Seattle Engagement Preview

Last Friday, an amazing couple flew me out to Seattle to shoot their engagements. I flew to Seattle in the morning, did the shoot and was able to spend some awesome extra time with them, and then flew home that same night. It was wonderful! I'm excited to blog their full shoot (this Friday). So for now, as I'm culling and editing, I just wanted to give you a sneak peak.

Lots more to come.

Also, if you get a sec, check out these amazing photographers. I love looking at other photographers work, and being inspired by them. Always learning. So if you love photography, check out:

Ben Chrisman (unbelievable style. The first time I went to his site, I couldn't leave it. He has some images that blow me away. VERY journalistic style of shooting), Stacy Reeves (I LOVE her warm tones. If I had to pick someone today to shoot my wedding and money was no object, it would be a VERY hard choice, but Stacy would be near or at the top), and Susan Stripling (gorgeous tones as well. Very different than the others, has a beautiful unique style. I love the way she uses light! Seriously talented woman).

That's all folks! Enjoy your Wednesday!

50mm vs 200mm

(In New Hampshire right now. This blog post was supposed to go up yesterday while on my flight form Boise to NH, but due to the worst flight I've ever had (more on this tomorrow...all my own fault), I was literally unable to post. Check back tomorrow for the story and photo of the week.)

I have been prepping and wanting to do this blog post for a very long time. When I first started my journey in photography, I tried to find a side by side comparison of shots taken with a 50mm next to shots of the same subject in the same composition taken with the 70-200 at or near 200mm. Problem was, I couldn't find any. So I set out to create my own, and to discover what happened when I shot a picture at 200mm as opposed to 50mm, or vice versa.

Big important note. This is Photography according to Nate. The difference between these two lenses is a total matter of opinion. I know TONS of photographers that the 50mm is their favorite lens. And there are TONS of photographers that wont hardly shoot a bride at less than 85mm, and even prefer to shoot them at 200mm. Here's the thing. It's all up t0 you and your style. Totally fine either way. My goal is to lay out the difference so people can see for themselves. To help people to know when to use a specific lens to get a specific look. The biggest thing I've learned from this: (according to me) No single lens can do it all, and get every different look. There are times when I love and crave the look I get from my 50mm. Then there are times when I love the look I get in a particular scenario from my 70-200mm.

But enough jibber-jabber, lets get down to the images. Some of them are far more obvious as to which shot was taken with what. Some are more subtle. Also note that ALL shots were taken at the same angle. I would take a picture with the 50mm, then put on my 70-200, and just back up to get the same composition.

First example from James and Shannon's Wedding:

50mm on the left, 70-200 on the right (at 200mm). First thing I notice with a longer focal length. It does amazing things to the background. It somehow magnifies the background and blows everything up, making the subject really pop and separate from the background. The 50mm on the other hand is obviously wider, and doesn't expand the background like the 200mm does. It also makes the subject more 3 demension, whereas at 200mm there is less depth to the subject, even though they pop off the background more. Which one do I like more? Here...probably the 200mm. But it's totally personal preference.

Second example from Larry and Katie's Engagement Session:

50mm:

200mm:

Here I probably prefer the 50. I like that it captures the alleyway and the light coming through. The 200 makes the background so big that you lose that sense of the alleyway. Again, these were taken at almost the exact same angle, just one further back from the other. notice again that the 50mm seams a bit more 3 dimensional, like there is some depth to the image.

Example three is what really blew me away. I was shooting Larry and Katie at 200mm and was loving what I was getting, but wanted to try my 50mm. Here's my shot at 200mm:

I pulled up close, with the same angle and composition and shot this with my 50mm (Larry and Katie did not move any further or closer to the tunnel):

Here, I prefer my 200mm. I love how it expands the background and creates this really dramatic backdrop. Notice how much bigger the tunnel is with the 200mm than with the 50mm. I feel like there is too much going on with the 50mm. Too distracting. They're both fun for their own reason, but I prefer the 200mm.

