DigiLabs Pro Blog

Morgan Lynn has been photographing weddings for 10 years.  She is also an award-winning member of the Wedding Photojournalist Association (WPJA) and a member of the International Society of Professional Wedding Photographers (ISPWP).  Currently based in Houston, Texas, Morgan received her Bachelor of Arts in fine arts/photography and Bachelor of Science in business at the University of Colorado at Boulder.  Her wedding business has taken Morgan to South America, Central America, Caribbean and all over the U.S.

I recently had the pleasure of hanging out with Morgan and her husband Amir at the WPPI in Las Vegas.  It’s always interesting to meet a customer in person.  Getting to know them on the phone or through their website or blog is great but it is always different face to face.    I have always loved Morgan’s work (see a sample gallery here) and could not wait to meet her.  They were so down to earth and fun to hang out with, I can only imagine what it would be like to work with Morgan as a photographer (loads of fun if you need me to spell it out ). Morgan is also an innovator and smart business woman.  She came up with the GENIUS idea of a DigiLabs calendar for Photographer of the Month.  I am ALL about this idea!  So, without further aduae, here is Ms. March:

Describe your personal style: My style has evolved over the past 10 years into something vibrant and modern. I am such a romantic and am a sucker for dramatic environmental shots or sweeping lines, embraces, anything and everything that brings emotion to life in my images. 

What inspires you when shooting wedding after wedding? It means the world to me to know that my clients are happy and it pushes me to get the most dynamic images possible from their day.

I live for those moments when everything lines up visually and I know I’ve nailed it. But of course I’m also a relentless perfectionist, which means I’m constantly redefining what it means to “nail” a shot.

What Photographers inspire you? I love the talent I’ve seen from Canada, Mexico and California. I’m also incredibly inspired by the collaborative energy of the Foundation Workshop Forum. It’s such a positive learning environment and I’m continually amazed at the sheer talent and synergy of the group.

A less expected answer would be my stepdad, Mark, who gave me my first camera when I was 15. It was the same manual Minolta that he used to photograph his own yearbook in Bolivia and the same one I used to shoot my first wedding. He inspires me to photograph people from my heart.

What gear or gadgets can you not live without? My Nikon D3. I love that camera because it keeps up with me.

Name a person, place or thing you can’t live without? My husband, Amir.  He took the “hopeless” out of my romantic side a long time ago.  He’s my best friend, my biggest fan and holds me accountable.  I could never go through this roller coaster ride without him.

How does your studio set itself apart from the multitude of NEW photographers out there that keep popping up? Quality, consistency and happy clients! It’s not rocket science but it works. I maintain personal contact with my clients.  I am able to really focus on their day, their story, their images. In the end, consistently delivering a quality product to my couples is all it takes to ensure a strong word-of-mouth business that stands out from the crowd.

How are you changing your business to incorporate things: A. like selling the high resolution images? We toyed with making the high-resolution images optional but they are very important to our clients.  It made more sense to build them into our pricing structure. In the end, I want my clients to have a copy of the images from their day.  We worked hard to capture and process each one.  I always educate my clients about the differences in reprint quality and encourage them to allow us to handle their display prints so that we can ensure color and paper quality.

B. Incorporating social networking : Social networking tools have made word-of-mouth business even easier. I’m able to keep up with my clients on a semi-personal level via Facebook and Twitter.  This way I can be a part of the excitement and sharing process when images are delivered. It’s an incredible network that keeps me on my toes but makes my job easier at the same time. 

How does DigiLabs help your business? DigiLabs keeps me sane. I appreciate being able to keep track of viewers in each gallery and easily view my client’s favorite images.  I also rely on the order notices.  I love the  speed in which the DigiLabs team responds to my clients.  Overall , it’s very easy to manage and I’ve been so pleased with the gallery aesthetics, which have been customized for my brand.

Since my whole Bridezilla question hasn’t been working out tell me your biggest disaster from a wedding (in which you save the day )? Thankfully it was a disaster averted! I had a sweet young couple fly me out to Cancun for their destination wedding. I really clicked with them after a killer engagement session in Houston and was so excited about the wedding.  Unfortunately September in Cancun can be “iffy” and as luck would have it, it was pouring rain on the wedding day. Here we are in Mexico with twenty of their closest friends and family and the back-up location is a windowless ballroom. Thirty minutes before the ceremony, it suddenly starts to clear up. At this point, my bride is concerned  it is too late to switch everything back to the rooftop terrace and too sweet to inconvenience anyone. I knew she’d always wish she had those ocean-view images… so I jumped in and had a short heart-to-heart with her.  This helped give her the confidence she needed to call the coordinator. Of course they accommodated everyone and it turned out to be a spectacular sunset.

Best Advice to give to other photographers? Consistency is key to developing a sought-after style that people will recognize as yours.

And that folks is our Photographer of the Month for March! Learn more about Morgan Lynn Photography by keeping up to date on her blog, following Morgan on twitter and becoming a fan of Morgan Lynn Photography on facebook!

Until next time!