Chris and Katie were such fun!! It was a rare (or so I’m told) overcast day in Hawaii and we shot around the amazing houses that Mike Colon and the rest of the class were staying in (I was down the street at the Hyatt Regency, more on that later!). […]
Pretty much from the beginning Meghan knew that she wouldn’t have time for too many formal shots of her and Drue the day of the wedding due to her timeline so she decided to use her engagement session for a day after session instead (or Trash the Dress session as it’s sometimes called). We got really lucky with the weather the day of the wedding but we were not so lucky with the weather the day after, as I was driving up to Cleveland it was storming and raining. Although the storm missed Cleveland it still rained a bit and was your typical dreary NE Ohio day – but Meghan and Drue were still willing to give it a shot! We started off in Edgewater Park and then hit the West Bank and finished up at the East Bank of the Flats in Cleveland for some more urban style shots. Even though the sky was just awful, they were both so awesome that the pics still were amazing!
Last week I had the amazing expeience of taking a workshop with David Beckstead, one of the top 10 wedding photographers in the United States. He is just simply awesome. I learned SO much from him and he was the nicest person. Very friendly and easy to get along with. The workshop was hosted by Cat McKinley whom was just the best hostess ever. I can’t rave enough about this workshop, it was THAT good. By far the best money I’ve spent towards my education in photography. We went to some fantastic places in Akron and Cleveland with our model brides – the Akron Civic Theater, Stan Hywet and The Arcade in Cleveland. We also did a quick jaunt around downtown with our bride as well. The best of the best (IMHO) of what I shot is below. Beware it is very picture heavy!
Thanks so much to David for being such a wonderful teacher and Cat for setting everything up!
After the awesomeness that was the shoot at the Neon Graveyard, we headed out to Eldorado Canyon where the abondoned Techatticup Mine is located at. Currently the site is run as a tourist attraction. We were there with two model/brides Miki and Michelle. I was unable to shoot Miki but I spent some time with the fabulous Michelle and got some great images as sunset loomed. I want to say a very special thank you to David E Jackson, RLB Photography and Adam Koepke for helping me with the one light at sunset. Another HUGE thank you goes out to Tim & Jaime of Jackson Photography for their help setting up this shoot and for helping me de-cactus myself. Yes, I fell into a cactus and had a whole entire head of the thing stuck in my hand. Which bits are still in actually. I know you guys are really surprised! Ha ha!
WPPI offers classes before the big convention starts called Plus Classes that are essentially workshops with various photographers. This year’s classes were made up of 8 of the top photographers in the field, with 20 students per class, focusing for two days on their personal expertise in photography. I chose Mike Colón because I adore his work, he shoots Nikon (which is what I shoot) and I felt that I could learn a lot from him. I felt that our shooting styles were very much similar when it comes to shooting so I really felt that I could learn a lot from this amazing photographer.
The classes bascially were about the basics of photography and learning how to find and shoot natural light correctly. Each day we had a morning session of learning the craft and the afternoons were spent with models implementing what we learned during the day. The first day we had Jen & Adam as our models and the second day we had Krystal & Adam (same guy, different gals) as our models. I feel that I learned a lot from Mike – especially when it comes to determing light sources! I also learned how to pay attention more to what is in the background that could be potentially distracting when shooting. He also had his assistant/friend/sidekick Ray Santana along with him for the class and I also learned a lot from Ray.
I felt bad for both guys though who were mystified with my manners. When it comes to fighting 20 people for a shot, I’m the first to bow out. I got elbowed in the head a few times and someone hit me with their lens (some of these lenses aren’t light! ow!). Photography isn’t a contact sport in my world so I chose to go for the odd angles and try and get what I can. Both Ray & Mike by the second day were trying to not be great teachers but were also shoving me in for the good shots and looking out for me. They were both fantastic. I can’t say enough things about them. Anyone that gets a chance to take Mike’s workshop absolutely should!!
Below are some shots I got during the two-day class!
I organized a shoot at the Neon Graveyard (aka The Boneyard) for some photogs (well really anyone that wanted to go) during WPPI. About 20 or so people showed up and we had one bride and groom (Natalie and Aaron) that had got married the night before, one model couple and a single model guy (Chris) show up for the fun! I had a great time shooting at a place I’ve wanted to shoot for a couple years now and it was great being able to incorporate a trash-the-dress session into it as well. Thanks so much to all of our models! you were great!!!!!
Thanks to everyone that came! Amy, Dave, Adam, Rob (big shot out to these three guys for helping me learn the one light magic!!), David, Chad, Kelly, Kelly, Cindy and Rachel for coming out to play. I think there were a few more people – if so holler! I am not sure I got everyone’s info 
Thanks to the models for playing with us as well! I will be sending everyone their images as soon as I finish this up. If you don’t hear from me let me know!