Fourth example is from Jeff and Blu's shoot:

50mm:

200mm:

Look at the size of the trees in the background, specifically the one right behind Jeff's head. Look at how the 200mm just magnifies the trees and creates this gorgeous background. LOVE it!

The next four example are all similar. The 50mm is always first (or on the left), followed by the 200mm.

Here are two example from the Wells Family Photo shoot:

I LOVE what the 200mm does to trees in the background. Look at how much bigger it makes them seem than with the 50mm.

Again, the 200mm on the right makes the trees so much bigger and dramatic.

Last example from my most recent shoot with Jaymie and her family:

50mm:

200mm:

I just love how the 200mm separates the subject from the background.

And there you have it! I feel like I could write enough to fill a book about this subject, so I'll try to refrain from doing so here on the blog. I have LOVED studying this. Luisa and I have a very fun game (at least I think so. I don't think she's as fond of it as I am). But I'll show her a picture and say, "50 or 200?". She's amazes me as she gets it right 99% of the time, so it's been fun to learn this together.

So here's the thing. I learned photography on a 50mm and became even obsessive over my 50mm. It took me a while to warm up to my 70-200mm, but now that I have I LOVE it too. I honestly couldn't pick a favorite. They both achieve a very different look at different times. I've been unfair to my 50mm in this post, making it seem like the 200mm wins every time hands down. Not so. There are so many pictures that I would only take with my 50mm, because I know it would out perform my 200mm in the situation. Anytime I want VERY shallow depth of field close up to the face, I put on my 50mm at 1.4. The important thing is to know when to use each lens (and this is only TWO lenses. I haven't even talked about wide angle, which I also love. Maybe the 85mm 1.4 is the magic sweet spot between the two lenses).

I have also learned a lot about bokeh. It seems everyone always talks about how bokeh is affected by your aperture. The lower the f/stop the shallower your depth of field. True. But it's only 1/3 of the equation. (Blog post on this in the future) But your depth of field is determined by a combination of your f/stop, your distance to the subject, and your focal length.

Anywho...this is turning into a book. Somebody stop me now! I hope you enjoyed. I'm going to finish with this last image:

And my question is, what lens do YOU think I took this with, nifty fifty, or 70-200? I would also love to hear what people's favorite lenses are. Have a great evening!

Aruba Adventures

I feel like I'm a pretty lucky guy. I get to do what I love (capture images), with the person I love (Luisa of course!), in really cool places that I love (New England, the Caribbean, Mexico, Costa Rica, West Coast etc.). I feel blessed. Life is good. I've been lucky enough to be able to have Luisa join me on most of my photo adventures, and I have to say traveling with her is a blast. Here's a little video we made of our last trip to Aruba to shoot a wedding (which can be seen here). So what if our travel plans weren't supurb: drive to SLC (5 hours), red eye to Georgia, early morning flight to Aruba. Coming back it was a late night flight to my personal favorite airport EVER (kidding) JFK...spend the night in New York, really early morning flight to SLC. Drive the 5 hours back to home sweet home in Boise. But we had an amazing time. Like, an unbelievable time. So we made a little video to showcase the trip. Hope you enjoy!

I think the words to the song say it perfectly. "Home is wherever I'm with you".

Have a wonderful Wednesday.

Before&After

For some reason, I always love seeing how other photographers edit their photos. What their image looks like straight out of the camera, and how they get to the final product. Today, I'd like to share a few of my own, and my editing process and very basic workflow. But first...a few notes:

First. I believe in editing evolution. Meaning, oh wow, my editing style/abilities have changed. Well, not changed, but evolved and grown and refined. Just as much as my shooting style and ability has done the same. I'll go back and look at edited photos of when I first started out, and it'll make me chuckle. The end goal? For me? One, not to be dated. Two, to be myself. Three, to shoot more and edit less. The more and more I shoot, the better I become. The better I get, the less editing I do and the more I realize I want my images to look natural, with still a polished and finished look.

