Now I'm not saying that money isn't important.  As one of my photo teachers instilled in me, it's really nice, and really validating, to get paid for something that you love doing, and to get paid for practicing an art.  That way you can eat and sleep under a roof, and eating and sleeping is always good for creativity.  But that night I wanted my $40 bucks back, because not only did I feel like I wasted my time, but it depressed me that I was entering into a sort of rat race where everyone wanted to get rich quick and it wasn't really about the couple.

So this is how I started my wedding photography career.  After that workshop I decided that I was done with workshops (mistake #2: Using my past experience to assume, generalize and judge future experience; it was only late last year that I began to take workshops again discriminately) and I went about it on my own and went back to school.

This wasn't bad, but soon I realized that I wanted to find a mentor.  I have mentors in almost every area of my life, so this was a natural step in growing my business.  This time around I wanted to shadow someone who was more experienced and established, still photographed weddings and had a lot of fun doing it, and was not a participant in a soft pyramid scheme.

And so I found the mentor who took me in: Chenin Boutwell.  I've been following her blog for sometime.  When I look at her pictures here are the words that come to mind: genuine, funny, whimsical, and pretty.  And in interning for her this past summer I discovered that she is exactly these adjectives.  In taking pictures she is only projecting herself, but what a self that is.  She is your "everyman" photographer, in that she really does think it's a great thing that there are wedding photographers out there who are just starting out and enjoying the medium.  She is not a naysayer, but she keeps it real and tells you the honest truth.  And in a city where the truth can be hard to find, there she is, running an honest and joyful business and mentoring photographers everywhere with what she has learned in the business and art (you need both!) of wedding photography.

But wait, there's more!  She runs a successful business (note: this means working days, working nights, working weekends, and time in between too) and she has a one year old son AND she gets home in time to cook dinner for her family.  I grew up with people telling me you either like working, or you like being at home with kids.  Can't do both.  You'll be unhappy because when you're at work you'll want to be at home, and when you're at home you'll be at work.  So I know this can be a struggle but can someone please show me that it can be done and happiness can be found? 

In the end, that's what mentors do.  They instill in you the lessons that they've learned and practiced time and again, and they help you understand that you can do it too.  It might take a lot of hard work, maybe even some blood, sweat, and tears, but I believe that passionate people do achieve what they want in life, and that is to live a life where they are honest with themselves and honest about the way God has made them.

Three cheers for mentors!  Here's the link to the PDN Article!

This week I attended the Stylelab, founded by Boutwell Studio, Wedding Chicks, and Totally Rad Actions at the Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club in Mission Viejo. It was a blast! Talk about a real wedding shoot, El Nino visited us and at one point we were shooting while it was raining sideways.  It was so much fun!  I left the workshop with my head full of ideas and my heart full with joy.

Chenin gave us plenty of tips for photographing details as well as couples, and Amy and Jocey gave us guidelines on wedding submissions. All in all, it's a really great time to be in the passion and business of weddings! Creative people getting together means style, style style.  Many established wedding photographers are gifting the next generation of photographers by sharing their passion and expertise--no holding back.  

Everything was beautiful!  For the brides reading this entry, here are the some of the vendors that made all of this eye candy happen:

Stylist: Angel Swanson of Events of Love & Splendor

Floral Design: The Treasured Petal

Stationery: Wiley Valentine

Dress Designer: Joan Shum 

Makeup and Hair: All Made Up Team

This year I started 2010 off with a bang by attending the Lyon-Shop!  I've been waiting for months to get into the Lyon-Shop.  This workshop is held a few times a year and it sells out every time!  It's always exciting to learn from other photographers, and Amelia and Justin Lyon of Amelia Lyon Photography managed to pack it all into a day of shooting, furious note-taking, and throw-your-head-back-laughing fun.  They take 5+ years of experience and give it all back to the attendees, withholding nothing!  In one day, Amelia and Justin share all of the struggles and triumphs of running a photography business while encouraging us to reach for the stars with practical instruction and awesome inspiration.  What a great way to help out the next generation of photographers!

That was quite a general review, so here are some specifics on why I really love the Lyon-Shop:

Intimate Learning Environment:  Classes are limited to 15 people, which means plenty of time with the Lyons.  Many of the workshops out there are huge, with too many people and limited time with instructors.  At the Lyon-Shop I had plenty of time to ask every question I can possibly think of, and with this type of learning environment the Lyons were able to assess every students' needs and meet them by addressing each question throughout the day.

Simple and Effective Techniques: What I love about this workshop is the Lyons' ability to teach what they do in a practical way.  No complex set-ups, no suitcase with a million gadgets that you only use some of the time.  Just a few lenses, a few flashes, and a whole lot of creativity.  Since they teach principles, this allows for a wide variety of applications for the learner.  For example, the off-camera lighting session was the simplest setup, and quite effective.  It was really easy to learn the processes that they taught, and I'm really excited about applying it to my photo shoots this year.

Organized Passion: At the Lyon-Shop Amelia and Justin practice what I personally call an Organized Passion.  In other words, they are passionate about what they do, but still they are organized in providing information so that we can understand in a concrete way what this passion really means in every day life through actions.  There are many workshops out there in which photographers like to tell participants that they love photography and they love weddings, and to reach inside of ourselves and give our best, but the practical translation of it all was lacking.  Sure, I am inspired, but the next day the inspiration leaves and I am back to where I started, without practical information to help me translate that passion into successes.  With the Lyon-Shop, I am not only inspired to do great things this year with my photography, but I also have pages of notes I took at the workshop to help me follow through in application.

There you go!  If you are a wedding photographer itching to learn, go to the Lyon-Shop!  If they're full, email Amelia and get on the waiting list!  It's worth it!

Below is a shot of Amelia and Justin doing their thang: