A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure (and absolute terror) of teaching a program for MOPPA (Professional Photographers Association of Missouri) entitled Lifestyle Family – Start to Finish. The program involved a slide presentation portion, and then my favorite part; photographing a family as a live demo to show ways to interact during a session to capture gorgeous lifestyle images.
Things I learned during this amazing experience –>
1.Teaching and sharing is incredibly fulfilling – for me, it forced transparency and a vulnerability that made me truly think about how and why I’ve made the choices I have. It also is an absolutely amazing feeling knowing that other photographers can improve, change or try something new potentially because of me simply sharing what I do. I know that every time I attend any educational opportunity I come home with “nuggets” to incorporate into my work flow or session!
2.There’s nothing better than meeting people and making friends/connecting. MOPPA was filled with kindred spirits and delightfully artistic souls; I learned so much just being in the presence of so much talent.
3.Choosing to do hard things can feel scary but that’s okay. I’ve never photographed a live demo, or done a 4 hour program. It felt a little daunting and I had moments of panic leading up to the morning of my program, while at the same time being completely confident in what I had to share. The nervousness elevated my preparedness and showed me that this was important to me, otherwise I wouldn’t care as much as I did.
Here are some images from the Live Demo portion – the family I had the honor of photographing was absolutely lovely❤️. Thank you so much to MOPPA for the invite!
(Shout-out to Millers Lab for sponsoring my program – best photography lab in the world!)
