A month before the amazing photographer Sarah-Beth was due to arrive in Tampa, I was able to snag a spot at her workshop. The likelihood of one of the most inspiring photographers you know choosing Your home location is SO slim, but it happened. I jumped at the chance and marked it in my calendar. Incase you don’t know Sarah, you can find her amazing work here. She is the definition of a ball of fun. We met the night before to ‘get to know each other’ for dinner and the other 5 girls we would be shooting and learning with. We laughed nonstop and talked nonstop for about an hour and a half. Immediately I knew I made the right call in choosing her workshop to attend. She was not only funny, but also inspiring, honest, bold, and down to earth. I knew all of this in just the first hour of knowing her.
The next day we met up at her hotel and chatted it up for about 2-3 hours. she was so relaxed and answered every question we all had for her. She didn’t hold anything back. she was honest about everything which, in this industry, can be brutal, but not coming from her. She is like that super cool older sister you always want to hang out with, and then she finally let you. I am SO serious! It was a breath of fresh air from this industry to learn from her.
When we finally got to the location we walked around and talked for a bit. Once we actually started shooting it was kind of like a beautiful chaos. I mean, imagine six photographers all fighting over the ‘good’ spot, but we were good to each other and took turns. We watched how she framed, and angled each shot that she took. How she interacted with each child, along with the placement of the family. those 2 hours seemed to whiz by in a blink of an eye. During that shoot I tried some things that I have never tried before, I took chances that I wouldn’t normally take, and I learned from one of my favorite photographers in the process.
After the rush of the shoot was over, we crammed into Sarah’s hotel room that was about the size of a shoe box. have you ever seen those meat sticks in the baby jars? That was us. But it didn’t matter. We were all so comfortable with each other by then that none of that mattered. We were laughing while watching Sarah edit, sharing stories, eating from room service on the floor, and just hanging out.
Once the night was over, it was sad. I know that everyone wants to be friends with the teacher, but now I know why. Not because she will give you an A in the class, but because she is an awesome-sauce person. She is so genuine, humorous and giving. Not only did I learn a ton about myself, but I learned so very much about who I want to be in this industry. Things that consumed my mind before the workshop are so far from my mind now. So, until next time Sarah, Thank you for being amazeballs and sharing your hard work with the rest of us!
