Photography Education + Consulting

Efficiency in Expansion

We offer unique methods for understanding photography and learning efficiently. Our founder, Allen Luke, teaches the practical+tactical, as well as a range of philosophic principles that relate the art of photography to nature and Life in a way that is easy to understand and integrate. You’ll be able to apply it personally as well as in your business.

Consulting + Training + Mentoring + Coaching

Photography Business Development

Getting your business set correctly is critical. Once you get into it, you’ll be navigating all the various channels to play in, how to market effectively, keeping up on social media, the money game, and so much more. Leverage our experience in business development, branding and photography to map out your plan and prioritize accordingly.  Click our options below to learn more about each program. 

We all start somewhere in our profession… and with photography, the starting point is usually a burning desire within you to explore your creative spirit and discover seeing the world in new ways.

Yet the practice of photography is completely separate from the business of photography. To some, they are worlds apart in the skills required and why most amateur photographers never get lift or become successful.

Those who approach photography from the left brain or with a business background tend to handle it a little better, while the right-brained creative types will often struggle. This is why we create a program custom-designed for you. 

We’ll help you understand how to approach your business your way, so you can create structures that streamline your process. Over a series of multiple meetings and within our tools, you’ll receive practical and philosophical principles that will put you on a whole new course, giving you a much better chance of making it as a professional. Simply put, this knowledge and these systems will save you YEARS of learning the hard way. 

Not only will we teach you how to tactically approach your business, but we will also “shift your lens” on how you see yourself in business (which tends to amplify our students’ trajectory of career success). If we felt there was a better investment you could make, we’d direct you to it. This is it if you really aspire to become a photographer. 

This is the foundational program, great for beginners and amateurs/professionals seeking more traction and effectiveness. An initial meeting will uncover the areas we most want to highlight in your customized curriculum. 

What’s included? Here’s the breakdown of our initial foundational program’s key deliverables and components:

  • 6 Consultation Meetings (1hr via video call per week) over a six-week period. This package is substantially reduced from our standard rate of $500 per consultation. 
  • Personal Strengths and “MyWhy” Assessment = Know who you are and what you want to do with your career. This helps us custom-tailor your individualized learning path. 
  • Pathways, Pricing, and Positioning Analyses = Know what you are becoming and how to do it. We’ll make sure you have a good strategy on how to present and promote yourself.
  • Tools, Templates, and Techniques: Starting from scratch is costly. Save money and time by starting with these simple and versatile resources that make your job easier in all areas of your business. 
  • Customized Curriculum: Simply put, you get to use our time together however you desire to expand your knowledge. We’ll cover discussions on lighting and other technicalities, but we’ll want to walk away making sure you have a solid understanding of legal and release considerations, accounting, and other key aspects of the business you need to address in its formation. 
  • Investment: $1750

While our foundation course is great for beginners, those getting into commercial photography require more advanced information. We offer a more specific understanding of the nature of this type of business through our personal training as well as tools and templates that will make your life much easier. 

What’s included? Here’s the breakdown of our initial foundational program’s key deliverables and components:

  • 4 Consultation Meetings (1hr via video call) can be upon request or paced over a four-week period to guide you through the various needs and questions you have. 
  • Pricing: All the choices relating to pricing will make or break your business. Borrow our wisdom and templated approach to Commercial photography pricing that can saves years of learning and research into getting what you’re worth from the client. You’ll have a solid understanding of all the key considerations (i.e. day rates, how to price and produce pre-production and post-production line items, etc.), and most importantly: the structure in which to do it efficiently. 
  • Licensing & Legal Considerations for Commercial Photographers: This can be a tricky component of the business to navigate and involves packages and pricing considerations. We’ll provide you with incredibly useful templates for contracts and client information (that you cannot find anywhere else) as well as how to approach it. 
  • Philosophy: You have a greater responsibility to address what clients expect as you present your business, and there is no one “correct” way to do it. What you need is a way to think about it. We’ll take you through our diverse thought process on how to price and position your business, which has been refined over years of our own experience as well as what we’ve learned from other professionals. 
  • Consultation: We’re available to answer all your questions, direct you to resources and guide you to whatever else you need as things come up that are tough to answer (which they definitely will). 
  • Requirements: Unless you have a valid and verified 3 years in the business, our foundational program (above) is a pre-requisite. 
  • Investment: $1500

Your process is the lifeblood of your business. We’ll guide you though unique, hard-learned, and well-practiced perspectives on how to have a photography production workflow that is efficient and organized.  Because the cost of not doing so is far too high. 

We’re skilled in a variety of post-production practices, and the Adobe Photoshop software ecosystem is one of our specialties. In addition to the many levels of retouching/editing we’ve performed on our own projects, a number of agencies and other photographers have come to us for some of their more advanced “surgeries.”

We’ll touch on tips and techniques for advanced Photoshop editing, Lightoom tips, and similar, but the core focus is how to handle your photography post-production workflow and everything that leads up to that. 

What’s included? Here’s the breakdown of our initial foundational program’s key deliverables and components:

  • Resources:
    • Our exclusive Photography Workflow Guidebook provides a foundational understanding of how to approach your processes as well as links to educational tools and techniques to deepen your understanding in the key areas. 
    • We’ve also created a Data Asset Management for Photography Workflows Guidebook that illustrates best practices and great techniques for handling your files. It provides frameworks and structures, as well as education around how to handle and back up all of your files using popular modern tools such as Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic. 
  • 2 Consultation Meetings (1hr via video call). After you review our guidebooks, we’ll set up an initial call to audit and understand your current workflow and processes to address where you can be more effective and efficient. We’ll follow up at a later date to go over questions and considerations after you’ve implemented our recommended practices and processes. 
  • Investment: $650

How you position yourself is critical, but very few people starting out understand its value and how to approach it. Just knowing this one fact and getting it correct from the beginning can save you thousands down the road. We’re experts… Our parent company the Illumination Agency has built hundreds of brands over 15+ years in business. 

Instead of picking a name or naming it after yourself, you will benefit greatly from an experienced perspective that will give you a wide-angle view of all pathways and potentialities in naming and positioning. Whether you leverage our brand marketing agency or go in another direction after our consultation, you’ll have a good idea on what you want to do with your brand as well as where to go with your designer. 

Intro Package:

  • Individualized Consultation: Two 1-hour meetings with our founder, who  is an expert in both branding and photography
  • Resources: Our exclusive Photography Branding Guidebook provides a foundational understanding of branding principles as well as considerations for the modern marketplace. 
  • Investment: $650

We offer guidance, personalized training and/or creative direction on your photoshoots, which can be in-person or via video conference.

Contact us to schedule a brief call to understand your objectives. We’ll need to know what you’re truly after so we can prepare, what your time needs are, and then provide you with a custom quote if your project’s time requirement exceeds our standard 1hour consultation scenario at the rate of $500/hr. 

You’re going to have a lot of questions as you go about this journey. Mentoring sessions are available at regular intervals (because consistent application is KEY) to guide you through the phases of your development.

All mentoring arrangements require an initial consultation. Please book it using the link on this page and let us know you are initiating a mentoring agreement. We’ll then direct the discussion toward how we will best approach your needs. 

Commercial Photography Studio Set-up

Companies with in-house marketing personnel often ask us for assistance in establishing workflow and choosing the correct gear for their unique need. If you need assistance with any aspect of setting up your studio, creating workflow processes and systems, getting your setting standardized or any other aspect of a studio strategy, contact us for a consultation.

Photography Consulting

Consultations with Allen are available to guide you to and through any direction or challenge relating to your photography business or personal creative journey. Our consultations begin at $500 per hour.

Photography + Philosophy

“Through our shared love of photography, my personal art is to show you a new way to see yourself… and provide you with ‘a new lens’ through which to see all of life.”

Allen Luke – Founder

World-Wide Workshops

Join our team on a journey of a lifetime where you will learn photography through extraordinary experiences. Our world-wide photography workshops are unique adventures that use photography to change lives!

Kukulcan pyramid in Chichen Itza with no people

SOLD OUT – Seats are limited to 9 guest adventurers. Please contact us for dates, more information and to get on the reserve list for cancellations. 

Mystical Mexico

January 2022

Join us for a truly unique elemental experience in the Mayan lands. We’ll be based in Playa del Carmen, Mexico (just south of Cancun) and taking you underground, deep in the jungle, through the fire, and on excursions to capture what remains of the lost Mayan civilizations. 

  • Underwater shoot in a cenote (an underground water cavern)
  • A private fire performance photo session
  • Street photography on 5th Avenue in downtown Playa
  • Fireside talks with esoteric Quantum Energetics experts
  • Photo sessions with Mayan cultural performance artists
  • Connections to shamans and medicine journeys for those who desire more personal discovery
  • Photo equipment, lighting and workflow training customized to you
Closeup portrait of a smiling Indian girl in her village with a pink grungy background

Inside India

Fall 2023

Our initiation into India begins off the beaten path where we will be staying at the Moriah Children’s School & Home and traveling to remote villages to get a deep integration into true Indian culture. For many, it’ll be an experience back in time as we see into the lives of people living completely differently from the Westerner’s life experience. 

This isn’t a sightseeing journey… It’s a journey into your heart, through the heart of India. For those who want to see some of the Taj Mahal and other popular and historic sights, an extension will be available. But the primary focus will be on the everyday lives of the Moriah Children, trips into their homes, and local cultural attractions. The photographic opportunities in this environment are rich and life-changing.

There are a lot of logistical considerations for a trip of this nature, so the final itinerary and dates are still being worked out. Please sign up for our newsletter to be notified about this adventure when everything is ready. 

Inside Egyptian pyramid with Illumination going up the stairs

Egyptian Explorations

Winter 2023

We’ll be journeying deep into the ancient land of Kemet to explore symbology and sacred knowledge while expanding our photographic knowledge and relationship to the light. Please sign up for our newsletter to be notified about this adventure as well. 

Courses & Training

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