I have to preface this post by saying, I didn’t mean to be gone from the blog as long as I was over the course of the trip! I’m somewhat of a scatterbrain when I travel, and I lost my MacBook charger fairly early on into the trip, meaning I was basically without a computer for five days. FIVE DAYS! Which is an eternity without a computer when you’re a small business owner. To be completely honest though, I think losing that charger was a blessing in disguise. It definitely sucks to shell out $80 for a new one (who knew Macbook chargers were so expensive??) but I’d gladly lose it all over again because not having access to a computer for the majority of the trip meant I had to unplug from the business for the most part and just enjoy life as it happened. Not feeling obligated to stay on top of social media and everything was such a freeing feeling!

It’s so hard to sit here, back at home in my office and try to put this trip into words! It’s funny how the day or two after coming back from a trip are sort of a weird limbo-like time. It feels like when you’re waking up from a really good dream and you want to do all you can to remember every detail of what happened so you can hold onto it and keep reliving it just a little bit longer.  Part of me wants to keep that to myself for a little while so that I don’t lose that magic feeling that only good trips give you. The other part of me is so excited to share and to write about how amazing it was here, because writing it down will mean I’ll remember everything!

Today I’m going to share the first part of the trip, which was a workshop called Foster!

A few months ago, Ben Sasso and Katch Silva announced they were hosting a workshop called Foster in the Fall and I knew immediately I wanted to go. I’ve been following Ben’s work for some time now, and I knew this would be a great experience! There are SO MANY amazing film photographers, but I almost feel like there aren’t a ton of digital photographers that I would personally consider “elite”. Ben and Katch are. I’ve always been so impressed by moods and emotions captured in photographs and they both do this so well. When the workshop was announced, I purchased my seat and immediately booked my ticket to California.

I’m so not a “fly by the seat of my pants, whatever happens, happens,” type of person, so going to something like this always makes me nervous. Not knowing exactly what to expect made me a little apprehensive leading up to the trip, but once I arrived, I knew I had made the right decision in going. I’m very lucky that where I live, the community of photographers is so welcoming and fun to be a part of. We share referrals, help each other out, and have each others backs. I know there are lots of markets where the industry is super cut-throat, but I’ve never experienced that. If there was any downside at all to this, it would be that so many of us who live out here near one another share very similar styles and points of view. So many of the photographers here are very extroverted and sometimes that makes me, as an introvert, a little anxious. I love my photography community, but I was craving some new experiences for sure. When I arrived at Foster, I realized I was in the perfect place, because not only was I in a locale that in itself, was beautiful and inspiring to me in a way that my hometown sometimes isn’t, there were so many other unique people there attending from different parts of the country…and Canada! 😉 It felt like a breath of fresh air to be exposed to all of these personalities and perspectives.

Once I was there, I was so excited to experience something DIFFERENT. Foster was exactly what I’d been craving in that respect. The natural beauty of California, shooting models, making new friends, and picking up all sorts of new tips and tricks and ideas along the way were perfect for me…especially at the end of a long wedding season when my creative juices might be a little lower than they are at the beginning. We had the opportunity to work with both an incredibly fun couple that I loved, AND a professional model who’s currently on this cycle of America’s Next Top Model! Here are a few of my favorite images!

 I’ll close out this post by saying this: I’ve been to one other photographer’s workshop as well as a retreat for photogs/creatives, and to WPPI twice now and I can honestly say that the absolute best thing that I’ve gotten out of any of those experiences have been the friendships that have been made and/or strengthened over these trips. I’ve met so many wonderful, talented, and inspiring women (and a handful of cool men too!) during these travels that I wouldn’t have gotten to meet otherwise. Meeting new people and making friends with others who live in all sorts of different places and have all kinds of different personalities and points of view has enriched my life AND made me better as an artist. I’m so thankful for the relationships that these trips have brought into my life!