Does style inform your storytelling or does storytelling inform your style when it comes to photography? It’s kind of the chicken vs. the egg question, isn’t it? 

Whether it’s a client wardrobe, a location, or a pose, style is so important to foster that emotional connection in your photos that your clients want. Finding your style can lead to the comparison trap, though, so remember to set good boundaries around where you find your inspiration and which social media accounts you follow. 

In today’s episode, I’m interviewing Missie Lafrenz, a family and maternity photographer from Iowa. Missie shares how her 30-acre farm has changed her clientele, how to incorporate more of a farm style into your own photos, and how to infuse your sessions with real emotional connection.

What’s in this episode:

• [02:59] Missie shares how she became a photographer and how she knew it was time to educate and mentor other photographers
• [04:36] Missie’s advice to anyone who is bumping into creative resistance and how she stays focused
• [08:11] Missie shares about her 30-acre family farm and how her clientele has changed with this experience
• [10:56] Tips on how to incorporate the farm style into your photography, especially if you don’t have access to your own farm
• [12:11] How to infuse your photography sessions with connection so that your subjects don’t look and feel stiff
• [15:41] What to do when you have uncooperative kids and your photo session starts to go sideways
• [18:35] Why Missie doesn’t use prompts for encouraging emotional connection and how styling and a client wardrobe is important for Missie’s sessions
• [22:44] How Missie overcomes creative burnout

Tune in to this episode for advice on infusing style and storytelling into your photos.

SUBSCRIBE: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher

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And if you want to hear more from Missie learn about her storytelling motherhood sessions, she’ll be teaching at our online 2023 Family Retreat! (Grab your spot now!)

Meet Missie

Missie Lafrenz went to college to be a nurse and left a photographer. She started her business in 2007 and has been mentoring other photographers since 2017. She photographs a variety of subjects but her favorites are maternity and seniors. She’s from the Midwest, Iowa to be exact, which is challenging with the scenery and weather, but the sunsets and amazing people make all the difference! 

Missie’s Features and Awards: LooksLikeFilm, Senior Style Guide, Senior Muse, Rangefinder, Pose Patch, 2019 Shoot & Share Grand Prize Winner, The Knot, People, Senior Guy Style, Heartland Wedding Ideas & Click Pro Master

Connect with Missie

Visit Missie’s Website

Follow Missie on Facebook

Follow Missie on Instagram 

Did this episode inspire you to find your storytelling style in photography? Check out this episode from Emotional Storytelling with Twyla Jones

Transcript

[00:00:00] Missie Lafrenz In order to get the type of clients I want, I needed to dress people a certain way because the way people dress is very individualized to them, because there’s a lot of people who have the warm sunset photography style. But how can I be very specific on the type of person I want to work with and address them a certain way? So I started buying clothes that fit my style and I started accumulating clients that fit that style. My whole client clause that I use as a marketing tool to bring in certain clients. My clients love it. They get excited about new dresses and I really feel like the clothing that people wear in my pictures makes my style very distinct. 

[00:00:49] Lisa DiGeso Welcome to the Art and Soul Show where we dive into heart opening chats on photography, business life and that messy in between. I’m your host, Lisa DiGeso, a mom, a photographer and entrepreneur, and I’ll be sharing honest conversations and advice for photographers with insight on mindset, entrepreneurship and creativity. The goal of this podcast is for you to be able to gain insights and strategies that will get you real results. Because let’s face it, having a photography business can be lonely, but it doesn’t have to be. This is the place you can go when you need a boost of encouragement, a kick in the pants and inspiration to pick up your camera. This is the art and soul show. Hello, my beautiful friends. Welcome back to the show today. I am super excited to dive into today’s conversation with Missie Lafrenz. She’s a family and maternity photographer from Iowa, and her work is a beautiful storytelling combination of dreamy, light and authentic connection. She’s been featured in Looks Like Film, Senior Style Guide, Senior Muse, Rangefinder, Pose Patch, 2019 Share and Shoot grand prize winner. The not people Senior guy style Heartland Wedding ideas and a click pro Master. If you haven’t already checked out her work, you have to make sure you head over to Instagram because her work is phenomenal. Now she’s also a teacher for the Milky Way retreats and I am very honored, excited to get to chat with her today. So without further ado, here is Missie. Welcome. 

