Day 3 in RAINY California

After the first full day of learning, most of the workshop attendees walked over to Fred's for dinner.  Me Ra and Brian came.  I lucked out again and got to sit by Me Ra.  Me Ra and I had a great conversation that completely shifted my thinking.  She helped me realize that I totally can charge more for taking photos and gain a client base.  Also, she told me that it's a good idea to specialize in something instead of just offering whatever kind of photo session that people wanted.  Me Ra gave me a great compliments... "I've seen your photography and you are simply AMAZING!  Your photos are what every mama would DREAM of having.  You've got to receive this truth and go for it because seriously girl, your work is awesome!... Take the leap. You know I love you and I'm in your corner!"  I'm really excited about the direction I'm headed and can't wait to see what the future holds for me and my photography.  Anyway, I think that my main CONFIDENCE issue has to do with me believing that my clients will not value my photography as much as I do.  I guess that's why I've priced my work so low in the past.  One thing Me Ra said that really helped me is that, "Fear and doubt will always be there as you plug along.  But when you actually achieve your goal, the fear and doubt is no longer present."  Time to face my fears!

Day 2 of the CONFIDENCE Workshop was my favorite.  We learned about metering and the different metering modes, what the 6 must have photos are for consumers (family photo shoots), the different ways you can use the TTL (through the lens) flash, Lightroom basics, Me Ra's story, paid vs. pro photographers, using social media, outsourcing, and good to know camera settings.

I was SO excited to do family photo shoots on the beach, but unfortunately, it RAINED!  So we had to make do shooting in this extra wide hallway.  We had a few minutes to have each other take head shots of each other.  Here's Nicole Moore taking my picture.

Photo Courtesy of Teresa Rish

 Photos Courtesy of Amy Rhodes

And now on to the photos I took of the families that came.  The lighting situation was crazy because we had to work with window light and overhead light.  Taking photos of families with small children can be a challenge.  But I am proud of what I was able to capture.

This gorgeous mom and her son were so sweet together.  If you observe this picture closely, you may be able to tell that there was a window to my left and a dark hallway behind them.  I loved learning how a dark hallway can make the photo appear as if we were in a studio with a black backdrop.

Check out the littlest dude in this one.  I LOVE how he has his arm around his mommy's chin and is touching her cheek.  Oh, the love our babies have for us is precious.  This photo was challenging too with the backlighting that's going on with the large sliding glass door.  Even though the mom and boys' hair is kind of blown out, I don't think that people with an untrained eye would even notice that.  One great truth that Me Ra taught us was that as photographers, we tend to pay the most attention to the technical aspects of our photos while consumers pay most attention to the content of the photos.

Aww... Big brother adores his baby brother.

It was fun to experiment with different cameras and lenses.  Brian let me try a 70-200mm lenses that was worth $1500!  It was a heavy lens, but I got some great shots with it.  I was also able to try a Sony Camera.  My favorite feature of the Sony camera was the live view mode.  As you change the manual settings, what you see in the live view window is exactly what you get when you press that shutter.
Here's my favorite family shot of the day.  This family was full of energy.

Meet Sean.

He is the perfect combo of sweet

and macho.  Just check out those muscles!

The photo above perfectly sums up my weekend.  I got to take a weekend off just for myself.  I got to meet new friends and learn more about photography... one of my favorite subjects.  And to top it all off, I won Lightroom 4, the newest photo editing program!

 Thanks, Me Ra for following your dreams.  

You have blessed the lives of many.  

You are so down to earth. 

Your compliementary words and words of encouragement mean so much to me.

One of the ladies set up a Facebook group so that we can all keep in touch.  

It was so fun to spend a few days with people who are as obsessed with photography as I am.

There was a special bond that was created that weekend.

I sure hope to keep track of everyone in our group and hopefully meet up again someday.