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VTalk Radio Photography Spotlight
Today's Guest: Bonnie Baker of Bonnie Baker Photography in Concord, Massachusetts
Today's Host: John Bentley

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JOHN: Welcome to VTalk Radio Photography Spotlight. Today's program is sponsored by www.morephotos.com. The online total photo sales solution for professional photographers worldwide. I'm your host, John Bentley.

JOHN: Today we're in the studio with Bonnie Baker of Bonnie Baker Photography in Concord, Massachusetts. Welcome to the program Bonnie.

BONNIE: Thank you John.

JOHN: Can you tell us a little bit about your photography business?

BONNIE: Well, yes, I'm based in Concord, Massachusetts. I photograph children, families, pets, and some weddings and special events too.

JOHN: Now, do you do a lot of on site photography, do you have a studio?

BONNIE: I have a studio, here in Concord, and I also do a lot of photographs on location. I will go to the beach; I'll go to some conservation areas near here in Concord; I also will travel to many different states to do weddings.

JOHN: I've taken a look at your site, and you've got some really beautiful pictures up there. Pet photography..tell us a little bit about the pet photography you do.

BONNIE: Oh, pets are great. They're so much fun. Whenever you photograph people with pets or pets by themselves, you never know exactly what you're going to get, but you know you're going to get some great images. There is always a challenge and you have to figure out what the sort of personality the animal has and you need to talk to the owners before hand to know what to expect. I just love photographing the pets because it's always a surprise and it's always fun to capture great images of people's pets.

JOHN: I see under your portrait section of your website that you have lots of pictures of children. You like to shoot children? How easy is that to work with children?

BONNIE: I prefer not to say shoot, I like to photograph children.

JOHN: Ha ha ha, ok, certainly, photographing children.

BONNIE: I adore children, they are so much fun. Once again it's really important to talk with the family before hand to know what they are looking for and to know what to expect with the child's personality. I love to spend a lot of time with each child to try to make them feel very comfortable and to get to know them and to become friends with them. So throughout the photography session, we'll just have a great time. The more fun we're having, the more relaxed everybody is, the better the pictures.

JOHN: How do you make children more comfortable?

BONNIE: Well, I get down on their level, I play with them, I talk with them, I'll read with them, I'll spend a good long time with each child - each family. I'll know from talking to the parents before hand what sorts of things the child likes. So, sometimes we might have a small window of opportunity based on my discussions with the family. In that case, I'm always ready to photograph when the child comes in, and I can start right in and start going or I'll spend a long time getting to know them and talking with them to make them more comfortable before hand. I have little tricks to make them giggle and laugh and really feel good.

JOHN: I also see on your website that you have some beautiful landscape shots on there. Can you tell us a little bit about that aspect of your photography?

BONNIE: Oh, I just love taking my camera with me wherever we go, and we love doing adventure hikes. Going hiking and kayaking and getting out in the wilderness, so I bring my camera with me and I try to capture the scenery as we're hiking along. There are some images on my website, www.bakerphoto.com which have images from the Grand Canyon. We went on a wonderful trip through the Grand Canyon on the Colorado River and I just had such a wonderful time photographing everything that I saw.

JOHN: Well, I see you're an award-winning photographer. You've gotten the Kodak Gallery Award and the Fuji Masterpiece Award. Tell us about that.

BONNIE: Well, I"m a member of the Professional Photographer's Association of Massachusetts and also of New England and also the Professional Photographer's Association of America. All those organizations have competitions, and I've entered many competitions and have won blue and red ribbons and in addition I have won the Kodak Gallery Award and the Fuji Masterpiece Award. The Kodak Gallery Award was for an image I took in the Grand Canyon and the Fuji Masterpiece Award was for an image I took of a beautiful 3 year old boy. That image I took, the one that won the award, I took at the very end of the photo session and he thought we were all done and he hopped on his little tricycle and was wheeling around the driveway. He just looked over his shoulder and gave me this expression that was just priceless. The moral of that story is never put the camera down.

JOHN: I spose not. Bonnie, can you give us your website address and contact information?

BONNIE: Sure, my website is www.bakerphoto.com and my address is P.O. Box 126, Concord, MA 01742 or you can call me at 978-369-0033.

JOHN: We are in the studio speaking to Bonnie Baker of Bonnie Baker Photography in Concord, Massachusetts. You are listening to VTalk Radio's Photographers' Spotlight. We are going to take a break for these important messages; we'll be right back.