[00:02:22] Missie Lafrenz Hi. Thanks for having me. 

[00:02:24] Lisa DiGeso So tell us who you are and what you’re passionate about. 

[00:02:27] Missie Lafrenz I am from Iowa. In the United States. I know that you’re from Canada, so it’s kind of weird to say Iowa. Here in the Midwest, we kind of feel like no one else exists beyond our cornfields. But I’m from Iowa. I’m always been from Iowa and I’m super, super passionate about it. I’m just creative. And so I’m always having to do something and I love what I do. So I’m super passionate about photography and gaining relationships with my clients, but more so, I’m really, really passionate about the business aspect of photography. 

[00:02:59] Lisa DiGeso I love that. So can you tell us sort of your journey, how you became a photographer and also how you knew it was time to start educating other photographers and mentoring them. 

[00:03:10] Missie Lafrenz Right out of high school I wanted to be a nurse, so I went to nursing school. My dad passed away when I was 16 and there was a nurse who really impacted me and I knew that I wanted to make people feel comfortable in a very uncomfortable situation. And so I went to nursing school, and through nursing school I figured out I do not want to be a nurse. It was very hard. Basically, you have to know everything a doctor knows, but you don’t get the credit. So I kind of thought that was crappy. And my roommate at the time was an elementary art education major, and she said, You have to do something in art. You’re too creative. So I took a photography elective class and I fell in love. It was a 35 millimeter film and we processed all our stuff and I just was blown away at the process. And so I called my mom up and said, Hey, mom, I want to be a photographer. And she’s like, Is that a job? I’m not sure. I think it’s a hobby. And I go, Well, then I make it a job. So I transferred schools and I went to a photography tech program and the rest is history. Right after graduating from there, I just started the business. 

[00:04:24] Lisa DiGeso Awesome. Good for you. I love that. You know, it’s funny because I don’t often hear a lot of photographers that have actually gone to post-secondary education for it and still continued with it. So I love this. That’s fantastic. So I’d love to chat a little bit about having an artistic mindset and the complicated relationship we have when making our art. I often bump into a lot of resistance when it comes to my own personal projects. So do you have any advice for our listeners if they’re bumping against their own artistic resistance And just how do you stay focused? 

[00:04:58] Missie Lafrenz Man, that’s a good question. And a lot of people struggle with imposter syndrome and finding their purpose. And I started my business in 2007, so I’m pre-Instagram, pre-Pinterest, pre-Facebook and I feel very blessed for that because if I wanted people to know about my business, I put fliers underneath their windshield wipers. I didn’t have anyone to follow or copy. And I feel like with Instagram our newsfeeds are full of photographers and so we’re constantly comparing ourselves to other people. So my solution to all that was to not follow photographers and rather follow people who were still in the artistic realm but inspired me. So fashion designers and interior designers and videographers, celebrities I still follow. Some photographers, but I’m very competitive and I was unintentionally copying people and I didn’t want that. So I wanted to be inspired by things that I naturally loved. And so the best advice I can give anybody is to dial down the social media and just stay in your lane and follow things that are still artistic and inspire your work. But aren’t other photographers. 

[00:06:13] Lisa DiGeso Totally. It’s crazy. Like sometimes they just open Instagram and it’s like almost you have to be really aware how what you’re using or what you’re using to distract is actually making you feel. Because there’s sometimes I’ll get on there and I just start feeling smaller and smaller and smaller and smaller, and it’s like, I came on here just for like a brain break and now I feel like total garbage. 

[00:06:37] Missie Lafrenz Yeah, I 100% agree. And we have to kind of think that our clients maybe follow five photographers so they’re not seeing all of this stuff. The photographers that I do follow are people from Germany or Australia. We don’t have mountains and deserts and beaches here in Iowa, so I want to follow someone that just inspires me to be a better artist, maybe through the lighting they use or something. I don’t want to know what dress they use, the ones they use. I don’t want to know any of that because I want to find that on my own. We need to just remember that just stay in our little bubble. You’ll be fine. Don’t copy anybody else. 

