Meraki Workshop - Delicate Details 2022

Meraki

“Doing something with soul, creativity or love; to put something of yourself into what you create.”

Another photography workshop at Lightbox in the books!

It’s no secret that over the past couple years the popularity of elopements and micro weddings has been on the rise! Lightbox itself has been the venue for the nuptials of several amazing couples in the Midwest area since we opened our doors in October of 2019!

After meeting numerous couples, we were inspired to make this workshop all about the details.

Your wedding day is big, even if you keep it small.

As elopements and micro weddings rise in popularity. It’s good for photographers to practice shooting with the intention of capturing delicate details. This educational workshop helped photographers focus on capturing all of the little details that couples put work into making their day one of a kind and special.

Scroll to see each photographer’s favorite images from the day!

BG Studios Photography

Bloom & Be Photo

Esy White Creative

“Meraki is the first photographer’s workshop I’ve ever attended. I’ve had the most amazing experience! Having no proper training when it comes to wedding photography or styled shoots, the whole event provides a healthy and safe environment for photographers like me. I loved the community and the new creatives I met. Truly thankful for the opportunity!”

- Esy White

Joy Photography

“My experience at the Meraki workshop was incredible and more than words can describe! Hannah and all the talented vendors did incredible work. It was so cool seeing the community of photographers come together and capture dreamy photos. It felt like a big family being together all day creating magic! I am so thankful for this experience and can't wait to go to another one!”

- Joy Boykin

Leigh Smith Photography

Portrait Novella

A special thanks to our vendors…

Evermore Bride

@evermore.bride

Cornerstone Jewelers

@cornerstone_jewelers

Good Ground Floral

@goodgroundfloral

MK Hair Co

@mk.hairco
@emilyedgar

Cedar Brooke Charcuterie

@cedarbrookecharcuterie

Sabbie Chic Events

@Sabbiechicevents

Skin by Skyler Lynn

@emilyedgar
@skin.by.skylerlynn

Steph Dejeu Design Co

@stephdejeudesignco

… and our models!

Tylar Grant

@tylargrant

Drew & Cori

@drewblaine
@coriklee

Vince & Jane

@vince_gelei
@janegelei

Days to Get Married in 2022

Marrying the love of your life in 2022?

Here are the “cutest” wedding dates to get married on in 2022. Being that Lightbox holds quite a few elopements over the year, we included a few weekdays as well. I’m a little late posting this, so I’ve surpassed the January dates. Let’s jump right in.

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Photo by: Tatum Nelson Co

February, 2, 2022

February 2, 2022 shares it’s day with the ever so famous Groundhog Day. For those who like to stay '“on brand” with holidays…. it may be a neat idea to work in some shadow like imagery during your bridal portraits.

02/02/2022

Photo by: Tatum Nelson Co.

February 20, 2022

February 20, 2022 falls on a Sunday and is stylistically pleasing as the numbers give off a minimalist look and feel. This is one of the few weekend dates that the number “20” or “22” fall on so get on this date quick if you’re wanting a weekend wedding!

02/20/2022

February 22, 2022

February 22, 2022 is a Tuesday. Okay, now that’s a lot of “2’s” But quite frankly…this is the cutest date yet. Can you imagine all of your signage showing 02/22/2022? YAS, love it!

02/22/2022

Photo by: Tatum Nelson Co.

April 3, 2022

April 3, 2022 is another weekend date! I like to call this the “countdown” wedding date. This means your wedding month has the largest number, in this case “4” and the numbers go down from there.

04/03/2022

Photo by: Tatum Nelson Co

October 10, 2022

We are skipping past all of the summer dates and headed into fall. October 10, 2022 is so cute and I could see a lot of couples wanting this as their wedding date.

10/20/2022

Photo by: Tatum Nelson Co.

November 11, 2022

Eleven Eleven….make a wish.

What a fun date to celebrate each year! If it were me, I’d want my partner and I to make a wish on our anniversary, write it down and come back to it next year to see if it came true. What do you think? Too cheesy?

11/11/2022

Photo by: Tatum Nelson Co.

