jacha minerals

This blog has been a while in the making.  I am not sure if you all remember a contest I did last year with Fresh Images photography to win a boudoir photo session?  We were on a search to find one lucky deserving woman, and give her a day of pampering and confidence building photography.  The entries came flowing in and we had some great competition.  It didn't matter how beautiful our contestants where, they all are searching for the same thing, confidence.  I feel like a boudoir session, whether it is for yourself or someone else, is an amazing experience.  You get pampered with beautiful hair and makeup, put on sexy outfits and pose in the most flattering poses.  This mixed in with a bit of photoshop, you get to feel like a super star.   Here is an over view of our entries and of course, the finished product :)

We narrowed the competition down to three lucky contestants and the voting did the rest :) Char ended up winning, but because Christine put on such a fight, we ended up giving her a boudoir shoot too.

Since the boudoir session, Charlotte has ditched her "douche bag" boyfriend and has got the confidence back to play the dating game. She is currently going on dates with men that are "worth 20x more then him" and I have a feeling her prince charming is around the corner.   
 Since the boudoir session , Christine has decided not to adopt cats, as she is way to sexy to be "eaten by cats."  She tried to purchase her billboard, but was denied due to the fact it would have caused a dangerous frenzy of ciaos.  She decided to plaster her condo walls with photos of herself instead, and every morning when she wakes up she looks at them and says "who wouldn't want to be with me?" I assume she works less because her agenda is packed filled with dates, but this is not yet confirmed.

When you work in the freelance industry, no matter what your service is, if your a Photographer, a Makeup Artist, a Hair Stylist, we are all just "Little Fish in a Big Pond".  We only get work by being great at what we do, and by getting the word out there the best we can.  When talking to Rebecca at Heratage Photograhy, she used the term "Little Fish in a  Big Pond" and inspired me to write this post.
In this industry I feel it is very important to network whenever possible and get to know everyone in your field, you should not feel threatened by the artists in your area, but you should get to know them and always take the cards of anyone you meet.  Whenever I meet a new Makeup Artist in the area, I take their card, and instead of competing with them, I refer them when I am booked.  This not  only helps them gain business in this crazy industry, but you hope that they will do the same.  If you are confident in your skills, then referring others in your field can only be a positive thing. It is also a great way to base your pricing, being new to Guelph area, I found Meghan Barbours information, and emailed her about her pricing, to make sure mine was on par.  I did not pretend to be a client, I was honest with her, and the more I talked to her and read her work, I began to refer her to others when I was booked.  I personally know how hard I have had to work to get where I am today, and if I can help someone else gain business, then why not? If I can give a piece of advice to anyone who is freelancing in the wedding industry, sign up with http://www.theweddingring.ca/, they have been fabulous to me and my business.

I have also found in my field and again in the freelance world, there are a lot of people who claim to be "Makeup Artists" and "Photographers", and charge ridiculously low prices.  So if I can help those of us who have spent years of school and time, building our careers and charging rates that we can make a respectful living off of, why not.  Feel free to start networking with each other as well, it never hurts.

Makeup Artists:

Of course I fall under this category, and you can see my full services and rates at http://www.jachaminerals.com/, but because I am fortunate enough to constantly have bookings, I would like to pass on some other great artists I have come across lately.

Jamie Sweeny-Freelance Makeup Artist-Niagara Region/ Toronto  Email:  j_sween_e@hotmail.com (website coming soon)

Jamie and I worked together at a spa in Toronto, and we have always stayed in touch and built a friendship.  Jamie is based out of the Niagara Region, but travels to other areas. She is currently employed at Mac, and is talented enough to know how to do dramatic makeup looks, and beautiful natural looks. She has done my makeup on many occasions, and has helped me at my makeup parties from time to time,  so she is definitely someone I trust as an artist.



Meghan Barbour-I came across Meghan under the Makeup Artist Directory, and after seeing her work, I added her to my list of contacts for Makeup Artists in the Guelph Area.  Her clients always appear to be happy with her work, and on the occassions I have talked to her, she seems more then proffessional at what she does.
http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.makeupartistdirectory.com%2Fmeghanbarbour&h=RAQFppzH2AQGM_DEW3F9z0S-0qb9jQSjAL_pvVgfhloHBbw

Steph Brown-Kiss-N-Makeup

Steph Brown is also a freelance Makeup Artist that I met at the Wedding Ring Bridal show this weekend,  she is new to the area, so I asked to see pictures of her work, and added her to my referral list.
http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kiss-n-makeup.ca%2F&h=cAQE7sU7L


Photographers:

When I am on location I usually come across some great photographers, and love referring them to my brides to help narrow their search.

Margie Mclean- http://www.freshimages.ca/


I work with Margie often, and as you can see on my website and facebook, I love her work.  I met Margie when I was working at Community Living, and we were happy to find out we both had talents beyond CLO and would work well together. Margie has been the photographer for my Jacha Minerals photo shoots, photographed my products, and lately I have been fortunate to have her at the weddings that I do makeup for.  Margie has also asked me to collaborate with her by doing the makeup for her Boudoir Photo shoots, which you can read more information about on my blog.




Rebecca Zinger- Heritage Photography
http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.heritage-photography.ca%2F&h=tAQEHesHZ



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Darlene- Jakal Photography http://jakal-photography.com/





Darlene is located out of Seaforth, Ontario and has been the photographer for a few brides I did wedding makeup for.  I know they both loved their wedding pictures, so I am happy to add Jakal Photographer to my referral list.  I have more pictures to post soon from Darlene.


Nancy French- Photographer based out of Mitchell, On http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nancyfrench.ca%2F&h=nAQFrFTO6
Nancy has photographed many weddings in the Mitchell area, and my brides are always very happy with her work.  She has photographed a few weddings in which I was in the wedding party, and she really knows how to make everyone feel comfortable and relaxed.