Second. I use Aperture 3. So many photographers might think I'm totally bogus for using it, and not Lightroom 3. Fact is, I LOVE Aperture 3. And it works really well for my editing style and workflow. I have used Lightroom 3, and like it, but Aperture and I just kinda mold better together. Also, I rarely open up a photo in actual Photoshop. Aperture can do just about everything that I personally need, much like Lightroom can. As of right now, I don't use any actions, although I've got my eyes set on some Totally Rad Actions that I've heard great things about.

Enough talk...let's get to the pictures. Some of my photos I do VERY little editing to. They just seemed to look great right out of the box. Some I do a lot more editing to. So I'll try to showcase different scenarios.

First Image SOOC (straight out of camera).

After editing:

In this photo I used my very favorite tool (actually, I pretty much do this to all photos). It uses levels and your histogram. If you don't know how to read a histogram, let me know and one day I'll do a post about that. But here's a screenshot of the levels on this image:

I bump up the blacks, and the whites depending on the histogram. I basically take the little black slider and slide it just about to where the "hill" of the histogram starts. And then I do the same to the whites (see picture above). I find this adds a really nice amout of contrast, and makes the blacks black, and the whites white. This works wonders on just flat grayish images...ESPECIALLY black and whites. Love it.

Second image SOOC:

Edited:

I did a bit more with this one. But I started with the same technique above with levels. Bumped up blacks and white. Then decreased the exposure a bit, dodged (brighten) a bit of her face to make her stand out more, and burned (darken) a bit of the pavement because I found the bright spot distracting.

Third image SOOC:

Edited:

Again, I did a bit more with this one. And again, levels adjustment (side note: because I shoot portraits almost always wide open at 1.4, it gives my images a slight vignette that I really like. When I bump up the blacks and whites in Levels, this increases the contrast, which in turn gives a stronger vignette. I rarely add an actual vignette to the actual images, unless I'm not shooting at 1.4). I also bumped up the Luminance in the Reds...a VERY cool trick I learned from Gray Photography. They explain it WAY better than I could, so check out their blog post here on luminance. Very cool stuff. Don't overdue it though!

Last image SOOC:

Edited:

Not too much done with this image. I had great lighting, a gorgeous couple and a beautiful location. I upped the blacks in levels increasing the contrast a bit, added a slight vignette (not shot at 1.4), and lowered the exposure JUST a touch.

And that's all! I plan on doing other Before&After Posts here on the blog. I have one HUGE piece of advice, that I still need to listen to as well. When you learn a new editing technique, awesome...use it. But use it SPARINGLY! Use it till it looks good, and then back it down even more. I remember when I first learned how to vignette, all my pictures had BLACK perfectly rounded corners...yuck. Seriously Nate?

If you have any questions or suggestions, let me know! Thanks and enjoy!

Mr. Kelvin White Balance

A few weeks ago, I did a gear post that you can see here. In this post I talked about shooting in Kelvin White Balance and received a few questions about how this works. So first off, this is the way that I shoot, and isn't necessarily the perfect solution for everyone. I know tons of amazing photographers that don't shoot on Kelvin, and still have gorgeous pictures. It's something I learned early on in a Mike Colon workshop, and it has stuck with me ever since.

Now I'm not going to pretend like I'm a genius and try to explain the science behind shooting in Kelvin WB, because...well, I'm not a genius. I understand it very simply. Also, I'm a Nikon shooter...which is a HUGE benefit when it comes to Kelvin. On Canon cameras it's one or two extra steps to reach your Kelvin Setting (correct me if I'm wrong), but on Nikon, you literally hold down a button, and rotate a dial at the same time. Uber quick. You can do it with your eyes closed...literally (or while looking through the viewfinder). To me speed is everything, because while shooting a wedding, if you're fumbling with your settings, then you've missed a moment.

