i drive out of the airport having arrived home from seattle, windows rolled down, music blaring, the smell of actual campfires from a mile away on the beach wafting over the 405 freeway south, the golden light of the afternoon weaving its way around buildings, cars, and palm trees. and abruptly stopping. and sitting in bumper to bumper traffic all the way home.
kind of a letdown after hauling ass at 30,000 mph in the air. but as always, it is wonderful to be HOME.
i flew up to seattle very last minute last saturday to attend and speak at the secret workshop, held by the energetic and beautiful cheryl muhr. as most of you know, i do not attend and/or speak at workshops. the teacher role is not my most comfortable role. who am i kidding, i HATE IT. plus, i am typically stretched so thin adding one more thing to my tumbling plates is just a dumb idea. i literally have no choice but to focus my time and energy strictly on my family, friends and clients. but, cheryl made it so easy on me, and did a q&a interview type thing so that i wouldnt have to feel pressure to come up with something interesting to talk about on my own.
and it was a really great weekend. it helped supreme that the attendees were so gracious and kind and warm and friendly. i could have made fast friends with any and all of the people i met. here is a shot i took during the child model portion of the event. cutest family ever…loved this kid.
and cheryl and her family couldnt be more adorable and kind and loving and generous. one of the things that impressed me the most is how she makes this all work for her while raising a family. she is breastfeeding her youngest daughter still, so cant be far from her for long, and so in the middle of teaching will take her into her arms and feed her, not skipping a beat or interrupting the thought or technique she was in the middle of talking about. in my opinion, that is just the way it should be. i have so much respect for momma’s who are making their businesses work for them in the midst of mothering. FIST PUMP!
monday morning i photographed her family before i headed home on the plane. wouldnt you know it, the weekend temps reached 90 degrees and sunny. but monday morning rolled in with clouds and rain. we did it anyway, trying to escape the rain by getting out of downtown and getting closer to the airport. it worked and we were only drizzled on.
i get a lot of emails asking if i teach a workshop, or what workshop i recommend, and now i can say with confidence that i highly recommend the secret workshop for new photographers who want to learn how to start out and build their business the best way they can. cheryl is an open book, and gives all of her “secrets” away.
and now, i too have figured out the lasso tool!
I’m glad you had such a good experience and that it was worth your time. And that you know how to use the lasso tool. That in itself is worth it. :)
I’m always mesmerized by your photos and was wondering if you do all your post processing by “instict” or if you use actions. And do you ever think of making as selling actions? Just curious.
sara
http://www.gitzengirl.blogspot.com
I LOVE that shot of that boy in the grass. L O V E it! ;-)
I am going to pretend that i am not UBER bummed that I missed an opportunity to learn from you…. perhaps this will open more doors for you in that realm???? peace.
amen to that lasso tool! Thanks for those pointers cheryl! Can’t wait to see the pics of cheryl and her family! I’m sure you did an amazing job!
wow!! now i am sooo jealous of everyone who was at that workshop…
THANK YOU so much Tara for taking the time away from your family to come up to Seattle and share so much with us. It was truly a highlight, and you are such an amazing person! Each one of us was blessed by you this past weekend!!
Oh man, now I am soooooo super jealous!!!! But, I will always have Jinky :) :) :) who was at our workshop.
LOVE the photo of you and Cheryl together….I think I have BOTH the shirt you are wearing AND the dress Cheryl is wearing from Anthropologie…..shhh….don’t tell my hubs. LOL!
You know I think you rock. Hard girl…hard! What a wonderful treat to meet you and hear your secrets ;) I feel so lucky and blessed.
AND to everyone who missed it–Tara just is.
yeah you rock Tara!
lovin’ all the photogs in flip flops!
Oh my goodness is all I have to say! I feel like the luckiest girl in the whole entire world that I got to attend the Secret Workshop, with you there!!! Tara, you are so inspiring and amazing. What a gift you were to all of us at the workshop…so humble, kind, open and honest. You are a genuine one in a million soul! I can’t wait to get down to the OC to have you take our family pics. Even my hubby is now hooked! ;) You rocked my world lady! THANK YOU!!!
Love,
Rebecca
Hi Tara, I’m a new stalker of your blog (add me to the millions…) and I love your work! I am just getting into children’s photography after doing only weddings and editorial for the last eight years. Kids are HARD work… I think I have an easier time at my weddings. ;-)
I just wanted to say I love how everyone in the last picture are all wearing flip flops. How many participants does she have during the Secret Workshop? It looks like alot!!
Aww, looks like so much fun! And I’m slightly jealous that you two have a photo together ;) Heck, I’m jealous that I didn’t get to meet you!! Maybe someday :)
It was so amazing to meet you Tara. I had such a wonderful weekend learning so much! You were so kind, and gracious and real. Thanks for everything. I am still serious about a Canada photo shoot… or maybe we’ll come where it’s warm. The spots there are amazing. Hope you get time to relax and catch up now. Are you still at -100 hours… or is it more now?! Good luck… school is almost in right?
