The kids had to be aged between 4 months and 4 years. This started with an early set up of props with the first subject arriving at 9am and shooting through till 4.30pm. Sounding like an extreme challenge photographing over 30 kids in two days, Jane’s calm attitude tackled this task easily. The set up remained the same for each session with just props and subjects changing. During the session one of the kids started to yell. Jane then yelled straight back which startled the kid, before he produced a big grin. They then proceeded to have a screaming contest while Jane kept snapping away whenever he let out a huge grin. This to me shows that whilst technical skills are very important interaction can be equally as important depending on the chosen field.
All of the parents were so pleased to be having their kids photos taken by Jane and some had been waiting months to get a session. She is always described in feedback as patient and great with the kids and has an eye for creating beautiful imagery. They often describe her photos as magical. Another photographer Chelsea Templeton from Proof of Life Photography was assisting Jane over the two days. My jobs were to basically watch and learn, hold reflectors help with props and take photos alongside if I wanted. The involvement in this day was a fantastic learning opportunity. It was great to see the potential challenges and enjoyment there can be from photographing kid. I thought the idea of the Mini Christmas Sessions was a very clever selling point and was a huge success with lots of happy parents.
Future of Trella
Jane will be relocating to Albury next year and is looking forward to expanding her business. Chelsea Templeton is a commercial photographer and friend and they are looking to set up a shop front and studio together. As they each concentration in different areas of photography they feel that this would be a fantastic way to grow their businesses individually with a strong physically presence and the ability to cover a range of photographic areas. Jane’s work is strongly influenced by her family and that she believes it is important for everyone to have quality photographic memories of their kidsShe is looking to work more days and continue to expand her business and clientele. She will still be available to travel back to Canberra but her work is now spreading in a new region.
Conclusion
Jane is a completely self-taught photographer demonstrating that there are numerous ways to get into the photography industry. There is no set pathway into the trade you just need to provide a quality service where there is a need.