On your camera, there will be a WB button...somewhere. I wish every camera and camera manufacturer would put the white balance button in the same spot, but they don't. On my D300, it's on the top left of the camera. On my D3s, it's on the bottom for my left thumb. If you hold down that button, and scroll (usually with your thumb command dial), you'll see the different options for white balance. They go (in this order): Auto, Incandescent, Fluorescent, Direct Sunlight, Flash, Cloudy, Shade and then Kelvin.

Simply put, when you have Kelvin selected, you have the option of setting your color temperature from 2500K all the way up to 10,000K (degrees Kelvin). This is how I understand it in my mind: 2500K is very VERY blue, or cool WB, and 10000K is very VERY warm. So if you're taking a picture outside in the sun, and you're shooting at 4300K, and the skin tones are too cool and blue, then bump up your white balance to 5000K or 5500K to warm things up. At the beginning for me, it was all about experimenting. But now I understand that certain circumstances fall within a certain Kelvin range. For example, I know that if it's cloudy, or just after sunset, I know that I should be somewhere between 6000K and 7500K. I know if it's nice and sunny, then I should be at around 5000K and 5880K. If I'm indoors, depending on the lighting, I'm anywhere from 2500K to about 4000K. It's all about experimenting and getting to know that "sweet spot" where your skin tones look nearly perfect, not too cool, not too warm.

Now lets look at a few example shots. In each, I'll show the same picture from 2500K, all the way up to 9500K, in 1000 degree increments.

First screen shot example is an AWESOME couple I shot in Costa Rica:

There's a lot of creative freedom for you to decide what looks "right" and where the sweet spot is, but for me I was going for as natural as possible. Here's the straight out of camera image that I shot at 5880K.

Example two is a super cute couple! At the very end of their wedding day right before the sun set, we decided to take a few shots in the beautiful field close by. Here's the screenshot from Apple Aperture:

Again, there's not a TON of difference once you get to the higher degrees Kelvin, but here is the shot SOOC at 6250K.

Last one, an indoor shot of the Groom's father at a recent wedding.

Notice how with indoor shots, or under Incandescent lighting, the sweet spot is right around 2500K-3000K depending on the lighting. Here's the SOOC shot at 2860K.

Here is a VERY generic rule of thumb for generally where you should be in different lighting circumstances:

Incandescent Lighting: 2500-3500

Fluorescent Lighting: 3500-4500

Daylight: 4800-5800

Shade/Cloudy: 6200-7500

And that's about it (unless you're using flash). Obviously these aren't set numbers. You can tweak as much as you'd like to find what looks natural to you. If you pick up your camera and you take a picture, and it's WAY to warm, or orange looking, then drop your degrees Kelvin. If you take a picture and it looks way to blueish, or cool, then increase your degrees Kelvin till it looks right. Pretty simple!

To me, there are two HUGE benefits to shooting in Kelvin:

1. You can get the EXACT color and skin tone that you want, straight out of the camera. If it's looking too cool, or too warm, you have complete control. On a shoot a few months ago, I thought I would try giving Auto WB a try. It lasted for about 15 shots. I like to get things straight out of the camera as close as possible to what I want my final image to look like. Because honestly, I don't LOVE sitting in front of a computer for hours on end trying to color correct. Not fun. I'd rather be shooting. When I learned this technique of white balance, it cut my editing time down TONS!

2. Consistency: To ME (again, not to everyone...I know many people who LOVE Auto WB), shooting on Auto WB is like shooting in full auto exposure mode on your camera. Your camera does the best it can, but in the end, you're bound to have under and over exposed shots because your camera was trying to do all the thinking. Same with shooting on Auto WB. When I personally have tried it in the past, some shots will be cool, some will be warm, some will be green, etc. They will ALL be very VERY close to great color, but CLOSE means I have to go in and color correct every image. For me, the auto WB rarely NAILED the color spot on. While on a shoot, once you find your sweet spot, you're ready to lock and load, or as Sachin Khona quoted, "Lock it, and rock it". All of your shots from that location and particular lighting condition will have beautiful and consistent color! LOVE IT!

