• SPOTLIGHT BROADCASTS
• MUSIC
• CONTACT

No BS Photo Success Digital Photography Shop Talk
Today's Guest: Jill Davidson of Emotion Portrait Design in Mountain Home, Idaho
Today's Host: John Bentley

Listen to this Show
Publish this Show on Your Website
Show Sponsor www.nobsphotosuccess.com
Jill Davidson Transcript Page
Jill Davidson Expert Page

---

ANNOUNCER: Welcome to No BS Photo Success Digital Photography Shop Talk brought to you by NO BS Photo Success Photography Forum. Dedicated to the portrait and wedding photographer who has the passion and desire to grow. Now here's your host, John Bentley. JOHN: Today on the No BS Photo Success Digital Photography Shop Talk, we have Mountain Home, Idaho, photographer, Jill Davidson of Emotion Portrait Design with us. Welcome to the program, Jill. JILL: Hi. Thank you.

JOHN: Well tell us a little about Emotion Portrait Design. What do you have going on down there in Mountain Home, Idaho, Jill?

JILL: Well it’s just a small boutique type portrait studio. It services mainly military. There are a lot of military, but a lot of local community members as well. I’m a participating photographer in Operation Love ReUnited which is a pet project for me. And it really allows me to get back to my military family.

JOHN: So when the troops come back home, then you take photographs for them. Tell us a little bit about that program. 

JILL: What Operation Love is is a program that we do portrait sessions for families going through long term deployment. The families come in either before or while their loved one is deployed.  I photograph their session for free and then they come in and we pick out pictures for a book that I do for them, and the book gets sent over to the deployer. It’s at absolutely no cost whatsoever to the military member. And then they have the option when their loved one comes home of having me there to follow them around like their own personal paparazzi. 

JILL: I love it. It makes me feel really good and it allows me to get back to, like I said, my military family and has really actually helped my studio a lot with getting noticed and becoming an integral part of the base that I’m close to.

JILL: Right. I donate my time and I donate the book that I send over and all of the fees for like shipping and postage and everything.

JOHN: Geez. That’s a pretty nice gesture on your part. Let’s talk about your actual, the paying part of your photography business. What are some of the types of photography that you do? And obviously you’re doing studio portraiture. What kind of studio portraiture are you doing?

JILL: Basically everything. I’m kind of a journalist type studio. I do a lot of maternity. A lot of children, a lot of newborns, schools. I do dances, high school seniors are a lot of fun. I really enjoy them, and I’ve kind of become the person that’s known as “if you want to go take prom dress swimming, this is where you go”. So my seniors know when they come here there’s a high chance that they’re going to be getting wet.

JILL: No we go out to lakes. The last one that I had that got wet, we went up to the Boise Train Depot and laid down in the water fountain.

JILL: Yeah, well no. I had one in October that had her prom dress early and we took it and got it wet in a fountain at the local park. It doesn’t damage the dresses at all. It just gets them wet and they go and get them dry cleaned and wear them to the prom.

JILL: It is fun. Actually and one of my images that I did with the prom dress is at WTPI. 

JILL: I do. I do some. I only book from 5 – 10 a year. I try to keep it fairly minimal so I can keep the intimacy of it going so I’m not a big… I keep it really close to my heart, because I kind of become a part of their family for a certain amount of time. 

JILL: Oh, yes. Very much, because they get so much personal service. And I’m not shooting 40 or 50 weddings a year. And there’s nothing against anybody who does that, it’s just more than I can shoot. That’s a lot more than I can bite off especially considering my obligations and everything else that I do at the studio. I’m a one person operation.

JOHN: What about school athletics? Do you do anything along those lines?

JILL: I do. Actually last week I photographed one of the high school basketball teams. Went over and got to have fun with them for a couple hours and we hung out.

JOHN: Was it a team photo? Or was it a live action?

JOHN: Great. Anything else like corporate work or anything like that?

JILL: I do a lot of that. I actually co-business with one of the local hair salons and what I do is I go in and do their head shots and I photograph their building and all of my images are on their website and then they’ll be hanging in their studio fairly soon. And then they refer people to me and then for certain sessions, they provide hair and make-up.

JOHN: What about any kind of, you’d mentioned a photo book with the military thing, do you have products that you’re offering to the public with these photo shoots?

JILL: I do. I do a lot of print sales and canvas sales, a lot of albums.   A lot of my families want to buy all of their pictures so we do a lot of albums from their sessions. Actually it is kind of a nice little thing to have, because they get all their pictures. They don’t have to worry about dealing with them.  They just have a nice little book from their session.

JILL: Now you have a website as I had mentioned earlier. Why don’t you give your website address and your contact information before we take a break?

JILL: It is www.emotionportraitdesign.com and you can reach me at (208) 587-0404.

JOHN: We are in the studio with Mountain Home, Idaho, photographer, Jill Davidson of Emotion Portrait Design, and you’re listening to the No BS Photo Success Digital Photography Shop Talk. I’m your host, John Bentley. We’re going to take a break here, but we'll be right back. More with Jill. ANNOUNCER: This program is sponsored by NO BS Photo Success Photography Forum. Visit them on the web at www.nobsphotosuccess.com. NO BS Photo Success dedicated to the portrait and wedding photographer who has the passion and desire to grow. ANNOUNCER: VTalk Radio. ANNOUNCER: www.morephotos.com helps professional photographers manage their digital images online in over 20 countries. They can help you with domain names, websites, shopping carts, and online proofing solutions. Please visit them at www.morephotos.com. More Photos.com the online sales solution for professional photographers worldwide. We now return you to the NO BS Photo Success Digital Photography Shop Talk show with your host, John Bentley. JOHN: Welcome back to in the No BS Photo Success Digital Photography Shop Talk. We are back in the studio with Mountain Home, Idaho, photographer, Jill Davidson of Emotion Portrait Design.  Welcome back to the program, Jill. JILL: Thank you. JOHN: Now we’ve been talking about the types of photo sessions that you do at Emotion Portrait Design Studio. Let’s talk a little bit about who you are and where you come from. How long have you been in business?

