CreativeLive and the New Wolf Pack in Town

I think it only fair to warn you before I begin, that this is a long post. Extremely long, but, it is broken up with lots of photos - excuse the iPhone ones - so please do stick around until the end!

I entered a competition run by Creative Live at the end of January, to be part of a special Modern Women’s Portraiture course they were running in Las Vegas. Like everyone always says, before they win a competition…I never win competitions!

CreativeLive run a number of online courses that usually last between one and five days, eight hours each day. The courses cover a range of creative topics such as photography, art and design, business and music and air live for free. You also have the option to purchase the courses to be able to access them any time you want. I’ve been watching courses for about three years and have learnt more than I think I will ever be able to implement, but I’m trying.

I entered mainly because I was going to be in San Francisco for the day job the week before and if I did get a place, I could just extend my time out in the States.

I thought nothing of it until I got the email in mid February. Even after reading the email I didn’t believe so got my friend to read it for me. I was in! I got a place! I was going to be up close and personal to the amazing Sue Bryce. Not only Sue Bryce, but Lara Jade, Lou Freeman and Emily Soto. Four amazing female photographers with their own unique style on photographing the modern woman.

I have spent some time in recent months thinking about the direction I want to take my photography, so after working out the costs of staying in America for an extra week, I knew there was no way I was going to let this opportunity go. It’s not every day you get to meet and be taught by one of your favourite photographers.

One of the great things about CreativeLive is the community they build for their viewers and course attendees. All attendees on the Modern Women’s Portraiture course were invited to join a Facebook group to get to know each other before the event.

It didn’t, however, stop me from being as nervous as a child on the eve of the first day of school the night before the course started. I needn’t have worried. Through the group, I had arranged to meet Butch so we could travel to the studio together.

Once at the studio, we joined the queue and started talking to our fellow course mates. The excitement seemed to grow as each person got out of their taxi and joined the queue.

Russ, one of the presenters for CreativeLive came out to say good morning and too see how we were all doing.

Once inside the studio, we all quickly grabbed a seat, excited to get underway. Lindsay, who broke the news to us all that we were to be part of this course, welcomed us and explained the running order and shared some key info for the first day. Today would be Sue Bryce and Lou Freeman, followed by a panel with all four photographers. When do we start?!

After a few final checks, Russ and Kenna, our hosts for the course, started the broadcast.

Sue Bryce is a multi award winning photographer from Auckland, New Zealand and has been in the business for over 25 years. I was introduced to her a few years ago, before her first CreativeLive course and have been a big fan ever since. She is one of the best photographers of women I have ever seen and what she doesn’t know about starting a business from scratch is probably not worth knowing.

I have heard Sue speak on many occasions but this time, something clicked. The difference between listening to a course through my computer and being in a studio with no distractions, cannot be measured. I felt like I was really finally understanding what she was saying, as she shared her story, her struggles, and successes. I know I wasn’t alone as we laughed and cried along with her as her passion for what she does came through. Thank you CreativeLive for having tissues on hand!

Sue spoke about various marketing tips and tricks we should consider for our brand of photography and client base, but also touched on shooting personal projects that got me thinking about a shoot that I have had in my mind to produce for a while. I have perfectionist tendencies and I have just never thought I could do it any justice.

However, as the day went on, and I realised more and more that the barriers in my way were of my own making, I started to see clearly as to how to execute on my project and idea.

Later that afternoon, I started planning out my vision for the shoot. It will happen this year. It’s now officially out there, so no backing out of it now!

Over lunch, I met more of my course mates as we shared stories, swapped business cards and just got more excited about the day so far and what was still in store for us.

Lou Freeman took the afternoon slot. Lou was the second woman to shoot ever for Playboy Magazine. She has over 30 years experience in the photography industry and has shot regularly for a number of fashion magazines and is also a multi award winning photographer.

She took us through how to put together a fantasy concept shoot, looking for inspiration and motivation and then making it a reality.

We were introduced to her creative team who she works with regularly and in turn we got to learn more about how they all come together to share their ideas to shoot a concept, from make up to set design.

Lou then proceeded to shoot a couple of the ideas they had put together. It was great to see how they worked and bounced ideas off each other to produce something they could all be proud to be a part of.

At the end of the first day, all four women came together for a Q&A session. It was great to be able to have them altogether, answering our many questions and sharing their wisdom.

The first day over and my head was hurting. I love writing lists, so made a pretty long list of things I needed to do, test, practise and learn. I just needed to work out how to get it all done.

Day 2 was the turn of Lara Jade and Emily Soto. Lara started photography in her early teens, got her first paid fashion shoot at around 16 and hasn’t looked back since. She’s still in her early 20s!

She had some of her team with her plus a model, and showed us the difference between shooting for editorial and fashion as well as some lighting set ups that I want and need to practise.

Before this course, I hadn’t heard of Emily Soto. Originally from California, she now resides in New York with her husband. She spoke about how she got started and gave some advise on developing a career within photography.

She is known a lot for her outdoor photography shoots and bringing her artistic vision into her shoots. For this course, her first CreativeLive course, she not only shot on digital but also used a number of different film cameras, including using polaroid negatives, to give her images a unique style and feel. A method I have not seen before but something I would like to try, when I find a polaroid camera.

That evening, a group of us, who were quickly becoming known as the Wolf Pack of CreativeLive, decided to head to Bachi Burger for dinner, before heading back to the Excalibur, where most of us were staying, for a night cap or two, or was it three? I lost count!

What an evening! Butch, Rebecca, Alex, Danielle, Kathy, Katie, Marion, Danny and Zac. A group of people I hadn’t known 48 hours before that point, but we shared, laughed and generally gave each other the support that we all need to remember there is a reason why we’re doing this and not to give up.

There are people you just click with instantly and these guys were those people. No one felt awkward or felt they had to justify what they were doing and for what reason. We just embraced each other as we were, and offered help and advice and laughs when needed.

The thought that we wouldn’t be together again like this for a while, was hard, but at that moment, it was like the night would never end. I’m sure you’ve had nights like this.

However, due to the Vegas rule - what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. I’ve shared all I can with you on this night. The guys in The Hangover are mere amateurs in comparison to us. ;o)!

Originally the course was meant to last two days, but a third day was added to allow each instructor to go through a number of different posing styles. Unfortunately as I needed to be back in the UK the day after the course ended, I was only able to attend the first two days. The good thing is that as a live audience member, I also received a copy of the course so was able to catch up on the posing sections.

This was one of my best photography experiences and I came back with a head and note pad full of ideas and plans, as well as a group of friends who I keep in touch with on a regular basis to keep me on the right path.

One thing I learnt from all four women and the Wolf Pack is that you should never restrict yourself and should always be willing to make mistakes and keep trying. If something doesn’t work, do it another way. Don’t give up and definitely do not stop experimenting. I am currently working on my next project. if you want to be one of the first to find out about it, head over to Facebook and like my page as I will be sharing it there once it is complete.

Sitting here writing this post has reminded me to keep going even when things seem hard. We all know life isn’t easy but just imagine the cake you can make with all those cracked eggs. Could have said omelette, but it would appear as always, I’m in the mood for cake.

So did you make it this far?! Here is a little treat for you, a few sights from the little bit of sightseeing I managed to do. Guess I need to go back.

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