December 21, 2022

A little bit of a tongue twister but definitely a fun wedding date! Not only are you close to Christmas, but this year, December 21st is the first official day of Winter!

12/21/2022

Love the photos in this blog? Show the vendors some love!

Bouquet: Fleur Floral Studio @fleur_floralstudio

Vintage Mirror: Abi Jeanne Marché @abijeannemarche

Dresses: Evermore @evermore.bride

Studio: Lightbox @lightboxsgf

Photographer: Tatum Nelson Co @tatumnelsonco

Videographer: @margaretkellenberger

London's Permanent Bracelet: @lalalinksjewelry

London (model): @londoncjohnson

Recap on the Meraki Workshop

We hosted our first workshop! We’ve hosted several small scale photographer’s shoot-out events over the last year and we knew we wanted to expand on them and offer an educational and intimate experience for the photographer’s in our community! This workshop was built to allow the attendees a space to create something new and dive into the intentionality behind their businesses as they move into the new year.

As we begun meeting with vendors and discussing the workshop in more depth a word popped into our Bekah’s head that had hung on her bulletin board throughout high school:

Meraki: [MAY:RAH:KEE] noun.

“Doing something with soul, creativity, or love; to put something of yourself into what you create.”

This word perfectly embodied what we wanted this workshop to be all about and how we wanted all of our vendors and photographers that participated in the workshop to feel as they created in the studio!

We had an amazing team of all-female (HECK FREAKIN YEAH) entrepreneurs and business owners that helped make this two day workshop possible! With the incredible talent and help of Wildly Collective, we were able to offer two different styling themes for the workshop that focused on current and upcoming trends. The Dream State sets were curated and designed by Wildly Collective and focused heavily on a soft, colorful and “dream-like” aesthetic that has us (quite literally) dreaming of Spring!

Our team at Lightbox curated the Modern Romance sets that used a more earthy tones and textures. We wanted these sets to focus more on editorial posing and integrate an edgy bridal session with a fun fast food twist!

We made sure to make the styled shoot portion of both days fall along the same overall theme but offer something new and exciting for each day so that the photographer’s attending could choose to come to day one, day two, or both days!

Day One

This 8 hour day was filled with 2 styled shoots, 1 styling vignette and 1 tablescape. The goal was for each photographer to take the time to try new posing techniques and bounce ideas off one another while shooting. After the photography portion of the day, we congregated in the Edison to download our images and start editing. One of the best parts of the day was hearing from speakers Wildly Collective and Tessa Cooper on “Creating More Meaningful Work” and “Pitching your Work to Publications.” We ended the evening with a catered meal from Cafe Cusco (a local fave) and conversations around the beautiful tablescape styled by Wildly Collective.

Day Two

This 4 hour day consisted of 2 styled shoots, headshot set-up, editing time, an introspective worksheet and learning about “Staying True to Your Brand Identity from the owner of the Ozark Mountain Flower Truck, Cassie Parker!

Cassie spoke on staying true to your brand identity, finding your “why” and how to scale your business! We LOVED having Cassie here because we so admire the brand she has cultivated at Ozark Mountain Flower Truck!

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Our favorite part of any photography related events at the studio is ALWAYS the incredible images from all of the attendees! We continue to be blown away by the creativity and passion of the photography community in our area!

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BG STUDIOS PHOTOGRAPHY

RHIANON BROWN PHOTOGRAPHY

BLOOM AND BE PHOTO

MORRIS IMAGERY

J PUHR PHOTOGRAPHY

PORTRAIT NOVELLA

LEIGH SMITH PHOTO

WHITE DOVE PHOTOGRAPHY

WILD WILD PHOTOGRAPHY

CHELSEA MACMILLAN PHOTGRAPHY

ILLUMINATE PHOTOGRAPHY

We are so incredibly thankful that this workshop was a success and ignited the creative spark in the community we love so much! We couldn’t have done it without the help of our incredible vendors:

Wildly Collective

Dream State concept & design
Day one speakers

@wildlycollective_

Kyndra Jackson

Dream State day two wardrobe

@neverwakemeup

(Photo by Leigh Smith Photo)

