Schooled Student Spotlight: Cami Turpin | Elena S Blair Photography Education

Schooled Student Spotlight: Cami Turpin

For today’s student spotlight, we are introducing you to Schooled student Cami Turpin, of Blue Hill Images. Cami has been a Schooled student for about a year now, and in that time she has shot three schools, made an average of $4,000 per school AND has doubled her annual income. You go girl!!

Why fine art school photography?

Cami first signed up for Schooled because of her son. “My son goes to a charter school for kids on the autism spectrum, and my MAIN goal was to be able to do portraits for his school that truly show their personalities, and don't force them into uncomfortable situations.” She continues, “I had been offering school portraits to preschools for a while, and I was interested in offering them to larger schools, especially for schools with special needs kids… Schooled looked like a great resource for rounding out my shooting experience with the business side of things for larger schools.”

What was the most useful aspect of Schooled?

“The actual business side--the process of how to get from start to finish with a big school--was very helpful. I was able to get an excellent basic structure and understanding of the timeline, and then fine tune the process to my own workflow and schools.” She also talked highly of the students-only Facebook support group for Schooled. “The Facebook group is amazing, because I'm able to have others working in the trenches help me troubleshoot when new things come up (because they always do).”

Check out Cami’s school work below and you can find more of her work on her Instagram!

Are you interested in doubling your income and adding fine art school photography to your offerings? Grab a seat to my free intro webinar!

Schooled Online | Fine Art School Photography Course for Photographers

I created Schooled Online as way for photographers to create business and stay busy during normally slow months by adding Fine Art School Portraits to their offerings. 

There is TONS of content in this course, plus you also get access to all of my school photography templates including emails, model releases, contracts, checklists, and more! 

We have an active Facebook group community where you can ask quesitons and interact with your peers, in addition to watching weekly live Q&As. We also host monthly cover contests!

Below are this month's cover contest submissions. Be sure to check out the work of my incredible students and click the button to learn if adding School Portraits is right for your business!

Cover photo by Lara Fisher Skanchy.

Sara Thom "This course has been amazing! I’m going to give some fine art school portraits a go as minis this fall to see how it goes! I’m so excited to start offering these!!"

www.facebook.com/sarathomphotography | www.instagram.com/sarathomphoto | www.sarathomphotography.com

Shannon Garbaccio "Elena's Schooled class is a complete "kit" that you can take and get going on your school photo business right away. She has such simple systems that are so easy to use. It's a great way to diversify your business."

shannongarbaccio.com | https://www.instagram.com/shannongarbacciophoto/ | https://www.facebook.com/shannongarbacciophotography/

Tanielle Randall "As a mom, I was never fond of traditional school portraits. The kids always looked stiff and uncomfortable. Finding Elena course has been a blessing because I am able to capture authentic images of children. Just getting started but looking forward to a great school year!"

www.taniellerandall.com | www.instagram.com/tanielle_randall | www.facebook.com/TanielleRandall

Nathalie Amlani "Elena’s course is straight to the point and has provided the direction and insights I needed to get started in school photography, thank you!"

www.pictonat.com | www.instagram.com/pictonatphoto | www.facebook.com/pictonatphoto

Amy Semmens "I have loved what I’ve learnt from Elena’s course and am so excited to bring another income stream to my business outside of seasonal work. Thanks so much for your amazing teachings Elena xx"

www.instagram.com/AmySemmensphotography

Lara Fisher Skanchy

Courtney Zito "Photography has always been a passion, but all of Elena’s courses & workshops have given me the confidence and skill set to thrive as a small business owner. I purchased Schooled on May 17th, and had my first school session two weeks later! This course is a game-changer! Thanks Elena!"

www.courtneyzitophotography.com | www.instagram.com/courtneyzitophotography | www.facebook.com/courtneyzitophotography

Katie Kueck "I’m excited to start with my first school this year after leaving a career in medicine to have more flexibility and time with my kids (one is modeling for me above!)."

Katiekueck.com | https://www.instagram.com/katiekueck/ | Facebook.com/katiekueckphotography

Emily Dowell "

https://www.emilydowellphotography.com/schools/

Maggie McCabe "It's really thanks to Elena that I took this leap to begin with. This Schooled course especially was the final tipping point. I'm so excited to begin offering this service. I'm still working on putting all of the finishing touches on my portfolio and marketing material but all of Elena's materials and videos have been incredibly helpful and thorough."

Maggiemcc.com | https://www.facebook.com/maggiemccphotography | https://www.instagram.com/maggiemccphotography/

Michele Mateus

www.michelemateusphotography.com

Vanessa Brack "I was looking to work more while my kids were in school and less in the evenings and on weekends. School photography is perfect for that and Elena's class has been invaluable to me."

https://www.vanessabrack.com/ | https://www.instagram.com/vanessabrack/

Kelly Power "I stumbled across the Schooled class about 2 years ago on Instagram and signed up immediately. I was looking for a way to work on the same schedule of my girls. I just added my 3rd preschool this week. I can happily say I now have summers off and my youngest will start a pre-K 4 this fall so I have more life/work balance without having to look for clients year around."

https://www.kellypowerphotography.com/ | https://instagram.com/kellypowerphotography.com

Elise Roseann "This course has given me confidence in what I can achieve. I have all the tools I need to make this work, I couldn't recommend it enough. My first school is in October!"

www.eliseroseannphotography.com | www.facebook.com/eliseroseannphotography | www.instagram.com/eliseroseannphotography

Fine Art School Portraits Seattle | Seattle Family Photographer

To say I wanted to blog one million photos would be an understatement. This preschool was full of beautiful children who each had so much personality. They were patient, friendly, and so much fun! I decided to include a color and black and white version of each of the kiddos who's parents signed my release. 

In the past four years I have photographed thousands of kiddos and each is unique. School photography can be so much more than a stiff and awkward photo. It can have life and meaning. Nothing pleases me more than hearing a parent say that I was able to capture the true personality of their kiddo. How do I do it? I simply let them be who they are. I don't ask them to put their hands in their pockets or sit a certain way. We just hang out for a few minutes and I snap away. 

While I am booked for schools with 500 or more kiddos, I am alway more than happy to take on more small schools. If you have questions, you can check out my SCHOOLS page. Most frequently asked questions about school photography in Seattle can be found there. I am willing to travel to the East Side and surrounding areas as well. 

I am excited to have my first every School Photography Workshop open for enrollment online. So much progress is boing made in the workshop. The students are knocking my socks off. 

Now enjoy these sweet faces. I had a huge smile on my face when I prepared this blog post. Seattle has some of the cutest kids in the world!