This works for me, and for many other photographers (not EVERYONE), and if it works for you too, awesome! If not, no worries at all. Good luck, hope you enjoyed, and let me know if you have any questions!

My Gear!

I've been debating on writing a Frequently Asked Questions post, and probably still will in the future. But since 90% of the questions that I receive on my blog or through email/twitter are about my gear, I decided to finally give in and do a gear post. I debating about writing this post, because, well...I just really don't have THAT much gear. I don't feel like I need a TON of gear, and I don't like to feel over-encumbered or weighed down, so it works perfectly...for me.

SO! My camera bodies. I bought my first DSLR, a Nikon D300, a little less than 2 years ago, which now serves as my backup camera.

The lens you see isn't an AMAZING lens, and I rarely, if ever, use it on an actual shoot. BUT, it's a PERFECT travel lens if you want to go light. It's an 18-200mm 3.5-5.6.

My first lens was this little tiny 50mm 1.8. I rocked that thing for over a year before purchasing my next lens (18-200 above), and I fell in love with prime and fast lenses. I LOVED learning on this lens and HIGHLY recommend getting away from the kit lens, and playing with this one, or the 1.4 (further below). They're both super affordable.

I now shoot with a Nikon D3s as my primary camera, and I LOOOOVE it. I love shooting with only natural light, and this camera allows me to shoot in the craziest of dark circumstances without the need of a flash. LOVE IT!

Also shown is the 50mm 1.4, and the 70-200 2.8. Love both of those lens, but 95% of the time, the 50mm 1.4 is on my camera. I remember after I bought the 70-200, I took it with me on my an engagement shoot and wanted to use it so bad. I started with it, but kept switching back over to the little 50. Don't get me wrong though, the 70-200 is a ridiculously amazing lens. But for me and my style, I shoot with the 50mm the majority of the time.

On wedding day, I carry everything around in my Shootsac (shown above), which I'm a huge fan of, even though my brother calls it my man-purse. And that's honestly pretty much it. Crazy huh? I also have the SB-900 flash, and fire it off-camera wirelessly with the SU-800 mounted on my camera. My next lenses I'll buy later this year, are the 24mm 1.4, the 85mm 1.4, and probably the 105 2.8 macro. I'm a huge advocate of renting or trying out a lens before you buy it.

When I travel, I carry everything in a Pelican Case, and I know it seems like EVERYONE uses ThinkTank cases. But I loved the protection the Pelican Cases offered, and I've LOVED it. Again, for me, it's worked perfectly.

Here's a picture I grabbed with my iPhone of what it looks like when I travel, or on my way to a wedding (I'll leave the Pelican case either in the car close by, or a secured room with a few extras just in case I need them).

Here's a few other random facts about the way I shoot:

-I shoot about 50% of the time on Manuel, and 50% of the time on Aperture Priority.

-I shoot on 8 GB cards, and LOVE it. The D3s has two slots, so I can shoot 16 gigs before having to change cards (about 1300 raw images).

-I shoot in Raw.

-I edit in Aperture 3 and occasionally will open an image in Photoshop CS5.

-I don't really use reflectors (unless I'm using the diffusion panel part to shoot a flash through to soften the light...but even so, I don't do this too often).

-I also have a Westcott Umbrella that I like to experiment with for evening portraits, but agian, I rarely use it on an actual shoot.

-I shoot most everything at 1.4, unless I'm within 5-7 feet from my subject, then I'll bump it up to 2.0'ish to make sure it's sharp. (Obviously I don't shoot big group shots like family formals at 1.4. But most everything else I will)

-I use Kelvin white balance 100% of the time.

That's all I can think of for now, but please feel free to ask me questions through comments and I'll try to answer each one.

Lastly, I KNOW that there are many of you out there that totally disagree with me on many things. "I can't believe he uses Aperture...I can't believe he doesn't use the 70-200 more...that he doesn't use flash...that he shoots in RAW...or doesn't use Manuel 100%, or uses 8 gig cards...I would never shoot someone at 1.4...etc". I know! Everything above works wonderfully FOR ME, so take it with a grain of salt. Everyone has their own methods and things that jive well with their style, but this is how I shoot and what I've grown accustom to. That being said, I am ALWAYS seeking to learn new things and become better and better, so I'd love to hear how you shoot or any recommendations!

