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No BS Photo Success Digital Photography Shop Talk
Today's Guest: Andrea Hillis of Andrea Hillis Photography in Savannah, Georgia
Today's Host: Damien Allen

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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.

DAMIEN: Good afternoon and welcome to the No BS Photo Success Digital Photography Shop Talk show and today our guest via the telephone is Ms. Andrea Hillis of Savannah, Georgia. She owns Hillis Photography. Welcome to the program, Andrea.

ANDREA: Thank you.

DAMIEN: So what type of business do you have down there in Savannah?

ANDREA: I have a wedding and portrait photography business. I've been going strong for about 5 or 6 years now.

DAMIEN: And you do full service wedding and family photography?

ANDREA: We do. We do full service weddings, families, children of course. I actually do a lot of maternity, newborns. Around here we don't have a lot of photographers who do birth, and I do birth as well. So we kind of tap on a little bit of everything.

DAMIEN: Do you do corporate events as well, or is it mostly family stuff?

ANDREA: It's mostly family. I'll do a corporate event here and there, but it's really not my fortei.

DAMIEN: Now I understand you also do boudoir photography. You want to tell us a little bit about that?

ANDREA: I do, well I'm sure you know Savannah is a military town, and we have a lot of the fellows who are deployed right now, and their wives are coming to me, and we're doing a boudoir session for them and they receive a little black book that they can mail to their husbands while they're in Iraq, and so far it's gone over really well. The husbands love receiving the little black books. The wives are having tons of fun making these pictures, and it's just been going really well, and we've had a blast doing it.

DAMIEN: Now I know for a lot of people it's difficult for them to sit in any type of a photo session. How do you make some body who is doing boudoir photography feel comfortable with the setting and what's going on?

ANDREA: Well it's very private. The only people there are me and the person I'm photographing. If they want to bring someone else along, that's fine. I usually don't have an assistant with me when we're doing that so it's very private and personal. We don't have a lot of spectators, actually we no spectators besides us.

DAMIEN: So how long have you been a photographer?

ANDREA: Oh gosh. I've been a photographer for many years. It's much older than before my children were born, professionally 5 or 6 years now. But I have dabbled in photography I would say the past 15 years.

DAMIEN: So you've seen the change from film to digital?

ANDREA: Right.

DAMIEN: Are you shooting film at all now, or are you strictly digital?

ANDREA: No. Strictly digital.

DAMIEN: Strictly digital. Now you're located in Savannah, Georgia. Do you travel? Do you do destination shoots? What other communities in the area do you service?

ANDREA: I do. I travel to Tauby a lot, especially in the summer time, late fall, early spring. I do travel to Hunters Dome. I travel to Huntersville, Fort Stewart area. We have a lot of military couples there that get married in Fort Stewart, Pueler, Bloomingdale, Springfield. All the smaller communities surrounding Savannah I travel to. Actually a little bit into South Carolina as well.

DAMIEN: Now with doing so many weddings and all the military events, are there venues or banquet halls or facilities that you tend to be in a lot?

ANDREA: I am actually in the Avalia Inn quite often. Savannah is a great place to get married. We do a lot of small ceremonies and elopement ceremonies at the Avalia Inn. It's a nice bed and breakfast inn in downtown Savannah and for some reason people are drawn to this place which it is a beautiful place, but I tend to do a lot of my smaller weddings and elopements there.

DAMIEN: Now as you say, you travel and you do these different venues and these different events, I imagine you have a studio as well?

ANDREA: I do. I do. My studio is actually in my home. I'm fortunate in that aspect. It's in the upstairs portion of my home so it's private, away from the rest of the area. I think that's why people feel more comfortable in my studio, because you can bring your children. I've got toys they can play and do whatever they need to while we're photographing a session. Even if it's a boudoir session, they can bring their children. I have a separate section where the children can play while we're doing our thing.

DAMIEN: I little spot to hide the kids while you're making something special mom or dad overseas while they're serving. That's a great idea.

ANDREA: Exactly.

DAMIEN: What made you decide to become a photographer?

ANDREA: Well I have always loved it since I was younger. I've always had a camera in my hands no matter where I had gone and just over the years I've just upgraded my cameras, started taking a couple of classes here and there. With the internet now, it's easier to take the classes and to read and to kind of dabble in new technology and I've been trying to keep taking it to the next level as I go along, and I keep loving it. I just can't stop.

DAMIEN: And with digital it makes it a lot easier, because you're not blowing $300 every time you go out and shoot.

ANDREA: Gosh, you know it. The thing about digital, there's always something else you want to buy to go along with the digital like the enhancements. There's newer and better software coming out all the time, newer and better computers, of course, newer and better cameras, and lenses. It's really almost like an obsession.

