Remember the Photo-Recipe from a couple weeks ago for a Baby in the Clouds?

That was from the San Antonio CONFIDENCE Workshop, and I’m so excited to show you the inspiring photos that our workshop attendees captured with their cameras!  We had an amazing group of women from all levels.  Some were complete beginners and others have exploding businesses.  You would think that a group this diverse in skill would have a tough time connecting, and yet there is something amazing that happens when women come together to dig deep for more confidence.  See for yourself and be inspired!

As many of you know, our Baby Photo Shoot happens on Day One.  The women are split into groups and given the task of capturing “out of the box” images–pushing their creativity to a new level.  Whether you are working alongside another photographer or four photographers, you have someone in your way.  But this is a good thing for the workshop because I want our attendees to take the weekend as an opportunity to get out of the box, try new angles, see new viewpoints, and most of all, make mistakes…to stumble into new inspiration.  And keep in mind that every photo you see today went down in a restaurant!  Yes, a restaurant!  I want our workshop attendees to be empowered and equipped to capture amazing photos, regardless of where they are.  These women did exactly that!

All the babies are sweet.  Some sleep through the whole photo shoot.  Capturing their innocence, their fragility, personality, tenderness, connection to mom, these are just a few of the stories we are working to find with our cameras.

I love how Ronnie Ritchie captured the newness of this little one. Tiny fingers, fast asleep with mom’s hair blurred in the foreground…simply sweet.  Wonderful job Ronnie!

These babies are troopers!  Women are clicking the camera for almost two hours, and at some point the yawning sets in.  Gretchen East did an great job of capturing the yawn moment!  I also love all the white tones in this image.  It gives it that fresh, new feel.  You’d think that baby’s white dress would be too much white with the white chair, but I think it works great!  Gretchen, awesome photo!

How can you not go crazy when mom walks in with a big purple bow on baby?!  So SWEET!  The women had a blast experimenting with different view points for capturing this purple detail. Dana Kelly knocked it out of the park with not only the bow but those eyes!  I can’t get over how those eyes just leap off the screen!  So perfect!

How do we see the tenderness between a mom and baby?  What are the gestures, the angles, the details that communicate a mom’s unending love?  I love how Katie Vaughn captured tenderness.

Different mom and baby, but Katie dialed into the story of tenderness.  We had to share a second example of what she shot.  Beautiful Katie.

Have you ever heard the photography term “catch light”?  It’s when this beautiful white spark shines from your subject’s eyes.  To create catch light in your subjects have them face the window light.  That beautiful window light will spill into their eyes and come right back to you.  Lauren Salinas did an amazing job of showing us.

I LOVE this “behind the scenes” moment that Dana Kelly shot.  Check out the next couple images to see the dynamic differences in what women see when they all have the same pose to work with!

Maggie Feldt got in close and captured this intimate story of mama surrounding baby while baby is tucked in to mama’s arms safe and sound.  I love that we only see mama’s fingers, profile and shoulder.  It’s not a lot of mom but plenty for us to feel her love ever so present.  Great job Maggie!

With the same baby and mama pose, Holly Graning got in even closer.  Isn’t it beautiful to see how the story of the photo changes by just the simple act of zooming in or moving closer to the baby?  And yet, both stories are timelessly beautiful.  Wonderful work ladies!

A quiet adjustment to this little one.  Instead of having him tucked into mama’s chest, mama cradles him so his sleepy face is turned up.  Summie Roach used a low f-stop to capture a buttery, blurry background so that all our focus would be on the little one’s face and hands.  Beautiful.  (Summie, I’m trying to remember.  When you introduced yourself the first morning, didn’t you say you were a beginner?  If you did, you certainly are NOT anymore!  Goodness woman!)

When doing a baby shoot, I like to allow time for a nursing/feeding break.  The sound of a shutter can be exhausting for baby.  Being able to take a feeding break, even if it’s only five minutes long, reconnects baby with mom.

Rebecca Lees did an amazing job of metering the light in this quiet moment–see how the wall is blasted out to the right of the image?  It draws our attention to mom and baby even more.  I love mom’s beautiful long hair, her kitty-cat shoes and the quiet of this moment.  Rebecca, this was a tricky shot in Manual.  INCREDIBLE JOB–what a fun a-ha moment this was for a handful of us!

You see this next face, and what can you say?  Isn’t he just darling?!  Look at the wrinkles in his forehead–still so new to this world.  If you step back from the photo, you’ll notice that mom is just holding baby in a casual position.  Joy Neville captured this beautiful photo.  By the composition can you tell where Joy was shooting from?  Was she at eye level, above eye level, or below?  It’s an angle that we don’t always think of, but it works so incredibly well with babies.   And is anyone else curious to know how Joy post processed the muted colors on this image?  If you ask her in today’s comments, maybe she’ll jump on the blog and let us all know!  (please Joy :))

The San Antonio women were AMAZING, HILARIOUS, full of HEART and so COURAGEOUS!  They all stepped out of their comfort zone over the weekend, and lifetime friendships were made.

Brian and I want to thank each and every one of you ladies for such an amazing weekend.  We can’t imagine a better ending to our 2010 CONFIDENCE Workshops.  There are so many wonderful memories that still make me giggle from Brian asking Joy about the pressure of her name to the scary riverwalk to meds wearing off!  🙂  Thank you for opening your hearts, diving in, and allowing us to speak into your lives.  You each have everything you need to accomplish your dreams.  It was a honor to watch your confidence shine brighter and brighter all weekend.

All our love,

m

*Tomorrow is Day 2!  See what more of these women captured when they were assigned a photo shoot with families, a pregnant mama and head shots of each other!  Stay tuned!  Their photo results are AWESOME!

2011 CONFIDENCE Workshops Updates:

Seattle’s Workshop is SOLD OUT! (And the women are already emailing each other and introducing themselves!  I LOVE it!)

Only TWO spots left in the LA/Orange County Workshop!

Few more left in the Scottsdale, AZ Workshop!

Early Bird Price of $799 Ends Monday, December 20th (the SOAR! Scholarship Deadline)!  Regular Price is $999.  To hear what past attendees say, see comments by clicking here!

If the CONFIDENCE Workshop is out of your budget right now, but you have a passion and hidden dream for photography, consider applying for the SOAR! Scholarship! Details here! (a reserved seat in the workshop is one of many things we are going to equip you with!)