Photography Top Ten

On my flight home from Seattle I wrote out of list of things that blew me away, things that have changed the way I look at the photography business, and about photography in general. Yesterday I posted the business Top Ten list. Today, I post the top 10 things I learned from Jasmine and JD regarding photography. You'll see that a few overlap from yesterday's list, because, well...they apply to both.

So without further ado:

10. Take Care of Vendors - How? Showcase their work. Get amazing pictures of the venue, table settings, and flowers. Make them look good, and make sure they're happy, and FREELY share your images that showcase their work. Remember, more Don Kings!

9. Have Fun - It's pretty simple. If you're having fun, then they're having fun . If you're miserable, there's a pretty good chance that your clients will be too. If you're happy, and they're happy, you'll see it in the photos.

8. Don't Wait - Learned this one first hand through a mistake I made. Here's the thing, Jasmine talks about how it's not about the moments when they're posing for the picture, it's the moments in between, the true, unaltered, candid moments. SO...don't put your gun in your holster. Keep your camera ready at all times, even up at your eye even while your talking. Sure you'll look ridiculous, but that'll help with #9.

7. Stay In Control - BE CONFIDENT! If you lose control, or confidence, you're clients will never have confidence in your abilities. Stay in control of the situation, and be confident.

6. Good Light First - Many photographers (including myself MANY times) have found amazing locations, and then tried to make the light look good. 99% of the time, it doesn't work out. Find the good light first, and then you can make almost any location look beautiful.

5. Beautify - Yes I just said beautify. Meaning, give your brides the permission to be beautiful. Teach them to pose, SHOW them how. Be fun and confident, and react to their beauty. If they feel beautiful, chances are they'll see it in their photos. Help your clients FEEL beautiful.

4. Everyone Needs a JD - Jasmine and JD are an incredible combo, and I swear can read each others minds. It's amazing how they work together. They balance out each others strengths and weaknesses. JD showed me the value of an amazing 2nd shooter, and how important the 2nd shooter is.

3. Be Yourself - From the business and branding top 10 list, but applies here as well. Be yourself. Don't copy another photographer because you like their work. Not everyone's methods, even Jasmines are perfect for every single person. What may work for her, may not work for you or me. Always stay true to who you are. YOU are your greatest asset. Capitalize on that instead of trying to brand yourself like someone else.

2. Tell a Story - Wow...this also rocked my world. Total gold nugget here. It's all about the details. If you set out to take pretty pictures, you'll probably do just that. Tell a STORY with your photos. Jasmine is an AMAZING visual story teller. Again, learning here that photography is not ALL about the photos. It's about the story, the experience, and sharing and capturing that love and story.

1. 3 Words - I don't know how I missed this one yesterday. It was right there in my notes in BOLD. Evocative, intimate and romantic. Shoot for your three words. Have them embedded in your mind as you photograph. Every photograph should be a symbol of your brand, even as a logo would be. Everyones words are different and are even an appendage of who they are. I'm still a bit doughy on this one, still baking, and still growing, learning what my three words are.

That's it! I can remember taking a taxi to the airport after it all, feeling...exhausted but energized, sad to leave, but excited to head home, stronger but more aware of where I'm weak; like I was just given a giant golden nugget, and now it was up to me. The mix of emotions was crazy, but more than anything, I was happy. Really happy. Life is good...nope...wonderful! So much to be thankful for. I had a huge grin on my face, even laughing out loud to myself, as I headed towards the airport, because I knew that in just a few hours, I'd be getting off a plane and I'd be home, with my wife, and our little future baby.

Yes, it sure is good to be home.

