The incomparable Brianna Graham

And yes.  I am going to sing her praises.  Loudly.  Long.  Eloquently (well.  as eloquently as I’m capable of ::grin::).

I’ve just spent three days with Brianna Graham — and it could not have been better time spent for me both personally and professionally.  Here’s why:

1.  Three days of intense instruction/discussion/laughing/sharing with one of the top children’s photographers in the country.

2.  Topics that pertain to everything that I am intensely interested in:  lighting, post processing, posing, urban shooting, marketing and more than I can possibly relate here.

3.  Sharing it with a majorly talented group of photographers from around the country who were just as enthusiastic, funny and cool as I was hoping they’d be…and more.

Now let me tell you — I was worried about attending for several reasons — not the least of which is spending all that money and being disappointed or not getting what I was hoping out of it.  I have heard rumors in the photographic community that some seminars by famous photographers where falling woefully short of expectations.

Want to know when my worry dissipated?  Within the first 20 minutes of a three day workshop.  I learned SO much more than I was expecting to — not only about HOW Brianna and her husband work — but WHO they are and HOW much they put of themselves into this whole business.  To say I’m inspired would be a pale little sentence in comparison to how I feel about the whole experience.

So.  If you’re planning or considering attending one of these workshops — I will tell you not to worry whether or not you’re “good” enough or whether or not you’ll be able to fit in or handle what’s happening.  I found Brianna and Patrick to be nothing but helpful and kind in the most amazing ways.  No question was met with anything other than kindness and completeness.  No one answered “because we just know” to questions — things were explained in detail with live examples given constantly.  There was no way NOT to grow from this experience.

I am so completely excited about the things I learned, the people I met, and the ideas I have from this experience.  I think my work is going to be at a whole new level and I couldn’t be happier about it.

Here’s a post processed image that I am MOST proud to say I did not use ONE ACTION on…that’s how complete and interesting Brianna made her post processing discussion/instruction.  It’s not perfect by ANY stretch of the imagination — but it is a GREAT place to start and I’m so pleased with it I can barely sit still!  I just keep staring at it and thinking…”I took this photo.”  “I made it look like this (with A LOT of help from Brianna ::grin::).”  “I can do this.”   “I can.”

To Brianna and Patrick I say this:  Keep going.  I am so honored to know you and to have been able to learn from you both.  And don’t forget to keep my card on file for the next round of ideas…::wink wink::  Thank you so very much.

~ by ideagirl on October 14, 2007.