One year ago today, I was on my way back from Charleston, SC and the Wild Dunes Resort after having attended a workshop put on by a group of ladies I had always dreamed about studying under. You see, years ago, when I started my study of photography, I began to scour the internet for free resources and education on the subject. I had no formal training and really no time to take classes. I’d already spent years of my life in school earning several degrees and the thought of going back yet again gave me chills. I happened upon a little community called I Heart Faces (which is no longer active…so sad). In this community I was introduced to the work of Jean Smith & Spanki Mills. I have to say from the moment I viewed their work for the first time, it was like a lightbulb went off in my head. Their images connected with me in a way that most others didn’t. I didn’t know exactly why…although all these years later I do. More on that in a minute. A few years later, I happened up on the work of Angie Monson and Shannon Sewell. I was in LOVE! So in the fall of 2016, when I saw that the FOUR of these women were getting together to host a workshop for lifestyle photographers, I was ALL IN! East Coast West Coast was calling my name and I answered.
Why am I posting about this in 2018? Partially because 2017 was so busy I never got around to blogging my images from my time at the workshop. The other reason I’m blogging this now is because I’ve found over the years that it’s so important for me to take time each year to sit down and reflect. Every year, around February & March, I take a few days and unplug from most social media. I sit down to reflect on the previous year and then redefine the goals I have for the current year. Each time I do this, I’m amazed at what I see. Sometimes I’m able to see mistakes I made in the previous year – opportunities I missed, things I should’ve done differently, ways I could have communicated better, etc. It’s helpful for me to recognize these things so I can work harder in the next year to make myself better. But every year, I’m always able to see GROWTH! And that growth excites me beyond belief. I can typically see growth in my skill, growth in my composition of images, in my use and understanding of light…all areas I want to continue to grow in each time I hold a camera. The point to all of this is to say if I had to pick one thing I did that was most influential in my growth as a photographer and business owner in 2017, it was attending the East Coast West Coast workshop. Here’s why:
- The workshop gave me permission. Permission for what, you might ask? The East Coast West Coast workshop gave me permission to be ME. Now this might sound a bit trivial when you read it, or even silly, but up until this point, I was very insecure regarding my photography. Sure, I was pretty decent at taking photographs, but I was self taught and I piece-milled my education from the internet and a handful of mentors along the way. I knew I had my own voice, but I was so caught up in worrying that someone would look at my work and know immediately that I was a fraud…so I worked very hard to make sure I kept all the rules. Good posing, good framing, good exposure, good focus, good light, etc. Now, hear me out…all of these elements are important and I still strive to use them as guides to this day, however, I was so caught up in making my photographs “right” that I wasn’t able to capture what my eyes and my soul saw in front of me. Sitting down and listening to four different women who had begun to see and hear their own creative voice and follow it with success gave me permission to do the same. I loved photographing people, I knew that about myself. I loved photographing families, I also knew that about myself. But I wanted more out of my images. Once they encouraged me to find my own voice, they helped me make my next discovery…what I felt my images had been missing.
- The workshop gave me answers. For a while, I had been dissatisfied with my photographs. Don’t get me wrong, I loved my subjects…I found them to be very inspiring, but my work was still lacking. It was missing something. After sitting down with Jean, Spanki, Shannon, Angie and the other attendees, they did a portfolio review of my images and three concepts came to light. The first was connection: it was clear from my body of work, that I LOVED to photograph connection, so they encouraged me then and there to keep working on this and make this a skill that could really shine. The second was light. I was getting good light in my images so that my subjects were exposed properly, but I wasn’t using light and shadows to help convey my story. Bam…it was like the light bulb went off in my brain and I began to change the way I exposed my images from the very next time I picked up my camera. Sure, I still try to get a proper exposure for a great family portrait in each of my sessions, but now, I’m not afraid to let some deep shadows into my images to help convey the mood of the moment. I learned to expose for the high-lights instead of only for the shadows. I learned to watch light wrap around my subjects and use it to tell the story of their connection in a more powerful way. Am I perfect at this yet… no way! Have I made great strides and am I proud of the images I’m producing. Absolutely! The last thing they helped me realize was the fact that I longed to see movement in my images. Like I said above, Jean & Spanki’s images in particular had resonated with me for so long and I was finally able to understand why. They contained connection, a good use of light, and MOVEMENT. I was posing my families and couples beautifully, but in all of my images, the subjects were static. And my photographs felt static. I was longing for movement and didn’t realize it. Once I realized it was movement I was crying for, my sessions were never the same. Now, I photograph people in static poses all the time…but I also lead them toward movement so there are more dynamics at play, more depth, and more visual interest to the stories I tell. If I’ve photographed you recently and you got tired of moving around…blame it on this workshop :: wink wink::.
- The workshop gave me community. I know plenty of photographers in my area and I’m friends with almost every single one I know. The photography world is a great community to be a part of. Yet, the community I met at ECWC was different. Most of these women see life the way I do. They photograph in a similar manner (and many of them WAY BETTER than I do). They “get” lifestyle photography because their own hearts beat for lifestyle photography. That’s a treasure you just can’t beat. I’m still in contact with most of them today.
Now that I’ve had an entire year to reflect on what I learned, I’d have to say the East Coast West Coast workshop was totally worth it. It was worth the investment, worth the drive, worth sleeping in a twin bunk room with my girls Tracy & Brook, and worth sitting on the floor 😉 To Jean, Spanki, Angie & Shannon…thanks again for spending your time with us. Thanks for helping me discover the little things I just couldn’t seem to discover on my own. Thank you for helping me be a better version of me.
Here are a few of the images I snagged at the workshop. I spent so much time watching and listening that I only photographed a handful of images at each shoot-out. I promise Jean was really there although I didn’t capture her behind the scenes…that’ll clue you into how much I was absorbing!! I’m also giving a year-later shout-out to the folks who modeled for us – incredible…totally incredible. Enjoy!
