Stepping out of the box.....

As I mentioned in a earlier post I attended a Photography workshop last weekend. Before the workshop we received a list of email addresses for everyone attending the workshop we all began introducing ourselves over email which was pretty cool.

Friday I drove down to my cousin Brynn's house (where I would be staying) and went out for a early dinner with her. I then headed to meet my carpool buddy Phillipa. I need to stop here and explain a little bit... This entire weekend was a total step out of the box for me. Which I have to say I am proud of myself for doing. As most people know I am pretty shy when we first meet.....after that wellllll not so much. ANYWAY I met my carpool buddy whom I had never met before Friday night (crazy for me) she was super nice and she drove everyday which is awesome cause I don't do well driving outside of Whatcom County. Back on track we headed to MeRa and Brian's house in Tacoma (yes, they invited all of us ladies to their home how cool is that)for the meet and greet. We arrived a little bit early so we just parked outside of their house waiting for 7:00 to arrive next thing we knew MeRa came out to the car and brought us in. It was so crazy seeing her after I have been reading her blog and admiring her work for sooo long. We met all the ladies that we would be spending the weekend with. It was a really fun time with lots of laughing. Phillipa and I left around 9:30 to head back. It was a fun night.

Saturday morning I met Phillipa bright and early for our drive down to Tacoma. Our workshop was held at Hotel Murano in their gallery space. What a neat hotelwith tons of glass sculptures. We stared out with breakfast and introducing ourselves. MeRa and Brian explained to us some camera functions, how to tell a story with you photo's, and how to capture a moment. In the afternoon we got a chance to put our skills to the test we split up into 4 groups and photographed mom's and babies. It was sort of a frustrating experience for me because I am not a mom and don't know what these ladies are feeling with 5 cameras pointing at them at once and also so many people in such a small place all trying to get the same shot. (there is a link at the bottom of this post for the pictures I took some of them anyway) We went back into the gallery for more learning. After a long day of learning Brian and MeRa treated us all to a nice Thai food dinner. I have to say dinner was a BLAST! What a fun time. We all got to know each other better. Phillipa and I headed back to get ready for Sunday our last day of the workshop :(

Sunday morning once again I met Phillipa bright and early for our drive to Tacoma (thank you so much for driving Phillipa). We each wrote about how we were feeling and shared. That was a great time I felt like that is when everyone sorta clicked together. We spent the morning learning about metering which was great to finally know how to do it. Then we headed out to do family photo shoots. This photo shot was more relaxed, more space and we all knew each other better. It was really fun. PLUS I shot the entire thing in MANUAL!!! WOO HOO That is exactly what I had hoped to learn. After another long day it was time to say good bye to all our new friends.

It has been almost a week since we all met and we have all kept in contact so far so good right? Seriously though I feel like the ladies I met this weekend I will be friends with forever. Many people asked me how the workshop went and my answer to everyone has been I cannot even put into words how I feel. I really can't it is sorta strange. I feel like a completely new person. This weekend was totally empowering and inspirational. I am so excited to see what my future holds with photography :0) Like some of the ladies have said "we formed a great cheering section this weekend"!

This is probably a super boring post to most people but I had to write it down so I don't forget about it. I know some of my family members are thinking Melisa never forgets anything. This has to be the longest post I have ever written and I bet it will be the longest one I ever write cause well, I am not a writer!

Here is the link to the photos I took:
MeRa Koh Photography Workshop Photo's

UPDATED:
I just realized something else about the workshop. We all received a handmade folder with all sorts of information in it. Well, I didn't read everything in it till last night. This really jumped out to me... here is what it said: MeRa and Brian have a heart to empower, ignite passion, and love on you. From their past workshops, they know beyond a shadow of a doubt that each of you are here for a reason. But the weekend won't be contained to the reason you came. Their prayer is that this weekend will unfold into a beautiful, life changing window of time. A window where you took time to water your creative soul - you stepped into an unfamiliar place with your camera and made space for yourself - you met new girlfriends who are on a similar journey and you began to find your voice in your images.