Celebrating life and new friends

The third installment of LaCour's Business of Storytelling workshop concluded Thursday. I am always struck by the new relationships formed at our workshops, and the intensity with which people connect and relate to one another. As we said goodbye, new friends made plans to visit one another, women who had just met four days prior were hugging and saying they loved each other. This will always remain one of our greatest satisfactions in hosting workshops: the ability to bring strangers together for the benefit of their futures, both personal and business.

Before saying goodbye, though, we did it up right at Atlanta restaurant ecco, where we also honored the 80th birthday of Rachel's grandfather, Billy Barnes. In addition to Rachel's grandparents, who came down from Virginia, Rachel's parents and brother Jonathan (and his wife Lacey) and Mark's parents also joined us for a fantastic, celebratory dinner. Thanks to Michael Hooks for documenting the evening.





Lastly, one crazy coincidence from the dinner: Eric Laurits, one of our workshop participants from Boston, kept eyeing our waitress, Mindy, all night. She was stealing glances at him too, trying to figure out why he looked so familiar. Turns out, Eric shot her engagement photos in Rhode Island. So we have a workshop student from Boston, reconnecting with a bride who lives in Atlanta, whom he photographed in Rhode Island. Crazy. Here are Eric's photos of Mindy with her fiancé Rob, who also works at ecco.

Lighting at the Biltmore

At long last, LaCour's infamous lighting demo at the Biltmore Ballrooms ended with an impromptu dance-off. And, we must confess, it was one of the most fabulous things we have ever seen.

As we were packing up equipment around 11 p.m., we turned on some dance music, and Ann and Mike Buoy wasted no time showing off some major moves on the dance floor. John Heisel followed with an unexpected break-dancing session. After that, Erin and Jay Premack brought out their best '80s moves to "Eye of the Tiger." We'll post some images as soon as our fantastic workshop participants send us some photos.

Before the danceoff, however, Andrew explained LaCour's signature ballroom lighting techniques, and everyone practiced while Mark and Erin relived their first dance, and then some. Below are some photos from the evening.



Patrick Williams is really shy.

At It Again

LaCour's Business of Storytelling workshop, now in its third edition, started Sunday with a fantastic group of photographers from all over the country. We're having so much fun with everyone, it's more like hanging out with friends than teaching a workshop.

At our welcome party Sunday night, Patrick Williams of Atlanta walked into the studio and spotted Mike Buoy of Orlando. The two of them immediately started pointing at each other and yelling across the room. It turns out, they went to high school together! And neither had any idea the other was a wedding photographer! We were so excited that our little workshop was able to unite two old friends.


We also found out Sunday night that it was Jay Premack's birthday. We couldn't let him go through the week without a mini-celebration. We surprised him Monday with a birthday cake and of course a round of the "happy birthday" song.

And now we can't wait for Tuesday's Biltmore Ballrooms lighting/shooting demo. It's always a blast, and with this group of rather seasoned photographers, we can't wait to see what will come out of their cameras!

Photos by Corey McNabb

What a Week!

On our workshop's last day on Thursday, we looked around as everyone said their goodbyes. People who just met four days prior were hugging, exchanging email addresses, clasping hands and saying that they hated to say goodbye. It warms our hearts to no end to be able to connect people like this. Our favorite part about hosting workshops is the amazing, new people we meet. We truly had a blast last week and can't wait to hear how everyone's businesses evolve over the next year. Below are photos from the last day.
Stuart Thurlkill gives an inspiring presentation. If you have not seen Stuart share his vision, you need to! He constantly inspires us with his selfless giving, enthusiastic optimism and pure passion for people.

Alice Gung and Terrell Clark say goodbye at the end of the workshop.

Lynn Townsend hugs Jenica Johnson.

Rebecca Kiger gives Livingston Jackson a hug.

Darlene Hildebrandt took this group photo of the LaCour team.

Light it like LaCour

Andrew helps participants with lighting questions before the lighting demo.

Mark talks with participants about bounce flash. From left: Alice Gung, Rebecca Kiger, Jeff Calbom, Darlene Hildebrandt and Kady Dunlap.


Veronica King practices bounce flash.


Mark and I played bride and groom for the lighting demo at Biltmore Ballrooms.

Andrew and Rachel got in a dance of their own at the lighting demo.


The whole gang! Our assistant Will Godfrey made this group shot to demonstrate the Denis Reggie flash brackets, which we use to light group portraits at weddings.