[00:07:19] Lisa DiGeso I think that’s one thing that is like, I love how you mentioned the dress thing, because I think that is such the trap of like because many of us have client closets. I don’t know about you, but I think you do. Actually. I have a client closet and it’s huge. And it’s something that, when you see something and you love someone else’s work and you’re like, “Oh, where’d she get that dress, where’d she get that dress?” Because you think it’s going to be that one thing that makes the difference next time when you’re feeling like maybe down on yourself or that your work isn’t where you want it to be and you think that shopping your way can get there. And I can speak from experience that that cannot that doesn’t happen, right? You’re just chasing your tail.

[00:07:57] Missie Lafrenz No. Yeah. It doesn’t solve all your problems. I mean, sometimes a dress can solve your problem, but it doesn’t solve all your problems. 

[00:08:05] Lisa DiGeso Right? Not all of them. It’s inspiration for a little while, and then you’re like, Oh, I need a new dress, right? Yeah. So tell me about your family farm. I love this so much. And how have you incorporated it? Redid your sessions there. I need to hear about all the animals you have to. And do you find your clientele has changed much with creating this experience for them? 

[00:08:27] Missie Lafrenz It’s kind of one of those questions which came first, the chicken or the egg. When it comes to the farm, I’ve always wanted to live on a farm and I’ve always loved animals and never thought that was possible. But I don’t know. Around 2015, my clientelel started to change into a more farm family type of genre. I mean, it wasn’t intentional. Those were just the people who are coming to me and from going to their farms and, you know, riding on their rangers, going out in their fields with their cows. I’m like, Oh my gosh, these are my people. I need this. And I just felt like I needed a space for myself. I didn’t necessarily want a studio, so why not have God’s studio and let’s just have nature. My husband’s a hunter, and so it’s a dual purpose land. It’s about 30 acres and it took us a while to find it. There’s lots of aspects we had to think about as far as families, school districts and stuff like that. But we found it. And half the land is mine that I can do whatever I want with. And the other half of the idea besides having just land was having these animals. I don’t know about in Canada, but in Iowa we have pumpkin patches and apple orchards and when you go there, they have goats and you just sit there and watch these goats and you put a quarter in the machine and you feed them the feed. And we used to love to do that. And I wanted that for my clients to make it not just family picture day, but let’s go on this adventure. And if kids are throwing fits or getting bored, we can go over and laugh at the goats, hug a donkey, whatever. I don’t necessarily take pictures of the animals, but it’s a nice break and it’s about the whole total experience. 

[00:10:11] Lisa DiGeso I love that. Oh gosh. Goats are my favorite. Have you ever seen the Fainting Goats? 

[00:10:16] Missie Lafrenz Yes. Goats will not be your favorite once you get goats. 

[00:10:20] Lisa DiGeso Yeah, Well, they’re so funny. 

[00:10:22] Missie Lafrenz They’re like one goat equals like ten toddlers. They are a lot. 

[00:10:29] Lisa DiGeso Oh, no way. Oh, my gosh. I love that. So you mentioned a donkey. What other animals do you have there? 

[00:10:36] Missie Lafrenz We have three Nigerian dwarf goats, so they’re about the size of like a golden retriever. And then I’ve got the two miniature donkeys, Maurice and Samson. And then we have lots of chickens and barn cats and dogs. But as far as farm animals, we just have the goats, donkeys and chickens. 

[00:10:53] Lisa DiGeso I love it. Oh, that’s so fun. So, so fun. So do you have advice on someone who loves that farm style and they might not have access, so how can they maybe incorporate this one style into their own work? 

[00:11:07] Missie Lafrenz Learning about local businesses that maybe have the animals, like I mentioned, the pumpkin patches and people who just have a hobby farm that would love for you to just come out and use their land. But I think the best option would be to try and find clients. If that’s your style, then those clients that love that style, that country farm style, they’re going to have farms and they’re going to love that you come out to them because that’s their whole lifestyle. That’s probably a generational farm and they would love to have you document that. So, you know, if you want to get your foot in the door, do a model call for a farm family that you know, has horses or cows or whatever and tell them, I won’t charge you for the session. I just want to have this fun model session and you’ll gain more clients from that one session. 