Top Ten

Home again, after one of the most influential and life changing weeks of my life. If you're just tuning in, I was fortunate enough to be one of five photographers that were chosen to attend a workshop hosted by CreativeLIVE and Jasmine Star. The workshop was 5 days long, and involved shooting a live wedding. The five days were, well...crazy. Absolutely crazy, intense, fun, life-changing, and amazing.

Many have asked what it was like to spend 5 days with Jasmine and JD. It honestly was one of the best experiences I've ever had. If you can, once they open up another workshop, GO. It will rock your world and change the way you see your brand and experience. They are two of the most giving and honest and genuine people I've ever met.

To try to put into words, what I've gained from this experience is not an easy task. I've come away lifted, liberated, and humbled. But to try to capsulate what I've learned, I've made my very own Top Ten Countdown, of things that have "rocked my world". As I listed my top ten, I found I had two lists, one primarily on the photography side of things, and then one on the business side of things. So today, I'll share my Top Ten things that I learned from Jasmine with regards to business and branding.

10. CREATE - Are we creatures to our circumstance or creators? Chase Jarvis quoted Owen at Viget.com, saying "It's easier to be inspired than it is to create". I have often found myself busy being inspired, but not creating. Create connections, be involved in the photography community, create experiences for your clients, create conversations, create BUZZ!

9. Be INTERESTED - Instead of trying to get 200 to be interested in you, become genuinely interested in 2 people. Pay it forward, help others, again...get INVOLVED, and it the return will always be greater.

8. Under Promise, Over Deliver - This one is pretty simple. If you are always delivering more than you promise, then everybody is happy. There are SO many ways this is possible. I feel like I've always been trying to promise the sun, moon and stars to make clients happy, and then trying so hard to accomplish that. Promise the sun, and then moon and stars are a happy bonus.

7. Create "Don Kings" - Don King promoted some of the best professional boxers including Muhammad Ali, and Mike Tyson. As you share with a bride and groom their wedding photos, they immediately become Don Kings for you. But what happens when you share a same day slideshow to 50+ people at their wedding?

6. 80/20 - A successful photography business is 20% photography, 80% business. This one is huge, as I'm learning that it's not ALL about the photos!! It's about the experience. A bride and groom should like their photos before they even see them. Great photographers don't take or make great photos, they create great branded experiences, and tell the story THROUGH their great photos.

5. Connect and Repel - This blew my mind. Connect with brides that relate to YOU, repel brides that may not be the best fit. More on this later...

4. Leverage Strengths, and Outsource Weaknesses - Now outsourcing isn't for everyone, but KNOW your strengths, and expand them. USE them, leverage them, and make them even stronger. What makes you different? Jasmine is one of the best at knowing her strengths, and knowing her weaknesses, and growing where she's strong, and getting help where she's weak. There is nothing wrong with having weaknesses, just know how to use them.

3. Branding - Wow. This could have it's own top ten list, but brand. Everything. A logo is not a brand, but a symbol of a brand. A brand is an experience, even a feeling. I have SO far to go with branding!

2. KIR! - Keep it real. Don't fake the funk. People are naturally attracted to people that are REAL. "Leave your ego at the door" and K.I.R...Keep It Real!

1. Be YOURSELF - My favorite. Why? Because I feel liberated in a sense that, if you keep it real, and BE YOURSELF, then people will love you for it. OR, they may hate you for it, but remember, connect and repel. The ones that hate you for it, probably wouldn't be a good fit to begin with. Before going to the Jasmine Star workshop, I felt like I already knew her. I'm sure she has received the comment "I feel like I KNOW you!" many, many times. She's real, she's herself, and so people relate to her.

Again, what an incredible experience. Not a workshop on photography, but on YOU, on me. Thank you Jasmine and JD and the CreatieLIVE team for an unforgettable week.

Photography Top Ten coming tomorrow!

"Epic Adventure" - Day 2

Jasmine wasn't kidding when she said this would be one epic adventure. In fact, that's a HUGE understatement. Day one was incredible. Day two was unbelievable, quite literally. Like we (the other attendees and I) can't believe it. We were out to eat afterwards just trying to take it all in. The four others by the way, are the coolest ever. Learning new incredible things is extremely fun, but learning it alongside others is even better. So if you haven't checked out Sachin's, Audrey's, Victoria's or Stephanie's blog, you seriously should.

