Fall in Love Workshop {January 30th San Luis Obispo}

I’m still floating a bit from the amazing time I had with everyone at the Fall in Love Workshop this past weekend! I’m humbled and honored that people would fly across the country and world to spend a couple of days allowing me to teach about my passion for wedding photography. It’s true that I could talk for days about what I do because I love it that much.

This wasn’t just a photography-nerd-shop. It was a retreat, it was a party, it was a vacation, it was a time of introspection, inspiration and redefinition.

We hosted the workshop in my hometown. I really wanted people to get immersed in the natural beauty and peacefulness of San Luis Obispo. People came from as far as Nevada, Colorado, North Dakota, Michigan, and even Italy! Flying Caballos Ranch was the perfect venue! It’s this amazing century old 5 bedroom Victorian ranch house in the middle of a grassy meadow. The moment we all stepped onto the property we felt like we had been transported to another time.

World Class wedding photographer Jose Villa joined us to teach and share. Having him was the icing on the cake! He is such an incredibly talented photographer and a phenomenal teacher. He demonstrated some in door portrait photography with Asher and Anna and then taught about how he directs couples during our engagement shoot.

Brynn and Daniel were kind enough to model for us and were amazing in front of the camera; all 14 of them! Seriously, a big thanks to them for being so full of energy and love. It’s a crazy thing to have that many people photograph you for over an hour, but they handled it like pros. We are all excited for your wedding and wish we could all be there. ;)

Loads of friends and sponsors came together to support the success of the workshop. My assistant Alex Creswell was an amazing help; we couldn’t have done it without her. Amanda lent us some of her hand made vintage inspired accessories from Untamed Petals. Sunnie Brook from Married on a Monday rocked the hair and make-up department stunningly as usual! Adornments supplied the lovely flowers and bouquet. Mama’s Meatball catered and kept us fed and happy with the communal flavors of Italy. Andrew Barefoot from Cana VP shot a rad little video which you have to see at the end of this post!

The students were thrilled to receive generous give aways from our sponsors. Thank you!
RedCart
Pro DPI
Renaissance Albums
Albums Inc.
Presetopia

I got an amazing response from one of the students just a couple days after the workshop. Amazing that this weekend was a life changing experience!

"What happened this weekend was something past inspiration for us. It was more like teleportation to a different planet that we loved. Thank you so much for putting yourself out there for us and for providing the conduit for the Lord to work so powerfully and in such a life changing way.”
-Lloyd Baggs

Jose demonstrating the beauty of shooting in window light.



Together we photographed a real engaged couple. A big part of what we shared was how to connect with couples and help them become comfortable in front of the camera and especially the photographer.










Watch this to get a glimpse into all of the fun!


Cameron Ingalls Photography: Fall in Love Workshop from Ben Potter & Drew Barefoot on Vimeo.

We are already planning our next workshop for April. We have another amazing surprise guest speaker! I should be announcing all of the details within the week. Email us to sign up on the waiting list! fallinlove@cameroningalls.com

Adam + Marisa {San Luis Obispo}

Adam and Marisa’s love story was a cross between Braveheart and The Band. All except they met at Cal Poly in a landscape architecture class and didn’t ride their horse off into the sunset across Scotland. But who’s comparing?

Adam and Marisa are actually dear friend of mine that I have had the pleasure of watching their romance unfold from the beginning. I still remember the way Pelt (Adam’s last name is Peltier) talked about this hot chick who was in a few of his classes. She was a beautiful upscale girl and Pelt was well, a stinky boy. After months of pursuing, Marisa agreed to attend church with him if he would only shower! That was the start of many years of dating off and on. Both Pelt and Marisa have grown so much through their college years as has their love for one another. Those who know them well, know that they balance each other beautifully.

