Aaaannnd we’re back! After taking a little break from blogging this week to focus on our attendees, we’re so excited to share a full recap today! We can’t believe we finally get to say that the first ever AJ Workshop is in the books!
Earlier this week, one of our biggest dreams came true for the very first time. We welcomed 16 photographers from places all over the U.S. and Canada to our hometown of Scottsdale, Arizona for two days of photography and business coaching designed to change their businesses and lives forever. What we didn’t anticipate is how much they’d change ours. These photographers will forever have a piece of our heart!
The inaugural class (from left to right): Ryann, Jamie, Marcelle, K.C., Taigan, Paige, Tina, Alicia, Alyssa, Stephanie, Eric, Megan, Andrea, Ryan, Micah and Cinnamon.
It’s no secret that we LOVE ice cream, so a Sundae night (see what we did there) get-together at our favorite 1950’s parlor to meet everyone and shake off the nerves (and drink milkshakes) was just what the doctor ordered!
We welcomed and toasted our attendees from every corner of the country! They came from as far north as Alberta, Canada, as far south as Tucson, Arizona, as far east as Greenville, South Carolina, and as far west as Los Angeles, California.
If you come to our workshop, expect to get hugged… a lot! They’re unlimited and included with each seat.
Jordan likes to tell stories. That’s all we can say about that!
The cherry on top of a perfect evening: the world’s largest Demos “Ice Cream” Sandwich to date!
We couldn’t wait for our attendees to arrive the next morning! We had a little surprise for them…
Our photography and business playbook! Only 16 copies exist in the world right now, and our attendees are the only ones who have them!
We kicked off Day 1 with all the elements of nailing shots in camera.
We MUST have been taking about depth of field here! Or the size of a Subway sandwich. There’s no other explanation.
Next, we moved into lighting without moving into different lighting. Think about that for a second!
“Look, we all know you’re here for Amy! I get it. I am, too!”
Clearly, talking about that Subway sandwich again…
We LOVED watching our attendees fill up their playbooks with notes!
“Stop! In the name of light!”
When taking about window light, naturally, one must be by the window.
Then we demonstrated posing… and helped everyone re-live their first awkward middle school dance (on the left) while showing how to turn something awkward into something beautiful (on the right)
Next up, the styled shoot designed by the amazingly talented Whitney Lewis of Some Like It Classic! We can’t wait to share the images from this soon!
Amy taught as she shot so the attendees could see her approach to photographing a bride and groom in action.
Jordan helped answer questions and shared tips with our attendees on how to be an effective second shooter.
Then, we turned them loose!
We photographed Allie and Jon’s wedding last spring. It was so much fun to get them in front of our cameras (and 16 others!) again! If you’re a husband and wife interested in modeling for an upcoming workshop styled shoot, send us an email!
It’s all about the details! We LOVED the florals by our fabulous friend Tricia from Petals and Lucy!
Allie and Jon’s cheeks HAD to be hurting at this point, but at least their feet got a rest a little bit at the sweetheart table!
Is it just us, or does it look like everyone’s winking at the camera?!
We didn’t want to waste a second, so we covered off-camera flash and post-processing during dinner!
Our group photo from Day 1!
“Can we get this in an IV, please?!” Day 2 came EARLY! These are the smiles of two people who were high on caffeine and life!
There were a lot of ah-ha! moments on Day 2 when we covered all things business! Just love Megan’s face in the bottom left corner!
Jordan says things. All kinds of things. He can’t help it most of the time.
Amy got so teary-eyed talking about our AJ Brides that she had to have Jordan jump in and finish that section.
No, really. Subway has 5-Dollar Footlongs after 4 p.m.
“No soup for you!” Or something like that.
One of our favorite parts was sharing meals with our attendees. There’s just something about breaking bread that breaks down barriers and allows people to connect on the most human level.
After lunch it was time for head shots!
The inaugural AJ Workshop guys!
We wanted to pack in as much as possible, so we used headshot time to teach about using window light and reflectors to get soft, beautiful light.
Can you find Amy?!
How cute are these two?! We have a special place in our heart for husband and wife teams. We were so touched when we found out that Eric & Jamie traveled all the way from Alabama to spend their very first wedding anniversary at our workshop! How sweet are they?!
We made sure to get a Demos Sandwich with all of our attendees for our memories!
Here’s our other sweet husband and wife team, Alyssa and Ryan, from South Carolina, rockin’ out that non-prom posing we talked about the day before!
“The sandwich weighs like this much.” But really, we spent the rest of the day diving into our playbook on all things workflow from initial inquiry to final delivery and it. was. jam. packed.
And had a lot of fun too!
We’re so thankful for the inaugural AJ Workshop class! It was such an amazing way to kick things off, and we can’t wait for it to happen all over again next week!
To get more information about our next workshop and be added to the priority access pre-sale list, click here!
A special thank you to The Clayton on the Park for hosting us and our awesome workshop sponsors who provided fun giveaways to our attendees: Showit, PASS, ExpoDisc, KISS Books and Two Bright Lights! Also, a huge thank you to our rockin’ assistants Alisa and Brie! We couldn’t have done this without you!
