This Conversation with Jed Taufer

Vicki and Jed Taufer have been involved in the photography industry for over 20 years. They co-founded their studio, V Gallery, in Morton, IL in 1998. With a focus on artistic portraiture, Vicki specializes in photographing people, pets, and commercial shoots. V Gallery has been everything from a small home based studio, to a large storefront with multiple employees, and everything in between. Vicki has a passion for people. Her journey with a camera has taken her and Jed around the world. They have been recognized internationally through their teaching, awards, and publications. Vicki’s goal is a healthy work/life balance. At work, she focuses on photography, marketing, and sales. At home, she focuses on homeschooling her two children. You can check out her website at vgallery.net The Taufers currently reside in Illinois.

I would describe myself as a down-to-earth creative who isn’t afraid to be honest. I like to have fun and act like a weird-o sometimes. I strongly believe that having killer photos of yourself, no matter who you are, can work wonders on your confidence and I love being able to create that imagery for teens as they begin the journey of stepping out on their own in this crazy world. A senior portrait isn’t just a rad profile pic but a chance to show the world the REAL you. Believe it or not, I’m a country girl at heart and learned of my love for photography through 4H. I started a full service portrait studio in 2006 after graduating from Hawkeye Comm. College with a degree in Professional Photography. It grew quickly and I soon realized that my favorite subjects were seniors. When I started this biz in 2014 I was bound and determined to build a brand solely focusing on teen photography. I continue furthering my skills through conferences, workshops and competitions and became a Master of Photography through Professional Photographers of America in 2017 with nationally award winning images and albums. I will never stop learning how to better my craft, and I’m so excited to be able to teach other photographers how to create amazing experiences for their clients as well.

Anj Olson is the owner and photographer at Lav & Lime Studio, a children and family photography studio located in Ankeny, Iowa. The studio specializes in modern storytelling photography with an emphasis on a custom experience with every client. Alongside the studio, Anj is a mama to 3 beautiful boys that provide inspiration, insight, and a necessary infusion of reality in a world that loves ideals.

Kristina Guerrero, Cards + Press Product Owner, Client Success Program Manager, and Marketing and Events Manager. Highly creative marketer with over 15+ years experience at WHCC. She has transformed business initiatives that continue to propel revenue growth and produce brand exposure on a multitude of ever-changing platforms. She is a trade show visionary, problem-solver, and product leader driving vision and collaboration between cross-functional partners to deliver successful results.

Laretta Houston was born in Angeles City, Philippines. From struggle and poverty evolved an inspirational vision of beauty and life all around her. Laretta’s story could easily have taken such a different turn if not for her determination and strength. Born the daughter of a military father and a Filipino mother who traveled a lot, she spent most of her time with relatives modestly raised in poverty without luxury. After losing her mother at age 13 to Lupus, this is when she entered her journey through the foster care system, eventually making her way to the United States, where she was determined to change the course of her life. Struggling to balance work, school, and being a single mother, she found her love in photography. Having a multimedia background would also prove to be an invaluable help in marketing her passion as well as giving incredible insights into advertising and marketing needs.  She has photograph clients such as Sports Illustrated Swimsuit, ABC (Dancing with the Stars, VH1, Allergan, Broadway Shoes, Spanx, Proctor and Gamble, CDC, Modelland, and more. She sees beauty in everything and as a woman who wears her emotions on her sleeve, her mind’s eye sees each project as a very personal journey.

Matt’s career has been centered around the world of professional photography. Owning and operating a studio for over 20 years along with coaching and educating photographers on the importance of product sales and studio design have been his long term passion. Matt joined WHCC a little over 3 years ago as their Client Success Manager to extend customized concierge level service to their client base. When Matt’s not working with photographers he enjoys playing with vintage cars, camping with Kelly and playing with their 20 week old Golden Retriever puppy Monte around the yard.

Audrey Wancket owns the high-end portrait studio, Wancket Studios in Spring Grove, Illinois. Audrey’s portraits have earned her numerous awards at the state and national levels, which has made here a sought after speaker to amateur and professional photography groups across America and as far away as Korea. Degrees and Certifications: ·  Master of Photography degree from PPA in 1996 ·  Craftsman degree in 1998 ·  Certified Professional Photographer ·  Honorary Master of Photography degree, PPA 2021 ·  Board of Director, Professional Photographers of America 2012-present ·  2019-2020 President of Professional Photographers of America ·  2020-2021 Chairman of the Board, Professional Photographers of America ·  Approved International Juror, PPA Photographic Awards: ·  Canon Par Excellence award, 2012 and 2013 ·  6 Regional(district) Medallion awards, American Society of Photographers ·  Kodak Gallery Elite ·  2-Imaging Excellence awards, PPA Audrey’s philosophy to “never settle for good enough” has been instrumental in the reputation she has earned in her business.

