Learning From A Photography Workshop

This California workshop was originally an excuse to flee from a cold Boston winter.

There were seven of us, in the middle of Carmel, CA, sitting in a circle on a plush white leather couch of an airBnB house. When the afternoon sunlight sliced in, the whole place reminded me of a 70’s Hollywood film set. We’re a group of photographers, a group of strangers, here for "Theory the Workshop." We came here to learn about vital photo skills: technical development, working with models for styled shoots, marketing and editing hurdles, but most importantly, to uncover some truths about our work.

The back porch of the workshop grounds

The back porch of the workshop grounds

The instructors for this course were Abi, of Abi Q Photography (Oakland, CA) and Brooke, owner of BlushbyB Photography (Salt Lake City, UT). Their portfolio work is primarily wedding photography, but looking deeper, their portrait work exceeds any commercial level and enters a realm of art. To me, Brooke’s work reads like a music staff, and we found out at the workshop that music inspires so much of her deeply emotional work. Abi is passionate about social justice, opening up discussion in her Instagram with the important changes she would like to see in the world.

I found the workshop by first admiring their work online and questioning why it seemed more honest and raw than other photographers I was following. Their work has a wisdom and I wanted some of 'dat.  

I swirled my first glass of red wine, lounging on the white shaggy rug of this retro home. I sometimes overcompensate for social discomfort by physically going overboard (I.E. rolling around on the floor). Abi opened with her ice breaker question, something we should be asking ourselves as photographers more than anything else. It's difficult to answer and continued to be for the remainder of the workshop.  

"Why are you here?"

Big Sur & Bixby Bridge

Big Sur & Bixby Bridge

In my sixth year in business with photography, I was facing some obstacles around this time. The largest was the not-so-fun but entirely true concept of "the dead season". It was cold outside and the winter was rolling on. No one, including myself (who's a complete ham for the camera) are thinking about portraits. Our skin is dry and barely sun-kissed, there's no excitement for updated wardrobes or really the need to leave the house at all. Like most of my clients, I'd rather be In my living room, burritoed under fleece blankets watching Netflix. But being self employed, I push myself to find things that keep me on top of business during this time: new marketing tips, potential spring deals, updating my website, and YES a warm weather workshop.

There was a hot tub outside on the porch at the house. I stared longingly at it as I rolled around on the rug. I'm a soaker-by-nature gal and even this small pleasure would be my rejuvenation: being outside with the West Coast sun on my forehead. But before basking in this perfect situation, like all things, you had to earn that luxury.

Abi and Brooke dove into the work unapologetically, displaying a whirlwind of slideshows, technical settings, brain-buzzing Q&A's, and taking us to different locations to shadow them on shoots. We got the chance to photograph each other, but the catch was Abi and Brooke would be breathing down our necks. They critiqued our direction and peered over our digital camera screens to offer composition tips and what they would have done differently. Both instructors were inviting but pushy, a perfect blend of professional boot-camp coach and a friend who cares about your success.

It was rigorous. My brain started to go into overdrive, for fear that too much information was coming at me.

It took patience and creative openness to continue the stamina of this workshop to the end. I'm a note taker, so I scribbled as much as possible, hoping that all the information would stick. My favorite part was the one-on-one critique session that took place on a balcony overlooking some majestic mountains. Oh boo, life is horrible. Abi and Brooke gave their impressions of my Instagram feed (which is so fun, please DM me if you want your own read!). They noticed little things about my subconscious photo making decisions that flooded me with joy: like my obsession with color, and that it's acceptable to have oddball photo projects, just hashtag it with #myweirdbrain.

After returning home it took me a week or two to process any of it. But once I did, my intuition took control and I found myself re-ignited and utilizing so much of what was learned at "Theory the Workshop."

Keywords when shooting with models? Got it. Editing tips for Lightroom? Yay, they're still there! Pushing composition and working with difficult lighting situations? Honey, please. It's second nature now. It's like the lessons were instilled in my brain, ready to come out when I needed to use them.

