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Year End Review | Online Photography Workshops

Happy New Year to all our friends here!

It is simply astonishing how wonderful a year 2017 was for Twig and Olive, and we thought it appropriate to take some time to reflect on it all.

The biggest change was that it was Darcy’s first full year with us. Much like our merge (now 30 months ago), our only regret is that we didn’t do this sooner. As Brand Manager, she is a part of everything that you see, receive, and hear coming from our company. She brings an outsider viewpoint and makes us see things from another perspective. But even more, she really does keep the peace and is a calming presence. We are a better company just by her being here.

twig and olive photography staff

In 2017, we traveled and shot in 22 different states (Indiana, Wisconsin, Nevada, Iowa, Florida, California, Texas, Arizona, Minnesota, Hawaii, Washington, Tennessee, Missouri, Illinois, Louisiana, Idaho, Montana, Colorado, Oregon, Maryland, Ohio and South Carolina) and 6 different countries (Dominican Republic , Mexico, Denmark, Norway, Scotland and Ireland)!

destination portrait photographersIn addition to doing a handful of in-person workshops through the year, we spoke at The Baby Summit, Shutter Fest, and Iowa’s PPA State Convention.

wedding photography workshop in IrelandWe were able to relax a bit and took an amazing trip with both of our families! We first headed to Denmark for a few days followed by a Disney Cruise to Norway. The kids had an amazing time and still talk about it.Norway family portraitsOur website went through a HUGE upgrade. We have Renee over from Ribbons of Red to thank for taking our (very) complicated vision and putting it into a functional work of art. We moved our e-commerce shop and completely integrated it into our website. We love the simplicity and organization of having everything under one roof. It has been tremendously easier for our clients.

We continued to add items to the shop including contracts, videos, and our newest preset and action sets (Be Bold, Terra Film, Noor, and LUX Film.)

We are huge proponents of continuing education. Mid-year we flew out to Denver to attend Rob Greer’s Google is a Stone Cold Bitch SEO Workshop. You. Need. This. Workshop. Rob is a superstar, and we love the blunt advice.

online photography workshops

The bulk of our project time was dedicated to one major release – our four new e-Workshops!  A lot of blood, sweat, swearing, and tears (probably alcohol too) went into the creation of these. It began with us brainstorming and coming up with a vision (well, 3 separate visions) and somehow throughout the year managed to morph all of our separate ideas into Twig and Olive’s version of an online workshop.

These are simply the most complete online photography workshops available to help to advance your skills with photography, editing, creating an experience, managing clients, running your business, and just so much more. We designed these to be more than just a couple of videos and a posing guide. Included are valuable contracts, guides, templates, videos, and just about everything you’ll need to start or improve your photography business. Be sure to check them out if you haven’t already!

Wedding  |  Child and Family  |  Newborn  |  Business

So what does 2018 bring for us?

Every year we sit down and for two days do nothing but talk about our business. Sure, we do this throughout the year as needed, but this is a really intense dive into our brand. We really tease apart our strengths and weakness, what worked well and what could be improved on, and how we can be better, set ourselves apart, and provide an even better client experience. While our meeting can be quite “spirited” at some points, it’s only because we all have the end goal of providing an exceptional product and experience to our clients. (Obviously, Darcy is essential here.)

wedding photography details

New for 2018, we’re going to put ourselves and our personalities out there a little more through our blog. Every month each of us will be creating a unique blog post, so make sure you read the blog often!

One of the bigger changes moving forward is that we are shaking up our portrait session offerings. We love to travel and adventure and we want to offer a session that is reflective of what is important to us and our families. It falls within our mantra to “focus on our successes”, and we feel like we can be the most efficient with our package offerings. These will be ready to launch within the next week or so, so please come join us for an adventure!

Travel doesn’t slow down next year. Rather, we are adding additional states and countries for shooting weddings, child and family sessions, and teaching. We are thrilled to be speaking at Shutter Fest (April 2-4, 2018 in St. Louis), The Reset Conference (April 7-8, 2018 in Indianapolis, Indiana and The Uncommon Creative Collective (September 22-24, 2018 in Ontario, Canada).

succulent newborn shoot

In addition to our speaking engagements and online workshops, we will still be teaching a handful of in-person workshops throughout the country (and the Netherlands)!

CONSISTENT TRUSTt:  A Wedding Photography Workshop
June 25, 2018 | Chicago, Illinois

LIFE’S ADVENTURE: A Family Photography Workshop (One And Two-Day Options)
March 6, 2018 | Phoenix, Arizona
July 9 and 11, 2018 | Netherlands (sold out)
November 5, 2018 | Destin, Florida
January 9-10, 2019 | Sydney, Australia

PUREST LOVE: A Newborn Photography Workshop
August 14, 2018 | Sun Prairie, Wisconsin

SAVVY BUSINESS: A Branding, Business, And Marketing Workshop (no longer offered)
January 17, 2018 | Nashville, Tennessee
April 19, 2018 | Seattle, Washington

If our business had a silent 5th partner, it would be ShootQ, our Studio Management Software (it’s that important). We are so lucky to be working with Adam as he launches the next generation of our studio management software. We are partnering up with them on a few really great things in 2018, so stay tuned!  We will be speaking at their booth at Imaging USA in Nashville, Tennessee on January 14 and 15 this year, so please come say “Hi!” and learn about one of our favorite systems that we use for running our business! If you want to try it out for 6 months for FREE, use discount code “TwigAndOlive” (huge savings!).

All this, and it’s just the beginning. 2018 will be an amazing year for growth both as a business and as photographers. We are ecstatic for what this year brings and how we can continue to grow and share our journey with you. We hope that everyone has a wonderful Holiday and Happy New Year!

Cheers!

Bobbi, Doug, Courtney, and Darcy

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