The Missing Link Student Feature: Lea Murphy
Lea Murphy, of Lea Murphy Photography, knew she needed to make a change after having to reschedule her third newborn session in a row because of bad weather. She remembers it feeling “incredibly unprofessional to say nothing of the hassle that brings to the life of a new momma and poppa” and decided that she had enough of letting bad weather dictate her business. And that’s when she became a Missing Link student!
When Lea first purchased The Missing Link about a year ago, she had already been using artificial light for years to photograph older children and families with artificial light for many years, but hadn’t yet used it for newborns. “I was afraid it would be too jarring for [newborns] and that it would seem harsh to my newborn parents to be blasting them and their babies with a giant studio light.” Once she took The Missing Link, she realized that the studio lights she was once apprehensive to use quickly became her super power.
No more rescheduling shoots. No more cranking ISO to get the shot. Lea’s images are now consistently well exposed because “good light is what it’s all about.” She continues to say “too many photographers make their job unnecessarily difficult by photographing in poor light then pay for it with hours upon hours of ‘fix it in Photoshop’ stress. Being able to do a session, knock out retouch in less than an hour, have prints off to the lab and digital files off to the parents oftentimes that very same day is highly desirable for me (I can complete a job quickly to move on to the next client) and it’s a treat for my newborn parents who are beyond excited to share their images with their family, friends and social media feeds.”
Lea also has an impressive studio set up, as you can see below. We asked her what her initial investment was, since cost can be a big deterrent. She gave herself a budget of $500 for lights and triggers when she was first starting out, which is in the same ballpark as my original investment years ago as well. Lea’s work has become so consistent over the past year and she’s been able to upgrade her studio space to include more lights, better triggers, flooring, stools, bed, etc.
Overall, Lea’s photography and business have taken off since fully incorporating artificial lighting. She’s been able to raise her prices because she’s “giving newborn parents solidly beautiful portraits” every single time, AND she’s been recognized as one of the top newborn photographers in Kansas City three years running! You go Lea!
More of Lea’s work can be found on her website, Facebook page and Instagram.
Talk about a success story! If you’re interested in learning more about how you can successfully incorporate artificial lighting into your business, I’d love to invite you to join my free webinar called “How to Create the Natural Light Look without Using Natural Light.” They are running every single day so click the button below, grab a seat and I’ll see you there!