Shea Brianne

Styling mats

@shea_brianne

(Photo by Rhianon Brown Photography)

Queen City Blooms

Dream State florals
Modern Romance head piece

@queencity.blooms

Sand and Stone Handmade

Stone ring boxes

@sandandstone.handmade

Cassie Parker

Day two speaker

@ozarkmtnflowertruck

Lilac and Lord Baking

Baked goods

@lilacandlordbaking

AVBS

Hair and makeup

@avbsalon_tiffany

@avbsalon_aerie

Tessa Cooper

Day one speaker

@tessajcooper

(Photo by Elise Abigail Photo)

Kind words:

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Written by Bekah Schooler & Hannah DeVries

Four Ways to Get Yourself Out of a Creative Rut - For Photographers

It’s a little ironic that I’m writing this on a dreary and rainy day. We all know this year has thrown us for a loop, but for us photographers, the fall has been busier than ever. After all of the rescheduled sessions and weddings from the summer to starting, dare I say, Christmas photos…you may be finding yourself in a creative rut. Let’s fix that, eh?

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Allow Yourself to Have a Moment

That’s right. This is the very first thing you should do when you are in a creative rut. Take a moment to just be in a mood because we all need a good vulnerable moment. It is easy to become caught up in trying to post every day or making sure you have something “new” for each client. It can be exhausting and take a toll on us. So take your moment….whether that is 60 seconds, a few days or a week and allow yourself to unwind.

Listen to Songs You Loved Back When You Started Photography

A little weird, I know…but this is something that has always helped me in the past. In high school, learning the ins and outs of my camera, I always listened to GIVERS, Two Door Cinema Club, Santigold, etc. These songs remind me of how I felt limitless and enjoyed trying new things. Give this a go and let me know if it works for you.

Create a Physical Inspo Board

Ditch Pinterest for this one. I love me a good Pinterest board….but how often do you actually take time to look at it after pinning your photos? Instead create a little mood board for yourself that you can print and hang by your computer. It’s satisfying putting together an actual collage and seeing it everyday.

Go Out and Shoot

Let’s be honest…we all knew it was coming because we all know this is what to do. After you successfully do tips 1-3, it’s time to grab your camera and shoot. Give yourself a break and put zero expectations on this shoot. Allow yourself enough time to experiment and play around with old or new techniques. Who knows, these could be your favorite photos of all time. ;)

Written by Hannah DeVries

Owner of Lightbox

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Pantone "Classic Blue" Photographer's Shoot-Out Recap

On June 14th we held our 2nd Photographer’s Shoot-Out at Lightbox! This theme? Pantone’s Color of the Year, Classic Blue! This Shoot-Out’s set was a stark contrast from our first Photographer’s Shoot-Out, and that’s EXACTLY why we love putting these events together! It can be so easy to get caught up in your daily work flow as a photographer and participating in an event like this is the perfect way to ignite that creative spark again!

For this Shoot-Out we had 2 monochromatic sets in Classic Blue and bright white! We created a corner “room” for the Classic Blue set with our new vintage metal chair and for the all white set we used our white styling blocks and rolling backdrop along with other white elements to add a lot of dimension and texture to the set! For both sets we had a table of props for the photographer’s to use that included mirrors, a prism and dried white florals. This gave the photographer’s the opportunity to really get creative and make the set their own!

I’ll cut right to the best part, THE PHOTOS! We had such an amazing group of talented photographers join us for this shoot and all of their photos are INCREDIBLE! Check them out below!

Leigh Smith Photography

Jenny Nolan Snaps

Hannah Arnzen Photography

Rhianon Brown Photography

J Weter Photography

Illuminate Photography

DLP Lovestruck Photography

Capture Company 417

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And a HUGE thank you to our models!

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Kristina Khodai

Lauren Stockam

Lesley Lovelace

Vivien Smith

Mark your calendars!

Our next Photographer’s Shoot-Out will be on August, 16th 2020! Details will be release soon!

Written by Bekah Schooler

Creative Coordinator

lightboxbekah@gmail.com

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Photographer’s Shoot-Out Recap

Our goal at Lightbox is always to foster creativity and bring the community together.