[00:11:53] Lisa DiGeso I love that. That’s great. It’s so funny because I’ve always wanted to do farm sessions and I’m like, Why don’t I do that? Like, why? And so you just…

[00:12:01] Missie Lafrenz Do it. 

[00:12:01] Lisa DiGeso Gave me a little roadmap. It’s going to be my June project. 

[00:12:06] Missie Lafrenz There you go.

[00:12:10] Lisa DiGeso I love it. Now, I love that how your sessions really showcase connection. And many photographers really struggle to create connection in their family sessions that can really feel stiff. So what would you say are some key tips for infusing your sessions with that connection? 

[00:12:24] Missie Lafrenz Getting to know your clients is a huge part of creating connection. When you know your clients and you get to know them and you talk to them and you create a connection between you and your client, and then they’re going to have a lot of confidence in you and they’ll just do whatever you say. I approach things a little bit different in my sessions. I’m very direct with my clients and through getting to know them, I kind of come up with a story for them. So if they’re coming to my place, I come up with a story of this is a family day, we’re going to go out, maybe pick some wildflowers, see the donkeys, and then I think, what would they do while they’re out on this adventure? They will hold hands and run through the grass. Maybe they’ll lay a blanket down and take a picnic or something. And through coming up with those stories, I can come up with poses that then fill in the gaps of that story. So the connection just comes. That’s just my mindset. The connection comes from the storytelling that’s going on in my head, almost thinking like a videographer would instead of thinking of it as stills. Think of it as this movement that you’re creating and you’re just capturing life, freezing life. 

[00:13:35] Lisa DiGeso I love that. I love that. Well, so true, because I have studied a little bit of videography, not like enough that I can maybe make some family films. But what’s interesting is the way that they shoot is like they’re shooting wide, they’re shooting tight. They’re shooting all different angles and like angles that you wouldn’t normally think. And I love that when you start thinking of your photography as a videographer, it does totally change the experience too, for not only your clients, but for yourself. 

[00:14:02] Missie Lafrenz Right. And I don’t, when I pose someone, I start center or whatever. Front and center. But then I try to make ten images of that one pose by moving my angle around, making slight adjustments to the pose. And I think that that’s what helps create those connections. Because when you move maybe to the right or the left a little bit, you’re going to see something you normally wouldn’t have. And that might be that’s where that sun flare comes in, or that’s where her hair looked perfect. So if you’re wanting to create more of a connection or more of a cinematic storytelling vibe, move more, make your subjects move, but also use the photographer need to move and experiment with different angles and lenses to create that look. 

[00:14:44] Lisa DiGeso I love that. What’s your favorite lens? 

[00:14:46] Missie Lafrenz Oh my 85. It’s my sexy lens. I love it so much. It makes everybody look so good. I do. I have a 50 also. And it’s nice. It’s good. I would probably take that if I could only take one lens. But my 85 just makes everything look so great. 

[00:15:03] Lisa DiGeso Right? 85 is dreamy. I was shooting for years with the 200. 

[00:15:08] Missie Lafrenz Oh, wow. 

[00:15:08] Lisa DiGeso And then I decided I was going to do a like… Right? So you’re really, really, really far away. And then so I decided I was like, I’m going to do an unused lens experiment and I’m going to use the lens I use the least with a family session and I use my 35. Holy crumb. It was like I was climbing in my clients laps. 

[00:15:29] Missie Lafrenz Yes, I am in your bubble. 

[00:15:36] Lisa DiGeso Oh my God, before I’m like, I’m yelling from across the field and like, I’m like, I am literally sitting in your lap right now. You can smell my breath. I’m sorry. Right. So let’s talk a little bit about uncooperative kids. I know it happens to all of us at some point. So what do you do when a session really starts to go sideways and maybe you’re not getting what you’d hoped for? 

