And it all comes to an end...

In just one week so many things have happened. Last week Jason and I welcomed Bobbi Lane into our wonderful home (the studio). We were told to be prepared for her intensity and passion. Everyone was right. She was intense, but only in the best way possible. She was always so enthusiastic about everything she was teaching and she put the students before her at all times. Her passion for photography and educating is amazing. If I were to ever take a class at the workshops, Bobbi's would be first on my list. 

Bobbi Lane stole my heart in just three days! She was intense and I can't say I wasn't exhausted every night, but I would do it again just to be in her presence! The work that the student produced in one week was amazing. I cannot even explain how many beautiful shots they got. They were all wonderful photographers when they got here, but in just one week Bobbi transformed them into amazing photographers! They not only had to think about lighting patterns, framing, composition and depth of field but also about being creative and thinking outside of the box. 

Here is our wonderful class :) I miss all of them dearly!

Bobbie took this picture of Jason and I before we left on Wednesday to head back to MA. Thank you so much Bobbi :)

It was a pleasure to get the chance to work with Bobbi and I really hope to be lifetime friends with her! She has inspired me in so many ways :) Thank you Bobbi!

I unfortunately had to skip out on the last few days of Bobbi's class to make it back to MA in order to graduate! It was definitely a bittersweet day for all of us Hallmarkers. In just 10 months we all created amazing life long friendships that hopefully will always keep us connected. 

Our speaker was Douglas Kirkland and although many of you probably don't know who he is I can guarantee that you have seen his work. He is truly gifted but what struck me most of all was his enthusiasm and energy when talking about photography. He is around 75 years old and on a 90+ degree day he was jumping around on stage, putting on hallmark hoodies and preaching to us about what we can now achieve. It was an honor to have him speak at our graduation. 

Although most of our sunburns have faded we still have the memories that hallmark supplied us with. I learned so many things while in the 10 month program, but the friends and connection I had the chance to make while there make all the sweat, tears and sleepless nights worth it :)

Congratulations Class of 2010!

Well I suppose I should get back to work now! This week we are teaching in "mastering flash" with Arlene Collins. I will let you know how all about it next week but so far it is going very well!

I hope everyone has a happy and safe 4th of July :)

Robert Meyer

Hey everyone,

So last week was super busy so I have a bit of catching up to do on my weekly Maine update. Last week Jason and I got to spend the week with Robert Meyer and his assistant David Burns. Check out both of their websites :) they are both fantastic.

Over the last week Jason and I had our butts kicked in the studio. We survived the week and learned so much valuable information that made all the stress worth it. Robert is a great guy and hopefully we will stay in touch forever, he has so much great information and really loves sharing it with everyone. We would talk over dinner or while watching the celtics game and just discuss anything. He is an open book filled with hundreds of amazing pages.

Here is our adorable class photo that Robert took :)

The students ended the week with some really amazing work. It is so fantastic to be able to see their progression over just the course of one intensive week.

Anyways this week is all about Bobbi Lane :) She is FANTASTIC and I am so happy to be working with her. She was born to teach people about photography! I will post more this weekend about Bobbi but unfortunately Jason and I will be leaving Maine on Wednesday night to head back to Mass in order to GRADUATE!

Have a great week everyone!

First week down

Hey everyone!

So this week was an adventure for sure. It was our first week of having actual classes and Jason and I couldn't have asked for a better photographer to start with. Michael Wilson is totally amazing and he really now holds a little piece of my heart to be honest. Just watching him work is utterly amazing. The way he moves and speaks to his subjects is fantastic. He has a way of soothing his models into being comfortable and calm. Please check out his website!

Our students gave us permission to show some of their images so I could at least show why I haven't been shooting and how great they are!

Photo by: Annie Elliot

Picture of Michael Wilson :)

Photo by: Robert Ring

Photo by: Ana Christina Lyra

Photo by: Frank McPartland

Here is our adorable little class :) Thank you to all of you! This week was great!!

The New Adventure!

Hey everyone,

It has been a while since I have posted anything because things have been pretty busy. To start off I will give a litter run down on my review. First of all I passed thankfully! The review did not go as amazingly as planned I must admit... The judging is super critical and it is really rough to sit there and have someone rip apart one of your images. Overall I was not as satisfied after my review as i thought I would be. It took about a day for me to feel good about it, but after that I am just super thrilled to be moving on knowing that this will be the worst portfolio I will ever create and it can only get better from here. 

I am now in Maine at the Maine Media Workshops and we are just beginning the summer season here. In Maine Jason and I are working in the studio and it was a bit of a rude awakening when coming from the world of perfection at Hallmark. I was used to the best of the best studios and it was very odd to walk in to what Jason and I have to work with. After some time cleaning from top to bottom of the attic we have as a studio I have fallen in love. Once we organized and sorted through the mess I realized the amount of photographic opportunities in our little union hall building are endless. I am thrilled to break out my camera and get some shots where ever I can. Once I get my lightroom installed on my computer I will post some pictures of my very old, yet new to me studio that Jason and I have an unconditional love for (leaks and all). For all of you into fashion or studio lighting at all I am going to make you a bit jealous by saying I have 4 octabanks to play with and also the very new profoto air lights with build in remotes. There is no longer a need for assistants with these, you could be a room away and you will still be able to change the settings and fire these lights. I am even more in love now!

Today we got our first class in. We are working with Michael Wilson and I am super excited about the week to come. He is very nice and I can't wait to see how he works.

Unfortunately I have no new pictures to show so I will leave you a picture of me :) thank you to photobooth!