This past weekend, I had the opportunity to travel to Nashville, TN to speak at the “Not a Workshop” Workshop II, along with 3 other speakers and 15 workshop guests. The workshop was the idea of Nashville wedding and portrait photographer Joshua Gull, and the purpose is for a group of fellow photographers to get together in a casual format, in an effort to strengthen and encourage one another. Each speaker had roughly 30 minutes to shoot with a couple and explain to the group some of the things they’re looking for while shooting, how they make their decisions, and to demonstrate how they interact with their subjects.
When I arrived in Nashville on Friday afternoon, Josh picked me up from the airport and we met with Kristin Steele for lunch at Martin’s BBQ in Nolansville, TN. I had told Josh that I wanted to get some local flavor and he didn’t disappoint. On Friday night, we went to dinner at Papa Boudreaux’s in Santa Fe, TN with Andy Stacy and his girlfriend Kayla Erin Brooks. The food was incredible and the atmosphere was even better. Ronnie Fruge kept everyone entertained with some amazing guitar work.
There’s a reason why Andy’s smile is so big, but I’ll get to that in just a little bit.
The workshop started early Saturday morning, with speakers and guests arriving at 8:30am. We had a brief intro session, then the shooting portion of the day started. Each speaker had roughly 30 minutes to work a with a couple in an engagement session style setting and the guests were free to shout out questions about what was happening. Josh broke the ice and went first, working with fellow photographer Annabelle Dando and her boyfriend Patrick.
I was up next, and I had the pleasure of working with Andy and his girlfriend Kayla. I’ve known Andy for some time as we’re both members of a photography forum. I knew that I’d be working with Andy ahead of time, and that’s because he had some big plans for the photo session. Andy intended to propose to to Kayla. This is the second proposal we’ve shot, and it was just as electric. The display of pure emotion is always incredible. This may have been one of the most photographed proposals in history, with all 15 photographers snapping pics as the action went down! Here are just a few shots from my session with Andy and Kayla.
After my shooting portion, Kristen Steele was up. She worked with Andy and Kayla as well, extending their engagement shoot. Then, Annabelle Dando, a wedding and portrait photographer from Baltimore, MD had a chance to shoot with Mark and Noelle.
After the morning shooting portion was over, we made our way back to Josh’s house for lunch, followed by a live editing session of the shots we had taken during the morning. We also discussed business topics such as SEO, marketing, and pricing. Tons of great information was shared from speakers and guests alike.
At 6:00pm we broke for dinner at Bluecoast Burrito and then headed into downtown Nashville for some street shooting and more evening engagement fun with Andy and Kayla. It was an awesome weekend.
