The Adventurers Workshop

In the middle of February, I attended my very first workshop. I was beyond stoked when The Hearnes and Maddie Mae of Adventure Instead announced they would be taking their workshop to one of my favorite places, Arizona! However when the tickets for the workshop went live in November, I was in New York for work and couldn’t get on their website to reserve my spot until a few hours later. Imagine how bummed I was when the tickets sold in under an hour, and I thought I wasn’t going.

Well because Abbi & Maddie are literally the best, they added a second weekend to their workshop! The excitement was back! I set my alarm for the exact moment the new round of spots for the workshop went live, and I was the very first person to grab my spot for the second weekend of The Adventurers Workshop.

Fast forward to February, we drove from Ohio, to Oklahoma, to Texas, onto Arizona for the workshop. Night one started with bonfire hangs, and getting the knows the girls I’d spent weeks talking with online! Connecting faces with the names was so fun, since after the workshop I was heading off on a rad road trip a few other attendees!

I learned so much during the education sessions, and have been implementing these things and seen improvement already in just a couple months! The styled shoots were amazing, I started off with Abbi’s group as she instructed and led us through the slot canyon. Next I worked with Maddie, and seeing her process of how she poses and initially speaks with her clients was seriously my biggest takeaway from the weekend. It has transformed how I communicate with my clients during a session and made my posing process even better.

On the final day of the workshop, we all went on an optional hike in the Arizona wilderness. I had so much fun asking Abbi questions, and having conversations with the other girls about our past adventures and future goals. We headed to Horseshoe Bend for sunset, and holy moly Arizona sunsets never cease to blow me away! When we arrived it was foggy and SO snowy, most of us had never seen snow in northern Arizona before since it’s so rare! I had a feeling that when the sun reached it’s lowest point, it would clear the fog and create a golden heavenly atmosphere. That is EXACTLY what happened! I will probably never see something like this at Horseshoe Bend again.

Taking pictures of Maddie sitting calmly on the cliff edge, and Abbi and Callen with the golden foggy light floating around them was seriously the best part of my entire weekend. Taking pictures of creators who I look up to so much was truly a dream come true. I couldn’t have asked for a better first workshop experience!