Free to Succeed Tour!

So I'm exhausted, but bursting at the seams with excitement and newly absorbed knowledge. I just got back from the Free to Succeed Tour in San Francisco hosted by the awesome David Jay and fantastic Jasmine Star. I totally feel like I got to rub elbows with celebrities. So starstruck!

Here's the bus:

What can I say?! Tonight was so awesome and enlightening and inspiring. Jasmine Star's story totally resonated down to my bones. She reminds me so much of friends from college and I loved her message of "Keepin' it Real". I'm all about that. She's just as real and genuine in person, as she is on her website and blog. I loved the insight into a manageable workflow, word of mouth marketing, and the super cool ShowItWeb and ShowItSites. It's also humbling to learn how DJ started - at $1,000 a wedding and is now at $15k. As an aspiring photographer and a bride-to-be I got to experience both perspectives, and I have so much more appreciation and realize the value of my photographer's work.
I pushed myself out of my comfort zone and approached them both after the seminar. Normally, I don't think I would have done that. I consider myself to be a shy person, but I was like, "When then heck will I be in the same room as DJ and Jasmine Star?!" So I did it. I stood in line, as if to get an autograph, and said my thank you's (THANKS to YOU BOTH!), and got a photo op.

Check it:

It's 1am, but I wanted to get this out while it was fresh!

Free to Succeed Tour

I'm so excited to attend the Free to Succeed Tour! It's a photography seminar hosted by David Jay and Jasmine Star. David Jay was named one of the top 15 wedding photographers in the world and Jasmine Star is one of the rising stars in the industry, having only started shooting weddings in October 2006. From what I've heard from the other stops on the tour, it's going to be awesome! I'm so excited! Did I mention that? I even had a dream about it.

Mind you, I've only spoken to a handful of photographers, and all of that was only on a client-vendor basis. I'm looking forward to meet local photographers.

I'm determined.

Impromptu Photo Shoot

I wanted to make the most of the day at Halfmoon Bay so I took my camera with me. On the upside, there were two adorable kiddie there.

I like kids, especially when they are intrigued by the camera and allow the paparazzi to shoot continuously!

TravisHoehne.com in Full Effect!

Our awesome and totally rad photographer has launched his new website: travishoehne.com!

Congrats Travis!

Thoughts on the future

I was reading archives from a wedding photographer's blog over the weekend, and her words just spoke to me so clearly. I was humbled to learn that she had the same fears and worries as I currently do about getting into the business. It's been a dream of mine for the past few years and the thought of working for myself has been very tempting. But it's hard to take that leap of faith and JUST DO IT. I don't think I'm quite at that point yet, but I'm getting there.

Speaking of a leap of faith, I decided to e-mail said photographer as an informational interview type thing. The worst that could happen is that she never responds. But my gut tells me that she probably will, because she seems like that type of person. I'm excited that I decided to just do it. The last time that I emailed a photographer was probably a year or so ago and I asked about how she started out, and she replied back, happy to be of help.

I still need to work on composition and lighting a lot. I've got a good hang on retouching and processing in Photoshop thanks to my class. I would definitely start out with this being a hobby/job on the side until I was able to take it on as a full time endeavor. I'm starting to looks a some lenses and thanks to borrowlenses.com can try some out before I buy. And they are located in San Mateo!

Engaged!

My favorites from the Engagement Photo session by the awesome Travis Hoehne. Thanks Travis!!

I love this action shot. I look bored. or mad...


Love this one!


My first and last time as a model...


Cent should get hired! Check that smile :)


Fun one!


Oh Mario Kart! I'm the defending champion... for now!


This one makes me laugh.


Awww.


Stopping some Texas Traffic...


I don't know how I'm going to wait another 365+ days!

Engagement post coming soon!

Coming to a blog near you...Just got word from Travis that our engagement photos are ready! Woo hoo!

Engagement Shots, Check!

We had a fantastic time yesterday with our AWESOME photographer, Travis Hoehne, shooting in downtown Dallas and the Speedzone. I can't wait to see the results!

It turned out that Travis was going to be in Texas for a workshop this week. Since Cent lives in Dallas, I figured it would work out nicely if we had our engagement photos taken where he lives, since we're having the wedding in California. Plus, it was unknown and new territory for Travis as he is from California and has had several photo shoots in the Bay Area. It was so fun!

We shot around the Dallas World Aquarium (also where we went for our first anniversary) and took some awesome action shots. ::cue Chariots of Fire music:: Then, we went to have some fun. For a unique twist on engagement photos, we went to Speedzone where there were also have the debut of Mario Kart for the Wii. We were able to borrow the Mario and Luigi hats from the Mario Kart people and Travis shot us while we raced. So fun! Then we played a round of putt putt golf, something we'd been wanting to do since we first started dating. Even though we didn't keep score, I won! I got two holes-in-one! It was probably the best round of mini golf I'd ever played. So many thing just fell into place, it was so great!

I'll definitely post some shots when we get them!