[00:15:55] Missie Lafrenz I’m going to be honest. I don’t get a lot of uncooperative kids. I’m pretty lucky. I used to in the beginning of my photography career, but I kind of feel like once you get to a certain price point, people are like, We’re very aware that our children are naughty. We’re not going to spend that kind of money on a photographer if they’re going to be bad. But occasionally I’ll have a toddler who is starting to get fussy. And I think the most important thing is to never go in with a predisposed idea of how the session should go. You just need to go in with a general idea that you’re telling the story of this family. And if they have young kids and they have a fit, capture that. Capture mom trying to comfort the kid or the kid’s just absolutely over it, let them go. Like we’ll come back to that later. That’s the beauty of it. Also the donkeys and the goats that normally settles the toddler down. Or I can like use that as bribery. Like, if you sit for this picture we’ll go see the donkeys! So I think the best advice is to just go with the flow and understand that that pose doesn’t have to happen. You can find another way around it and to let the parents know that the kids don’t need to get in trouble tonight. Just whatever happens happens. And if we get one picture of them looking at the camera smiling, great, But we’re not going to yell at the kids. Nobody’s going to get in trouble tonight. 

[00:17:16] Lisa DiGeso Now, that is the worst is when you’ve got a session and, you know, maybe there is a kid acting out, but it’s like it’s usually for me, it’s the dad that just like, takes that like yelling at the kid hard approach. And I’m just like, No, don’t do it. Don’t do it. You just take their whole session, right? 

[00:17:34] Missie Lafrenz Yeah. Way back in the day when I first started, I used to have a studio in my basement of my house, and I was primarily like a baby newborn photographer. And occasionally we would have a four year old, a five year old ever. And the parents would say the weirdest stuff to get their kids to sit like, I’ll buy you a horse, or I have a whole bag of candy I’ll give to you. And I’m like, You are making it worse. Just stop, no more. 

[00:18:01] Lisa DiGeso Yeah, it’s funny because sometimes you just have to tell the parents just to be quiet. And I’ve actually had times where I’ve had the parents just leave the room. 

[00:18:08] Missie Lafrenz Oh, yeah. 

[00:18:08] Lisa DiGeso And I’ve just said, You know what? I’m just going to work with your child and I know that I can get them to work with me. So just like, just trust me and it will. I will get what I need. So you just need to be quiet or leave right away. And it’s worked. It’s worked. And I think that only comes though, with the confidence of doing it for so long that you’re like, I know that can work. 

[00:18:34] Missie Lafrenz Yep. 

[00:18:35] Lisa DiGeso So do you have a go to never fail prompt that maybe encourages emotional connection? 

[00:18:41] Missie Lafrenz I get this question a lot and it’s not the answer that people want to hear, but I don’t use prompts. For me, personally, I don’t like them. I have tried them before. I’ve gotten those little cue cards and I have gone through them and I feel like it makes my clients uncomfortable. Could be that they make me uncomfortable. I don’t know. But because I don’t go in with a predisposed idea of how the session is going to go, I don’t go in with planned poses or anything. I want to get to know my client, so I just direct them. I come up with that story like I talked about before, and then I’m very specific on what I want them to do. You know, I tell them to come closer, Put your hand here, tip your head, I’ll fix your hair, bend your knee. And then I use the light, their clothing, the environment to tell the story. My clients appreciate that because they want to know that they look good rather than bump into each other and tell each other this funny story for my clients, it makes them uncomfortable. So my prompt is me being confident and direct so that they know exactly what the pictures are going to look like. 

[00:19:47] Lisa DiGeso It makes sense. So how important is styling to your sessions and do you have a client wardrobe that your clients choose from? 

[00:19:55] Missie Lafrenz So styling is extremely important for me. It’s basically the foundation of my whole business. I started a client closet. Oh, gosh. A long time ago. Well, I mean, when I was a newborn photographer way back in the day. You basically have a client closet for babies. And I just transferred that into adults. It all started when I was, you know, getting model sessions. I would buy the clothes. And so I figured out in order to get the type of clients I want, I needed to dress people a certain way because the way people dress is very individualized to them. There’s a lot of people who have the warm sun set photography style, but how can I be very specific on the type of person I want to work with? I’m going to dress them a certain way. So I started buying clothes that fit my style and I started accumulating clients that fit that style. So it’s my whole client closet I use as a marketing tool to bring in certain clients. My clients love it. They get excited about new dresses, and I really feel like the clothing that people wear in my pictures makes my style very distinct. 