JILL: With this studio, I have been open actually since February of 2008, but I was a rodeo photographer in a past life, and I did that for about 4 years. I’ve been shooting since I was 14.

JOHN: Since you were 14, huh? Did you get some kind of an instamatic camera or something from your parents? Or how’s that story?

JILL: Actually I grabbed onto my dad’s Olympus OM2 and just started playing, and he started showing me the basics and teaching me how to work in a black and white dark room. In high school I took a photography class from the local college and then turned around and transferred that into majoring in photo journalism and equine science but keeping in college.

JOHN: Now certainly you have to have a certain kind of demeanor to be a photographer. Especially being thrown in any number of situations whether it’s a wedding or perhaps dealing with children. How do you approach let’s say dealing with children in the studio?

JILL: I just get down on their turf and let them be who they are. Kids know when they come here they get free rein of the studio. There’s nothing in here they can hurt or that will hurt them, and they just get to run around and have fun and chill and be who they are. And that’s what makes it fun and kids never want to leave. They come here and their like I don’t want to go or they ask if they can come back and play. So I guess I’m a big kid too. I really enjoy that kind of thing.

JOHN: Now what about people that might be a little more, let’s say a little less comfortable in the studio. Perhaps like the maternity sessions that you do. How do you make that a little bit more comfortable?

JILL: I always reassure my maternity clients that the drapes are dropped and the doors are locked and all the windows are covered and I ask them if they want their heads in there, and we start fully clothed and we work our way up to the drape shots or to what they desire to show more. We just work our way up there, we’re not just going to get right into it and say here I am. They’re in charge the whole time. I mean that’s one thing I reinforce to all my clients is you’re in charge. If there’s something you’re not comfortable with, or you don’t like, we stop. And we don’t go any further until they are ready or we go into a different direction.

JILL: Oh, geez. I just want to be the best photographer I can and make all of my clients as thrilled and happy as they will come back to me. I want this to be a family tradition where they will know there will be pictures taken once a year and have some fun and enjoy the event instead of going to the mall and screaming and yelling and crying.

JOHN: Now you are a forum member of the No BS Photo Success Digital Photography site and first of all, how did you find Rob and James’ wonderful program?

JILL: I’m in another forum that they advertise on and a few other members are members of No BS and one of my primary goals for 2008 was to join a paid forum and No BS was the one I selected and I have learned immense amounts of things and have grown a ton and I probably wouldn’t be where I am without them and without the other forum I belong to. They’ve really shaved me into who I am.

JOHN: How long have you been a member of their site?

JILL: On No BS? Since probably January of last year.

JOHN: They certainly have a unique way of presenting techniques for the photographer. What have you been able to grasp and take into your business?

JILL: Oh man. A lot of it with the kids. I think it’s…Rob is really great with the kids. You know, he gets down on their level and treats them as they would like to be treated and respects their opinion and just kind of let’s them be who they are, and I’ve learned that and just absolutely there’s not bologna. Their telling you exactly what is and what isn’t and what works and what doesn’t. They cut through the fuss.

JOHN: Now as a forum member and you’re answering questions. What are some of the questions that people are throwing out that you would have an answer for?

JILL: Well lately somebody had dropped a hard drive and didn’t know what to do, and I’m the klutz that has dropped their hard drive and thankfully as a member of PPA and used the indemnity fund to get my drive fixed and helping out with that and then I’ll do photography of horses I have certainly kind of a little bit of an in with that and kind of know how to help them. I do a lot of watching and learning and trying to chime in when I can and say hey, this has happened to me. You know the baby that won’t quit crying or the nervous mom that when you turn their baby upside down, they’re like oh my goodness you’re going to drop my baby, you know, reassuring your clients that everything is ok.

JOHN: Now they have professionals and amateurs on that site so do you see a lot of amateurs asking questions?

JILL: No it’s a pretty good mix. It seems like everybody, I mean, we do have amateurs that do ask the questions and the professionals seem to be more open than they would on a lot of other sites. We tend to take them by the hand and lead them and show them, you know, this is what works for us. This is what has been tried and true and this is what wins. This is a marketing idea that is great. I mean we had a chat last night and we were discussing weddings and there was a discussion of do you give your brides a gift when they come in? What do you give them, you know, as kind of a token as a thank you or congratulations on your engagement. And I give my brides a tiny box with chocolates. I’m big on chocolates. I do stuff with the OSC which is Officer’s Club on base and they get chocolate from one of the local bakeries from me in their goody bags.

JOHN: Sounds delicious. Jill I want to thank you for joining us today on the No BS Photo Success Digital Photography Shoptalk.

JILL: Thank you.

JOHN: Before we let you go, why don’t you give your website information and contact number one more time, please?

JILL: The website is www.emotionportraitdesign.com and the phone number is (208) 587-0404. 

JOHN: We’ve been in the studio with Mountain Home, Idaho, photographer, Jill Davidson of Emotion Portrait Design and you’ve been listening to the No BS Photo Success Digital Photography Shop Talk. I am your host, John Bentley. Have a great day.

ANNOUNCER: No BS Photo Success Digital Photography Shop Talk is powered by www.vtalkradio.com. Radio for the 21st Century.

go to top of the page

---

SPOTLIGHT BROADCASTS | MUSIC | CONTACT
Copyright © 2009 VTALKRADIO.com. All rights reserved.