Educate. Inspire. Create.

Aurora Deluca, M. Photog, Cr.   Thursday, February 10, 2022 10:30 am

"Simplifying Newborn Photography"

In this class, Aurora will show you how to run through a newborn session to create beautiful images for your clients safely and effectively. She will take you through styling, posing, and lighting newborns breaking it down into easy-to-understand bites.  Whether newborns are your primary subject or you only photograph one newborn every five years, you will feel happier and more confident that you can photograph your youngest subjects.

About Aurora: 

Aurora DeLuca has lived in Australia among the kangaroos, galloped her horse through Arizona riverbeds without a saddle or bridle (but always a helmet), and explored ancient ruins in the Republic of Georgia. An adventurer with a perfectionist streak, it should come as no surprise that when she began a career as a newborn and childhood portrait photographer, Aurora was determined to create amazing, high quality images for her clients. Her photographic work is soulfully simple, transforming life's first moments into elevated portraiture. In 2019, Aurora joined My Friend Teresa Studios in Cary, NC as their exclusive newborn, pet, and childhood photographer. 

Aurora's list of professional accomplishments is long, including her Master of Photography from the Professional Photographers of America as well as the Photographic Craftsman degree. She is a Professional Photographers of North Carolina Fellow of Photography and was a Grand Imaging Award Finalist in 2018. 

Jen Hillenga, M. Photog, Cr.     Thursday, February 10, 2022   1:00 pm

"Building Your Pet Portrait Brand" 

From network marketing and developing her brand reputation, to her unique style of image processing, Jen will be teaching all the steps she took to build a successful pet portrait business in under a year.

About Jen: Jen Hillenga has been a world-renowned portrait photographer and educator for over 25 years.  She spent her most recent years as a Creative Director in New York City but has now gone back to her first love - photography.  Through rescuing her two pups, Rocco and Nala, she has discovered a passion for connecting to dogs, capturing their unique personalities with her camera, and creating beautiful dog portrait art for your home. 

Charleen Larkin, M. Photog, Cr., CPP   Thursday, February 10, 2022    4:30 pm

Sponsored by ACI

"Work Smarter Not Harder"

Your time is valuable and when you work for yourself it is important to have systems in place to help you work smarter and not harder.  Join Charleen and during this program to learn how to put these systems in place to help improve your business practices to allow for you to enjoy your life!

About Charleen: Charleen has worked at achieving many of her goals – Owning her own studio, working toward her Certification, Craftsman and Master Degree in photography as well as becoming a platform speaker in the photographic industry. Charleen has had the experience of owning, building and recreating her studio environment several times. When most photographers dream of just owning a studio, Charleen has consistently updated hers by location and design and has currently just finished her 4th studio build out that is a perfect combination of functionality, luxury and an at home feeling. 

When not in the studio Charleen can be found Camping, hiking, biking, reading and enjoying time with her family. Her favorite comfort food is grilled cheese with tomato soup, her favorite dish when dining out is filet mignon or pan seared sea scallops with risotto followed up with Tiramisu.

Charleen believes that everyone deserves a beautiful portrait and hates it when people say I have to lose weight before stepping in front of the camera. The fact is, if posed and lit correctly by a professional photographer you will look and feel better and you can stop stressing yourself about losing weight.