Feature Friday: Lynne Harper

Tell us a little about yourself!

Hi, I’m Lynne and I live in Ayrshire, Scotland with my husband Peter and my two girls, Harriet aged 8 and Bronte aged 5. Life is crazy, but good crazy, and I wouldn’t change it for the world.

In my spare time I love to cook and dine out with friends, although I use the term ‘spare time’ loosely as I juggle two kids with a dozen after school activities on top of running my own business.

What do you specialize in? What made you want to focus on that specialty/specialties?

I specialize in newborn photography from my home studio. My preferred age to photograph is 5-12 days old.

I’ve always had an interest in photography and since having my own children I now appreciate just how unbelievably important it is to capture images of your babies, as you will cherish these early days as your baby grows. Every baby is different which helps me grow as photographer with every session I do. I also love that the studio is a calm and peaceful environment in a newborn session which helps parents to sit back and relax while I work. The relationship that you build with parents through a newborn session is something special and I love that this job gives me this opportunity to connect with so many lovely families.

How did you first get started in photography?

Photography was very much just a hobby until 5 years ago. I got my first DSLR 8 years ago following a holiday in China. A year later I was given studio lights as a surprise birthday gift. I had no clue as to how to work my camera outwith ‘auto’ or how to use the studio lights, so I did a one-day basic photography course at a local camera store to learn the basics and get me started. Little did I know at that time the path that this hobby would take me! I did my first newborn workshop in 2015, with the amazing Jillian Greenhill, which gave me the skills and confidence I needed to take my business to a professional level. I gave up my desk job as a performance improvement officer in April 2016 and haven’t looked back since!

How has using Iris impacted your business?

Iris Works has completely transformed how I work and helped me become much more efficient and organised. I now have all information relating my clients in a single client record. I only need to look up a client to have access to their booking form, colour preference form, session details etc. I also have all of my pricelists, Welcome Packets etc stored in Iris, which means it’s so simple to email documents to clients. One of the biggest time savers for me is that I can easily log in to Iris Works on my phone and can send files to clients instantly, no matter where I am or what I’m doing.

What are your future goals for you business? What are you looking forward to?

I have a very exciting year ahead. My youngest daughter starts school in August therefore for the first time since I set-up in photography I will have all day, everyday to dedicate to developing my business. I’m looking forward to being able to take on more sessions and I have plans to develop my studio space. I’m also receiving requests for mentoring, so I’ll hopefully feel ready to take this on at some point in the future.

Fun facts:

1. I’m crafty, arty and musical, and previously played in a Scottish Ceilidh band!

2. My girls share my love for musicals and we plan as many theatre trips as we can. I believe Matlida is next on their list!

3. I’m a complete Photoshop geek. I can happily spend hours working on composites and personal photography projects. I hand edit and like to create my own actions and presets…..just for fun!