WINNERS OF THE getBACK workshop GIVEAWAY

this last week i hosted a giveaway to my get BACK workshop over on my fav blog let the kids. today the winners were announced, hooray! but that meant there were also losers. boooooo

and it didn't seem like enough to just type thanks for your entries. so i swallowed my pride and sat down with tense shoulders to make a lil somethin' awkwardish/videoish of my own.

also, feel free to skip me and just watch the videos of the winners!

xoxoxo

yan

p.s. i made the choice on the winners the same way i make all my choices-- i followed my heart and my gut and tried to pick two lovely people who i felt like would most benefit from the experience. and don't think for a second it was easy. it weren't.

Me:

Dallas winner Ellie Berry:

for diana's workshop! from ellie be photo on Vimeo.

Byron Bay winner Michelle Sokolich

Yan workshop competition from Memento on Vimeo.

my lab Indie, and a fav family session

in the life of a film shooter, beyond you, your camera, and your clients, there is one HUGE player that will make or break the quality of your work-- the lab you choose to process your film.

your lab is in essence your post production team. they save you time by not only developing your  film, but taking those film negatives, and scanning  them into their digital form (dig, you know, the stuff you see on my blog? and the files i hand off to my clients) . when a lab scans your film into digital files, they are making very particular judgement calls on white balance, contrast, brightness, exposure, etc...

so basically  all those important visual things  we photographers freak out about when it comes to our images--is a call  you have to be able to trust your lab to make. if they do their job well, they should save you hours of photoshop/lightroom time. if they do a baaad job, you're kinda up a creek.

allllll of the above begs the question,

yan, what lab do you use?

for a while i didn't have a straight answer. i was a bounce around shooter. trying this lab or that. getting good results one time, mixed the next, fussing with my "film look," as i tried to make it uniqe-- pulling out my hair because i couldn't hone in the "just right," i was searching for.

finally, the last lab on my list to try, as it was one of the newest to the scene, ended up being  my salvation.

indie film lab

why?

first let me tell you in my endless experimenting the things i realized i needed in a lab.

1. good customer service-- you have to have open communication with your lab in order to achieve the exact film look you're going for. the guys at indy, in particular my main man josh responded to any concerns i had immediately, and would go above and beyond to check back in with me to make sure i was satisfied after the fact.

2. frontier scanners -- labs these days are typically using two kinds of scanners: the noritsu and the frontier- some will disagree with me, but to my eye they each have their certain look, and color palette. i happen to prefer that of the frontier, but this is an older and more time costly machine. not every lab uses them. indie does though! bless them.

3. turn around time reliablity -- with film shooting getting more popular every day, labs in the last year seem to have found themselves overwhelmed with a surplus of clients they weren't sure how to accomodate. with growing business this happens, so please don't take what i say next as a diss to any lab out there. but. as a business owner, this posed a huge problem for me because i would be told by a given lab to expect my scans in xxx amount of time, which i would then turn around and tell my clients. then that time would come and go and not only did i not have scans in my inbox to download, i also didn't have an email telling me when to expect them. as you might guess this put me in a terrible position with my client homies! my lab wasn't communicating with me and i couldn't communicate with them! with indie  i never have to worry about that. i get my scans when they say, or if there is a hiccup, and this is real life so yes, sometimes that happens-- they TALK to me about it. i appreciate that so much.

4. general quality of scan. i'm talking color, density, dynamic range, etc at indie film lab there is a person i know and TRUST making these calls for me. you and i both know it takes a trained eye to make these decisions. further, not any joe schmoe off the street, not only knows color, but knows it well enough  to be able to cater to the whims of different photographers. the staff at indie is TALENTEd. they KNOW the idiosycraies of the rainbow, if you know what i'm saying. their scans are beautiful and you can see in the shots i have below--

5. variety of scan sizes. this is going to be a wee bit too techinical for me to go into. but film shooters, lets just say indie has options, which allows them to be more affordable than some other labs out there.