ANNOUNCER: This VTalk Radio Spotlight is sponsored by www.morephotos.com. The online photo sales solution for professional photographers worldwide.

VTALK RADIO ... we now return you to VTalk Radio Photographer's Spotlight with your host, John Bentley.

JOHN: Welcome back to VTalk Radio's Photographer's Spotlight. We are in the studio with Bonnie Baker of Bonnie Baker Photography in Concord, Massachusetts . Welcome back to the program Bonnie.

BONNIE: Thank you.

JOHN: We've been talking about your photography, about your website, can you tell us why you decided to become a photographer in the first place?

BONNIE: Sure. I've been photographing my whole life. I've always just adored taking pictures. My parents gave me a camera when I was a very little girl and all I wanted to do is just take pictures, take pictures. In college I studied engineering, but I also took a lot of photography classes when I got out of school. I did try engineering for a short period of time, but decided I really wanted to be a photographer. That is just what makes me so happy. I love photographing people, photographing pets, photographing places, and just everything. It's so wonderful to have a camera in my hand and to just try to capture the things in the world around me.

JOHN: Now do you strictly do digital photography now, or do you also do standard film.

BONNIE: Well I still have my old film camera, but the digital cameras that are out now-a-days are just wonderful. The quality is fabulous, and I've been photographing primarily with my digital cameras.

JOHN: Do you have any advice for a client that wants an event shot?

BONNIE: Yes, give me a call. I'd be happy to help them. What I like to do is talk with clients in advance on the telephone, find out what they are looking for, what sort of events they need photographed, and then we go from there.

JOHN: What's your most important goal when you are shooting an event or taking pictures?

BONNIE: To capture everything that is happening without disturbing it. Without changing it. That's called a photo journalistic style of photography, and that's what I aim to do. Of course when you're photographing a wedding, you will want to photograph the formal photographs of the bride and her father, the families, those are set ups, but after that, its' really important to get candid. To get the relationships between people. That's true in the portraits too. It's just so important to make sure that the relationship between people comes out and that the personality of the people comes out and that the photographer doesn't direct it too much.

JOHN: So in a way you try to want to disappear while you're shooting these people?

BONNIE: That's one of the best compliments somebody can give me is to say, "boy you got all these great pictures and I didn't even know were there!" That's what I love to hear. I love to just be there to get the pictures and then just to disappear into the background. I love that.

JOHN: Now what makes your services unique? What separates you from the competition?

BONNIE: Well, I think the personality, (both mine and how I capture a person's personality) and the quality of the images are what separates me. Every photographer has a different personality - a different way - of taking the pictures, and I think the way I interact with people. The fact that I'm a woman really helps with the wedding images and the portraits too. I have a certain feel. I can get a read on people when I'm photographing them and we develop a strong rapport. And if you have a good chemistry with your photographer, I think the pictures are going to come out better.

JOHN: What is your favorite kind of event, or favorite kind of photo shoot?

BONNIE: Oh there are tons. I love photographing wedding on the beach. That would just be wonderful. Like photographing pets and children. Trying to see what will come out of that photo session. I love photographing moms and kids and families. I guess my answer is I love doing it all.

JOHN: That makes it interesting for everybody I'm sure.

BONNIE: Yes it does.

JOHN: What do you do to market your business?

BONNIE: Well, I have this great website, www.morephotos.com, which has helped me develop my website. I also send out mailings, but I have to say word of mouth is the best of all.

JOHN: We're in the studio with Bonnie Baker, award winning photographer, member of the Professional Photographer's Association of America, the Kodak Gallery Award winner, Fuji Masterpiece award winning photographer. Bonnie before we let you go, can you give us your contact information and website again.

BONNIE: Yes. My website is www.bakerphoto.com, my telephone number is 978-369-0033, and my mailing address is P.O. Box 126, Concord, MA 01742. Please give me a call, I'd be happy to help you.

JOHN: It certainly has been a pleasure talking to you today, Bonnie, thanks for coming in the studio.

BONNIE: Thanks so much, its' been great talking with you too.

JOHN: You are listening to VTalk Radio's Photographer's Spotlight. Thank you for tuning. Have a great day.

ANNOUNCER: You have been listening to the VTAlk Radio Spotlight; only on vtalkradio.com. Radio for the 21st Century.

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