Right before we start. Funny how everyone here is on their laptop or phone.

I want to touch on a few of my favorite aspects of the day, show some behind the scenes pics, and talk about the greatest things that I'm learning. Kind of a giant recap of sorts. But again, first before anything...huge thanks to the CreativeLIVE team. And Jasmine and JD, you guys just continue to amaze me and I'm pretty sure everyone else. HUGE Thank you. You're so generous with your life, your love and your passion. I've had the time of my life so far.

Having fun out in the parking lot before we started.

Recap! If you missed part or all of today, then you're seriously crazy not to buy the workshop, even JUST for today.

Again, HUGE theme: Attract or repel. This is monumental to me, since I've always felt you have to try to appease everyone, which makes it REALLY hard to be yourself. If you are TRULY yourself, you will attract amazing brides, and repel the ones that might just not be the perfect fit. "My brides hire me to be ME." - Jasmine

Another theme: CREATE!! Create conversation, create connections, create BUZZ!

Organization. I am blown away by how organized Jasmine is, even down to the way she shoots.

80/20 rule. A thriving photography business is 80% business and only 20% photography. Interesting that most people (especially me) invest most of their time, energy and money into improving their photography without any investment into learning the business side of things.

KEEP CONTROL of the day. You lose control, then you lose confidence, and if you lose confidence, then your bride and groom lose confidence in you and their wedding pictures. If you are not confident in your shooting, you will NEVER get confidence from your clients.

Let your brides know that it's ok to feel and be beautiful. To even be gorgeous, stunning and even hot! Communicate with your brides! Show them, instruct them, LAUGH with them, and don't be afraid to be yourself and make a fool of yourself.

VIRAL MARKETING. Don't even get me started on this. What are your thoughts?

Same Day slideshows = same day evangelists. LOVE it! "Create Don Kings!"

And my three words. Jasmine asked us all to pick three words that described our brand, our experience we want brides to have when they look at their photos. I am still exploring with different words, but when asked on screen, I said Evocative, romantic and dramatic. Almost there. Needs a little fine tuning.

Chase getting ready to go live, and Jasmine and JD smiling for a picture.

These are honestly just a FEW things, maybe 3-5% of what we've been learning. There has been so much and I'm sorry that this blog post is so long. Actually, no. I'm not. Today has seriously be remarkable for everyone, and a few sentences here and there just wouldn't cut it. Honestly, if you haven't tuned it yet, you need to. Tomorrow is the wedding and will be broadcast live.

Now just a bit about the day. Two main words come to mind. Learning and laughing...a lot. Jasmine is so fun to work with and is seriously a fireball of energy. How she does it...no idea. But she does, and she OWNS it. Seeing her work in action is like magic.

LOVING window lighting. I'm just experimenting here with light.

As for the photos, you'll notice all the photos today on the blog are "behind the scenes" kind of photos. I don't want to post any pictures of Billy and Laura until Jasmine has posted her own images, but I was given 5 minutes to "work my mojo" in the spotlight. Good flippin' night was I scared. Terrified. I had a silhouette/rim lighting idea in my head that I wanted to run with, something that I haven't really done before which made it even more nerve racking. After watching it back, I made a ton of mistakes, and there are quite a few things I would do differently, but I'm still super excited about the shots I got, which I'll post as soon as Jasmine posts photos of the First Look.

Today was truly enlightening and inspiring. Billy and Laura were absolutely beautiful and were perfect. I can't wait to talk more about them when I post my pics. They're an incredible couple. Good night and hope you tune in tomorrow for the LIVE wedding here.

I think my favorite moments are right after the camera and live feed go off. Everyone relaxes and cheers and the laughs break out and everyone just mingles. Here's a shot of everyone just hanging out afterwards.