Tara, I have been watching your blog for awhile now. I just love your pictures. You truly have a talent. I just wanted to stop in and tell you how beautiful I thing you are. And how your beauty shows in pictures of you. Just lovely. And your family is just as beautiful as you.
i stayed in that hotel room. i swear. i have the same photo. now if i could just find it. the westin, right? we’ll be in seattle in october. so excited. my kids still talk about you.
Tara – I count my lucky stars that you attended The Secret Workshop in Seattle ! What you brought to the table was such a gift. Not only are you an amazing photographer but your spirit and energy leave me speechless. Thank you again for coming to Seattle !!
OMG I gasped out loud when I heard the Seattle peeps got lucky with you! I am trying to get into the Boston workshop next month and would have peed my pants if you walked in as the surprise guest.
Soooooooooo jealous. Really.
I’m so jealous. Lucky them, hope to meet you one day
Tara, it was WONDEFUL to meet you in Seattle! You have a beautiful presence and added so much to my WS experience! Thanks for being vulnerable and honest and REAL! I adore your work so much and really enjoyed watching you create your art!
Heather
Holy crap…I’m on Tara Whitney’s blog. YAY :) It was amazing having you there at the workshop! It really made the whole weekend complete. Thank you for being so generous with sharing your time and talents!! It was awesome watching you shoot and edit! You are amazing! Thanks :)
now that is my kinda workshop.. uniform of flip flops (thongs!)
And what kind words she had to say about our Miss T…….”She is as beautiful as she is kind. And as humble as she is talented”. But we all knew that already, didn’t we???
well done. cheers to you for stepping out of your box. i’m glad you had fun….take care.
Looks like so much fun.. glad you had such a great time
i saw on mimi inglin’s blog that you were the guest photographer!! how exciting i wish i could attend i love cheryls and your work. anyways she took a picutre of you and you had you necklace of your kiddos on. If you don’t mind me asking were did you order it from or did you make it. I have seen a couple different companies out there.
Thanks Teresa
30,000 mph jesus… it was a 3 second flight?
Looks like you had some fun sis!
Oh! Super jealous Seattle got to hear you speak, and Phoenix didn’t! That’s so awesome! That picture of you and Cheryl is so awesome.
Oh, and if you do ever teach a workshop, you had better let us know. That’s all I’m saying. :) See you on the SW boards? *hopes*
Ohhh, I’m way jealous! What a beautiful shot of the young man! Love it :)
Tara – thank you SO MUCH for being in Seattle – you and that gracious, gentle, genuine spirit of yours! You were my spark :) And my kindred spirit of the “cola” world – so hilarious that you GET that. Take care, care, care as you catch up on that workload . . your work just makes me thankful . . thank FULL . .
Hi, Tara! I just read on the secret workshop that you were at Seattle!! I attended back in January!! How exciting that you joined forces (sounds a little superhero-ish, but it’s true). I just love Cheryl to pieces, I can’t wait to see your images from their session. Thank you for being such an inspiration!! You are amazing in sooooo many ways!! Now, how do we convince you that you are in need of some Boston baked beans next month?? ; )
Tara-Thank you so much for being our guest speaker in Seattle. You and Cheryl are amazing and inspiring. Your easy going style and energy were great to watch. I feel sooo lucky to have met you. You are amazing!!
Hi Tara! I to am SO grateful to have been able to meet you! Thank you for taking time out of your busy life to come up to Seattle. It was defenitely the highlight of the workshop. You are an amazing person and an inspiration to many. :)
i will patiently wait to see cheryl’s images!! okay… are they ready yet!? LOL!
how amazingly lucky those attendees were (spoken from an attendee of the original secret last summer who was equally as lucky to meet jinky:)
Hi Tara,
I have a question about your May OPAM. You mentioned you got the frames at Ikea. How much were they? How much come in a package? I didn’t see them online so I’m going to go and check my store but just wanted an idea of how much they are. Thanks. You are so inspiring to me!
Hi Tara,
I can totally appreciate the busy working mom thing! It’s awsome that you were able to enpart some of your knowledge to the world. I love the feeling of community you’re creating. Thanks for blogging!
Hey!!! There I am— a sliver of me found in the bw checkered shirt near the left yellow door!!!
I’m just getting home from Seattle, then a week-long Oregon trip with my husband’s family—whew!!
Tara. Tara. Tara. It was a total pleasure meeting you! You are even more beautiful in person! You and Cheryl are some of the most genuine, life-loving souls I have ever met! Thank you a trillion times over for taking the time to be at the workshop despite your “100 hrs behind…” and, for being ‘you’ there!
((hugs))