BEHIND THE LENS: With AMANDA PADGETT (EVERYDAY ELEMENTS)

At Moms Who Click, we were beyond thrilled when Amanda Padgett accepted our request for an interview.  We have been long time fans of Amanda's.  At her site, Everyday Elements, she shares her knowledge of photography including tutorials on Adobe Photoshop Elements, How to Shoot in Raw, PS/PSE Actions, workshops, and much, much more.  We appreciate the knowledge she has shared, the passion she has for photography, and the inspiration she illicits when we get immersed and lost when visiting her site. Thank you, Amanda!
 Please check out her site, blog and especially her Facebook page to stay current and you will soon become a big fan also. 

If you don't have her badge on your own site, be sure to scroll to the very bottom of her site to get the code!  Herewith, we reveal our Behind the Lens interview with Amanda: 

Your Name: Amanda Padgett

Your studio/business name: Everyday Elements

Location: SC               

Website: http://everydayelementsonline.com   

Blog: http://everydayelementsonline.com/blog

Twitter: @amandapadgett 

FB: http://facebook.com/everydayelements

Your Style

• In 50 words or less, how would your clients describe your photography? Clean and casual
• Are you self-taught or classroom trained? Self-taught mostly, lots of books and a couple of workshops.
• How many years have you been a professional photographer? None, still working towards that goal.
• Where do you want to take your photography business in 5 years? I’d like to be a well-known newborn photographer for my area and have Everyday Elements be a streamlined site for budding photographers to utilize.
• Is there a photographer who inspires your style?  Who would that be? Rachel Durik, from http://savorphotography.com and Keri Meyers for (newborn pics) http://kerimeyersphotography.com
• Favorite location to take photos? Our farm for general pics and the client’s home for newborn pics
• Favorite vacation spot? Alaska (have only been once, my dream place)

Your Business

• What was the pivotal moment when you decided to become a photographer? I’m am not a pro, but I did decide to take up photography as a hobby after the death of my second parent.
• What’s the best marketing tip that has worked for you? Facebook
• What’s the most surprising thing a customer has asked you?  I’ve been asked a few times Everyday Element’s FB page: “what program did you use to edit that picture?” :)
• Favorite print lab? White House Custom Color (WHCC)

 Your Gear

• Are you Canon or Nikon (or other?): Nikon D700
• If you could only have one lens on a photo shoot, what would it be? Nikon 60mm f2.8
• What brand bag do you carry your camera in? Crumpler 6 Million Dollar Bag
• What gear would we find in your camera bag? D700, 85mm f1.8, 24mm f2.8, 60mm f2.8
• Are you a natural light fan or strobe fan?  Natural light
• Are you PC or Mac? PC

 Your Tips and Tricks

• What post processing tools do you use? PSE 9, LR 3 occasionally
• Do you shoot in Raw or Jpeg? JPG mostly
• Best advice you would give your 20-year old self? Don’t take yourself so seriously
• Best advice you would give a new photographer? Learn the exposure triangle REALLY well
• What site do you use for your photography and why? Digital Photography School (for helpful tips and tricks) and Flickr (for inspiration) 

What Else Should We Know?

• What was your worst photography experience? None yet
• What would surprise people most about you, whether it is photography related or not? I am quite an introvert. Take me to a big event and I am a total wall flower.
• Tell us something else you’d like us to know: I’m just me, just like everyone else, just an “everyday” photography-enthusiast.

 And *Just Because* we want to know you, fill in the blanks

• Three things I can’t live without…. I could live without pretty much anything except my husband and children. Things I would not LIKE to live without? Let’s see…my iTouch, my contacts, and chocolate.
• I wish I had more….. TIME! Good golly, I’m so behind with everything.
• The best thing about being a photographer is… capturing beautiful moments
• The most important lesson I ever learned was…. When I was little it made a big impression on me when my mom told me “be sure your sins will find you out.” That phrase as kept me ultra-honest throughout my life, always trying to stay transparent and above reproach.
• My favorite time of day is… bedtime

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