Do you think there’s such a thing as a ‘Photographer-crush’? Because, if there is, I totally have a photographer-crush on Jessica Claire.

Waaaaay back in April I took a bit of a leap (for me) and took a day (and lots of $) to attend Jessica Claire’s workshop – and I’m so glad I bit the bullet when I did. Turns out she’s not planning on doing any more workshops in this format….

Jessica’s workshop schedule was as follows: several hours of ‘classroom’ learning, she follows a rough outline and we are able to ask questions as we need to, all morning until lunch.

And then, after lunch, spend the afternoon on location shooting (those images to come).

Well, it turned out that the class I found myself a part of had SO many questions that after shooting for several hours, we came back and did more classroom learning.

Jessica was so generous with her time and her knowledge.

Also  … her studio is super cute. I love that green ….

Without giving away her workshop content, I will say this …

Jessica REALLY made the effort to tailor her workshop material to what our specific group of attendees were looking for. She asked us all ahead of time what we were most hoping to get out of the workshop and directly addressed those questions.

Jessica’s advice and information was both big-picture general AND detailed/action-orientated. She made sure to give us specific steps that we could take away and put into practice starting the next day.

I have been reading a lot and learning a lot on my own about the business side of photography, so to be honest, there wasn’t a whole lot of *new* material — for ME. It was still great to see Jessica’s take on the same things, and to know that some of the things I am currently doing HAVE worked and ARE working for her (that I’m not just wasting my time on a dead-end).

Again, I cannot say enough about how generous Jessica was with her knowledge – just amazing!

(I drink a lot of water …. and I got a new moleskine *just* for this workshop and other photography events)

The shoot was soo much fun!

I would love to put together a styled-wedding-ish photo shoot soon ….

you know, when I have some free time!

Anyway, I posted a sneak peek earlier with the full list of vendors …. And I will repost the vendors next week when I show you more photos that I shot …

For those of you that are on the fence about taking a workshop like this – the amount of money spent on setting up the shoot ALONE made this workshop totally worth it. I could do the same thing myself for almost as much money and far more time than it cost me to attend the workshop.

And I get to have all these gorgeous photos I took. And watch Jessica in action.

Just something to think about ….

First, Jess walked us through how she does the portrait portion of weddings … (I love Jessica Claire’s images, by the way. Why try to learn from someone whose work you don’t admire?)

And then she walked us through how she shoots the actual wedding ceremony AND reception details.

All with very specific points and takeaways. None of this general “Well, I am always sure to take a photo of the ring exchange” …

One thing to note … I think that the 15-20 people attending was way too many to be shooting just 1 couple. It was crowded. I got elbowed and blocked and I would venture to guess only the super-aggressive of us got the exact image we wanted.

But, a smaller group would have meant a higher fee, so I suppose it’s an OK trade off.

Stay tuned for my images of the models, the set up and the loveliness ….. I’m really pleased with how my images turned out!

Contact Amy at Teegan Photography | View Teegan Photography’s galleries

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]]> http://www.teeganphotography.com/2010/06/18/jessica-claire-workshop-classroom/feed/ 0 http://www.teeganphotography.com/2010/05/22/wedding-planning-advice-link-roundup/#comments Sat, 22 May 2010 11:09:32 +0000 amy http://www.teeganphotography.com/?p=4467

Holy Geez this guy is fantastic! I’ve never *actually* met Dane Sanders, but I kind of love him. We’ll be friends someday and I’ll send him a Christmas card.

Mostly because of his great photographer resource, AskDane.com – you can just see his generous spirit and heart through what he offers to the photography community.

I haven’t been watching AskDane.com since the very beginning, so I couldn’t tell you how it started.

But, currently, once a week (Tuesday afternoons), Dane and (usually) a guest live broadcasts a 30min interview (that nearly always runs long) via Ustream. I have NEVER been able to catch it live, but if you do you can twitter questions to @danesanders and possibly have them answered live.

