If you read my blog every once in a while (Thank you!!) you might have seen a post a while back where I explained how I got started and what photography means to me. Well, that post was actually my entry into a contest to win a seat at the Katelyn James Workshop Experience!! I hate entering contests because I’m always so afraid to lose, but when Katelyn announced she was hosting (is that the right term?) a contest for a seat at her workshop, I decided to enter anyway. I knew that even if I didn’t win, challenging myself to enter the contest and open myself up would be a good, positive thing to do. Well…to my surprise, I ended up winning third place and being able to afford to attend!!  I was SO pumped when I found out I was a winner! I was having a terrible week (you know, the kind that make you question your whole life) and winning a prize definitely helped lift my spirits!

Last Friday I drove out to Richmond to attend the workshop not really knowing what to expect. I’d never been to a workshop before and was pretty nervous! What if my questions were stupid or too obvious?? Honestly, even if my questions were the worst questions in the history of questions, I would have never known! Katelyn was super sweet and patient and answered every question we could come up with.

I have been following Katelyn’s blog for a while now and I will just say that I really liked her from reading her posts, but I LOVE her as a person in real life (you know, not on the internet…ha). She is incredibly genuine and has such a good heart. You can tell that she really cares about people and you can’t help but love her for that. Not only did she share tons of her secrets with us, she was also incredibly encouraging. I really appreciated that!! I tend to be pretty hard on myself.

The day started in the classroom, where we learned about posing and light. After that we got to observe Katelyn in action and then had the chance to shoot a sweet mardi gras themed wedding put together by Dana FitzGerald! YES, I said mardi gras! The couple that modeled got married a year ago in New Orleans so the theme was in their honor!

LOOOOVED the florals, especially the bouquets by Janie Medley of The Bride’s Cafe. I’m obsessed with those purple ranunculus!!