We laughed, we cried, we went out of our comfort zones, we tried new things, we drank wine together by the fire at night, and then we laughed some more! The 2 day workshop was wonderful!! Here’s a tribute post to the wonderful people that came, 19 women and 1 brave man (lol of John, Brian’s got your back! :)). Get ready for 20 plus photos in today’s post!

Our first day was focused on Indoor Lighting with using flash or window light. We had two beautiful models come in so the group could practice different shooting techniques. The variety in their results were AWESOME!

Maggie flew in from Arizona with her husband and little ones.This is a gorgeous shot she captured. And yes, Maggie did this with her flash! Even though natural light is by far the most wonderful light, we experimented with the beauty of flash lighting (but keeping it simple and not all techy–just the way I like it!). Check out Maggie’s beautiful work on her website!

Carol took a different angle and used the white bathroom door to look like a perfect high key lighting background! Who needs to bring in backdrops when you have a bathroom door?! 🙂 Carol, you know we all LOVE this shot!!

Amanda from TX caught this one. It’s just perfect flash lighting! No shadow and beautiful color. Amanda, you should be proud!!! I also love how you caught the green behind her with the texturing.

While people were practicing flash upstairs with Brian, the rest of us were pr acting light metering and adjusting our shutter speeds so we get that blasted out background look.

Tammy from the Bay Area in CA came with her sister Alice. These two ladies cracked me up, total fun and super sassy! I loved it, and I know everyone else loved them too! Look at this great shot that Tammy captured. I love how she found this unique angle!

Misty, from Tacoma, has such an incredible eye for vibrant color! This is a total Misty shot! I love that she’s diving into photography, check out her new blog! It’s super new for her, but look at what she’s capturing already! Misty you are a star!

Lindsay is another local lady and caught a different angle. She teaches photography at a local high school. I love that only half of the model’s face is present, totally adds to the drama of the shot. So wonderful to see how we all take in the world differently.

Jessica is from Redmond area and took our Beginner Workshop in January. Now she’s starting to book portrait clients and is blowing me away!! Check out this AMAZING shot she caught! The post process editing on the image is beautiful too! Jess, you are AWESOME!!

Jennifer was another gal that came to the Beginner Workshop in October and kept going into the Advanced. When she sent me this photo, my mouth dropped open. The composition is beautiful and so unique!! Great job Jen, I just love it!

On the second day we did a bride and groom shoot with Marissa and Akash. They were married Sept. 1st and since Brian and I were already booked to be in CO for a wedding, our wonderful associates captured their wedding event. But I have to admit I was sad we never got to do their photos. So who better to invite as our models! What a blast! Marissa was so beautiful and Akash was so perfect in how he just adored the fun Marissa was having. It was almost like being a part of their wedding day weeks later.

Karry, from Maryland, did the most wonderful job at capturing Marissa’s beautiful spirit. Doesn’t she just glow in this photo! More on Karry at the bottom of the post. 🙂

John from Orange County, CA caught this wonderful, full frame shot. The lighting and color is perfect! It almost has a “far away land” feel to it. John, you couldn’t have set this up any better. Seriously, this rocks!

John’s wife, Lauren, has a totally different eye. I love that she was the only one crouched behind the hedge shooting this unique angle.

On a side note, one of the biggest compliments Brian and I receive from our wedding clients is when they surprise us and sign up for one of our workshops. If we have played a part in their passion or discovered joy of photography from their time with us on their wedding day, wow, what a total honor. I know John and Lauren are going to be a phenomenal team together!

Be sure to check out their blog and watch their business take off! We love you two! If you want to see their wedding photos, you can check them out here!

Back to the photos, Julie is a wonderful photographer out of Seattle. She’s taking her business to the next level, and when I saw the shots she was getting I have no doubt that her schedule won’t be full for 2008! She got up on the deck and shot down. Love what she captured!

Marianne is another local photographer that is launching her business. She is the sweetest thing and has such an incredible eye. Just look at the emotion she captured between Marissa and Akash. Wouldn’t you love this type of pure joy shot with your spouse?!

Dinea is from the Olympia area and is also getting her wedding and portrait business off the ground. I loved that she sent me something unique to everyone else. No faces in this shot, but you can totally feel the love and passion between the two from the hands and body posturing. By Dinea’s composition of this shot, you just know that Akash is so gentle with Marissa and that Marissa is totally at home with Akash. Wonderful Dinea!

Taking photos of men can be tough. How do you pose them? How do you get natural shots out of them? Believe me, they haven’t been dreaming about their pictures being taken on their wedding day since they were little boys. 🙂 These were some of the issues we discussed when we split Marissa and Akash up.

Connie did a fantastic job of going for it and capturing a shot of Akash that looks like it belongs in a magazine! Angles are every thing, and I love how many different lines you can see in this image and how the turn of his head makes it all work.

Jen is another woman from Seattle area. She is getting her business off the ground right now, and she is going to be another hit in our area. Her great personality combined with her eye for the “moment” is powerful! She grabbed a totally different angle that is much more documentary, and you have to love it! I like that his ring is in the shot, that he’s laughing, but the laugh is totally him and his personality. Way to go Jen!!!

Sara is such an inspiration to me! She came to one of our Beginner Workshops earlier this year, and now she’s doing photos for families at the pumpkin patch! I love her courage, and her eye for simple beauty is priceless.

Alice is also from CA and came with her sister Tammy. Two moms, two sisters, one passion for photography. They were so much fun to have, and wow, the lighting behind Marissa is stunning in this shot. Beautiful Alice, just beautiful!!

Jennifer, owner of Memory Journalists from Folsom, CA, is one of those people that you meet and never forget. She, like many of us, has endured her fair share in life, and yet she’s turning it all into this amazing documentary of people’s lives. Jennifer is a well respected photographer in her area and how can you not respect this woman. She says things like they are, cuts to the point, and then turns beauty into every thing she sees around her.

One of the other wonderful pieces to this workshop was finally getting to meet Jess. She flew in from New Jersey and was the 2nd winner of our Running on Empty contest. Jess has so much on her plate with all the up’s and down’s of her little one’s health, and yet love and graciousness still pour out of her. It was a complete honor to have her join us and to get time to talk with her, laugh together, cry a little (yep, we cried Jason :)) and then laugh some more.

On top of all this, she is a wonderful photographer! You have to check out her website!

It was so hard to choose “one” photo from each person. Jess especially made this hard, but here’s the one I wanted to share. Both the sharpness and color are such wonderful attributes to Jess’s work.

At the end of the second day, we gave away a Shootsac to the person who traveled the farthest to get our workshop. Thanks to Jessica Clair and Shootsac supporting these workshops, we got to make Karry’s day. She came to us from Maryland and got to take the Shootsac home! I grabbed all the other ladies who already have their own Shootsacs, and we made Karry get out in front and show off her prize! I wish I had enough room to show you all these shots! What a kick! Bottom line: if you don’t already have a Shootsac, you are seriously missing out!

Check them out ladies at the Shootsac website! (We love you Jessica!!!–seriously check out Jessica’s site if you haven’t yet, you will fall in love with color!)

Thank you all for such a wonderful time! It was beautiful from our Friday night Wine and Cheese Meet and Greet by the fire to our workshops days to our Saturday night pizza/wine/soup dinner :), Brian and I loved every minute of it. We must have a reunion of the workshops somehow. Hmmmmm…:)

2008 Workshop Schedule coming next week!