It has been fun for Anna and I to hear their wedding plans and dreams over the months that preceded their event. Pelt wanted for his groomsmen to look rough and rugged like The Band. Marisa wanted them to look a little on the sharper side, so a shave and haircut was in order. Sunnie Brook styled both Pelt and Marisa’s hair. Because they love hiking and camping so much Holland Ranch was just the perfect setting for their nature-themed wedding. Marisa’s dress was from Claire Pettibone in Beverly Hills. She bought her headpiece off of a Etsy store. A good friend Lindsey Hume triple-featured as a bridesmaid, guitar player/singer and the florist. I photographed her beautiful wedding a couple years ago. I remember snapping a couple pictures of Pelt + Marisa on their dance floor hoping they would get married and have me as their photographer. ;) DJ Malik Miko kept the sweet tunes flowing well into the night.

I am so in love with their portraits right now! Marisa has been studying my work for awhile so she knew just what to do in front of the camera, while Pelt just played along. They also got to practice their engagement pictures for my Fall In Love Workshop earlier this year. We shot them at Holland ranch then as well and Marisa wanted desperately to pose with the horses. They weren’t having it then… So we were thrilled when the horses just walked right into the groomsmen shots. Just before dinner I loaded the couple in my wagon and drove across the ranch to where the horses were grazing to see if they would let Marisa join for a few images. They were more than willing and Marisa and I were so happy!

Marisa + Pelt {Fall in Love… Workshop!}

My first one day workshop was a success! We had 7 photographers with one of them being a husband and wife team, so we had a total of 8 students. It was wonderful to have the group small so that we had ample time for discussion and questions. All of the photographers that came were amazing people full of love for weddings, photography and people. My aim was to inspire, encourage, enrich and teach. I talked a lot about what it takes to run a business for the long haul. How to find your voice as a photographer, and how to work with ‘ordinary’ people to capture both real and extraordinary images. I really tried my best to make the workshop about the students journey rather than about my own. As I shared my story we took breaks for them to reflect on the gifts they have been given, what their dreams are and how they define success and failure. My hope was to challenge and encourage them to overcome any obstacles that blocked the road to their success and to give them some tools to grow their gifts.

Discussion time was held in the beautiful offices of the 805 Collective. Cana VP + Samuel Potter Photography were generous enough to lend us their meeting space. While we had lunch on the back deck of Novo, Sunnie Brooke Jones was doing hair and makeup for our afternoon engagement shoot. Instead of hiring models we used Marisa + Pelt, a real couple who’s wedding I am shooting this summer. I wanted to demonstrate how to take an actual nervous couple, who claims not to be photogenic, and get the most real and beautiful images possible. It turned out to be easier than I expected because Marisa just lit up in front of the cameras; all 9 of them! Because of this, I had greater difficulty explaining to the class how I help my clients overcome awkwardness and insecurity. Thanks Marisa! ;) Pelt said during the shoot that she has been studying my work for so long that it was no wonder she knew exactly what to do.












Jen Slot working it; nice form!
Ellie Grover getting up-close and personal.
I unleashed the wolves…
We had lots of incredible support from some great friends and vendors to make this workshop all that it was. These people offered their time, resources and products to the students and to me. A big fat THANK YOU is in order. You guys rock!

Models: Marisa + Pelt
Hair + Makeup: Sunnie Brooke Jones
Print Lab: Pro DPI
Web + Design: 805 Collective
Mobile Websites: Mobile Digs
Meeting Space: Cana VP + Samuel Potter Photography
Wedding Photography Unveiled: Jose Villa
Flowers: Adornments
Engagement Session Venue: Holland Ranch
Operations Coordinator (A.K.A. Hot Assistant!): Anna Ingalls

The class from left to right. Click on their links to see their shots from the workshop. Jen Slot (+ husband Antoine), Samantha Gardner, Me, Pelt + Marisa, Katie Scott, Terilee Dawn, Ellie Grover, (bottom row) Emily Perello, and Lori Chambless.

What an amazing group of photographers you all are. Thanks so much for sharing your day, your hearts and your lives with me. I hope that you were as challenged and encouraged as I was. May you continue to fall deeper in love with people, photography and weddings and may your business be blessed for many years to come!