I am kind of behind on a few things that I had wanted to blog about in the last several weeks, so I’ll probably post random photos here and there. This is one of them. It’s a scrapbook page I made and framed for my dear friends Jenn and Stephen from their engagement portrait session:
I busted out the sewing machine and stitched along the edges of some of the paper – it’s the only thing I know how to do with my sewing machine!
In the interest of posting about things other than Flourish, I thought I’d introduce you to Charlie.
I love all animals, but I’m mostly a dog person. Chris and I aren’t home enough so we haven’t figured out how to work a dog into our lifestyle, but I have to have an animal around. Something that I can keep in a cage for a reasonable amount of time while we’re not here works out well. So Chris and I brought Charlie home about seven months ago, and he’s finally starting to like us. It was hard for a while when he was mostly just terrified of us and everything that we did – if we walked by the cage too fast he lost about half of his feathers flapping around in sheer terror. But I have been determined to make this bird like me, and I think we’re getting somewhere now.
Or maybe we’ve just learned to walk by a little slower. Who is training who?
I’m just waiting on the model releases to continue posting about Flourish, but in the meantime I thought I’d post this self-portrait I took in the walkway behind Angela’s studio. Here I am, notebook under my arm, returning to the studio after the engagement session upstairs (leave it to me to see a mirror and take the opportunity for a self-portrait):
I also wanted to answer some specific questions my friend, Jenn, asked me about the workshop – I thought it would fun to post the q&a here.
1. What would you say was the most memorable part of Flourish? The people were the most memorable. The leaders and the attendees – it was just such an amazing, talented group of photographers. Everyone was welcoming and friendly, and really open to sharing. I never once felt at all belittled for being “green” in the business, and there was no sense of competitiveness. Everyone was genuine. And fun. And funny!
2. What was the most useful thing you got out of it? I have to pick two things. First, just the basic business information was super useful to me, since I’m brand new to running a business of any kind. I’m definitely armed with tons of information to make my business successful now. Second, and maybe most importantly, I gained some confidence! I think being around so many successful photographers rubbed off on me a bit. I didn’t feel super confident while I was there, but it hit me when I got home – if I could be even half as successful as the leaders and attendees of Flourish, I’ll do great!
3. Do you feel even more confident that you rock? See the second part of my answer to #2! I don’t know that I’ll walk around strutting or anything, and I still feel very humbled by so much talent out there, but I definitely feel more confident in general.
Well, it turns out I didn’t take as many photos during the workshop of the workshop as I’d have liked to, mainly I think because I was just in awe the whole time of Angela, Kim and Kitty. These women are incredibly talented and successful, and I felt overwhelmed with information from Day One right when we got started. And I mean overwhelmed in the best way. I learned so much from Flourish, not only from the workshop leaders but also from the amazing attendees. Everyone was so genuinely nice and friendly, and so willing to help me grow and learn.
The workshop itself was structured perfectly, and all of the details that the girls put into it just really made the whole experience feel like such a treat. We were served mimosas in the morning (although I totally had to pass on those – I was so scared that I’d get buzzed and miss something critical). We were each given a set of really fabulous folders and notebooks.
The restaurants that we went to were all amazing and delicious. Transportation was provided. The schedule was jam-packed, but somehow also totally comfortable. Angela’s gorgeous studio was the perfect environment for learning. I could go on and on and on, but basically everything was fabulous (the theme of the workshop)!
Next: the photo shoots.
Yes, I’m dedicating an entire post to the 21C penguins. Partly because we were all quite smitten with the red plastic avians, but also because most of the images that I shot at the workshop can’t be posted until I have a model release (which I’m hoping to have on Wednesday or shortly after).
So, about the penguins. As per the 21C Museum website, “The Red Penguin sculptures that are exhibited throughout 21C were commissioned for a public art project at the 2005 Venice Biennale.”
The penguins are scattered around the hotel and museum, and they tended to move around and show up in unexpected places. Sometimes when we got on the elevator, there was a penguin riding the lift. Penguin #2 even joined Jaci and me in our hotel room for a photo shoot.
Um, Jaci…don’t look now, but I think there’s a penguin behind that curtain:
Oh, it’s okay. He’s friendly. (Hope her hubby doesn’t mind.)
Bird bath:
Chatting it up with the duck:
He’s a vain little thing:
