Brandon Kidd Photography Blog

I have been very excited ever since I found out that I was one of the lucky ones to attend Jessica Claire’s Orange County Workshop. Yesterday was the big day and was incredibly excited to learn from one of the best photographer and industry leader in America.  In addition to this Jessica was named one of  the “top 10 wedding photographers in the world” by American Photo. There was some serious things to be learned.. and I couldn’t wait… I actually had a really hard time sleeping the night before..

I had never been to a class before.. never taken a single class on photography or attended any workshops so I was nervous.. how does it work..? who where my classmates going to be..? do we get to eat..?

I felt like I was a little kid again going to kindergarten.  And much to my surprise the moment I walked in the most amazing studio EVER! (ps.. Jess your studio is ridiculously amazing!) we were asked to make name badges! Yes! JUST LIKE KINDERGARTEN!  This is an abnormally LARGE post so give it time to load.. You will see why and be thankful!

Class of 2009!

Here was my seat..

The day started at 9:30 am with a quick little meet and greet and some great breakfast.. All the schooling was done in jess’s Studio in Ladera Ranch. (which is Ridiculous!)  I knew we where in for a big day when we started at 10 sharp and got cranking.. Good thing I brought my laptop otherwise there would have been no way to write down the wealth of knowledge that Jessica poured out on us!! I think I wrote like 20 pages of notes.. not even kidding..

The day consisted of all kinds of topics that were helpful and will be very powerful tools to implement into my business structure. She was an amazing teacher for the day. she never tired and was just dishing out the essential elements of what makes a successful wedding business.. Those of you who know Jessica, know that she is by far the best when it comes to running a successful business.

after frying our brains for a few hours we took another little break for lunch.. St. Louis girls getting their grub on..

same with my new photog friend Bill Blakey.  A super awesome guy!

seriously.. check out how insane that accent wall is..

Mark and Adam from Shoot Q where there also providing the lunch and hanging out.

After lunch we started the shooting workshop.. some shots of Jessica in action.. it was cool because Jess had the idea of having a workshop be like an actual wedding day.. of course it would be very expensive and not practical to do a full wedding but she had the bride and groom get ready at her studio/house..

as you can see there was a lot of competition for getting the shots

Here are some of my shots.. Awesome job on the hair andmakeup as always by  Vivian Tran:  All Made Up

The lighting was perfect in there..

Ok now I dont know if your ready for this.. Jessica had no idea what the place was going to look like.. she left all the designing and creation up to 3 incredible designers and said have fun and I trust you.. the absolute best thing you can do with an artist.. let them go and run with it!

Summer from Grey Likes Weddings, Megan Gonzalez with MAEMAE Paperie and Lauryl Lane are the three  responsible for the magnificent creation  you will see below! Here are just a few quick fun pics they had in front of the photo station.

I cant begin to express how awesome this wedding looked..  Every little thing was hand picked and brought in to this little remote and intimate cite.. I was so jealoius.. I want all of it for my wedding! I know Kristin will be even more jealous after she sees these photos..Photos seriously dont do it justice but I certainly tried

…and their creation…

I was like a kid in a candy store with all these details to shoot.. I didnt know where to start!

The incredible head table.. every chair, place setting, glass everything was all unique and different..

I LOVE the hotair balloons from MAEMAE Paperie

check out this cake!! I mean every detail was covered… even to the hand made bride and groom on top.

Now the fun part..

The Shootsac in ACTION.. def going to buy 2 of them now after seeing how sweet they are in person and light and efficient!

Fake formalities.. You will notice the special guest stars… The Norwoods! They have such a cute little family!

Jessica asked if there was any volunteers to take over and give the portrait session a try and asked if I wanted to specifically… I could not wait!! Here is what I got..

It was an all around EPIC day! I learned so much not only from Jessica but all the other photographers that were there.. It was a great opportunity and I highly HIGHLY recommend it to everyone I know! I look forward to implementing the various strategies taught and look forward to seeing were God will take the business. I just want to thank everybody that went it was such a pleasure meeting all of you and if we didnt get to chat much then feel free to email or whatever and look forward to talking with all of you soon!

Also if any of you have any photos of me at all// taking photos or whatever please feel free to email them to me as they would be greatly appreciated..

Again here is all the people that helped make this day possible

Event & Photo Stylist:  Grey Likes Weddings

Floral Design:  Lauryl Lane

Hair & Makeup:  Vivian Tran:  All Made Up

Wedding Stationary, Favors, and Paper Suite:  MaeMae Paperie

Printing of paper products:  Czar Press

Fabric Rosettes, shoe clips, and “just married” banner over cake:  B. Poetic

Cake:  Cheryl Stewart of Cake My Day