bottom line:

i'm officially an indie girl. they have my business for the long haul, and i want to shout to the world that you should use them too. but don't take my word for it, (reading rainbow reference).......

i wanted to share one of my most beloved family sessions of the last year (honestly i have so many lovely ones to show, but this one is special because) --

brooke doesn't remember but i met her a few years ago at wppi when she was manning her and her husband's genius creation, the smilebooth. she was pregnant at the time and so was i and even though i felt uncool and shy i struck up a convo on the subject, making sure to compliment her gutsy rad super cute short hair. she was so kind. and normal. which in the wppi cool kid madness was such a refreshing and reassuring relief. i then rushed home to look at her work and quickly obsessed with not only her photography but just her eye and aesthetic---its in everything she does, her branding, her home, the way she dresses, the way she dresses her kids, her coffee cups--and i know all of these things seem material when you think of them as things, but when you do what brooke does and take your inner artist self, and infuse it into the aesthetic of everything around you, it goes way beyond material. its creating a world filled with your soul...

yan does a workshop. its called get BACK.

**** DALLAS DATES CHANGED TO JUNE 25-27  

look, i've been sitting on this since christmas.

biting my nails.

fretting.

the back and forth--do i want to be judged for this? do i want go through the stress and worry about whether or not anyone signs up? do i want to take on the responsibility of MAKING ABSOLUTE DAMN SURE my attendees walk away from a workshop with me better and more enlightened than before they came? because that is an aspect to this whole workshop schpeal i take extremely, extremely seriously. i don't want your money if i can't give you an extraordinary service in return.

and in the end i reached the same conclusion i usually reach in all aspects of my life:

eff it.

juuuust. stop worrying yan. because you know why?

i LOVE to teach. i LOVE to try to help others suceed. and furthermore,  i really believe in what i have to say. ha. obviously--but hear me out.

i believe there are no secrets to success or magic pills to be dispensed in this industry. instead, ibelieve there is incredbly unique strength and talent in each of us. and that by being true to THOSE things in spectacular, honest way, success follows. most importantly I happen to be extremely gifted at putting people in touch with THEIR unique strengths and talents. you could say that's MY unique strength and talent.

and i want to share it with YOU.

so how are we going to do this? the answer is a little differently.

i decided to call this workshop GET BACK.

its about getting back to why you're doing this whole thing in the first place. its about getting back to you. who you are. as a person. as an artist.

CONTENT DETAILS

1.this workshop starts before it starts. with an online community (facebook group, nothing too fancy), with 1 hour portfolio reviews directly from me, followed by 2 unique assignments for each of you regarding YOUR work and making it better.

2. AT THE 3 DAY WORKSHOP WE WILL cover

-group feedback on the assignments (by this time we will know each other thanks to our online group. hurrah!)

-SHOOT (of course) there will be serveral beautiful organized shoots, including lifestyle families, mother and child, and couples. but the shoots will be approached by each of you with a specific goal in mind  based on the portfolio review you have already done, as well as the feedback you have recieved from your assignments

-film shooting basics. how can we not cover this? film has my heart and it is my medium. however, we  not spend the majority of the workshop on  the subject (ie digital shooters please don't be afraid to attend)

-strategic portfolio building to grow your business

-my approach to lifestyle shooting in clients' homes, as well as lifestyle outside of the home

-the Yan method (i am an open book). this will include the rundown of how i run my business, tricks for interacting with clients, what i charge, how i use my equipment, my mind set as i shoot, etc etc. i hope to help you on your journey partly by sharing mine.

-artistic integrity; how to align your business with what you believe in as an artist, and find success.

-life/work/art/self consisency. some people call this BRANDING. i call it figuring out how to mold the best parts of who you are and even the not best parts, into a visually stimulating form and online presence.

-standing out in a saturated market

-attracting clients you really want.

