Photo Field Trip 2016

Last week I traveled to Santa Barbara to be a part of the 3rd annual Photo Field Trip adventure. It’s exactly what it sounds like: having good, plain fun, learning and making friendships, all while staying in wooded cabins, steps away from the beach. My Vegas photographer friends Mckenzi Taylor and Alison Henrie also made the trek, and we all came back recharged, refreshed and with loads of new ideas in tow. In no particular order, here are some things that made Field Trip everything I hoped it could be…

• formed beautiful friendships with my cabin-mates – truly unique photographers from Berlin and San Francisco
• shed tears of inspiration listening to my favorite wedding photographer Jonas Peterson
• swapped stories with like-minded artists around a campfire
• drank and danced myself silly at the Lazers & Blazers party
• observed the afternoon light shining through El Capitan Canyon
• expanded my community of amazing, out of the box photographers
• laid in a field for morning sun naps
• got motivated to start some new personal projects that have been floating around in my head
• trekked down the canyon each day for one glorious cup of coffee, enjoying fresh air and amazing views
• learned to use smoke bombs and gunpowder in portraits (evidence below)
• watched the sunset on the rocky central California coast with new friends and creativity in the air
• photographed real wolves (yes, actually) and learned about working with exotic animals on shoots
• experienced the feeling of freedom when you skip a class just to lay around and soak in the environment with friends

Field Trip: thank you for an incredible, inspiring week. This very un-conference-like experience may have been the best conference of my life. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again… after love, inspiration is the best feeling in the world. XOXO

All photos of me were taken by my kind, talented friend Mckenzi of Taylored Photo Memories.