Lora Yeater
A Bright Light Shining Amidst the Storm
While most professional photographers are fighting the Perfect Storm, the digital revolution and a falling economy,
Alma
,
West Virginia
photographer, Lora Yeater, is doing fantastic in her less than two year
old studio business. Lora seems like a true anachronism. Lora has no
official training in photography. She is completely
self-taught. For five years, she ran a preschool and created
little scrapbooks for her students. This led to a natural
progression into photography. She opened her studio in the basement of
her home. The ceiling is only 7 feet high and her total camera
room area is only 10 x 10 feet which is interrupted with support
posts. Before opening, she studied everything she could get her
hands on about photography.
Alma
has less than 500 people and no stop lights. The nearest “larger towns” are
Clarksburg
and
Parkersburg
,
about 40 minutes away. Lora doesn’t advertise other than with a
one line listing in the phone book. She depends entirely on word
of mouth. By all normal standards, Lora should not be successful
especially at a time when so many established studios are suffering.
So, what is Lora’s secret? It’s simple. It’s the same
secret that plays a role in any business. Lora provides her
clients with something special that they love and cannot do on their
own. Her customers drive in from hours away just to
have their family and children photographed by Lora. Her
almost instant success is amazing everyone.
A big new studio for Lora is going up on her 2 ½ acre estate. She
just purchased a Canon DS Mark 3 to use with her Canon 5D. Although
Lora started out with just a single white, a single black and a single
blue background, she quickly realized that backgrounds were very
important and she needed a lot more of them. The problem was that
she was stuck with her tight space. She did a little market
research into backgrounds and decided that the Scene Machine Virtual
Backgrounds system was the best way to go. It very quickly became
a key component of her studio. Customers love the extensive
variety she is able to produce without leaving the studio. Her
first year she photographed only two high school seniors with her Scene
Machine and produced proof books for both of them showing the extensive
variety. Those two seniors showed their proof books around so
much that even though the school has a contract photographer who has
had a long established studio, Lora has seniors seeking her out to be
their photographer. “Just by showing off those proof books, I did
half the seniors this year because of the variety of backgrounds and my
overall style.
For Lora Yeater the scenario is “if you build it, they will
come.” Of course that old saying only works if you have the right
product and service. Lora is creating products that her rapidly
growing customer base really likes.
Lora’s success is not limited to creating images for her
customers. This year, Lora decided to get a feel for professional
competition. She entered the West Virginia PP print competition
and was awarded the coveted Photographer of the Year state award along
with several other awards including the James H. Hall award for the
highest scoring print in competition. It was the first time a
newbie got the award. She also entered prints in the Mid America
convention in
Ohio
and scored in the top 10 photographers out of 210 entries and received the coveted Fuji Masterpiece Award.
How can this be? What’s happening? What’s going on in our
profession? That’s exactly what many mid-western photographers
are starting to think about this rapidly rising star who they might be
inclined to refer to as a “soccer mom photographer.” How
could a newbie rise so fast when so many others are suffering declines?
Good questions. Perhaps the best way to respond is to use Lora’s own words
Quoting Lora, “The Scene Machine has really helped me a lot. That
is what is drawing the majority of my business because of the
flexibility which comes from all the backgrounds I have. I have
no regrets at all about getting my Scene Machine Virtual Backgrounds
system. Very early, I realized that if I was going to make
it in photography, I needed to invest and with the small space I had to
work in, I had to get a Virtual Backgrounds system. It has been
wonderful ever since.”
“When I talk to my clients, so many of them tell me that they are
disappointed with other photographers because they are not changing
anything. They just keep doing the same old things over and
over. My customers tell me that they want new looks and that is
what I am working so hard to give them. It’s working!”
“I don’t consider myself to be technical. I am more
artistic. I can draw. I do a lot of charcoal which is just
shadows and highlights. Initially, I pretty much taught
myself photography, but now I am participating in the Professional
Photographers of West Virginia association, the Professional
Photographers of America and attending classes.
Lora’s husband, Kevin, helps out in the studio as much as he can.
They have two children, Kylee, 14 and Brock, 10. The Yeaters are
anxiously anticipating moving into her new studio which will have a 30
x 60 foot camera room and a 10 x 40 area for sales presentation and
storage. Construction should be move into their new studio this
summer.
Lora’s success is a terrific lesson for all portrait
photographers. The Perfect Storm is real but it does not have to
be devastating to everyone. It is possible, even for a brand new
photographer, to rise above the storm and prosper. Failure is
just not an option for Lora Yeater. Her path to success is
providing clients a variety of new looks and exemplary service.
Whereas the public may be rejecting traditional professional
photography, they are anxious to purchase highly creative work they
cannot get elsewhere. It is also important to note that Lora is
working hard to follow the established rules for creating quality
portraits. She is definitely not a snap shooter doing
photojournalism, and she is definitely not clinging to old traditions.
We at Virtual Backgrounds are proud of the fact that Lora Yeater has
made our Scene Machine Virtual Backgrounds system a key component in
her studio operation. The Perfect Storm is no match for
Lora! Keep up the great work!
Lora’s Web site is www.memoriesbylora.com
Click here to see many more of Lora Yeater's images.
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