No one is born with technical perfection and the foresight to know what exactly your voice is. The road to finding our own voice is difficult, but there is plenty we can do to learn and nourish our creativity. Dare to ask the questions. Find your tribe and go to them. It will always lead you somewhere breathtaking.


FOLLOW THESE PHOTOGRAPHERS:

Thanks to all the team members of the Theory the Workshop!

Thanks to all the team members of the Theory the Workshop!

Here is a list of my fellow workshoppers' Instagram accounts. Follow them because they are brave and amazing stuff swirls in their artwork:

Kate Thompson  : @bettyclicker

Shyla : @5hyla

Carly Romeo : @Twospoonsphoto

Courtney Garn : @courtneyg_photo

Brooke (instructor) : @braillegold

Abi Q (instructor) : @heyabiq & @abiqphoto

J.Tyler (me!) : @dakotalenoxphoto

 

THE TEAM:

Workshop : @theorytheworkshop

April (Friggin' amazing workshop food chef) : @absentkitchen

Alyssa (model) : @alyssmichelle

Jerilyndee (hair & makeup) : @jerilyndee_beauty 

Chantel Lauren (dress design) : @chantellaurendesigns

Wanna know what happened the day after the workshop ended? 

Make-up Tips For Your Professional Portrait : Contouring Secrets For The Camera

I get a lot of questions regarding what type of makeup to apply for photo shoots. Personally, I'm a fan of whatever natural face your were born with. But sometimes my clients want more answers...

So I’m giving in! For you!

I’ve studied makeup for many years and would like to provide a step-by-step guide to contour makeup to effortlessly become flawless in your next photo shoot. Follow these steps and your hashtag #iwokeuplikethis will never be more accurate!

 

Step 1.

Take a “Before” photo. Admire your natural skin tone, because it’s about to rapidly and delightfully change through the miracle of foundation and face paint!

From the series “Beauty is Forever Eternal”, 2016

From the series “Beauty is Forever Eternal”, 2016

 

Step 2.

To create a superior you find a foundation tone that matches your natural color. To create a brand new person choose a color that's bold! Some experts say "skin match" for foundation but contouring is about full transformation. Cover the entire face including lips and eyebrows because you can fill them into any shape you’d like in later steps. This is the perfect time to include any warrior lines you’d like to explore with white face paint, this is highlighting.

From the series “Beauty is Forever Eternal”, 2016

From the series “Beauty is Forever Eternal”, 2016

Step 3.

Start to find the shadows and highlights of the face using your deepest brown and white face paint or powder from your contour kit. Explore different lighting sources for added creativity and allow yourself to freely explore diagonals and shadows!

From the series “Beauty is Forever Eternal”, 2016

From the series “Beauty is Forever Eternal”, 2016

Step 4.

Blend blend blend! Notice the beauty of your eyebrow-less, cheekbony, matte face! Is that a new chin?! Yes! You’ve created it from your deepest desires. I’m so proud of you.

From the series “Beauty is Forever Eternal”, 2016

From the series “Beauty is Forever Eternal”, 2016

Step 5.

The next step is vital. Add on your new eyebrows and fill in your lips and cheeks with a hot shade of lipstick and blush.

From the series “Beauty is Forever Eternal”, 2016

From the series “Beauty is Forever Eternal”, 2016

Step 6.

Without a hair stylist for your photo shoot? No problem! Add a wig and change your clothes to become someone you’ve always wanted to be! Shoot all your hottie-shots and have fun while doing it.

From the series “Beauty is Forever Eternal”, 2016

From the series “Beauty is Forever Eternal”, 2016

Step 7. [Bonus step!]

I usually don’t share this secret, but because you’re such a loyal fan and this is the hottest beauty industry tell-all article I’ll reveal it... To remove your contouring makeup apply nature’s best exfoliant: chocolate syrup. It’ll rid you of dark circles temporarily with it’s deep opaque coverage and leave you glowing for days afterwards.

