A few months ago I asked Collective members AND non Collective members what topics we should focus on for future videos, and after Lighting (which we covered immediately in probably my favorite Collective video1) the topics weren’t even photography related! They were Business and Marketing, which I can 100% relate to needing…

I started building a list of guest instructors I wanted for the Collective last Spring. There were a handful of friends who believed in my dream and supported me by trusting us to film them teaching without really understanding just what the Rachel Vanoven Collective was going to be. Or if anyone was even going to subscribe!

“Can I get some CC on this?”

I’ve been teaching photography, mainly newborn photography, for nearly nine years…and the resounding problem that most photographers come to workshops with is lighting. (Followed closely by marketing, but that’s another blog post!) But before we dive into the main problems I see, and how to fix them,  take a look at my in-home natural light […]

    She made lived to be exactly 91 years and one day, before taking her last breath and running through the gates of heaven into the arms of her beloved Paul. Whenever I’m asked to describe the Murphy side of my family, for some reason I always tell people how notoriously loud we are […]

December 2, 2017 was the last day I spent with my mom.

This week was basically “Groundhog Day, photography edition” with every morning starting the same, 5:00 alarm, coffee, devotions, kids off to school, more coffee, off to the Shop, edit from about 8:30-3:30, home, dinner, shoot at 6:00, home by 8:00, kids to bed, fall asleep while watching Netflix with the husband.

I’ve been a part of the Milky Way Retreats since their launch a few years ago, and when Lisa and Erin came to me with the idea of it, I let them know straight up that I was planning this Collective (I had no idea it was going to take so long to get off […]

Take a second real fast and go read this six year old blog post from 2012.

Three days and FIVE newborns, whew! All ranging from four to ten days and so darn sweet.