They tackle topics like asserting yourself, quitting your day job, dealing with other wedding vendors and tips for getting published. All the soft skills and infrastructure details that is our businesses are really more about than just photography. It is very wedding-photographer-centric, but I would imagine you could get some great tips and inspiration no matter what kind of photography business you run.

In the last few months, ShootQ has been sponsoring AskDane.com which allows each episode to be available as recorded later. So if you don’t catch the live version, you can always check out the archive. Which is AMAZING. And always a delight.

Note: if you haven’t yet, I recommend reading Fast Track Photographer. I bought it last spring, and LOVED it.  Honestly plan on reading it about once per year for as long as possible. (there’s a new version coming out May 2010, so you can only pre-order at the moment)

There are a TON of educational archives, so please catch yourself up as needed. You’ll get something out of every episode.

When you watch an episode or two, I’d love it if you left a comment below with your thoughts…

xo

Let me open up your world to the magic that is RSS feeds!

I use Google Reader to follow, organize and read many many (probably over 200) blogs on the interwebs. I learn SO much about SO many different subjects from these blogs. The internet is a wonderful place (thanks Al Gore!). ….

I couldn’t do it with out Google Reader.

I had the brilliant plan to do a huge big how-to post with photos and arrows and steps.

But then, I remembered that I learned about Google Reader from my dear friend Melissa Jill …. So lets throw some blog-love her way.

Go check out Melissa’s easy directions on how to set-up and use Google Reader!

P.S. I’m not going to tell you how many blogs I follow. You might not believe it. But, believe me when I say it’s sooo easy to do with a blog reader (vs browser bookmarks).

Of course, when I was planning my own wedding (which feels like a lifetime ago) I didn’t know about ANY online wedding resources except for the Knot. Which is good. But HUGE. And overwhelming for me.

You girls these days have it so easy!

About OnceWed.com:

I’ve seen so many unique, heart-felt and beautiful weddings featured on Once Wed. Make sure you take a look at her ‘Real Weddings‘ archived.

On OnceWed.com you can also look for wedding ideas by category (gorgeously organized) or find inspiration in DIY wedding projects.

One of the most unique aspects of OnceWed.com is the Used Wedding Dress section. Again, man oh man how I wish this was around when I got married. I LOVE the idea of a “once wed” wedding dress. …

All different sizes, styles, and prices. You can DEFINITELY find some good options. …

Make sure you add Once Wed to your daily wedding blog reads!

Full disclosure: I am currently a paying sponsor of OnceWed and a member of her brilliant Wedding Vendor Guide.

A week or so, Angela wanted to visit Greystone Mansion (she’s helping a friend plan her wedding) and I tagged along.

And I’m so so glad I did.

Also : glad we got there right at sunset. The light coming over the hill, at the ‘golden hour’ before sunset just added to the romance and magic of this big stone, garden Los Angeles wedding venue.

I love the walls and the textures. I love the lines made by the walls, the paths, the stairs, the trees. I love the hidden corners every where you turn that remind me of The Secret Garden.

Love this wedding venue!

I haven’t looked into the fees and details, but it looks like the City of Beverly Hills maintains this venue and you should contact them to reserve your wedding date.

Contact Amy at Teegan Photography | View Amy’s galleries

]]> http://www.teeganphotography.com/2010/02/08/los-angeles-wedding-venue-greystone-mansion/feed/ 1 http://www.teeganphotography.com/2010/01/30/wedding-planning-advice-link-round-up-2/#comments Sat, 30 Jan 2010 11:47:10 +0000 amy http://www.teeganphotography.com/?p=3133 From around the internets:

• From The Bride’s Guide – using “and guest” on invitations
• From Always a Blogsmaid – budgeting
• From The Bride’s Guide – rehearsal dinner guest list
• From Style Me Pretty – working with your photographer
• From Southern Weddings – alcohol at the reception
• From Southern Weddings – alcohol at the reception (part 2)
• From The Bride’s Guide – having a larger reception the next day
• From little white book – tips for wedding gown shopping