As we come to an end of the scholastic year, I like to look back at how much I have grown as a photographer and all the things God has blessed me with this year.

In May 2019, I was actually starting to get photoshoots booked and being recognized for my photography skills after the high school yearbook, which had my photos on every page, was released to the student body. After high school graduation, I was ecstatic that my name started to get around the town for my photography and couldn’t wait to see what college would bring.

Later in July, I decided that I wanted to have a team of Senior Reps that would help advertise my photography. These 10 girls would get 4 mini photoshoots throughout their Senior year and be required to post them on social media promoting me. The goal for the reps is for them to bring in clients and make sure they mention the reps name, so that representative would get 20% of the photoshoot money towards their own Senior Session. Starting this program for my business was the best decision I have ever made about moving my business forward. These girls really helped get my name around the community. They have also become close friends of mine and will always hold a very special place in my heart. With the great outcome and response from this year’s representatives, I decided to open 2021 applications early and got an amazing response from the community. I had 40 applicants and decided to take 20 girls, from 3 different schools: Montgomery, Lake Creek, and Willis.

In December, I finally upgraded my camera equipment from a Canon EOS Rebel T6 to a Canon EOS Mark IV 5D. I knew that upgrading my equipment would bring a whole different look to my photography for the better and I couldn’t wait to start scheduling photoshoots with my new camera.

Since I have been home from school, I have been booking a ton of photoshoots! I definitely miss life at Texas State but I think God had this plan for my life and being sent home for the remainder of the spring semester was for the better. With that being said, there are some things I would have changed about this blog and my content. I wish I could have created a behind the scenes video that would showcase what I do during a photoshoot and how much work goes into the shooting process as well as the editing process.

Some things I would improve on with this blog is to post more often. I have enjoyed writing about my life and the thing I love most. I would try to post more feed that covers each photoshoot, especially Senior sessions. Another way that I could improve this website is to promote on other social media sites like Facebook and Instagram. At first, I thought that this blog wouldn’t be the best type of content that people would enjoy reading but have realized that people love to read blogs as much as they like to scroll through Instagram.

My favorite post and best experience with this project was my DIY Glow post. It was really fun to get my friend, Abby, involved and got to explore different ways to edit and play around with manual settings on the camera to saw what would really show off the glow-in-the-dark accessories. This post also has the most views compared to the other big posts this year. This post got 11 views while other posts are averaging around 8 views. I think this one was my most popular post because it was an example of a photoshoot that anyone could do in their own home. When looking at the stats, I was surprised to see so many views! I know 11 isn’t very many but it was more than I expected! I only promoted on Twitter so I knew not very many people were going to see it, but I was very happy to see that people were viewing my content.

I feel like this blog experience could benefit me in the future because I can always have this source in my back pocket for job applications to show that I know how to write stories and cover a certain subject. Knowing how to write can definitely set you apart from other job applicants.

Today I will be discussing my Senior Session Package and how you can make your senior session unique!

When you schedule a Senior Portrait Session with Memories by McKaylie Photography, you get to wear 3-5 outfits at 3-5 locations! When you let the client choose their own outfits, you give them the opportunity to express themselves and show off their own style, talents, and achievements! Every senior that I have photographed thoroughly enjoys their time during their session.

Some ways that you can make your session unique is by adding props and accessories. If the client plays a sport, I encourage them to feature it during their session! I also encourage them to wear a college shirt and bring their acceptance poster or letter with it so they can announce where the plan to attend and later reminisce on their exciting news! One accessory that I love to add to an outfit is a hat! Adding a hat to one of your outfits really throws in some spunk and makes the outfit a little more trendy! You can do so many different poses and fun things with a hat!