From the series “Beauty is Forever Eternal”, 2016

From the series “Beauty is Forever Eternal”, 2016

Thank you for reading and remember there’s nothing more beautiful than your natural face for photo shoots. Relieve yourself of the pressure and simply be you. Happy April!

 

Back to Business: Working at the LoveSick Wedding Expo in South Boston

The words “Wedding Expo” send a shudder down my spine. I’m planning my own wedding this upcoming fall and as an indecisive libra, I have zero interest in attending an expo. In my mind, expos mean getting a mess of options and “must-needs”, most of which are not part of my initial plan, or budget. Also, most these events remind me of my worst fear: how “serious” my big day is. Truth is, I want to feel like a kid about my wedding day, because it’s not only a day of beautiful declaration of love, but also a big damn party.

Despite my fears, my business partner, Anna Spaller, of Dakota Lenox Photography's sister company, Wild Eye Photobooth convinced me to sign up to be a vendor at LoveSick wedding expo in Boston's Southie this past weekend. “It’ll be perfect!” she exclaimed showing me the website of the so-called “alternative wedding expo: LoveSick”. The next thing I knew we were spending the week building a prize wheel from scratch, printing off all our marketing materials, and praying that this expo was as exciting as the LoveSick website made it seem. We had high hopes that people would understand Wild Eye’s new photobooth concept: real humans behind the camera giving you a professional studio photoshoot in the midst of a party.

Wild Eye's Studio Setup with real photogs taking your glam-shot!

Wild Eye's Studio Setup with real photogs taking your glam-shot!

Before the doors opened on the day-of the event, I was expecting a lot of couples at this expo. I channeled characters from popular romantic comedies; perhaps an overly excited wedding-crazed partner, dragging behind them a reluctant fiancee, whose feet you could hear dragging throughout the entire affair. I was dreading they’d roll their eyes at getting their photo taken together.

11am hit and the doors of the Arts For Humanity building opened to a flock of folks. Anna straightened her orange polka dotted blouse, I downed a Red Bull, and we high-fived as we put on our “game faces”.

Before the storm: Our Wild Eye Photobooth table at LoveSick expo 2016

Before the storm: Our Wild Eye Photobooth table at LoveSick expo 2016

LoveSick Expo blew my expectations away. The crowd was a fairly even split of couples and groups of friends, all giggly and enthusiastic about being there, and mercifully enthusiastic about having their photo taken. Everyone seemed genuinely jazzed to rifle through our prop box and lunge in front of the camera wearing feather boas and fez hats. Each playful pose suggestion we gave - “You’re a tiger!” or “How about a kiss on the cheek?!”- was followed by giggles and squished friends, families and couples hugging each other close. The booth filled up and we were flattered to have such enthusiastic guests rocking out in front of the camera. West Coast beauty and LoveSick partner, Offbeat Bride had a "Kissy face" that blew us away, while LoveSick's head honchos were simply saucy and stunning. 

The afternoon entertainment of LoveSick was filled with delicious stimulation, including juicy all-male burlesque dancers, Sirlesque, and a dancing rope angel sent from above, Aerialist Molly BaechtoldI’ve never seen either of these services before in my life, but myself and the crowd laughed and stared in awe at the performances. I’m usually pretty snobby about my music playlists, but the exciting rockabilly-looking band Jan Marie and the Mean Reds had their sound and style on point. My feet hurt from dancing in my Doc Martens the entire day. 

(top row to bottom row) The day was filled with entertainment by astounding aerialist Molly Baechtold, the saucy Sirlesque performers, and live music by Jan Marie and the Mean Reds. (Photo from Wild Eye Photobooth)

(top row to bottom row) The day was filled with entertainment by astounding aerialist Molly Baechtold, the saucy Sirlesque performers, and live music by Jan Marie and the Mean Reds. (Photo from Wild Eye Photobooth)

The rad women of Apotheca Flower Shoppe posed in our booth and I could not stop staring at their flower crowns: they reminded me of Vermeer’s famous painting “Girl With the Pearl Earring” meets the sass and class of an earthy goddess. Our next door booth neighbors, Minter and Richter, a unique jewelry company in Boston, had such a lasting impression with brightly colored titanium rings that my fiance spent hours on their website the night after the expo. Sign me up for a cobalt ring, please!

