Hello. My name is Quianna and I am a workshopaholic.

Yes! It’s true I have been making my rounds across the country to learn from the best in our industry and Hope Taylor is by far the farthest I have ever traveled for a photography workshop!

You know that friend that you have known for years, but you honestly don’t even remember exactly how you met? Well this was exactly what happened when I stumbled across Hope in #instagramland! Her images and instagram feed made my thumb stop scrolling every time! Soon I began following her blog and that quickly turned into a blog marathon similar to a netflix binge! Once I discovered that she’s only nineteen years old I was sold! This tiny, but mighty entrepreneur had something to share and I wanted to be her instant best friend! Saving and booking a ticket to her next workshop was a must and worth every effort to fly across the country!

Here’s just a quick recap to share this AMAZING experience…

Meet + Greet

Sunday night before the workshop we were all invited to a dessert mixer in her dreamy studio. It was amazing to not only be there in her gorgeous boutique, but to be surrounded by girls that get me was probably the best part of the night! Because Hope is so open and shares bits and pieces of her life with the world she attracts people just like her! Friendly, outgoing, selfie warriors, and detail fanatics filled the space and instantly we made friendships to last a lifetime! It was also inspiring to be around other creatives with different backgrounds. Different ages, experience, styles, and business models brought so many experts and anxious learners to the table. Anticipating the next day kept us giddy and anxious for the shoot!

The Workshop

Bright and early on basically no sleep from the excitement we were greeted with this pretty face!

Right away we were greeted with hugs and offered sprinkled donuts and adorable swag bags! Yes, this set the tone for the day we were all instantly in #instaland again.

The first chunk of the day was an incredible overload of information! Hope opened up her business like an open book. She filled our brains with creative marketing and shooting tips, filled our hearts with even more passion, and even shared the annoying behind the scenes stuff like contracts, payments, and taxes! We also learned all about her #htpseniors program and how she made that program blow up in just two short years! If I could turn back time I would arrange for Hope to take my senior portraits! (She would have only been about 9 then! (I would have completely trusted her! Even back then!! Gosh, I’m really dating myself!)

Currently, Hope has over 24k followers on instagram! She clearly is doing something right and taught us all of her secrets!

Hope’s Mama brought in the most delicious homemade lunch! We didn’t even realize how hungry we were until we tried her mac’n cheese! Seriously. To die for! I can tell where Hope gets her attention to detail and bright smile 🙂

After lunch we headed off to our stylized shoot!

Once we arrived Hope knocked out our head shots quickly and escaped to capture the details for vendors and sponsors. During this time all of us shot each other! This was SO FUN! We had a chance to explore the venue and we now have a flood of new pictures of us by girls that actually know what they’re doing! (As photographers we never have decent pictures of ourselves!) #thestruggleisreal

Once we got the okay for the great reveal we were STUNNED!

Before we were let loose to snap away, Hope showered us with shooting tips, lighting strategies, and new vocabulary to help direct the models to pose exactly how we want! Everybody wants the flawless, natural, and candid images… but those take instruction! 

Soon we were grouped up and set off to the stations! This was amazing since we were only working with 3-4 photographers at once instead of everyone buzzing around and getting in your frame! (YAY!)

The details were insane! Botanical Jewelry? Yes, please!

Kat with Dear Sweet Heart Events truly nailed this stylized shoot!

Sponsors

@dearsweetheartevents |@hellodarlingbeauty |@paisleyandjade

@allshewrotenotes | @fedmonkees | @twilaandco

@chalkfulloflove | @rachel_tenny | @thelittlestpaperie

While we were in our stations Hope hopped around to ensure everyone was doing good and answered in action questions! This was incredibly helpful 🙂

The models were absolutely gorgeous!

Soon it was time for that sacred golden light! And this happened…

After the shoot we ended the night with post processing and more client experience education. Oh and we all enjoyed pizza slices the size of our heads!

At the end of the workshop Hope opened up with Q+A for any last minute questions. Besides all of the photo and business related education from this workshop everything else involved truly made this a priceless experience!

Thank you, Hope! I can’t wait to see where your business takes you!

With Love, Quianna Marie

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