One of my favorite Senior Sessions this year was Turner Anderson’s. Turner is a Senior at Montgomery High School and will be attending Texas A&M to study Public Health while on the Pre-Med track. In her session, she wanted to show off some of her favorite things: her truck, her dog Maggie, and her best friend Kate. I thought it was so much fun for her to have pictures with Kate because not only are they besties, they are also planning on having a joint Graduation Party! They will both cherish these photos of them together forever.

Below are some photos of each outfit and location of Turner’s Senior Session:

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Turner’s session was so unique and fun that it was even featured by a Senior Photography Magazine: Senior Muse! This was so exciting to see because it also happens to be my first time being featured by a national magazine for my photography!

Book your session with me today!

Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, all events for high school students have either been canceled or postponed. In my hometown, Montgomery, TX, all events except graduation were canceled for the schools in the area. With everything that is going on, my mind has really been on the Seniors and how they must be feeling with their last moments as high schoolers being ripped away.

Once the shelter-in-place order was lifted, I announced on social media that I would be offering free Prom Dress Mini Sessions for girls who have had their special night canceled and already purchased their dress they were planning to wear.

After the announcement, I got a ton of great feedback and many girls scheduled a time with me to get their photo taken in their Prom dress. Just this week, I had 2 Prom Mini Sessions, one of them was a large group of girls.

When scheduling a session with a large group of girls comes a lot of planning; they all have to agree on a date, time, and location. So with these girls, it took a while to figure out the perfect place and time to take the photos.

After getting an idea of what look they wanted, I decided to try and contact a wedding venue in the area to see if they would so graciously let us take photos on their property and surprisingly, they did! I knew it could be a stretch asking to open their venue to us with the pandemic going on and I was so grateful they allowed us to come.

Below are a few photos from the group’s session at The Farmhouse.

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Group Photos

Thanks for reading! If you’re interested in scheduling a session with me, you can book here.

Hello everyone and welcome back to my blog! Today I will be reviewing another photographer’s blog; her name is Amanda Holloway. Amanda is a Professional Photographer in the Greater Houston area who specializes in Senior Portraits. I found Amanda on Instagram (@amandaholloway) because my older cousin, Morgan, had her senior pictures taken by her in 2014.

Amanda takes amazing, high-quality photos that are simply breathtaking. I absolutely love her editing style and how she styles each client how they want to make the full photoshoot experience magical. With each photoshoot, you get your hair and make-up professionally done as well as getting styled with a trendy outfit that fits the perfect look you were wanting in your photos.

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Along with her blog, Amanda’s website features her portfolio, where you can find photos of her best work, her online store, where you can purchase photography tutorials, reviews, and much more. One thing that I love about Amanda’s website and social media platforms is her style. I love the modern, edgy look that she has throughout her website. It really shows how professional she is through her work and her photography. I love how each client gets the opportunity to have a once-in-a-lifetime experience with their senior pictures.

She also features recent sessions on her website and uploads every edited photo from a session — showing how many stunning photos you get from your senior session. You not only get the photos, but you can also purchase a video and a photo book; that is pretty rare to get so many options with a senior photographer. “AHP strives to offer the best senior portrait experience around,” and it truly shows.

As a newer portrait photographer, Amanda Holloway’s business and everyday lifestyle is the goal for my life. I love how she can make enough money to support her family just by doing the one thing she loves, photography. If there is one thing I wanted to do for the rest of my life, it would be exactly what she is doing.

To learn more about Amanda Holloway’s Photography, click here to view her website and blog.

Hello world and welcome back to my blog! Today I will be talking about what to bring to a photoshoot and how it will improve your photography.

The first tool I would suggest bringing is a step stool. If you’re a short photographer like I am, a step stool is a great item you can always have with you to give you more angle options when shooting. Below is a photo of me during a photoshoot using the step stool. I used the step stool to get a better angle of the model. Using the step stool to get a new angle helped the model have a more relaxed and poised position for her photograph.

