Big group at dinner after great day in DC!

C

Nice group in DC

And with attendance nearly double that of our other cities, it's been
a super fun group too! Much like Chapel Hill, the women FAR outnumber
the guys... by almost 10 to 1. Interesting. C

Sightseeing Day in DC!

We had an amazing day yesterday. We had a "day off" and Corey's amazing wife, Jill, came up to DC to meet us. We took a little breather on Friday night (for which I am very thankful), but on Saturday, we headed out at around 8:00 am, and tried to see as many of the sights as we could possibly see in one day!

We started off our morning at Mount Vernon (well, after a delicious McDonald's breakfast, of course). It was cool to see the home of our first President, and to learn various different facts about that time period in history. We took a special National Treasure tour, and were able to see a few places that the regular visitors don't get to see. (Exciting Bonus Number 1!)

I will admit that I would've enjoyed myself even more, if it were slightly warmer. It was 41 degrees, but we were down by the Potomac, and there were some pretty serious gusts of wind.



Thankfully, I was prepared... we took turns looking ridiculous, but at least we were warmer!





Well, I say I was prepared... but maybe that's a bit of an overstatement... I certainly didn't pick the most appropriate footwear ;)



What Corey saw...











What I saw... (not nearly as much!)





After the super frigid, but awesomely entertaining morning at Mount Vernon, we headed into the city to try to knock out a few Museums.

First stop was the Air and Space museum. There was an exhibit that Jill had really wanted to see at the American History museum... but that museum was closed for renovations. Imagine our excitement when we realized that that exhibit was currently being housed at the Air and Space museum! (Exciting Bonus Number 2!)

Corey was very excited to see R2D2 and C3PO!


From the Air and Space Museum, we booked it to the Museum of Natural History. Absolutely fascinating stuff! We were super excited about the opportunity to see an amazing photography display upstairs. (Exciting Bonus Number 3!)







After the museums, we headed over to see the monuments and the glorious cherry blossoms. Sadly, the weather wasn't quite optimal, but we still had an awesome time photographing these historic places!

Washington Monument.

What Corey saw...







What I saw...



(Corey and Jill)







Jefferson Memorial and cherry blossoms.

What Corey saw...

(The other side of the Washington Monument)







What I saw...





A few fun self portraits to memorialize an AMAZING day! Much love to both McNabbs... they're my very best friends. I will say that we missed my family very much :(







The master at work.



As we were walking back to the Metro station, we ran across a traffic jam. We weren't sure what people were stopped for until we saw the motorcade coming our way! How fun to see President Bush while in DC!?! (Exciting Bonus Number 4!)



We ended up at the best steakhouse ever for dinner. We deserved a nice, relaxing, spectacularly delicious dinner after such a crazy week. I can't express how much we enjoyed it. I teared up a little after having my first bite of steak. We had an amazing view of the Potomac... such a perfect ending to a perfect day.







The DC tour stop is going wonderfully... Corey's been speaking all morning, and it's almost my turn, so I must run. More later!

-amber

We saw the President!

Blurry iphone shot of the back of my D3, but GW waved right at us.

Great view of DC and the Potomac from dinner!

Top floor at Ruth's Chris Steak House
C

Back on The Mall

Cold and cloudy

Night at the Museum!

Corey's getting some awesome shots! Blog those soon!
-amber

Pretty Metro station

Man, history's cool!

And we still have tons of stuff to see today! I haven't been to DC
since I was a kid.
C

We're at Mount Vernon

-amber

Sightseeing day!

Starting with this line to get in to Mt. Vernon

C

Chapel Hill was awesome!

Thursday, we were so excited about not having to wake up at the crack of dawn! We started the morning a little later, and enjoyed a leisurely drive from Atlanta, GA to Chapel Hill, NC. While stopped for a quick bathroom break, Corey spotted this gorgeous butterfly, and captured this awesome image of it.



Friday snuck up on us so fast! We were excited to see the group arrive. It was an interesting mix of people... only four men in a room full of ladies! We were blessed to have such an awesome group. The dynamic was wonderful.

Our dear friend, Nicole (who came to the last McWorkshop)brought her cute little Rockstar notebook that Corey gave the attendees of that workshop. I loved watching her taking notes like mad... she's so great!



Corey is such a dynamic speaker!





People think he's hysterical!





After our lovely lunch, Corey disappeared for awhile. I had no idea where he was, but I thought nothing of it, as he has a lot of work to deal with right now. Imagine my surprise when, as I am speaking, he appears in the doorway with a birthday cake!