If you follow Lightbox, you’ve probably seen a gorgeous floral set and a minimal editorial set popping up on our feed often! What is it from? The very first Photographer’s Shoot-Out event!

For our first Photographer’s Shoot-Out, we had 11 photographers, 2 sets and 2 models! Unlike most styled shoots, each photographer had different time slots so they were able to work with each model one on one! The first set was with our rose tufted ottoman, white seamless backdrop & a GORGEOUS floral arrangement from Queen City Blooms. Each photographer had the choice between our model, Karissa, wearing a fun, mustard yellow maxi dress from Lulu’s or an elegant wedding gown from The Dress Bridal Boutique! The 2nd set was a more minimal set with our model Soleil wearing an amazing sweater cape from Rent the Runway. In this set you were encouraged to really play with posing and focus on the art of portraiture! This set was basically a blank slate with a few props and really allowed each photographer the space to get creative in their own personal way!

One of the most amazing things about an event like this is having several different photographers shooting the exact same sets and models but in totally different ways! It really showcases the individuality between each and every person who participated. I myself got to join in on the shoot-out and they are some of my favorite photographs I’ve ever taken!

And of course, this shoot-out would have been nothing without the incredible talents that had a hand in bringing it all together!

Here are the amazing vendors who participated:

Florals: Queen City Blooms

Hair & Make-up: Skyler Ellison, assistant under Emily Edgar

Models: Karissa Houts and Soleil Richardson

Bridal Gown: The Dress Bridal Boutique

Yellow Dress: Lulu’s

Sweater cape: Rent the Runway

Now the fun part, THE PHOTOS! Let’s take a look at the work of all these amazing, talented photographers!

WILD WILD PHOTOGRAPHY

@wildwildphotography

SHANA LYNNE PHOTOGRAPHY

@Shanalynnephoto

ILLUMINATE PHOTOGRAPHY

@illuminatephotography417

JWETER PHOTOGRAPHY

@jweterphotography

TAYLOR JEAN PHOTOGRAPHS

@Taylorjeanphotographs

GRACE KAY PHOTOGRAPHY

@gracekayphoto

BLOOM AND BE PHOTO

@bloomandbephoto

RHIANON BROWN PHOTOGRAPHY

@rhianonbrownphotography

NEGATIVE IMAGE PHOTOGRAPHY

@negative.image.photography

STOECKER MEDIA

@stoeckermediallc

HANNAH ARNZEN PHOTGRAPHY

@hannaharnzenphotography

@lightboxsgf

Can I just say…WOW!

After seeing all these amazing photos you might be thinking, WHEN IS THE NEXT ONE? Well, good news! I’m super excited to share with you the mood board and theme of our next shoot-out:

PANTONE COLOR OF THE YEAR SHOOT-OUT!

There will be 2 monochromatic sets to work with and a table of props that will inspire creativity! It’s all happening on Sunday, April 5th! Tickets are on sale NOW! Get them here:

Written by Bekah Schooler

Creative Coordinator & Studio Assistant

If you want to stay in the know about future shoot-out events, sign up for our email newsletter here:

PHOTOGRAPHER’S NEWSLETTER

Galentine’s Party Recap

It is almost March and love is STILL in the air here at Lightbox! We had an AMAZING opportunity to try something new to Springfield and put together our first Galentine’s Party! This event was a colorful and glam filled pop-up selfie museum! Sounds exciting, right?! Lots of hours, creativity and sore hands from cutting out hundreds of hearts went in to the making of this event! We cannot wait to recap and show you how much fun we had!

All photos posted on IG by the beautiful gals who came to the Galentine’s Party!

Featuring eight different set-ups, girls went around to each set and take adorable pictures to glam up their ‘gram! Cute photo props were provided for everyone to use, peep the heart shaped glasses featured above! Three of our eight sets were set up downstairs and consisted of: a lime green confetti fall, heart balloons with our white styling blocks, and our peach wall with fun plants and teal blue palm leaves. Upstairs we had a fun flamingo wall, XOXO wall, super pink heart wall, multi-colored paper chain set-up, and our shimmery cellophane wall!