The next tool that I would suggest purchasing and bringing for photoshoots is a reflector. This is a great piece of equipment that I use to reflect light onto the models face to take away the unwanted shadows in the photo. This tool can also be used to block unwanted sunlight in your photo. Below is a photo of me holding the reflector next to the model, showing that I am using it to bring in more light on her face. This is an essential tool that is light, affordable, and comes in many different sizes. Click here to learn more about how to use a reflector.

Below are some unedited photos exampling the difference of a photo when using a reflector and without using a reflector:

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Lastly, the last item I always bring to photoshoots, no matter the gender of the client, is hairspray. Hairspray can be very useful during your photoshoots because you never know until the shoot what the wind is going to be like when shooting outdoors. Bringing a can of hairspray can cut down the time of you clients messing with their hair for it to look perfect in their pictures. Now you know three easy, affordable tools that will benefit your photography and give you more opportunities when shooting. Happy photographing!

Hello World! Today I will be explaining my step by step process from shoot to export!

After your photoshoot, go to your work computer or laptop and insert the SD Card from the camera into the card reader. When all the photos are imported onto your device or external hard drive, make a file and title it the name of the client, inside of that file, make a folder and title it “Original Photos”. This is where you will put the photos from your SD Card. Now that you have imported your photos in an organized manner, open your editing program and import the photos from the “Original Photos” folder. After importing your photos into your editing program, edit each photo accordingly.

Here is a photo grid that explains each step of my editing process in Lightroom:

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Here is the photo before and after editing.

PRO TIP: To make your photo look a little more professional, try playing around with the brush tool in Lightroom and make the model’s eyes and teeth lighter.

After you have completed the editing process of your photos, export your folders into a new folder and title it “Edited”. This is the best way to stay organized with your photography business. One thing that I highly suggest is to purchase an external hard drive and keep every photo you take. Yes, EVERY PHOTO! Even the originals! You never know if a client will come back in 15 years asking if you could re-send their photos.

If you’re interested in purchasing a great editing tool, my top choice is Adobe Lightroom. It has so many different tools you can use to edit your photo while keeping its high quality! Try it today! Happy Editing!

Photos from the D.I.Y. glow photoshoot of Abigail Harrison.

Do you want to learn how to get cool shots like these with not spending a lot of money nor having to find a cool location? A photoshoot like this is super easy, fun, and affordable!

This client wanted a space-themed shoot but unfortunately, the weather got the best of us and we needed to make a compromise. So, I drove to the closest Target and bought a few items: silver tablecloth, glow sticks, star stickers, and silver glitter. Luckily, we live in the same dorm on campus so we decided to do the shoot in my room!

You might be wondering, how on earth do you do a photoshoot in a space that is so small? Well, I’ll tell you! I have a lofted bed, so I used the metallic silver tablecloth and taped it to the frame of my bed and tucked it underneath the mattress so it could drop exactly like a studio backdrop.

Another thing about my dorm room, the lights are quite harsh; but thankfully, I have a few white-light lamps that would suffice in replace of the soft-boxes I have back in my hometown. I used some furniture in the room to angle the lamps just right so it wouldn’t make any shadows on the clients face. After finishing the clients hair and makeup, we turned off the main lights so the lamps in the room could be here spotlights and we started to shoot.

So how did we get such clear shots in the dark with the lamps off? Well, here is a little photo tip for you, turn down the shutter speed! To learn more about adjusting your shutter speed, aperture and ISO, watch the video below!

Let me know what you think! Is this something you would try? Feel free to comment and share some of your D.I.Y. ideas and share some of your photos from your at-home photoshoot!

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Hey! My name is McKaylie Self and welcome to my blog! Below is where you can learn a little bit about me!

I am a full-time undergraduate student at Texas State University’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication. I am currently studying Public Relations and Mass Communications as well as Business Administration and Digital Media Innovation.

I am also a photographer! I am very passionate about taking portraits and helping my client feel confident and proud of their selves in their photos. When I am not behind the camera, I am usually hanging with friends, shopping, on the phone with family, or studying for school.

