My favorite photo from the workshop. <3 <3 <3

Rachel Vanoven led Day 2 of the Same/Different Workshop, which covered pretty much everything a newborn photographer needs to know to safely and successfully take the exquisite newborn photographs that has made her an industry standout. Even in this group setting, Rachel’s teaching style was one-on-one, as she would check our shots and give us pointers to nail our angles. I have to say that being deliberate about angles is the most important lesson learned from the workshop, and I cannot wait until my next newborn session to see the improvement in my work. For now, here is a sampling of images from Day 2.

Images styled and posed by Rachel Vanoven Photography. Photographed and edited by Love Light Jules Photography, LLC.

Here’s a behind-the-scenes photo of Rachel doing her thing. 🙂

And me doing my thing. 😀  (Photographed by fellow workshop attendee Malmquist Photography.)

We then moved into parent/family shots with our second model. I love how momma’s fingers are holding onto baby’s itty bitty toes here.

After this workshop, I realize my favorite color schemes are neutral set ups. They are so sweet and angelic. Take a look at the gorgeous shot below. I love it so much! I take back what I wrote earlier. This photo ties for my favorite workshop image. The little lace wrap and matching headband — you better believe I’m adding similar items to my collection.

This pose may not be perfect, but to me it looks as though she’s dancing. <3

I never thought I’d be a fan of sunny yellow, but it is just darling on this baby girl.

Watching Rachel pose this baby really made me realize how patient and meticulous I have to be in order to get the perfect shot. But once that perfection is achieved, the resulting images do so much to make my heart happy.

And meticulous is how I would describe Erin Tole and her newborn wrapping abilities. She is so skilled at it, I tried to etch her techniques into my brain. Erin wrapped and posed this cutie in this shot. <3

Same baby in a vintage quilt and the cutest blue headband.

Next, Rachel walked us through her post-processing. This was pretty cool for me because I always wondered about her editing secrets. No, it’s not magic; just smart editing decisions made with her artistic judgement, Erin Tole’s presets and actions, and custom hand edits.

The day was not yet over. We had a family shoot scheduled and, although it had been in the 100’s that week, there was a storm warning. Luckily, the weather worked in our favor and we headed to the location to meet the family models. They were so perfectly styled! I could not get over how great they looked! And although I have Rachel’s Family E-workshop, it was a very neat experience to watch her work with the family to get beautiful shots. (I mean, take a look at this photo on Rachel’s Facebook.) Each attendee also had a turn to take some photos, and here are mine.

All in all, I enjoyed the experience, learning from Erin and Rachel, expanding my skill set, and meeting new friends in my fellow attendees. Here’s a listing of a few of the photographers who trained along with me. If you’re in their area, you’ll know who to call come family portrait season.

•  Jessica Ann Photography, serving central Minnesota
• Kate Anderson Photography, serving greater Charlotte, North Carolina
• Carissa Pic Photography, serving Eastern North Dakota/Western Minnesota