I spent all of last week in Dallas. My trip was two-fold:
- Visit with my hubby
- Attend the I ♥ Faces Workshop
I've been rather lax in writing a recap of the week for fear my words will not do justice describing what an amazing time I had.
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1. Visit with my hubby
I loved catching up with my hubby, even though we didn't get to spend as much time with each other as I would have liked. He had a few late nights at work, and I had play dates and girl's night out catching up with friends.
We did manage a nice little dinner at Nick & Sam's, just the two of us. (Remind me to mention our expensive little appetizer some time!)
Most important, he got to spend some quality time with his favorite little redhead.
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2. Attend the I ♥ Faces Workshop
I had been looking forward to the I ♥ Faces workshop for a few months, and let's just say it didn't dissapoint. What an amazing time. What an amazing group of photographers. I'm still smiling thinking about all the fun we had. I honestly couldn't have been happier with my decision to attend this workshop (and I'm already looking forward to the next workshop, whenever and where ever that might be).
Amy and Angie (co-founders of I ♥ Faces) pulled out all the stops for us, from great speakers and great sponsors to great models and fabulous locations. I learned so much from photographers Pete Lacker, Amy Karp, and D'Ann Wright. I ♥ them, really! And I loved meeting so many of the people who participate in I ♥ Faces each week in person. Everyone was beyond friendly and funny. And everyone was so eager to share and help one another out.
The workshop unofficially kicked-off on Thursday evening for those who arrived early in Dallas. We met Amy & Angie, and sat around chatting photography and our goals. We also got great little goodie bags with lots of fun stuff from the sponsors of the workshop. I was a little perplexed though that Canon users got red ribbons on their bags, while Nikon users had no ribbons at all. Hmmmm.
On Friday we set out early to the Dallas Arboretum. A representative from Tamron was waiting for us the parking lot when we arrived. Get this - we each got to take a lens for the day to try out! We all swapped lenses with one another throughout the day so we could try each of them. Not sure when I would ever had the opportunity to try out so many lenses. (My head was and still is spinning).
Angie from I Heart Faces
Amy from I Heart Faces
We worked with D'Ann Wright in the morning with lots of kids as our models. And then in the afternoon we worked with Amy Karp and the beautiful Liz, our bride model. Both D'Ann and Amy shared tips from posing clients to shooting in natural light and to shooting in manual. Their guidance throughout the day was invaluable!
D'Ann Wright, seasoned portraiture, commercial, and fashion photographer
Amy Karp, rockin' Dallas wedding photographer
Pete also was at the Arboretum, even though he was "officially" scheduled to hang with us on Saturday. He instantly became my buddy! He was so willing to share tips of what worked best for him, and he even spent a ton of time helping me try to capture a sun flare. And with over 35 years experience under his belt, I had the tendency to follow him around, and I was sure he was going to start to think I was stalking him! At the end of our full day at the Arboretum, I was exhausted!!
Pete Lacker, photographer extraordinaire
On Saturday we talked lots of technical aspects of photography. Pete critiqued photos that each of us had taken and submitted before the workshop. He provided tips on how we could have improved the photos, or how he would have gone about editing them. This was such a great session in the morning! Pete also unfortunately used me as his model for one of his discussions. Yeah for me sitting in the front row! (Reminded me that I'd much rather be behind the camera). Of course, as soon as I blurted out that no one tweet or mention my modeling gig, Amy immediately sent out my picture into the social media world.
Angie, Amy, and Drew then gave us some Photoshop tutorials. I wish they could have talked even longer on the topic. During their discussions, Pete also gave me some one-on-one Photoshop lessons!!
We were spoiled in other ways as well. During lunch, some of the sponsors of the workshop came to chat with us. We got fun stuff from Sticviews (personalized prints that go anywhere and come off clean). Arlington Camera and Tamron were also there, allowing us to drool over cameras, lenses, and camera bags. The later of which I am now a proud new owner (it's red).
On Saturday afternoon, we then headed off on a photo walk through the West End in Dallas. I convinced hubby and Temperance to come along (kill two birds with one stone by participating in the workshop and spending time with my family). Temperance actually proved to be a good little model and cooperated long enough for people to get some shots of her too.
Temperance ensuring Pete gets a good group shot.
My little model
Some of the workshop attendees in West End (I'm 4th from right)
The workshop truly was amazing. I had a spectacular time, met and made friends with some great women, and walked away with having learned a ton. And I wish the workshop could have been a week long instead of just a weekend. (Although if it were a week long, I'd definitely be back to drinking caffeine again).
I have SO many pictures I wanted to share and edit! But alas, my computer does not like the recent installation of Photoshop CS4, and I have yet to learn the tool very well either.
In the meantime, I'm going to share lots of links where you can check out even more pictures from the workshop.
- To check out the I ♥ Faces Flickr Group with pictures from all the workshop participants, click here. They are spectacular. (And you will truly get an idea of just how much fun was had). Oh, and you also might spot a photo or two of a little redheaded girl that is frequently featured on this here blog.
- To check out the Whrrl Story about the workshop here
- To check out the Friday recap of the workshop on the I ♥ Faces blog, click here. (And one of my pictures made the post!!!)
- To check out the Saturday recap of the workshop on the I ♥ Faces blog, click here. You might recognize my lovely mug.
- If you are a fan of I ♥ Faces on Facebook, you can check out some of the photos Amy & Angie took here.
- If you are my friend on Facebook, you can check out the rest of my photos here.
Whew! That was one long post. Hope it was evident that I really enjoyed myself during the workshop!
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