 |
 |
|
|
I just got home from the Blend Workshop in Santa Fe, New Mexico. I had planned on doing a video recap to share my thoughts, but I am a tad under the weather and having a bad hair day, so you are just going to have to read it.
All in all, I have to say 2 thumbs up! If they decide to do it again (which I am sure they will based on the feedback), I strongly recommend it to anyone. It was nice having 3 days of programming, from people who run their businesses so differently.
Day 1 of the Blend Workshop was spent with Jose Villa. He's one of those "old school guys" who still shoots that film stuff! ;-) Even though we do several things completely opposite, I was surprised to find out how much we have in common. We are both dedicated to providing our clients outstanding service in addition to outstanding photographs. We both look for the good light first, then the background second. We both have a very relax, comfortable teaching style. He was an open book when sharing with us yesterday and I really appreciated that.
|
I spent day 2 with Nate & Jaclyn from The Image is Found. These two are so cool, and I just love their style and brand, not to mention their attitudes. They realized and did a great job demonstrating that you don't have to book every client. You need to develop a style and brand that is all your own and even if you risk turning some clients off, the ones who love your work and brand will pay whatever you ask to get you. Bravo!
Nate shoots a lot of wide angle stuff and mentioned that he doesn't like shooting long lenses wide open, so here's 85mm at f/1.2: (I like it!) |
Jesh De Rox is a deep, deep, deep soulful person... who also has a wicked sense of humor! I really enjoyed my time with him. Again, even though we have different methods, it's amazing how much he and I have in common especially in how it's our goal to make our subjects comfortable in front of the camera. The other amazing thing about Jesh is that for most of the day, we hardly talked about photography. It was more like a therapy session, but it was so cool. I really enjoyed the people who were on my team and certainly felt closer to all of them after our final day with Mr. De Rox.
By the way, Jesh has some cool new actions that I've been playing with and liking a lot. He also donates 10% of the proceeds to charity. Enlighten - Life as an art form |
Here are a few images from the workshop. I have a few more personaly images of Santa Fe on my blog.
I love this one because I caught Punam Bean "chimping" on the back on her film camera. DOH! |
| Bobbi is one of my favorite people on the planet. They certainly broke the mold after they made this one. She is hilarious and full of life. |
| Ben Harrison was in my group and it was great hanging with him. If you ever have any questions about using In Design for your album design process... he is the man and has some great templates and videos on his blog. |
| I met Desiree Haigh from Seattle the first night and we just hit it off. She is just getting going in wedding photography, but does amazingly real portraits and we share an interest in our personal work with artistic nudes. She'll probably kill me for posting this photo, but it was shot from the hip, without even looking. |
| Jose Villa's assistant Lacie modeled for us the last day. She is going to be a gorgeous bride some day. |
| Somehow I think the shots Dale got of Lacie had to have turned out better than the shot I got of Dale? Check out his blog post
|
| Tamara Lackey was the guest speaker one night and it was nice getting to know her. |
All in all it was a wonderful experience. Even though I've been teaching workshops myself for years now, I just never want to fell as if I can't learn anything so that's why I went. Thanks to Jesh, Jose, Nate, Jac, Lacie & Teresa for everything! Good times! Also, thanks to everyone who was in my group. I enjoyed meeting you all! Please keep in touch.
|
|
 |