AMAZING flower crowns by Apotheca Flower Shoppe (Photo from Wild Eye Photobooth)

AMAZING flower crowns by Apotheca Flower Shoppe (Photo from Wild Eye Photobooth)

Wild Eye is built on the human pleasures of good music and dance moves, being healthily overstimulated and living on laughs. LoveExpo gave us a place to be ourselves with other fun-loving attendees. A wedding can be a big, serious ordeal, but we can't forget about our youthfulness, lust for life, and the most important part, hosting a party that has the artisan touch that will make your day creatively yours.

Thank you to all guests, vendors, and staff who made LoveSick wedding expo 2016 such a blast! 

Thank you to all guests, vendors, and staff who made LoveSick wedding expo 2016 such a blast! 

You can see all Wild Eye's #LoveSick Photobooth photos taken here: http://wildeyephotobooth.pixieset.com/guestlogin/lovesickexpo/

Follow Wild Eye on Facebook for updates and to participate in their photobooth contests and join Wild Eye on Instagram for weekly motivation and fun!

Nayda The Painter

"Can we push our hangout back to 1pm?" I texted. I’m usually late; I recently moved to Boston and constantly rely on Google Maps. Of course it would be fine. Nayda would have to re-heat the black rice dish she made for us to eat for lunch, the one she scrambled over to find the perfect Puerto Rican recipe that was vegetarian for my needy ways. But it would be fine.

Hopping out of Ty's red Ford Transit van, my camera bag hanging heavy on my shoulder, I looked around at Nayda’s neighborhood block: a cozy tree-lined street with the pale New England colored houses. It was my first time in East Arlington, MA, and to this day I proclaim "if I'm going to raise my non-existent children anywhere in Massachusetts, it'd be here."

Nayda gave me a giant hug as I stepped into her home, smelling the homemade veggie dish from the foyer: black rice and black bean salad laced with tomatoes, peppers, and green onions. I was drawn to the kitchen, which was painted pale yellow with splashes of red and had the functioning format of those who use their kitchen often and smartly. This was the first time I’ve had a formal hangout with Nayda and I listened to her story while sipping on my to-go coffee cup. She told me of her move to Boston 6 years ago, how she's only experienced three difficult Boston winters, how her husband is a chef and they met in dance class, and the details of when her family spent a month in Italy. I recently rifled through her pics on Facebook (cuz I do that) and sure enough saw a delightful series of Italy snapshots of her husband, their 3-year-old big-eyed son Lucas and Nayda’s smile under her dark curly hair. The photos had the backdrop of family city bike rides and in front of her exhibition of small paintings in Venezia, Italia.

I put the first bite in my mouth. Sweet and savory. She smiled and must have known I was drifting away from her stories due to the delicious taste of cilantro and lime, salt and pepper. She began to explain Puerto Rican food and the different salts and spices she used… I drifted again. Shit, I hope I don't cry. I cry with exceptional food. My psychologist friend, Breanne, recently told me this behavior was my way of taking notice of the small things. “It's okay,” she assured me, “The world is full of beautiful moments."

“Welcome to the studio!” Nayda beamed after our lunch was over, guiding me through sheer curtains to her four-seasons room. We landed in a wooden-paneled, newly carpeted, place of relaxation. She quickly lined up a series of small oil paintings on her painting station- an easel of stacked cardboard boxes fixed to the artist’s height.

I squinted my eyes to allow myself to swirl in the detail of her artwork. I was familiar with her small-style of painting, with panels the size of an iPhone, each one consisting of a superbly rendered oil-painted woman’s portrait. "#Latina: Reclaiming the Latina Tag” is Nayda’s investigation of Latina stereotypes in online media, particularly Instagram. She’s obsessed with portraits and believes we connect with other first through the face and that’s why "the painted portrait still has the power to move us”.

