Bruce & Mandy were married on April 14, 2012 in Seabeck, WA at the Holly Community Club. What a incredibly happy day it was!!! Things I loved from this wedding: Mandy’s infectious smile, Bruce’s rocking suit, their super-cute dog Miles, and Mandy’s handmade boutonnieres/hairpins. Editing these photos was the best because I just smiled the whole time! Congratulations!

Attending the Go Outside workshop with Amelia Lyon & Sloan Photographers was the most inspiring and motivating three days of my photography career. I’ve been following Amelia Lyon’s blog for about three years and saw workshop after workshop pass me by for various reasons. But this time, I was going! I really didn’t know much about Sloan Photographers prior to going, but honestly I’m SUCH a fan now. I arrived in Palm Springs at around noon on day one and had to kill time until 6pm as we weren’t meeting as a group until then. So naturally, I laid by the pool at the Ace Hotel & Spa, encompassed by some Johnny Cash from the hotel speakers. Drank a virgin pineapple juice/mint/cumber thing and enjoyed every second of it! I think taking a vacation by yourself is underrated.

The first night of the workshop was a big kick off dinner at one of Paul Frank’s homes, in which we met all of the other attendees. It’s always interesting being surrounded by a group of people you’ve never met before. I’m not shy by any means, however, it’s always a little intimidating. There were people from all over, New Mexico, Chicago, Portland, Seattle, & Alabama to name a few. We ate, laughed, listened, talked and eventually went swimming in the pool. The best part of that first night was playing “Rotopong” (I think that’s what they called it) Basically it’s ping pong, but everyone has a paddle and you rotate around the table, everyone getting one turn. As you miss the ball or hit the net, you get a strike and three strikes you’re out! As people get getting eliminated, you have to keep rotating faster and faster around the table to hit the ball. Super, super fun game I tell you! Needless to say, there was some serious competition going on.

On the morning of the second day we had the opportunity to watch both Amelia Lyon & Sloan Photographers shoot real couples. We learned how they interact with the couple, what camera gear they use, and how to use available light. Can I just say the couples they asked to model for us were so great! They were stylish, fun and in love…a photographer’s dream. After watching and learning, we all had an opportunity to photograph the model as well. We also had an Instagram photo challenge in which had to take a photograph with sunglasses in it, free for interpretation. It was heavenly. Being surrounded by people who share your vision and want to collaborate. Challenging ourselves and “going outside the box”.

Day three comprised of reviewing our photos from the previous day and learning all about workflow, time management, editing and marketing. We had speakers from Grey Likes Wedding Blog & Friend or Foe who taught us the benefits of blogging and branding. It seems like a whirlwind now looking back on it. So much information in a three days. Everything I heard and saw I tried to write down in my notebook and every time I look through it, I remember something else I learned from the workshop.

THANK YOU Amelia, Justin, Matt & Angie for being wonderful examples of human beings. I feel like I learned just as much about being a good person as I did about being a good photographer. Thank you for sharing your personal projects with us and your candor. I know everyone there left with a warm fuzzy feeling because of the love you showed us. Also, thank you for the sweet prizes you gave away! I got a shoot sac as a prize and it’s the best!

And THANK YOU to all the attendees who I met. It was so fun to make new friends and I’m looking forward to hanging out with Mandev Sidhu & Ashley Perlberg in the near future! What an awesome group we had!

So hear is jumping outside the box!!!!!

-Kristina

Workshop in photos. Words to come later.