And no, I'm NOT 34... I'll let you figure out what age I really might be ;)
It has been sad to be away from my family at my birthday (although I did have a present a day for the whole week from my husband!), but if there is anyone else I would want to be with, it's my dear friend Corey and this group of absolutely amazing photographers!! Thank you so much, Corey, for the awesome birthday surprise.

(My wonderful family created a cool birthday surprise for me as well.... check it out here! I love you guys!)

After I collected my emotions and finished giving my talk about Lifestyle Babies, we busted out the Xbox and played a little RockBand! This group was awesome, and I'll just say that I was wishing I could find somewhere to do some karaoke later that evening, so that I could hear Shane Snider sing again!









After our concert time, we headed over to Top of the Hill for a wonderful dinner. We really enjoyed the atmosphere and the company! Good times!





Ridiculousness...



I got a second cake after dinner! Fun :)





A few cool pictures of the happenings from the Chapel Hill folks... Thanks so much for sending these and blogging these, guys!

Kimberly Naranjo



Nancy Thomas











I also ran across this cool slideshow on Denise Skelton's blog. You can check it out here! Thanks Denise!

We are safely in Washington DC, and looking forward to a fun sight-seeing day tomorrow. Of course, we'll post that stuff as soon as we can!

Thanks to all who sent me birthday love... you guys are the best!

much love,

-amber

DC don't mess 'round with wireless network names!

Home Sweet Home

Arrived safely in DC...

-amber

My First IKEA Visit

Seriously fun stuff! And an amazing lunch :)

-amber

First Traffic Jam

We are just outside of DC, and we just ran into some nasty traffic.

15 minute line to get gas!

C

One more state!

Our First Rain

Headed to DC for the weekend!

-amber

Shane's first cherry

Amber on Amber Alley

Niiiiiice ride to dinner

Pixel2Canvas has arrived!!

Yay! Our prints are here!!

Happy B-Day Amber!

Shane gives Holga to Holritz
-corey

Atlanta Recap!

Hi all!

We have arrived in Chapel Hill! I am so excited to hang out with NC folks tomorrow (it's my birthday!!). We're going to have a blast!

But before I can meet those people, I have to tell you how awesome the Atlanta crew was. We had such a great turnout... we packed out our meeting room. People drove from as far as Johnson City and Nashville, TN! We had a big group come from Chattanooga. It was so fun to meet photographers from my hometown that I hadn't yet had the opportunity to meet.

A few pictures from the day...

Corey did an amazing job, as always. I love to listen to him speak, as I always learn something new!







People were listening raptly as he spoke...




We had a break for lunch, and then I took over for the afternoon.

Corey grabbed these cool images of attendees listening to me. It appears I might've had something interesting to say....





One of the fellas checking out my super cool White Glove album while I speak...



After we finished up for the day, we headed out to Fado's to eat some dinner and hang out a bit. Fado's was SO fun. The food was awesome... and we just happened to go there on trivia night! Very enjoyable evening.







Thanks to everyone who came to the workshop today! We enjoyed you guys so much. And an even bigger thanks to those of y'all who hung out to help us break down our gear at the end of the day, and then joined us for dinner. It was wonderful to meet all of you!

- amber

Tons o stuff!

Tulip Greeting in Chapel Hill!

We've arrived in Chapel Hill for tour stop #3. I was do excited to see
tulips!!

-amber

On our way to Chapel Hill...

We stopped at a gas station. Restrooms...hmm, behind the drink cooler?

Ellen has loooooong fingers.

McNabbulous Amberites

Trivia time at Fados!

-amber!

Guinness moustache

From Chris Collins' iPhone

Fados!

Corey's Vision..

Okay, so I'm no nature photographer, but I had so much fun photographing birds with Corey and Greg yesterday.

Corey, on the other hand, is an amazing nature photographer. I am always inspired by the images he captures when he is able to spend a little time with nature. We were only there for a couple hours, at a poor time of day for light, and yet, Corey captured tons of amazing images!














A few that he grabbed of me shooting...





More from the Atlanta leg of the trip soon!

-amber

Lunch break in Atlanta!

C~

St. Augustine... and Birds!

Corey and I drug ourselves out of bed super early this morning, and headed up the coast to St. Augustine. One of my favorite places growing up was the Alligator Farm there, and when Corey said that was an amazing place to do a little bird photography, I was SO excited! Our new friend Greg met us at the Farm and got us in for free!

