In the end of January, I flew out to the wonderfully warm Phoenix, Arizona for the MJ2Day workshop put on by Melissa Jill.  Because my aunt lives in Phoenix, I was able to go a couple of days early for a little bit of relaxation, shopping, and wine.  After some initial flight issues, I arrived in the glorious sun, greated by the coolest airport I’ve ever seen.  They have an old plane hanging above the escalators, with a stain-glass ceiling, and rock walls.  It was a great start to the trip 🙂

After a couple days of relaxation, we had a meet and greet Sunday night.  It was nice to get our bearings a little bit, and be able to meet almost all of the wonderful ladies that I would be spending the next 2 days with.  We went around the room and talked about us, our businesses, and where we are at in our journey.  I knew then that I would be able to learn from them as well as Melissa, and that we were going to have a fun couple of days!!

I was ready to hit the ground running the next morning.  I was on eastern time, so it wasn’t even that early of a morning for me!  We all arrived at Melissa’s house, greated by coffee, some breakfast foods, and a pretty cute dog.  The first day was mostly about photography.  We went through shooting techniques, lighting, off-camera flash, and post-processing.  I learned some really wonderful tidbits that I believe will make my work better and more consistent.  I am constantly in the process of honing my craft, and this was a wonderful push forward.

In the evening we did a mock engagement shoot with a couple of Melissa’s friends.  First off, they were adorable and amazing to photograph.  They were so easy to shoot, and relaxed in front of 14 cameras!!  Melissa led the shoot, and it was nice to see what she was doing.  Sometimes I would stand right behind her just to see what she was seeing.  I got some shots, but there were also moments where I just stopped to watch and listen.

After we finished up our topics for the day we headed to the restaurant North.  It was seriously one of the most amazing meals I’ve had in awhile.  The resturant was super cool looking, and the food was fantastic.  Not to mention, it was the birthday of one of the attendees (from Germany!) so we got to celebrate with dessert!  Also, it gave us another chance to chat about our lives and our experiences in the photography world, and really get to know each other on an even deeper level.

Tune in next week for part 2 of my experience at the MJ2Day 🙂  Want to know more about attending this great workshop?  Learn more by clicking here!

-Meghan