She showed me the teeniest little brushes she uses and they reminded me of floss. Holding each one gently I admired their delicate size. She let out a laugh and I looked up fast enough to catch her modeling her bi-focal glasses that she uses to focus on detail while painting. She flashed a cheesy smile and crossed her eyes, then quickly removed them and threatened me if I photographed her while wearing them.  

Despite her explaining to me how excitedly nervous she was about her latest Artists Residency at MASSMOCA she is self aware and continues to discover herself and her cultural identity through her art. It was a dream, I thought, this four seasons room, the bright afternoon sun slicing through the windows, these warm walls, what a space of pure zen and creati-

"MOOOOOMMMMMMMM!"

In ran Lucas. He darted into Nayda’s thigh burying his head deep into her denim jeans. I had walked past him when I first arrived, as he quietly watched a YouTube episode on trucks while his hands were wrist-deep in red bowl filled with kid munchies. He had looked up while I walked past him to the kitchen and glared. His expression was like a tiny Sean Penn; "what are you doing on my turf..."

"Quiero galletas...” he whimpered into his mom’s waist while avoiding eye contact with me, his left hand holding a small truck and layered in sticky. Cookies may have been what he was requesting but in reality he wanted his momma's attention. I shuffled around the studio while they talked cookies and zeroed in on all the children’s art materials: glue, markers, dried clay projects and orange ottomans that were kid-sized. Nayda, now half-cuddling with Lucas, noticed my gaze and told me how she hosts weekly art classes in this warm studio for the neighborhood kids, giving fellow mothers a well deserved breather.

“It’s an internal thing,”, she quipped while snuffing Lucas’s plastic truck out of her face, “I have this maternal instinct with children, I know I have to give myself to my child and it’s equally important to be happy in my space and create. It's finding the balancing act- who can watch him so I can get away. How to be involved in my community with other moms to socialize in my community. Talking as much as I can. The world, karma, God, whatever you believe in, sends people and things into our present and I try to do the best with what’s in my reach.”

We made our way outside, Lucas leading us to a playground in Magnolia Park, Arlington on his big wheeler making “vrooming” noises. He could have a future in trucking, I thought. Nayda shut the metal gate entrance behind us and I looked up towards the afternoon sun and the playground spread: a scattering of kid sized bulldozers, big wheelers, shovels and pails. It was as if an outdoor toy convention had happened. I’ve never seen this before.

"Whose are all these?" 

"They are community’s. The toys are all donated and free to be played with by whomever."

Lucas let loose in the park, sliding and swinging with his mother, laughing from one moment and gazing like the miniature man he was the next. I snapped photographs quietly, smiling and being casual- careful not to interrupt this mother and son’s playtime or dictate any actions that weren’t natural. That’s important with family photo shoots, you have to let the life happen. The sliding. The swinging. There is nothing like the dynamic of energies between a parent and their lil' cub during play time.

Suddenly I realized this wasn't a special trip to the park because a camera was involved, this was part of Nayda’s daily routine. Every day she balances her art career with her family's needs, which include rolling around in the grass of this friendly local park. 

I asked Nayda how she does it. All of it - painting, mothering, pushing her creative self. She took a long breath in and assertively offered her advice: “I love my child and husband and there’s no magical solution- there’s just an attitude of how much you want it. As long as I have a goal set ahead that I have time for myself I can look towards that. I give every Monday to myself, and with that, I’m like ‘okay I can do this’.”

This is what self awareness and creativity is like for Nayda, allowing herself to be grounded for her family and perhaps this is what we all need: Mondays, daily hugs, salt and pepper, and the ability to be open and drive to continue on.


Jessie & Andy

Midwest Elopement at it's finest. She's a barber and he's a nurse and their love is fun-filled and beautiful. Featuring Rushmor Records of Milwaukee, WI & a shout out to their favorite band, Run The Jewels.