Just two short weeks ago, Kim and I held our most recent series of workshops to help beginning & more intermediate photographers take better images. They both sold out in just a couple weeks, and we had a jam-packed house all day long and we were so thrilled to have everyone join us!
Before I start recapping, I want to thank our sponsors for this workshop:
Gina, owner of
Fiori Floral provided the beautiful boquet for our Bride and Groom shoot as seen down below in this post and
ZuZu's Petals in Downtown Mesa for the beautiful centerpieces for our food table.
Our goal for the beginner workshop is to teach those just starting out to understand the fundamentals of photography, understand the basics of their cameras by turning them off the automatic setting to shoot manually, and thus more creatively.
Among several other things, we also teach attendees which lenses will deliver better quality images and the different effects you can get by adjusting your cameras manually.
Everyone was practicing adjusting their settings to compensate for me being back light by the window and I couldn't resist getting a shot of them!
Three of my former brides attended our Beginner Workshop, so I had to get a picture with them! L to R:
Janna (2006),
Shelley (2006), me,
Christy (2008). Janna also stayed on for the Intermediate Workshop in the afternoon.
Here is our entire Beginner group:
For the intermediate class, we dive deeper into several areas, including lighting, communication, creative shooting and much more. For a full explanation of what we cover, you can visit our dedicated Blogsite:
CreateBetterImages.comBut most importantly, we go outside to work with live models in two separate shoots and give the attendees lots of hands on practice!
This time we had a family with young children (since this is a group with which most budding photographers will find themselves working) as well as a "bride and groom" model. (Funny story there... read below.) It's great to be able to apply the lessons from the class into a live shooting scenario and explain with hands on experience how we find good light and work with existing light, pose our subjects, adjust our settings and more.
A couple shots of our adorable family that modeled for us. As you can imagine, the kids were a little nervous with 20+ photographers taking picture of them!
But we applied my favorite -- the tickle-approach -- and it worked like a charm!
After our family shoot, we spent another 45 minute or so working with our bride and groom models. Here are a few shots of
Cristi, our "bride" (and I might add THE most photographed fellow photographer in the Phoenix area - but its easy to see why -- she rocks the camera!)
So funny story, Cristi's husband Curt was out of town for our shoot, so she brought his cousin Kevin along, which provided some good comic relief at moments when the posing got a little too "intimate." Of course there was NO KISSING or anything remotely similar :) At least we all laughed quite a bit and they were such troopers.
A few more shots of the attendees in action - Kim took these next three shots:
Here is most of our intermediate group. Cristi took this shot while some of us were still making our way downstairs for the live shoot.
Again, a big thank you to Gina, owner of
Fiori Floral for donating this gorgeous bouquet! I absolutely love it and wish I had done something similar for my wedding several years ago.
To read some blog reviews by those in attendance, click
here,
here and
here. Oh yeah, and
here and
here!
(Am I missing anyone? Please leave a comment with your blog link if so.)
To learn more about our workshops in general and find out details on the next one, click
here.Labels: WORKSHOPS
Update
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Hi Everyone - We've been busy, so the blog is a little behind schedule. But I have lots of posts coming soon... Workshop recap, engagement sessions, maternity sessions, newborns, another gorgeous wedding and the JBP rebrand is well under way. I estimated May or June, but it will be July or August instead, but hopefully worth the wait! I look at it like building a house, it always takes more time than predicted!
Stay tuned.... and thanks for being loyal blog readers!
Labels: NEWS
I was so honored to be published in four separate publications this past month:
1) First, two of my weddings were featured in the 10th Anniversary edition of
Phoenix Bride & Groom Magazine.
Aimee & Matt's wedding at The Sanctuary Camelback Resort & Spa (Oct 2008) was selected as a 2 page feature and it was great to see their beautiful wedding in print! Here is a direct
link to their page at Phoenix Bride & Groom.
Christy & Josh's also-beautiful-wedding at Firesky Resort in Scottsdale (Sept 2008) was also featured. Click
here to see more images from their wedding or check out their
PBG page.
2) Next, a shot from Aimee & Matt's wedding was also published in the most recent "Best of 2009" issue of
Arizona Bride Magazine. It was also a big honor to be nominated as a finalist for "Best Photographer" in that award category. I did not win it, but it truly meant a lot to me to be nominated, specifically because I didn't enter my own name (as vendors can do) nor solicit any votes. So a big thank you to all of you who voted for me out there!
3)
Allison and Chris's beautiful wedding from spring 2008 was featured in the most recent issue of
The Wedding Chronicle, as well as one of my all time favorite engagement images. Click
here to see more images from Amy & Jeremy's super fun engagement session a couple years ago up in Flagstaff. (on my OLD blog!)
You can pick up a copy of The Wedding Chronicle for free at any AJ's, wedding shows or bridal boutiques around town, or visit their
new website here.
4) Lastly, I was super thrilled to see so many of images featured throughout the new Arizona Resource Guide published by Arizona Bride Magazine. I understand that all couples who register at Macy's will receive this resource guide complimentary. It is also available at various bridal boutiques, wedding shows and more. You can request a free guide
here.