In addition to the sets, we were happy to have Rove Coffee with us and served iced strawberry mochas along with Ozark Mtn Flower Truck parked out front! We also had a fantastic giveaway that ended up having a value of over $800! We cannot thank the sponsors and businesses who donated for our giveaway:

Yoga Gab Retreats - Rove Coffee - Modern Society Boutique - The Merry Moore - Andy B’s Springfield

MarGorgeous Boutique - Olive and Ivy Boutique - Texas Soul Boutique - Bree’s Little Closet

She is Wonderfully Made - Alijah Storm Cosmetics - Illuminate Photography - 5 Pound Apparel

Rebecca Lynn Illustration - Tessa Bulger - Crave Cookie Dough - Grove Spa - Ozark Mtn Flower Truck

Congratulations again to our giveaway WINNER, Ryinne Jacquemin! We hope you enjoy all your new goodies!

Written by: Jaylee Branch, Community Relations Coordinator

Photo by: Ozark Mtn Images

Interested in upcoming events?

CLICK HERE!!!

How To Use the Ring Light for Your Rental!

Let’s start with the basics!

With the ring light you have the ability to control the look and lighting of your photos! It can be added to any rental for just $15 and you can add it the day of your rental! This is a great option if your rental happens to be on a cloudy day and you want a little extra light for your photos!

There are two sliders on the ring light, one that controls temperature and one that controls brightness. Since it is a slide and not a switch, you have complete control over how bright you want the light and whether you want cool tones, warm tones, or somewhere in the middle!

The ring light is super user friendly, so you totally don’t have to be a professional photographer to utilize it for your rental! It also comes with a tripod to hold a cell phone!

Our rolling white backdrop, the ring light and some banners or props make the perfect setup for a do-it-yourself photo booth during your next party!

Below are some examples of how I used the ring light during my photo session with Jacob!

All of these photos were taken with the same camera settings and all of them were taken about 30 minutes before sunset when natural light was starting to fade!

The only difference between them is the light temperature and brightness settings I had on the ring light!

BEFORE: This photo was taken with the ring light set to cool tones and the brightness on high

BEFORE: This photo was taken with warm temperature settings and the brightness on medium!

BEFORE: This photo was taken with only natural light! Keep in mind that it was almost dark outside so there wasn’t much light to work with in the first place. In a normal situation I would change my camera settings, but I kept the the same as the photos above to illustrate the differences between all the photos!

AFTER: For the cool tones settings I just enhanced them a bit! This setting fit really well with Jacob’s skin tone and the backdrop we were working with!

AFTER: For Jacob’s skin tone I did bring down the warm tones and oranges in editing just a bit to match my own personal style but I love the look of the finished product! The warm tones would be really great with other skin tones or if you were going for a specific style!

AFTER: I had to work a lot harder with editing on the photos with only natural light! I felt like it left them a bit grainy and the backdrop doesn’t pop quiet as much as it does when i’m using the ring light!

Here are some bonus pictures that were taken with the ring light when it was pitch black outside!

Are you ready to get creative? Book and add the ring light here!

Blog and photos by Bekah Schooler, Studio Assistant at Lightbox & Owner of Illuminate Photography.

NYE Style Guide

Christmas may be over…but that means New Years Eve is right around the corner!

Several boutiques from the Springfield area have taken pictures at Lightbox over the past couple months, and we are LOVING it! So…we decided to throw together a little outfit guide for New Years Eve to give you a little fashion inspo. All outfits are featuring boutiques that have photographed in our space!

Lilac and Jade Boutique

A POP of color is the perfect touch!

Website: Lilacandjadeboutique.com

Instagram: @lilacandjadeboutique

Bree’s Little Closet

Fun jeans and a comfy sweater!

www.breeslittlecloset.com

Instagram: @breeslittlecloset

Waste Less Apparel

Go a bit more edgy with patterned pants and a leather jacket!

