Colten’s Cake Smash

Colten’s mom wanted to do a pre-birthday party session for his invitations and cake smash so, since it was SO cold outside, we went to his cousin Nikki’s house to shoot! This kid already likes Spongebob so, naturally, that is his party theme and the balloon was too cute. Colten wasn’t sure about eating all that cake; I think he thought he was doing something he SHOULDN’T be doing! Love this little guy and CANNOT believe that a year flew by so quickly since he was born.

Wake Up Call at The Believe Workshop

I was fortunate enough to attend The Believe Workshop, held at Smithview Pavilion in Maryville, TN on February 23 and, I must say – my head is still reeling!

There was SO much excellent, useful information presented in such an entertaining format that made us all feel like – “Wow! We should have already known that!” Now, as I exercise one of the important lessons learned – blogging – I am still amazed by the things that these talented professionals were willing to share.

Kristin, of KLP Photography, started us off by giving us “Five Ways to Build Your Brand”, sweet southern hospitality and a tear or two. She made me realize that I need to really concentrate on defining my style and quit comparing myself to other photographers.

After Kristin got us thinking, we took our gear outside to photograph two gorgeous couples. Kristin, along with Joe and Kathleen of JOPHOTO gave us all kinds of tips for getting natural poses and honest-to-goodness laughter from our subjects!


After filling up on Chick-fil-a it was on to the stuff that Kathleen Atkins, half of JOPHOTO , shared that left many of us scratching our heads in pure bewilderment. You can do that? Google WHAT? I have THAT much power as a wedding photographer? SEO? Well, I never. But you can bet I’m trying to catch up now! I loved Kathleen’s straightforward way of presenting her material and was (and still am) amazed at her marketing knowhow and, dare I say – chutzpah?! She has ways of getting JOPHOTO’s name out there and finding the perfect bride in the perfect venue that require as much strategic knowledge as any four-star general.

Next came Casey from NICHOLAS & KEATON who drove home his points and made us all laugh. He let us know about the importance of sales and that we must take good pictures! Imagine that.

Joe Atkins, the other half of JOPHOTO, talked to us about lighting and showed us lots of cool equipment, like pocket wizards, light sticks and Alien Bees. Then we went out to the pavilion so we could see how he would actually set up his lighting at a real wedding reception and let us practice with flashes.

Last came the latest You Tube craze – The Harlem Shake – something that I had never heard of until this workshop! YES – we filmed our own Harlem Shake Video – Photography Style and it was a blast!

I cannot thank these amazing people enough for sharing their knowledge, skills and friendship with us for a day in Maryville, TN. Forget the price. It was nothing compared to what we took away from this workshop that turned us all into True Believers.