DAMIEN: In deed. Well we're going to take a short break to pay some bills here real quick, but before we go could you please let our listeners know your website and contact information?

ANDREA: Yes. You can contract Andrea Hillis and the web address is www.hillisphoto.com.

DAMIEN: You are listening to the No BS Photo Success Digital Photography Shop Talk. I am Damien Allen, we will be right back after these important messages.

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. www.morephotos.com the online sales solution for professional photographers worldwide. We now return you to the NO BS Photo Success Digital Photography Shop Talk show.

DAMIEN: Welcome back to the No BS Photo Success Digital Photography Shop Talk. I am Damien Allen in for John Bentley today, and we are on the phone with Andrea Hillis, Savannah, Georgia, photographer, owner of Hillis Photography. Welcome back to the program, Andrea.

ANDREA: Thank you.

DAMIEN: So you are a member of the No BS Photo Success website and their digital photography forum. How did you get involved with the people at No BS?

ANDREA: Well I had a colleague of mine send me an email, a private message, and they said, hey, Andrea, you need to check out this forum it's a lot of great people, a lot of great insight into photography, and they are willing to critique your images. As soon as you post, you have a lot of good insight from professional photographers which would help you or help me better my images. So I did, I went and checked them out, and he was right. They were very friendly. I came from a forum that they weren't too friendly. The No BS Forum they were super nice people, critiqued my images, told me what I should do, what I needed to change, if everything was fine the way it is, and just more creative ways to look at things and to maybe try this and try that and just kind of see if it fit my kind of style of shooting and processing and it's just been a great adventure ever since. Gosh, I've been with them probably a couple of years now, and it has helped me tremendously. Not only my business, but personally as a photographer.

DAMIEN: It's so much content all in once place.

ANDREA: Well, I'm a people person. The first thing I noticed was how friendly everybody was. They were willing to help. A lot of times in this industry you don't have a lot of people that are just willing to help you just because you ask for it, and they did that. We became kind of like an instant family. It's kind of hard to explain. I just felt like I finally come to a place where I fit in and a community of photographers where it's not all about making money, you know, I'm better than you are. You need to do what I say. They kind of coach you along so your skill becomes better with your own style. They may give you a hint here and there, but they're not trying to change your style into their style.

DAMIEN: In deed. So what are some of the other benefits you've received from working with No BS Photo Success?

ANDREA: Gosh, I've met some great friends. We've actually had shoot outs locally here where myself and other No BS members get together, and we have like, I guess musicians call it a jam session, we call it shoot outs. We get together with a couple of models, and we learn from each other, you know, if I'm stronger in a certain area of photography, you know, I help my colleague in that and vice versa if they're stronger in a certain area we kind of touch on that while we're all together, and it's a great learning experience for all of us.

DAMIEN: I know for being in the music community for 30 years that each of us has something that we're very good at, and when we get together and jam everybody steals whatever they're not good at from everyone else.

ANDREA: Right.

DAMIEN: It's not a competition so much as a pep course. It's like you get more out of it and it allows you to see things from a different view.

ANDREA: And that's exactly right, because we all love the same thing. My husband is not into photography, my friends are not in photography so I can get together with people that have the same passion that I do for photography, and we have the best time. I mean, we learn from each other. We create friendships. It's just been a wonderful experience since I've been with No BS.

DAMIEN: Is there anything you would recommend for a photographer or somebody looking for learning more? Is there one place on the site you would send them to first?

ANDREA: Well the way the site is set up it's set up in categories. If you're, you know, getting into wedding photography go straight into the wedding threads. You'll find a lot of useful information in there. You have seasoned wedding photographers ready to help you. There's also a dangerous download section where they have video clips and audio recordings of weddings of engagement sessions, portrait sessions, you know, you could sit there for hours and just watch the videos these guys have created to help you along in your venture as a photographer. It's really an asset. It's worth its weight in gold.

DAMIEN: Well we thank you very much for spending time with us to tell us about your business and about your experience with the No BS Photo Success Digital Forum.

ANDREA: Thank you.

DAMIEN: Before we let you go, Andrea, could you please let our listeners know your website and contact information one more time please.

ANDREA: Yes. It's Andrea Hillis and you can get to the web at www.hillisphoto.com.

DAMIEN: And is there a contact phone number people can reach you at?

ANDREA: Yes. (912) 202-8844.

DAMIEN: We have been speaking with Andrea Hillis, Savannah, Georgia, photographer, owner of Hillis Photography and member of the No BS Photo Success Digital Forum. And thank you once again for joining us today, Andreaw.

ANDREA: Thank you. I appreciate it.

DAMIEN: You have been listening to the No BS Photo Success Digital Photography Shop Talk program. I am Damien Allen in for the vacationing, John Bentley, and we'll catch you next time. Have a great afternoon.

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



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