-the beauty of natural light and working with its various forms

-how to give every image you take an x factor

-being a good editor as well as a good photographer

-establishing YOUR online presence

-going back out why you became an artist/photographer in the first place, and developing your strenghts from there

-and so much more. this is a workshop for anyone who wants to grow as a person who wants to make the kind of work that will leave them fulfilled at the end of the day.

count on good food. some evening activities to grow and bond together, hopefully a lot of laughter, maybe even a little tears.

THE DETAILS YOU REALLY WANT TO KNOW FOR LOGIC'S SAKE

LOCATIONS:

BYRON BAY, AUSTRALIA  APRIL 23- 25  (3 DAYS)

Dallas, TEXAS JUNE 25-27  (3 DAYS)

*for each location i am in the process of arranging housing accomodations so that we can all stay in the same place. however you may stay on your own if you prefer

COST: $2250 (includes all 3 days of the workshop, and  2 meals on each of the three days. part of this fee will go toward housing accomodation, however there may be a slight additional fee for housing depending) $1000 is required to hold your seat, with the remainder due one month before the workshop.

i will be pouring every part of me into this experience to make it worth while. and i have priced it accordingly.

NUMBER OF ATTENDEES: 10-12 at each location

because of the heavy emphasis on focusing on YOUR INDIVIDUAL PATH and YOUR needs, i need to keep the number of attendees small in order to achieve this. and if only three people sign up, by golly we're going to have such an amazing time.

SIGN UP BY CLICKING HERE:

Select Location

Dallas Byron Bay

my birthday club

for my 30th birthday this year i was in new york.  i'm not totally ready to talk about that trip. it was a big deal for me. yes i was there to work, but i was also there to change, and more importantly be okay with that change. i spent a lot of time wandering, and a lot of time alone. but the universe is SUCH a beautiful thing and always seems to provide me with the exact kind of people at the exact moment i need them. at the very last minute i took on a session with these guys, the gonzaleses. a lead to b to c and somehow i was in their beautiful apartment on the morning of October 25th, blowing out a candle on a cupcake. they became my family for the day.  it was a perfect morning i'll never forget.

furthermore i want you to know that nicole and ivan were high school sweethearts. YES. its unbearably cute. we shot the first part of their session in front of the school where they met. 10 years later they are still in love and its the kind of love that lifts my heart and makes me like the world. plus they have their beautiful lucca to show for it.

lastly i kinda want you to know that nicole has something rad going on over here: http://blog.bluum.com/ and she is one of my fav grammers (you know instagram) find her at @bluumbabygirl

thanks for looking.

two more make seven in chicago

i spend a lot of my life feeling overwhelmed. with everything i have to get done, with money, with whether or not i'm giving my kids enough attention. this that, a,b, or c. this world feels so super loud and busy all the time and it can feel like just.so.much. i don't particularly care for this personal trait. its not something i love, its not a lot of fun, i do it to myself, and i'm trying to be better.

most recently i find myself overwhelmed with sooo many sessions of sooo many beautiful things that i sooo want to share with the world, but where to start? and to combat this i am just blogging a lot faster and more instinctively than i may have in the past, so forgive me for this being maybe the longest blog post ever with an abundance of images i just couldnt say blog no to.

don't worry--i'm getting to a point. and here it comes.

when i walked into the brogle home i thought --- this lady is for sure going to be more frazzled than me. (oh don't look at me like that, you know you compare too! ha) new twins. new twins on top of three other kids. i thought that sleep deprivation just HAD to be ruling this house with its nightmarish reign of complete horror. i braced myself for it, i was ready.

but when i walked in their door, andrea just had this smile. acceptance. it said, "i'm tired. i'm spent. its been a long day and life is kinda crazy right now. but i'm okay. i'm doing my best. this is my family, here we are."

and i found myself overwhelmed in such a different way. the brand of calm among that crazy. the brand of love in the brogle home. the way the older kids held the babies. the way mom and dad and were such a gosh darn good tag team when the twins were screaming and one had to get the bottle and the other had to pose with the kids for their crazy photographer----it was life at its most beautiful messiness. it could have been overwhelming, in a way i guess it was, but  mostly, it just felt like love.

thanks for looking.