I am from Montgomery, Texas; a small town north of Houston. I have 2 siblings; an older brother, Nathan, and a younger sister, Macie. I also have 3 dogs; Dixie, Belle (Westies) and Lola (pug, pictured above).

I graduated from Montgomery High School in May of 2019. In high school, I was in multiple activities including Choir, Yearbook, National Honor Society, Tri-M Music Honor Society, and Golf. Outside of school, I attended church and led worship for youth events and was on the worship team during the main services.

Now that I am out of high school, I am staying focused on school work as well as keeping my schedule busy with multiple photoshoots: Seniors, Families, Newborns, etc. Also, now that I live in San Marcos, my clients have expanded to areas near here! It is very exciting to see more and more people reach out to me from new locations.

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To know a little more about me, below are some of my social media accounts where you can follow along on my journey!

Social Media Usernames:

Personal Instagram @mckaylie_self Photography Instagram:@memories.by.mckaylie Twitter: @MckaylieSelf

How It All Began:

I started learning the basics with my mother’s old camera that that she never used, around the time I was 14 years old. For about 2 years I only took pictures using the “Automatic” mode on the camera. I started out just taking photos around my yard of any critters that might be near or flowers; but, after a while, taking photos of flowers and bugs got pretty boring. So, I dressed up my little sister and did little, fun-themed photoshoots of her around town. We would often sneak onto the golf course next to the pond and attempt to take photos with the ducks.

After each mini shoot with my sister, I would post onto Instagram and try and show off my wicked camera skills. Even with the 12 followers I had at the time, I knew I was building an image and reputation for myself and learning more and more each time I picked up the camera.

When I was a sophomore in High School, I was given the position of “Historian” for the Choir Department. This meant I was responsible for photographing every event, trip, and performance that we had; and at the end of the year, I had to make the slideshow for banquet. This position really got me comfortable with walking up to students I didn’t know and ask to take his/her photo. Not only did it help me develop communication skills, but it helped me grow and learn the “posing” aspect of photography. Being a fairly shy person, this was a big step out of my comfort zone, but also very fun. Upperclassmen started to recognize my skills behind the camera and started asking me for photoshoots and what I would charge to take their Senior Pictures.

After a year of taking photos of the Choir Department and getting some paid photoshoots under my belt, I was asked to join the Yearbook Staff. I was so excited to be recognized as a photographer for the school. I attended more extra-curricular activities and sporting events and got much more involved with my school. Outside of school, I started booking more shoots and promoting my business: Memories by McKaylie Photography. This was the time I learned how to shoot manually and a little more professionally.

During my Senior year of High School, I was an Editor for the Yearbook Staff and was the Head Photographer for all school events. I covered a majority of the school activates and documented as much as I could at each event until my SD card was completely full. My photos were used on almost every page of the Yearbook that year. This was the accomplishment that really put my name out there to the whole school and showed everyone my talent with a camera.

After high school, I moved to San Marcos to study at Texas State University and continues to book photoshoots in my hometown as well as my new-town. I decided to expand my business by hiring 10 Senior Representatives from 3 different high schools near Montgomery.

With a hobby like photography, practice really makes perfect (and habit). So I encourage all of the starting photographers out there to continue to pick up that beautiful camera of yours and find your focus.

If you’re interested in booking a shoot with me, here is the link to my website! Go check it out!

https://memoriesbymckaylie.myportfolio.com

What I hope to bring to this blog:

Like I said earlier, I am a self-taught photographer and with this blog I plan to help other aspiring photographers by sharing my story and some things I wish I would have known as I was starting out. I will also share some cute ideas to spice up your social media feeds with DIY Photoshoots and some tips that will help you when working with clients.

Along with learning some neat tricks you can use during the shoot with your client, I also plan on sharing some editing tutorials and tips to make your photos unique and high quality.

Stay tuned!