Bakersfield Photography Workshop: Simmering in the WIN

I was once told by the amazing Jasmine Star that we should simmer in our wins. So often we are ready to tackle the next big thing that our minds can dream up. But it’s important to simmer through something you just accomplished. This is what I’m doing.

One week ago. An amazing team [you can read more about the pre-anticipation HERE] and I prepared the heck out of a space and a moment to welcome 7 photographers to Dof Workshop. It was so humbling to know that these attendees had invested into something they weren’t certain of yet. We hadn’t proved ourselves before-since this was the first one ever created. They bought a ticket for a CHANCE! And we were not going to let them down.

I won’t go too much into the prep work it took but let me tell you what I’m taking away from that amazing moment.

I’m amazed at what can happen when a team gets together and makes a vision theirs. Sure, I brought the vision to the team, but overtime…it became OURS! We all owned it and it was amazing to see that. This was the first time I’ve ever worked on a big project like this with a team and it was so scary and put me in a very vulnerable place. It’s easy to fail alone, because no one sees it, but to fail in front of others is so hard. I always wanted this though, I always wanted to work on something that I was certain I couldn’t do alone. I saw so many areas that I could’ve easily dropped the ball if I tried to do this by myself. I walked away GRATEFUL for the team I had. [Team: Marsha @thephotoge , Jake @motvd , Brian @bayanez , Blazeny @_blazeny_ ]

Visions coming to life. I mean, sometimes you have these crazy ideas and dreams. And they stay there-just in your heart and mind. But….SOMETIMES…they take form, and it’s the most beautiful thing. Blazeny [our design team] took everything that our team had in mind and made it REAL and tangible for all the attendees. The event taking place inside the new beautiful building at Metro Galleries in Bakersfield Ca, right across from Cafe Smitten. It was so surreal to see what was once on paper take form in person. We knew that the space would affect the way our attendees felt and it mattered to all of us. We were so happy to see that the results were evident-our attendees were amazed and inspired by the space. It simply set the tone for the rest of the day.

Fired up during challenges. We set up two photography shooting opportunities throughout the day: “Swipe Right” [Speed Challenge] which took place at the side patio at Metro Galleries. Our attendees had to form a line. One attendee became the photographer and the rest of the attendees became the clients. The photographer had 5 minutes to capture all the attendees while only clicking 3 frames per attendee to try to nail the perfect profile portrait for each one. Then they would rotate so that each attendee had a chance to shoot the other attendees in the same format. It was really fun and quite the challenge to try to nail the perfect photo under pressure. Each one of them did an amazing job! The next portion of the photography session was the big shoot with our models on the streets of downtown Bakersfield. They had about 5 minutes each to direct our model Maraea and then had to switch and direct Mike. After this portion Mike and Maraea did an outfit change and then became a couple [complete strangers turned couple for this shoot]. The goal was to try to make these two strangers authentically feel a connection in front of the camera from the direction given by our attendees. In this portion most of the attendees were paired up with one of our coaches [@motvd, @thephotege, and @rubizphoto]. We just gave them tips as they directed their segment. This really fired me up, watching them get out there and be so unafraid. They challenged themselves to think outside of the box and that’s what we were hoping for!

Everything was a blast. It was so heartfelt as each instructor poured out from the depths of their heart, but it was full of truth and knowledge that we’ve learned along the way. This workshop was created to inspire and shift our attendees. To encourage them to elevate. We are cheerfully watching all of them and we are cheering them on in hopes to see them excel. Watching others win always feels like a win for me. Still pondering if we should do another Dof Workshop in the near future…until then, just simmering in this one for a bit! It was a good one.

Prepping the entrance gallery. We hung a mix of photographs and featured some of our attendees work as well.
Blazeny hard at work setting everything up.
Breonna with Blazeny taking care of business. This is how it’s done-baby strapped and all.
Huge thank you to Emily for assisting us on setting up the morning of Dof.
Rubi Z’s husband [Jimmy Z] hand crafted these amazing wood tripods.
We later got to reveal to our attendees that these were their gifts! Handcrafted by Jimmy Z.
Our designed space. Designed by Blazeny.
Brian, Jake, and Marsha.
@motvd walked through some of @theresawoonerphotography ‘s work for a constructive critique
@cynthiahansenphotography fully engaged as Jake touched on camera settings.
@dallasryan
@motvd
@bayanez Videographer for Dof
Speed Challenge in action
@theresawoonerphotography rocking out as the client for the speed challenge
@marisamenchacaphoto enjoying the spotlight during the Swipe Right speed challenge
@motvd
Amanda with @atlasfinancialsolutionsca gracing us with her presence and her financial expertise during our ELEVATE BUSINESS segment
@marlyb.photography is all smiles at DoF
Erika with Blazeny
Thank you so much Kim for catering our delicious lunch.
Marsha shares so much knowledge about how to ELEVATE BUSINESS.
There was a lot of bromance going on with these two [@motvd + @bayanez]
@maraeasmith
Outfit change with Mike-our model.
Outfit change with Maraea
A little in between moment because our attendees were bringing the fire and these two were just troopers throughout it all!
@motvd coaching @dallasryan through the couples shoot.
A little bts of @cristabellecamachophotography directing
@cristabellecamachophotography doing her thing [coached by me during this segment]
@marlyb.photography coached by @thephotege
@aalvazphotography caught the vision and I just helped her direct the position-she nailed it all.
Bts of @aalvazphotography killin it.
Our models feeling good after all of that heat in Bakersfield!

DEVELOP YOURSELF: We closed with a really special moment. The stands with each attendees self portrait they created on their homework challenge prior to coming to Dof became a moment of reflection. We lined them up and they had to face their self. They were instructed to reflect on the things they’ve done and the desires they hope to achieve. Sometimes in this business, we are looking to others to affirm us along the way. We wanted to show our attendees that sometimes they have to be their own voice of reason, their own affirmation! We had them write words to themselves so that when things got tough, they could remember WHY they should keep going. It was a really special moment.