I hardly go to downtown Detroit. The closest I get is the airport. This is seriously sad on my part. Especially with the amazing Book Cadillac Hotel in downtown Detroit. Friday morning I would never have guessed I would be in Detroit on Saturday. That’s until I met Suzanne for brunch, a meeting we had planned a few weeks in advance. She was excited to be attending Kristen Taylor‘s first workshop and believe it or not… it was my ONE Saturday free in forever! A day I should be getting ready for taxes, I pushed them aside and decided to go too! What a better way to spend the day talking photography with other enthusiasts, meeting Kristen and learning about her business, and shooting BEAUTIFUL brides! Two weekends in a row!! 🙂 Yep. Life can’t get much better for this photographer.
Here we are outside of The Westin, you can see our gorgeous models for the day, Kelli & Caitlin. They were total celebs with all of us clicking away…
Aren’t they a-d-o-r-a-b-l-e?
Here’s Kristen doing her thing! She is an expert ‘poser’ – she styles everything, but in a good way. Very fashion forward but with a casual classic twist.
Here is Kelli rockin’ the streets of Detroit!
Here is a scene with Kelli and Ryan that was setup by Kristen but shows what I’m talking about…. casual yet classic. Posed, yet not structured without emotion or the feeling of movement. Love it! I can’t wait to use what I learned this coming season!!
Kelli was constantly cracking Ryan up. Normally it’s hard to get the guys to be “in the moment” and not aware of the 15+ photographers shooting them. Way to go Kelli!
It’s always good to give couples a function, something to do. I do this myself quite a bit in my engagement and portrait sessions. Here’s some similar actions such as walking, but with a pose that brings the couple close.
Love the backdrops that the city provides!
Stacy, owner of The Gown Shop, styled and accessorize our models for the day! Nope, they weren’t wearing their wedding dresses… Actually, Kelli and Ryan are just engaged!! They were playing “wedding” before their planned September date. Ryan will still be surprised as the dress she is wearing today is not even close to her chosen wedding dress.
The couple was playing a game here. I’m not going to comment on the rules because I’m SOOOO going to use this with my brides and grooms! Thank you Kristen for such a great tip!
Another fun activity for them to do while we all clicked away…
We were given time to take turns posing and picking backgrounds for our models. Here are a few shots we had to roam around the city on our own.
Practicing back lighting here…
Linsdey Narker of Flourish Event Design provided the lovely bouquets.
Caitlin was our vintage inspired bride. She was so much fun to photograph! Always pretty whether smiling or not! Seriously. Simply stunning.
Here is Caitlin with her hubby Kaveh.
Like I said… stunning.
I loved every shot so I have a lot to share…
Kaveh looks steller here. 🙂
These two were in their own bubble of love whether we were shooting them or not. It was always fun to turn around and peek to see what they were doing. 🙂
Here we are inside showing what is done when lighting is not optimal. Kristen uses a video light held by an assistant. Strobes can also be used but a continuous light source is the easiest and fastest way to get exposure dead on.
I don’t own a 35mm lens but here I am with my 24mm at a low angle, which elongates the height and provides just the right “thinning” distortion. 🙂 Kristen has a 35mm which I always drool over… If I only had room in my bag!!
I was so happy to attend Kristen’s workshop. I came home with many action steps to further advance my skills. I cannot wait to bring these new techniques for my couples this coming season! I do a lot of research on my own, but Kristen demonstrated how a simplified workflow can really lend itself to more creativity. I think, correction – I know I try to take on too much at once. I’m really going to step back and rethink exactly what I want to do instead of trying everything at once. It was also refreshing to get confirmation that I am going the right way. This year I’ve already planned not to be a one person show. I will have a assistant for the season and in most cases a second shooter. I had to laugh when Kristen said when she was doing weddings alone she realized she too was either going to get an assistant or a masseuse. That is the same epiphany I had at the end of last season. We both chose assistants! 🙂