Man, oh man, I really dropped the ball (again) on this whole blogging thing. Geez. I’ve got some drafts in the works and I’m gonna try my bestest (again) to do better. Starting with this dreamy session.

Back in February, I attended the Photo Native photography conference in Palm Springs and took part in a mentored shoot-out. A shoot-out is great opportunity for a small group of photographers to meet and learn from a mentor, as well as each other. This session was led by the phenomenal Jayme Ford of The Paper Deer Photography in a windmill farm in a canyon wash with the lovely Neary Family.

This was my first time doing a shoot-out and wasn’t really sure what to expect while trying to shoot with 13 other photographers. Honestly? It was weird for me, especially as an introvert in these kinda situations. You want to get your shots, but also be respectful of your fellow ‘togs trying to get theirs. And even though we started off in small groups taking turns, things (inevitably?) morphed into a free-for-all — everyone jockeying for position, calling out direction, and all the while still try to learn a few things. Check out these behind the scenes shots to get a little taste of the action.

As this wasn’t a normal session, I wasn’t quite able to capture everything I would’ve during a regular client session (like more close-ups, pics of dad and little brother, and some individual portraits, for example), but other than that, I’m pretty in love with these images. These are just a few of my favorites as I edited a ton of photos and probably could go back and edit even more.

As I’d hoped, I learned a lot of during this workshop, including some unexpected lessons. I won’t bore y’all with all that stuff, but there was one thing I thought worthwhile sharing and applies to both clients and fellow photog’s —how to handle Mother Nature and her fickleness with weather.

The sunny Palm Springs of many an Instagram influencer’s feed was nowhere in sight as shoot time approached. Instead, rain clouds loomed in the distance and I thought for sure it was gonna pour (we did get some spinkles and it would start to rain even heavier later that night and proceed to dump historic levels the next day, but that’s a story for another day).

As a lover of light, sun flares, and rim light, I was pretty bummed by this less than ideal weather. But I should’ve listened to my own advice that I give to clients about the weather.

Sometimes that less than ideal weather turns into a moody and dreamy landscape that you could never ever plan for in a million years. It was a good reminder to be patient and expect the unexpected.