[00:21:06] Lisa DiGeso Love that. I think what’s so important is like because especially when you’re getting started, you kind of just think like everything is your style. And it’s really honing that down and figuring out what you want to shoot, what you want your style to look like and what really is true and authentic to you. And I think once you do that, you’re really able to nail your style and what to purchase and what’s going to work. 

[00:21:31] Missie Lafrenz Yes, 100%. I, I think that a lot of that also comes from social media when we’re like, where you get that dress. For me, I’m always looking on my favorite stores like Free People or Anthropologie. And if I see a dress that makes me stop in my tracks and I’m like, Oh, okay, I could see this client wearing that dress at the beach during May or whatever. If I get that feeling, I buy that dress. That’s just inspired me to want to go out and shoot. And I think that’s important for people. If it’s not a dress, it could be a blanket or, I don’t know, a hat or boots. Something that inspires you to want to shoot. Buy that. It’s tax write off, just buy it. 

[00:22:15] Lisa DiGeso And I think you hit the nail on the head there, too, because if it gives you that just a lukewarm feeling, you’re not going to use it. You’re not going to be excited to have that in your work. And I made that mistake. Like I bought things like, oh, like this is okay, like maybe and I have never used it. It sits in the closet unused, and it was the ones that are like those ones that just that dress that takes your breath away and you’re just like, I’ve used it for like 25 different clients. 

[00:22:40] Missie Lafrenz Yeah, exactly. That’s a good dress. 

[00:22:44] Lisa DiGeso So creative burnout really is a thing that is real in our industry. Do you have a time in your life that maybe you faced creative burnout and how did you overcome it if you did? 

[00:22:56] Missie Lafrenz Well, I think I go through creative burnout every year. It’s normally around October, but the biggest burnout that I have had was about nine, ten years ago. And it was so bad I just quit. I made an announcement on Facebook that I’m done. I’m not taking any more sessions. And I started a whole other business little Etsy store thing. And it was because I was shooting for my clients. I was letting them dictate where, when, how, what. And it drains me to not be able to put myself in the pictures. I subconsciously didn’t know that that was happening at the time. But, you know, hindsight now, I know it took several clients reaching out to me saying, Could you please still take our pictures? And I’m like, Why? There are thousands of photographers you could work with who are probably better than me. Just go to them. They go, Well, we like you, so we want to work with you. And it took them saying that for me to realize, okay, I’m the product. They don’t really care about the style. They want to work with someone who makes them feel comfortable. And from that mindset, I was able to, well, if I’m going to do this, I’m going to do it my way. So you’re going to wear what I want and go where I want. And that just blossomed into now I love my work. Like I don’t look at my work and think, Oh boo hoo, I probably should get a mentorship with someone because I suck. I’m just like, I’m nailing it. I love it. And if I mess up, I’m like, I just won’t do that again or with pictures. Great. I think I love that. But how do we make it better? So from burnout, it’s all mindset. You’re either overworking yourself or you’re not working yourself correctly. You’re letting other people dictate your work when you should have complete control over it. 

[00:24:45] Lisa DiGeso Great advice. Love that. Are you ready for our lightning round? 

[00:24:49] Missie Lafrenz Oh. Sure. 

[00:24:52] Lisa DiGeso What was your favorite TV show as a kid? 

[00:24:55] Missie Lafrenz Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. 

[00:24:58] Lisa DiGeso Last thing you did for yourself as an indulgence? 

[00:25:02] Missie Lafrenz I don’t do much for myself. We went to the greenhouse and bought flowers and I planted them for Mother’s Day. 

[00:25:10] Lisa DiGeso Love it. Have you ever done a greenhouse shoot? 

[00:25:13] Missie Lafrenz I have. Actually, quite a few years ago, I went to that actual greenhouse and and went in it. But it’s kind of hard to get into them and they’re so hot, but I don’t get a lot of requests for it. We have like a really pretty almost like Secret Garden area here where I live and it’s got huge hydrangea bushes. So but it’s also hard to predict when they’re going to be blooming. 

[00:25:35] Lisa DiGeso Do you like to cook? And if you do, what do you like to cook the most? 

[00:25:39] Missie Lafrenz Well, I am the cook in the house. If I’m not home, then people starve. So I have three kids, so I have to know how to cook. We have tacos a lot, but I would say their favorite thing that I am cooking lately is breakfast pizza. So you just pile everything on for breakfast on a pizza crust and they love it. 

