Recently, I was lucky enough to take part in an intensive wedding internship with rockstar photographer Sarah Barlow, even shooting a wedding WITH her! I have been totally blog stalking Sarah for a very long time, drooling over her stellar images and dying to have the opportunity to intern with her. So, needless to say, I was a little more than excited to actually have that opportunity to not only learn from her one-on-one, but also shoot a wedding WITH her! (Eye candy from that gorgeous(!) wedding soon to come in another post!)
Besides shooting the wedding, multiple trips to Starbucks, and copious amounts of girl talk, we really worked on developing our branding. This couldn’t have come at a better time for me! Some of you may have found your way here via A Squared Photography, so you may have now realized that I have since rebranded myself to go by my (NEW and soon-to-be) name, Amanda Megan Miller.Admittedly, rebranding had been in the back of my mind for a while but I felt a little overwhelmed and lost at where to begin. Sarah threw me and my awesome fellow intern (and roommate for the weekend), Sarah Pence, into brainstorming our brands right away! I found myself ecstatic to finally be committing to developing my brand to be uniquely ‘me’. As scared as I was to make the change and many other changes to my business plan, I went home feeling ready to recommit myself to my work and a brand that fit me just perfectly!
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My brand board! In a nutshell, these were the images, ideas, and colors that came to mind when I delved into developing my brand. Pinks and Golds! Silks and Lace! Vintage Chic! Girly and Glitzy, with a touch of Old Hollywood Glamour! I truly love everything about it and feel it speaks to how I want to present myself and my brand just perfectly! Now, I feel like my brand and my work speak to who I am, authentically. Finally building my branding to really suit me has reconnected me to my business and re-inspired my work! It was one of the best decisions I have made for my business and I am so thankful to Sarah Barlow (and my fellow intern Sarah!) for their encouragement along the way!
Through the intensive (and amazing!) internship, Sarah helped me get my business on the path it needed to be by showing me the hows and whys it should be there, so I felt confident in my business plan and processes. She reinvigorated my brand and not to mention, revolutionized my post processing workflow with a little program called Bridge! Ha! It also wouldn’t have been the same without the company of the ‘other’ Sarah, for leaning on and learning from each other along the way, by swapping stories and nuggets of information, enriched the intern experience in a really fantastic way! At the end of it all, the experience reminded me that getting out of your comfort zone and making a change really is the best way to grow and move forward. Sometimes it is hard to remember that change IS good!