Natalie Keyssar is a documentary photographer whose work focuses on inequality, youth culture, and the personal effects of political turmoil and violence, in the Americas. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in painting and illustration from The Pratt Institute, has taught New Media at the International Center of Photography in New York and has instructed at various workshops across the US and Latin America. She has received grants from the Pulitzer Center, the IWMF, and the Magnum Foundation, was the winner of the 2018 ICP Infinity Emerging Photographer Award, and the 2019 PH Museum Women Photographer’s Grant. She’s a regular contributor to National Geographic, The New Yorker, and The New York Times among many other publications. She is currently based in Brooklyn, New York.

Dorie Howell is a published photographer serving the Northern Virginia and Washington, DC Metropolitan area. She loves serving her clients in all genres but specializes in Newborn, Family and Corporate Headshots. As well as running her photography business, she has also become a top photography mentor to other photographers all over the world. Her previous experience in the corporate world working in small professional offices taking care of everything from payroll, employee management, customer service, and sales, to running her own photography business, then having an idea to start and run one of the largest photography education memberships in the industry, has given her the experience and knowledge to help creative business owners in any field. Her passion remains with the photography industry and helping photographers define their goals and then give them the tools they need to meet those goals. She has worked with tens of thousands of photographers worldwide and loves seeing their success! Dorie is a highly sought-after speaker, podcast guest, and teacher in the areas of marketing, social media, mindset and workflow.

Allison English Watkins specializes in capturing family portraits that will be treasured heirlooms for generations. For over 25 years Allison has been creating portraits for her beloved clients and celebrating their lifetime milestones. Living in the beautiful mountains of Park City, Utah, Allison loves incorporating the gorgeous landscape into her portraits as much as possible. Besides being a Master Photographer, Craftsman and Certified Professional photographer, Allison’s portraits have won numerous awards during her career. A few career highlights include being PPA Diamond Photographer of the year, IPPA Master Photographer of the year and having 3 wedding albums finish in the IPC Top 10 wedding albums of the year. Allison has won multiple LexJet Sunset Awards, Kodak Gallery Awards and Fuji Masterpieces and has been international published. In 2018 she was the recipient of the Professional Photographers of America National Award presented by the Intermountain Professional Photographers Association for her service to the photographic community. Currently, Allison stays busy serving on the Professional Photographers of America Board of Directors and is a PPA Approved Photographic Juror. Allison also travels and educates photographers on the fine art of family portraiture. Allison is also part of the Camera Craftsmen of America, a group dedicated to the fine art craft of photography. Allison’s greatest joys are her husband of almost 25 years, her 3 kids and her cat S’mores.

Vanessa Joy is a Canon Explorer of Light that has been an influential speaker in the community for over a decade. Starting her photographic journey in 1998, she has since branched into public speaking, earned 5 college degrees, received a PPA Photographic Craftsman degree, been named a WeddingWire Education Expert, sponsored by Canon, Profoto and Animoto to name a few. Vanessa has spoken at almost every major convention and platform in the event industry such as CreativeLIVE, The Wedding School, Clickin’ Moms, WPPI, ShutterFest, Imaging USA, Wedding MBA, WeddingWire World, MobileBeat, in addition to hosting personal workshops and numerous small business and photography conventions around the globe. Recognized for her talent and more so her business sense, her clients love working with her and industry peers love to learn from her tangible, informative and open-book style of teaching.

William Branson III M. Photog. Cr., Fellow - ASP, A-BIPP, A-RPS, MPP-MPI “As a portrait artist, I help families hold onto time by creating portraits from their dreams.  I write their story and the story begins with their family – their journey – their dreams.  I create a world around them, a world beyond a photograph.  It is a portrait that will become their most treasured possession and it will endure when their other material property has been discarded and forgotten.  My goal is to bring a tradition of quality and refinement to portraiture for the walls of my client’s homes.” A much sought after speaker and teacher to professional artist, William holds Fellowship and Associate degrees from around the globe.  Families and institutions from all over look to him to help and guide them as he captures the most important people in their lives.  Carefully preserved, these treasured portraits are admired in beautiful homes and institutions around the globe, iconic traces of each person’s heritage. It has been said . . .  “You never own a portrait by William Branson III. you merely take care of it for the next generation.”

Mark Rossetto is an international award-winning Double Master Photographer with the Australian Institute of Professional Photography (AIPP), an international keynote speaker and a qualified Photography Business and Life Coach. Mark is highly regarded and has coached hundreds of photographers from beginners to seasoned professionals all over the world including Australia, USA, UK, Europe and NZ.

Brooke Shaden is a conceptual fine art photographer specializing in self-portraiture. After graduating college with degrees in film and English, she turned to photography to tell the stories she always wanted to let loose. Photography provided a medium that was faster than film with the richness of story that writing had, and she built a career from those passions. Her work has received awards for it’s cohesion and storytelling abilities. Many of the images are dark yet timeless and whimsical, creating a sometimes disturbing yet beautiful montage of worlds that people feel connected to. Shaden’s work reminds us that there is dark and light inside us all, and that element has allowed for openness and sharing of the ideology behind the works, garnering more than one million followers online.  When not creating personal work, Brooke is a dedicated philanthropist, teaching self-expression workshops for survivors of human trafficking. She has also started photography schools for the same community in India and Thailand. Brooke lives in a small mountain town with her husband and kitties.