[00:26:00] Lisa DiGeso Yeah, that’s a great idea. Favorite guilty or not so guilty pleasure? 

[00:26:04] Missie Lafrenz I love to watch a show on Netflix. Currently it’s Ozark by myself with a glass of wine and some dark chocolate. Like, leave me alone. Just let me be. Let me watch my show. 

[00:26:19] Lisa DiGeso I love it. The color grading in that like everything is blue. What is something you’ve accomplished as an adult that your younger self would be proud of? 

[00:26:30] Missie Lafrenz My younger self would think it was really cool that I had donkeys and goats. I just have always wanted that. But I think that owning my own business, that’s just so cool to me too. I’m really proud. Like, I almost want to tell people that I’m a business owner more than I want to say a photographer, because I feel like that’s the harder part. And so I would say, yeah, owning the farm and running my own businesses is something that I told my kid self that they’d be like, No way, that’s too cool. 

[00:27:02] Lisa DiGeso What makes your soul light up? 

[00:27:05] Missie Lafrenz Lots of things do, but I mean for different reasons. But right now I just really love the season of life I’m in. My kids are 15, 12 and ten and they’re in sports and they’re just really cool, you know? You don’t have to wipe their butt anymore and they can bathe themselves. And it’s a hectic life right now, but I’m happy to be here. So right now that’s what’s lighting my soul up. It used to be like I was so hardcore into the business, but now, since my kids are kind of consuming my life a little bit more, I’m really invested in them and photography’s kind of taken a, not the backseat, but I feel like I’m more involved with my kids right now. They’re lighting my soul up. So yeah, family is great to me right now. 

[00:27:52] Lisa DiGeso So where can our listeners learn more from you? 

[00:27:55] Missie Lafrenz If you go to my website, I have a photographer education tab, and I have so many different options. You can learn from me in person, but I know that that’s difficult to travel for a lot of people. So I have anything from just guides you can follow or videos on editing. I have workshops, online workshops, so and more to come. I’m working on doing more workshops that are very specific to things like right now I have the post workshop and we talk all about posing and, and kind of the science of posing. Instead of using prompt cards, you’re going to learn how to pose and how to get a certain story out of your client. 

[00:28:31] Lisa DiGeso Love it. So I love to end my interviews just with this last question, and it is what are you currently curious about or artistically curious about? 

[00:28:41] Missie Lafrenz Artistically curious about? I honestly have been wanting to learn something new and it’s been incorporating videography into my sessions. It’s not easy to like switch back and forth between video and camera, but I’m all about it because there are just certain times when I see a picture and I’m like, I really wish that would have been in motion. And so I’ve been practicing. When it’s the right session and my mind is at ease, I will take a video, but that’s something I would really love to learn, is how to take a video at like a family session. 

[00:29:16] Lisa DiGeso Yeah, I love that. The color grading that you can do now on video is so cool too. And that’s something that I’ve been very curious about playing with. 

[00:29:26] Missie Lafrenz Oh, yeah. I think that’s the thing that intimidates me a lot is how does the editing work compared to pictures? And I’ve been playing around with that. I have the rush and then I also have premiere, but I’m like, This is intimidating, but it’s just going to take some time to sit down and I just feel like it’s good for my old brain to learn something new. Yeah. 

[00:29:49] Lisa DiGeso Agree. Lifetime learner. Well, Missie, thank you so much for hanging out with me today. 

[00:29:56] Missie Lafrenz Thank you for having me. It was an absolute blast. 

[00:30:00] Lisa DiGeso Oh, my beautiful friends, I hope you enjoyed this conversation just as much as I did. I am sending you all of my light and love today and every single day. And we’ll see you next time. I wanted to take a moment to ask you a little favor. I still appreciate you spending your time with me and tuning in and listening to the show. I would be so incredibly grateful if you could take a quick moment to leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Your review helps other photographers discover the podcast and learn how to grow their own photography businesses and gain confidence to go after their dreams. It also means the world to me personally and helps me know what content you find most helping you. So much for your support and for being part of our amazing community.