Labels: NEWS
So many of you who follow this blog know that fellow Phoenix-based photographer
Kim Jarman and I are very good friends. We hang out, take pictures of each other and our families and do our
workshops together. (
Here is her adorable family.) Ironically, she went to high school with my brother-in-law in Pinetop, in fact they were pretty good friends, but we didn't discover that to about a year after knowing one another. One of those, "Are you kidding me? We are
supposed to be friends!" moments.
At any rate, Kim had a wedding at the Pinetop Country Club at the end of May, and I was planning to be up there visiting my in-laws on that same weekend, so she asked if I would second shoot the wedding with her. I don't normally ever second shoot simply for scheduling reasons, but for Kim, I knew we would have a great time and I was more than happy to do this with her. As luck would have it, Kim's clients were not only awesome (beautiful, cute and kind all rolled into one) but the light was AH-ma-zing that day! Perfect cloudy skies, but the kind where the rain held off at all the right moments.
I wanted to share some of my favorite images from the day. I had so much fun second shooting because I got to enjoy the day stress free and just be 100% creative. It was a lot of fun. Following are some of my favs and Kim has a ton of amazing shots over on her
blog from this wedding, so be sure and check those out too.
I hung out with the guys while they got ready and they were a lot of fun.
This friend of Seth's was particularly hilarious and I love, love this shot of him lighting up his cigar. (I think that is a cigar!)
Then I headed over to the club just in time to catch Emily with finishing touches (getting ready) and help Kim shoot the first look.
Some images from their first look:
A detail of Emily's bridal shoes. Gotta love a girl who goes for style
and comfort on her wedding day!
A couple shots while Kim was shooting Emily's bridals.
Kim let me set up a shot in the woods across from the country club and because we had the umbrellas to ward off the rain, and Emily was carrying her dress that way anyway, this one came to me and I LOVE it!
The next four are just second perspectives from Kim's beautiful handiwork.
This one below might be one of my new favorite candid captures of all time. I adore this. Isn't she gorgeous?
More second takes of the bridal party and details:
Some pre ceremony candids:
A few takes from the ceremony:
So many great candid opps of the kids. They were all so cute and expressive.
The kids were having fun dancing
Had them flip the umbrella around for another shot and love this one too :)
Thanks Kim for having me second shoot with you - I had a blast!
Labels: WEDDINGS
We have been b-u-s-y! I have so much to share in the coming weeks, including 3 weddings, 3 more engagement sessions, a boudoir session, a few kiddos and much more... so please stay tuned. In the meantime, here are a couple sneak peeks from two recent, awesome weddings.
Jen & Jeff
and Jeanette & Taz
Labels: NEWS, WEDDINGS
A recent Royal Palms Babymoon client :)
Labels: MATERNITY
So, I tried this about a month ago and Alex didn't find it quite as fun as he did yesterday. Thank you Barb for reminding me it was time for a kiddo post!
Labels: PERSONAL
We are seeking models for our intermediate workshop on June 13, 2009. Please see the details regarding this casting call below and submit for the area you fall into by providing 1-3 images. Please forward to others you may know who might be interested in free photos and serving as a model for our workshop.
********
Bride & Groom ModelsAre you a couple that recently got married but wish you had more fun/urban/trendy magazine style pictures in your gown and suit (or tux)? Or maybe you are just a super-cute young couple and want to get all dressed up in a gown (that you own, can buy on Craigs List/Ebay or borrow) and suit for some super fun images? Either way, this is your chance to get some free images by serving as models for a photography workshop!
Couples MUST supply their own attire for this shoot and "brides" please note your gown WILL GET DIRTY. You can bring the dress you got married in and still have hanging in your closet, or you can buy a super-affordable white dress/gown from Craigs List, Ebay, a consignment store or even the David's Bridal $99 dress sale.
Couples MUST submit a few images of themselves (close up and full length if you have one - snapshots are fine) as well as the attire they plan to wear for the shoot. We very much need couples who are comfortable in front of the camera and affectionate with one another.
The session will last approximately 20-30 minutes and be in Mesa on the date above.
*********
High School Senior ModelGirls and guys - here is a chance for some free senior pictures (or modeling) a little ahead of schedule! Please include a couple pictures of yourself (close up and full length - snapshots are fine), and verify that you have your parents permission for this shoot. For all minors, a parent will need to be present for the photo shoot and we will have a Minor Model Release for them to sign.
The session will last approximately 15-20 minutes and be in Mesa on the date above.
*******
Family with young childrenFamilies who need some updated photographs, here is your chance! We are looking for a family of 3-5 people with children, ideally in the toddler to pre-teen range, but we will consider others as well. Please include a recent family picture (snapshot is fine) and indiciate that you are okay with us taking a few images of your children individually as well. The session will last approximately 15-20 minutes in the late afternoon/early evening on the date listed above. The session will take place in Mesa.
*******
The exact time(s) will be confirmed once we select our models, but will likely fall between approximately 4:30-6:30 PM. Please note you may need to adjust nap schedules for any babies/toddlers/young children on this date if you are interested in this opportunity.
ALL MODELS MUST SIGN A MODEL RELEASE AND BE AWARE THAT SOME IMAGES WILL APPEAR ON SEVERAL PHOTOGRAPHY BLOGS ON THE INTERNET. Of course, the poses/styling and resulting images will be age appropriate and in good taste at all times.
If you are interested, please
email us here. Be sure to include a photo or two as indicated above.
Labels: NEWS, PORTRAITS, WORKSHOPS