It had never occurred to us to host our own workshop, until we gradually started receiving more emails from photographers asking how we light dark ballrooms. So the Business of Storytelling workshop devotes most of Tuesday to the fundamentals of lighting, spending the evening at the historic Biltmore Ballrooms practicing LaCour's signature lighting techniques.

The four of us, along with our longtime assistant Will Godfrey, enjoyed working one-on-one with the participants.

Wednesday will be devoted to everything that happens after the shoot - editing and post-production - as well as our fabulous dinner at Ecco in downtown Atlanta. Stay tuned for more updates!

April Workshop Under Way

The second edition of the LaCour workshop, The Business of Storytelling, has gotten off to a great start. We have been blessed yet again with an amazing group of photographers from all over the country (and Canada!) who have already inspired us in so many ways.

We first met up Sunday evening at the LaCour studio for a welcome party. The real work kicked off Monday, when we shared our marketing and sales strategies, and discussed how to build systems in your workflow for more efficient and consistent productivity.

We have lots of great stories to share about this group, so check back later this week!

Kristin Byrum, with her husband, Aaron, talks with Andrew & Rachel during the one-on-one consultations.


Mark talks with Alice Gung during the one-on-one consultations.


Terrell Clark listens during Andrew & Rachel's marketing discussion.


Jenna Walker contributes to the discussion during the sales presentation.

Birthday Flair

We had a surprise birthday party for Bill Holland (Bill is the director of this year's Foundation Workshop) and I just had to sport some Elton John-ish glasses. Thanks to Emilie Sommer for the cool photo! Also, check out the Foundation Workshop blog. I've been updating the blog with fun pictures from each day of the workshop.

Foundation Workshop

I am in Allen, TX, teaching at the Foundation Workshop 5, (photo by Sergio)which is a workshop developed to help wedding photographers improve their photography and editing skills. The workshop is structured very similarly to great photojournalism workshops like the Eddie Adams Workshop, Missouri Photo Workshop and the Western Kentuky University's Mountain Workshop.

What happens at this workshop is each participant is given a photo assignment and then spends a couple of days making pictures to tell a story about the assigment - very similar to how we worked in the newspaper and magazine journalism world. And then each evening, the workshop participants sit down with a team of photo editors and talk about the work they shot that day and figure out how to improve. My role in the workshop is to go out into the field with students and help them think about the story they are telling and give them tips and instruction to improve their shooting and their "seeing" of moments.

There are amazing faculty members at the Foundation Workshop who I've already learned so much from, just by talking and sharing ideas. I'm updating the workshop blog daily, so check it out for fun photos this week. The workshop started Sunday night and ends Thursday night. I'll post more throughout the week.

The Business of Storytelling Workshop Recap

Erin Reed Adams and Mark Adams played Bride and Groom for the "hands off" shooting demo at Biltmore Ballrooms
We had an amazing week with everyone who attended our first Business of Storytelling workshop. We've added new photos below...
It was great to see so many talented people eager to learn and grow. And what really made an impression on us was how insipiring it was to see everyone helping each other. It seemed like every day, everyone would share their thoughts and ideas with each other. The sense of community and collective desire to help each other was powerful.

We miss all of you and can't wait to see you again!

We'd like to extend special thanks to Carrie Hopson (Biltmore), David Jay, Tim Zielenbach and Denis Reggie for their generous help in making our first workshop a success!
Cameron Clark and Eric Shunk at the shooting demo
Andrew Niesen explains bounce flash at the Biltmore
Rachel LaCour Niesen caught the "reverse angle" on the first dance
Mark and Erin joke with Eric Shunk during the "available light" portion of the shooting demo
The talented Hollye Schumacher chats with students during the shooting demo
Mark Adams waxes eloquent with Tammy Chambers

Patty Boge and David Jay
N'neka Scruggs, Erin Reed Adams, and Jenn Linke at lunch with David Jay.
David Jay charms the ladies :)
Rachel LaCour Niesen is always smiling!
Jerry Tomko promises to be Erin's dance partner at the next LaCour shooting demo! (There's always Vegas, Jerry :) )
Mark Adams tells us about his traumatic parmesan cheese incident (T-shirts coming soon!)
Macintosh Users Group (MUG) members Regina Holder, Kelly Lee Flora, David Jay, Andrew Niesen, Rachel LaCour Niesen, and Jerry Tomko
Patty Boge, Ernie Russell, Eric Shunk, Amanda Kohn and the back of Cameron Clark's head
Many thanks to all who attended! We didn't get our cameras pointed at everyone, but we love you all!