Instagram: @wastless_apparel

Modern Society

Add a little glitter and glam!

www.modernsocietyapparel.com

Instagram: @shopmodernsociety

My Personal Experience Using the Lightbox Loft

Hi there!

Bekah here from the Lightbox team!

I own Illuminate Photography here in Springfield and I’m going to tell you about my experience using The Loft!

As a photographer, I know how challenging it can be to find an indoor space for photo sessions that has adequate light and space while still being private!

Photographing in a comfortable and quiet environment really produces more genuine and relaxed photographs! My clients and the quality of the photos I give them are always, always, always my first priority so I was SO excited to utilize Lightbox to give my clients the best possible experience I can!

I recently had the opportunity to photograph a pet calendar with 22 (Yes, TWENTY-TWO) dogs and 2 cats and I jumped at the chance to use The Loft for this project. I had super consistant lighting throughout the whole session! Having this large of a project in a controlled environment really helped keep the pups more calm! The rolling white backdrop was the perfect tool to style for the different months and I was able to use several decor items available in The Loft and combine it with items brought from home to make this project come to life! If you would like a calendar to support Rescue One, please click here.

Photographing portraits is one of my favorite parts about my job! I love being able to capture what makes a person uniquely themselves! I took some pictures of Sarah on her lunch break from her job during spirit week. It was 80’s day and how can you not get some photos when your outfit is this good??

I’ll let you in on a little secret; It was SO overcast and gloomy this day but we were still able to get some gorgeous and bright photos with only the light coming through the abundance of windows in the Loft! As a natural light photographer, it is HUGE for me to be able to stay consistant with the photos I do outdoors at an indoor location! There is no shortage of soft, beautful, natural light at Lightbox!

One of the really cool things I love about the Loft is that it gets styled differently seasonally so you have the opportunity to create unique photos for your clients every time you use the space!

I am just as excited about this space (if not more!) after using it as I was from the moment I first heard of it! It really is an asset that Springfield has needed for a long time and I am so looking forward to using The Loft for many, many more photo sessions in the future!

5 Creative Ways To Use The Loft

Welcome to the Box Blog - your source to see what’s new and happening at Lightbox!

Let’s talk about five creative ways you can use the Loft! This space will be styled with unique furniture and home decor differently every three months, so you have trendy and fresh backdrops throughout the year. Let’s dive in!

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Bridal Shower 

Newly engaged??? It’s time to celebrate! You and your guests will enter the Loft by a beautiful iron staircase. Filled with natural light, sheer white curtains and beautiful white floors, the Loft screams BRIDAL! Bring your own decor or ask to see our prop closet for dishes, runners, florals and more! You can really make the space your own! What style do you prefer? Boho, Modern, Rustic, or Victorian? If you want a unique piece for photo ops, check out The Vintage Rental Company!

Yoga event

Breathe….Inhale…... Exhale…… Calling all yogis for a sunrise, mid-day or sunset yoga class. We believe intimate gatherings help us mentally and emotionally in our professions and personal lives. Interested in hosting a class? Please fill out a contact form!

Pop-up shop

Located right on historic C-Street which is known for its artistic ties, Lightbox is the perfect fit for pop-up shops or craft shows! Use the loft or the entire space to help make your business grow! We will help spread the word about your event on social media! Lightbox has folding tables to use upon request to set up your merchandise.

Photo Sessions

The Loft works fabulously for photo sessions due to the abundant amount of natural light…even on a cloudy day! Furniture and home décor will be changed throughout the year giving you a variety of backgrounds for your clients! Want to mix things up? Feel free to bring your own props to make the space uniquely yours! The 7.5’ rolling backdrop can be used as a reflector or decorated for your shoot! What a better place to beat the cold weather during the winter!

Girls’ night event

Who doesn’t love a girls’ night?! Whether it be a sip and paint event, a Galantines party or even a weekend brunch, the Loft is the place for you! We also have two 10-foot pine-wood dining tables and 24 white folding chairs. Limited luxury seating is available upon request.

Keep in mind, this is just a small list of the endless ways you can use one of our spaces! Not only are we looking forward to meeting you….we are excited to see how you transform the Loft with your own creative touch!