Today’s WPPI Senior Speaker Line-Up is all about a husband and wife team out of Garland, Utah.  Steve and Shelly Harrington have been photographing seniors, and other types of photography, for 10 years.  Steve started in photography as a hobby but that quickly took over and he quit his day job to do this full time.  Shelly works with Steve as the image editor.

They will be speaking at WPPI on Senior Photography and studio posing techniques.  They promise to keep it real and discuss how to be a professional senior photographer.  See how you can sign up for their class below and check out more of their work here.  Thanks Shelly and Steve!

Tell us a little about yourself…I am writing this on behalf of Steve and myself.  We are a husband and wife team located in Northern Utah. Steve is the photographer, and I am the image editor. We are an award winning duo that own and operates our studio in Garland. We specialize in high school seniors but also enjoy all types of photography including families, children, and weddings. Accolades include being a spa Event shooter for the past four years, WPPI speakers, and we travel internationally to teach workshops on senior photography. Our work can be viewed at www.steveharrington.net

How did you get into photography? Steve was interested in it since high school and played with it as a hobby. Once digital came out, he took it up a notch and started working on a part time level, until the day job got in the way and he quit to do photography full time.

Any formal training? Yes

How long have you been in business? Almost 10 years

Who or What inspires you as a photographer? Business smart people. Creativeness lends a lot to being successful. You have to get out there and create your own style.

How would you describe your photography style? We like to think we are timeless, classy, and trendy all rolled into one.

What percentage of your business is seniors? 70%

What attracted you to the senior market of photography? It just sort of fell in our lap. We started shooting seniors, and it snowballed into it being our reputation to do so.

What has been your best marketing technique for seniors? Word of mouth,

You are one of the speakers at WPPI in Las Vegas this year! Congratulations!  Tell us why you chose “Successful Seniors – Studios and Marketing” as your topic? Thank you! Being a good  photographer is a great thing, but it won’t get you far if you don’t know how to sell yourself. You also need to rise above the crowd by displaying solid studio images and techniques. You can’t be in a full time business as an “outdoor” photographer if you depend on the weather to do so. We can’t anyway, it snows here in Utah.

What can attendees expect to learn from your class? Studio posing techniques. Honest talk about how to be a professional photographer in a senior business with no inflated tales. We like to keep it real.

Who is this class for? Everyone. The studio portion will be about posing, more so than lighting ratios. We will talk about business, ideas, and anything else we can squeeze into the 2 hour class

When is it? Mon, Feb 20, 2012 – 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM

This is a Master Class.  Can you tell us how to register for this class? Go to http://www.wppionline.com/show/classes.shtml and search for our names, Steve and Shelley Harrington

What is your favorite thing about WPPI? Networking with friends and vendors.

What is your best tip to making WPPI a successful trip for photographers? Make yourself a wish list for the tradeshow. You will be overwhelmed (in a good way) once you walk in there if you’ve never seen this before. It’s HUGE!

What is in your camera bag? Nikon D3, 17-55, 28-70, SB800, lots of batteries!

Favorite lens? 70-200

Most popular senior product? 16×20 composites

What is one tip you can share with other photographers who want to get into the senior market in their area? Be persistent. It won’t happen overnight. It took us 4 years to get our senior market rolling well. It will happen as long as you sell a good quality product and keep at it.

We are totally excited about WPPI 2012. We have a few fun things planned while we are there. We are always open to meet new people and to create new friendships! You can “friend” us on Facebook for the updates. We can also be called or texted anytime at 435-452-1952.