Monday, November 24, 2008

StepUp - a workshop

If someone would have told me a couple of years ago that I'd be holding my own wedding photography workshop, I might have laughed in their face. I've never considered myself much of a public speaker. But, apparently, some people liked what I had to say at OSP-South in Charleston a couple of weeks ago.

I've never been one to hold anything back. So, when a couple of people suggested that I do my own workshop, I thought, "Well, why not?"

So, StepUp was born. This workshop will be about pricing, marketing and the art of wedding photography. We have some great guests lined up, including Punam Bean - a remarkable photographer based in New York City - and Joe Bunn, one of the southeast's most successful DJs.

We'll also have a live shoot with a bride and a full day of image critique.

Some quick facts:
When: Jan. 29-31
Where: Folly Beach, SC (near Charleston)
Cost: $600 ($300 retainer required to hold seat)

Here's the flyer:
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The PDF version is here.

Hope to see you there!

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Simon and Janet - renewed

Simon and Janet enjoyed getting married so much ten years ago, they decided to throw an amazing party for their ten year reunion and included a vow renewal ceremony. I knew right away I would hit it off with these two. Simon is a budding photographer himself, so he really appreciated all the work that went into the pictures.

They picked arguably the finest venue in town, The Umstead Luxury Spa and Hotel - an upscale, modern hotel with amazing grounds. The mighty DJ Joe Bunn laid down the soundtrack for this lovely couple. Fresh Affairs handled the amazing decor. These guys make my job a lot easier!

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Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Charleston and the Karaoke machine

I've been a member of a photography forum called Open Source Photo for a few years. Wedding photographer and entrepreneur David Jay started the community back in 2004 to promote the sharing of ideas between wedding photographers. It has also become a place where you can go to get some moral support. When I left the newspaper world, I knew I would miss the human element of having a day job. OSP has helped fill the void. I've met lots of great people.

So, I offered to help organize this year's Open Source Photo meetup in Charleston along with Jason Tench of Blue Mountain Photo Works in South Carolina and Jill Higgins, a fantastic photographer from Georgia. It was a pretty incredible experience. It was my job to get speakers for the event. I asked several prominent photographers who are regular contributors to OSP - including David Jay himself, Kevin Swan, Carrie Viohl, Nathan Holritz, and Amber Holritz. And I thought I would even try my hand at speaking.

I was nervous as heck, considering the quality of the other speakers. But despite the lack of sleep the night before and some nervous rambling, I thought it went pretty well.

After all the learning, it was time to party! Not only did I rock Karaoke. I turned it into a verb.

I Karaoke.

This is me and the amazing Timothy Beckford of Timco Photography. "Listen all y'all, its sabotage... "
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This is me absorbing Kevin Swan into my massive cranium.
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The great Matt McGraw on the mic.
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Here's me and my beautiful wife, Amy.
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My good friend Christobal Perez of Azul Photography also came out to Charleston. He held a lighting workshop and I've heard some pretty rave reviews. Be on the lookout for a future lighting workshop with Chris. He's a magician with a strobe.