right before the amazingness that was jon + ledah’s mariposa ranch wedding i was thrilled to have a chance to learn from an amazing photographer, mike colon.

he held “the seven workshop” in san jose, so it was nice to be close to home for this one. not that i would have minded an excuse to travel to Hawaii or Bali for his workshop…

i had wanted to attend his workshop after hearing rave reviews from jasmine star (as i loved jasmine star’s workshop). i also wanted to take his workshop because he shoots mainly with natural light, which is my bent, but i still wanted to perfect that before i move onto any crazy lighting workshops… and knowing that many other professionals respect him helped me know it was a workshop i could trust. also, not gonna lie, it’s pretty baller that he did usher’s wedding.

but you know what, you’d never know that mike colon is a rockstar photographer by just sitting down and chatting with him. and that, in my book, is a big deal. he is so down to earth and friendly, and really cares about other people. an awesome thing was that our workshop ended up being super small, so it was a bonus to have such a tailored learning environment.

…and i learned a lot! i consider myself quite proficient with my camera but i learned A LOT more technical stuff than i thought i wanted to learn. i was just amazed. i was so inspired by the proficiency that mike has with his camera, and it really makes me want to strive to be that good when i’ve been shooting for 10 years.

i also got some really valuable insight on marketing, pricing, selling, and all that “other stuff” that comes with running your own photography business. i know that these workshops are helping me learn great business strategies…but it’s making me wish i had gotten an undergrad degree in business or marketing. oh well, sociology was fun at least.

after my mind started to melt down from overload we took a welcome break to do a little shoot with our model Alana. she is gorge, of course.  i am posting a few of my favorites below. there are a few where  i was able to break her concentration to make her smile. i like to think of that as my personal accomplishment for the day!

we did all these around 7pm, and just shot in natural lighting. we did not use any additional lighting or bounce tools. my favorite kind of shoot!

ok so this isn’t our model, but i think she is just as gorge! this is katherine harris, mike colon’s assistant and our stylist extraordinaire for this shoot. she rocked it!!

and here’s mike grabbin’ a bite. in his defense, he really only bought it as a courtesy so that he could use their restroom. at least that’s what he told us…

behind the scenes ya’ll. katherine helping alana onto a fountain i’m sure they don’t want anyone to be on. too bad, san jose!

mike shows alana some of his radical images. he was using a 200 2.0 (? i think) fixed lens. it was crazy awesome and looked crazy heavy. i don’t think i have the guns for one of those.

and then! we ate mexican food, some bad flan, and some grasshoppers. i was peer pressured into it.

verdict: mike colon workshop is recommended by this gem.

xoxo

em

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