This blog post is a long time coming! I’ve shared several images from our time in Colorado at the Rise Retreat earlier this year but haven’t sat down to share more of my favorites as well as some about our time together.
When Nicole, Sara and I set out to plan our first retreat, one of the big things we all agreed on was that we wanted it to be real and applicable for our attendees and was it ever! We wanted our families to be just like any family we would photograph on a normal day, with all the normal challenges that come with family photography. While our families were AMAZING we had some crazy challenges with weather but thankfully it all turned out great! We started our retreat on Friday night with two sessions led by Sara and Nicole. They each had a family they directed and our attendees were able to split their time with each of them and be in even smaller groups to listen, ask questions and even direct the clients themselves if they wanted.
Here are a few film images I snagged while Nicole and Sara led their sessions.
That night we had a cozy dinner waiting on us when we got home. Definitely come to the Rise Retreat ready to be taken care of because we are not playing around about our food. lol. I’m hungry just thinking about next years food. Think gourmet cheese boards and hot coffee on tap. yummmm!
The next morning we woke up to a blanket of snow, and headed to Breckenridge for an in home family session that I led after I did some teaching on how I approach my in home sessions. Everything from my why, to how I walk through a home and get a plan for my session flow. I wanted this session to be just like a session I would have with a client at home so that our attendees could see what it would be like for me to walk into a client’s home for the very first time and photograph them there. That is just what we did and this precious family was as lovely as could be. All images shot on Kodak Portra 400 and Kodak TriX 400. Developed and scanned at The Find Lab.
For the rest of Saturday we sipped coffee by the fire and watched the snow fall outside as we chatted about all things related to business. We held discussions about marketing, SEO, film, creative projects, setting boundaries for your business and so much more.
Sunday morning we got up for a sunrise session that it ended up snowing for most of the session and I cannot say I was mad about it. Although the weather was a surprise, it felt like the most magical way to end our sessions together.
After our last session, we went back to the house to talk editing and gallery delivery as well as just answering any questions anyone still had after our time together. Then our goodbyes!
This retreat was so wonderful and there is no one else I’d rather do it with than Sara and Nicole. They’re incredibly talented artists but also strong and successful business women with a passion to help others achieve their goals and improve. I believe that we have created a beautiful retreat to connect and refresh the artist in you. So if your heart’s desire is to dig deeper into connection at family sessions and creating the kind of work that lights you up + you crave community with other creatives, this is for you. Our retreat is hybrid. Including both film and digital mediums. Because we believe there are strengths in both mediums. And while we each share our love for our medium of choice, this retreat is about so much more than that. It’s learning to pull those honest connections from families even when everything is going crazy at a session, it’s seeing and understanding light and how it can enhance your images, it’s knowing how to run your business well so that you can not only stretch those creative muscles but also help support your family with your art. We just announced our 2020 retreat in Asheville, NC April 19-21 and we would love to have you join us. You can find out all the details about our retreat and register at this link. We hope to see you there!
Also, a HUGE thank you to all of our sponsors from this years retreat! We were able to provide the best swag bags to our clients with some of our favorite things and business tools so THANK YOU!
We have SO MANY good things in store for this year and I cannot wait to share it with you! Join us!