Gary Hughes covers being a Girldad, the Hobby Paradox, and much more as we discuss how one must Learn to Play. As the child of photographer parents it would have been natural for Gary to step right in to the family business, but he had to go out and try pretty much everything else before finding his way back to photography. In the 13 years since picking up a camera he has earned local and national awards including 3 Gold Medals and an Imaging Excellence Award from the International Photographic Competition and a Fuji Masterpiece Award. His work has been featured in Professional Photographer Magazine, Shutter Magazine, Professional Image Maker and he has published multiple articles on photography for the Huffington Post as well as an educational book, /Photographing Headshots/. He lives and works in Orlando, FL with his partner and wife, Julie and their children.

Marc Silber is a 3-time bestselling author, photographer, filmmaker, and producer of the very popular YouTube series Advancing Your Photography, where he has interviewed scores of some of the biggest names in photography. He started out learning darkroom skills and the basics of photography at the legendary Peninsula School in Menlo Park, CA, in the ‘60s, and moved on to hone his skills to professional standards at the famed San Francisco Art Institute. Marc moved into teaching photography in workshops all over the country, he became renowned as an engaging and helpful speaker and coach, as his greatest joy comes from helping others. He loves adventure and you will find him out backpacking surfing or snowboarding, or maybe just chilling, taking a walk-through Carmel with his wife and Golden Retriever.

David Hume Kennerly is an amazing PJ photographer based in LA with years of experience going back to the Vietnam war. He was the presidential photographer for Gerald Ford and has published several books of his work including “Seinoff: The Final Days of Seinfeld.” David is a wonderful story teller not only with his pictures, but also in casual conversation. He is one of the founding members of Canon’s EOL program and has seen, and been at the forefront, of the transition from film to digital.

Don’t miss the CTRL-ALT-DEL RETREAT with Mary Fisk-Taylor and Kira Derryberry on August 15th and 16th 2021 at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas! Go to www.getyourshoottogether.com for more information and to sign up! For almost 25 years Mary Fisk-Taylor has owned a portrait and wedding business with her business partner, Jamie Hayes in Richmond, Virginia. Hayes & Fisk Photography is one of the most sought-after Portrait and Wedding studios in their industry.  Mary and Jamie are both incredibly committed to preserving family legacies, professionally capturing and printing portrait and milestone memories.  They both believe that these fleeting need to be proudly displayed in family’s homes, not living digitally on phones, computers and modern technology.  Mary co-hosts the podcast Get Your Shoot Together with Kira Derryberry and has her own consulting company helping other small business creatives be more profitable, sustainable and successful. Kira Derryberry is a Tallahassee based photographer focused on Family and Commercial portraiture. Kira has spent the last 10 years of her career photographing hundreds of clients all over the southeast as well as sharing her knowledge with thousands of photographers across the country. Kira is a proud member of Professional Photographers of America and has earned Master Photographer, Master Craftsman and Certified Professional Photographer, is an approved judge for International Photographic Competition, as well as a member of PPA Board of Directors since 2017. Kira is also cohost of the Get Your Shoot Together Photography Podcast alongside fellow photographer and friend Mary Fisk-Taylor. She's a Paul C Buff Ambassador, Tether Tools Pro, Spider Holster Ambassador and WHCC Speaker. When not slinging a camera or volunteering for her favorite photography organizations, Kira is a wife and a mom who publicly loves karaoke jams and bad science fiction.

Julia Woods is an expert On Relationships. In part 4 of a 4 part series, we discuss Creatives and Depression. You can find Julia @beautiful_outcome on Instagram. Hi, I’m Julia. I am passionate about helping couples stop fighting for themselves and instead fight for the marriage they long for. After 30 years of marriage to my husband Jeff, and nearly 10,000 hours of coaching couples, I created the 3-Part Communication Renovation System to guide couples step by step through their desired relationship transformation. As a child I saw the painful reality of my parent’s abusive marriage. I knew that is not what I wanted for myself. Yet, through owning a photography business together and raising four kids, Jeff & I quickly saw that the marriage we longed for was not going to magically happen. Our search for answers took me down the path of becoming a transformational coach. And through that, I am thankfully not repeating my past and instead partnering with couples to create marriages they are proud of.

Julia Woods is an expert On Relationships. In part 3 of a 4 part series, we discuss The System Julia has developed for reconstructing ourselves so that we can be known by those we love the most. This is the “now what” part of the series. You can find Julia @beautiful_outcome on Instagram. Hi, I’m Julia. I am passionate about helping couples stop fighting for themselves and instead fight for the marriage they long for. After 30 years of marriage to my husband Jeff, and nearly 10,000 hours of coaching couples, I created the 3-Part Communication Renovation System to guide couples step by step through their desired relationship transformation. As a child I saw the painful reality of my parent’s abusive marriage. I knew that is not what I wanted for myself. Yet, through owning a photography business together and raising four kids, Jeff & I quickly saw that the marriage we longed for was not going to magically happen. Our search for answers took me down the path of becoming a transformational coach. And through that, I am thankfully not repeating my past and instead partnering with couples to create marriages they are proud of.