I really have to get some sleep, but I wanted to show you guys a few images first. Corey took some spectacular shots, so I can't wait for him to share those with you as well!

Corey at work..



A few of my birds! I was having a serious ADD attack just trying to keep up with everything going on. It was just beautiful!













After the morning of shooting, we went down the street just a few blocks and ate at an awesome restaurant. Thanks so much, Greg, for your amazing hospitality. We really appreciate you!



Sugar coma hit Corey hard and fast. This picture makes me laugh so hard!



Posts from Atlanta tomorrow!

-amber

Finishing up the Orlando stop...

We have arrived in Atlanta... and before I grab a minute of rest, I wanted to quickly blog a few images from the last half of the Orlando stop. 

Corey and I just adored this group. We were totally blessed to have been able to start the week off with such amazing people! 

Corey grabbed these shots of me speaking. 







After my session was over, we broke out into a little RockBand! It was so fun to see our attendees rocking out!





Thanks to Joe "Cappuccino" for these images of Corey and I taking our turn.





After the rounds of RockBand, we headed out for a little fun. You saw the image from our yummy dinner stop... Here are a few off of Corey's camera from our after-dinner fun at a cool little jazz club.







More soon...

-amber

Sounds great..

But why is their logo a penguin? And no, this isn't where we're staying.

-corey

Atlanta seminar tomorrow...

-corey

Chillin with a celeb!

One of the Orlando seminar attendees from yesterday, Greg Lapera,
lives in St. Augustine and when we told him we were headed to the
rookery at the Alligator Farm to shoot he offered to "pull some
strings" for us as he worked there for 10 years. Turns out, his photo
of him feeding Gomek (a 1700+ lb 17' 9"- long salt water croc) is
famous and is in the Guiness Book of Records too!

Early risers...

6am!

When in Florida....

Alligator bites!

A little rockband

Amber's turn....

Corey in Orlando

We have an awesome group here!

-amber

Almost ready to start...

Updated Website!

Hi all, 

Just wanted to let you know that we updated the Roadtrip site with location information and things to bring! You can find that information on the Cities page. 

Today we are in Orlando at the Crown Plaza Convention Center. You can find us at 555 Hazeltine National Drive, Orlando, FL. 

Wednesday, we will be in Atlanta at the Marriott Courtyard Atlanta Buckhead. That location address is 3332 Peachtree Rd. NE, Atlanta, GA. 

I will keep updating this blog with location information. We're excited to see you all! 

More soon from the Orlando stop!



-amber

Health isn't a priority here...

Corey and I stopped for a quick lunch at a Subway in South Carolina.
This particular Subway shared counter space with a location that
seemed to be quite popular with the locals... I'm going to assume that
its popularity stems from the fact that it ONLY sold fried foods! You
could order chicken, peppers, okra, corn on the cob, even French
fries... All battered and deep-fried.
It made my meatball marinara look like the most health conscious lunch
ever!

Deep-fried corn, anyone?

On the Road!

Amber and I are just leaving Asheville. The roadtrip has officially
begun!

Check back often... We'll try to update several times a day.

Roadtrip after-parties!

Hello fellow photographers!!

As many of you know, Amber and I will be coming to a city near you (if you're on the east coast) very, very soon (March 24th - April 7th)! As such, I've started threads on OSP for a get together in each city and hope many of you can join us! I'll provide links for each one, but if you're not an OSPer and still would like to get together, keep an eye on Amber's blog, on mine, or right here on this one.

We still have some seats left in each city, so if you've not signed up, check out the site now!

Orlando, March 24th

Atlanta, March 26th

Chapel Hill, March 28th

Washington DC, March 31st

New York, NY, April 2nd

Boston, April 4th

Chicago, April 7th

See you guys there!!!

Rockstar Workshop... The End!

I can't believe the McWorkshop is over! It has been an indescribable week. It truly has been amazing, inspiring, and well, wonderful!

Friday was my turn to take the platform. I spent the morning chatting with my new friends about the philosophies and strategies of Lifestyle Baby Photography. We went through it rather quickly, as we had a newborn model scheduled for 11:00. Our wonderful mom, Amber, advised me that her sweet 4 week old, Kaden, turns into Sir Fuss-a-lot after lunch, so we knew we needed to get over there before then!

I love this shot that Corey took of me giving the family my "Pretend I'm not here" spiel.



And the shoot begins. Robert, Amber, and Baby Kaden were amazing models.







The master bedroom had amazing light.







Amber reads to Baby Kaden every day. I was so impressed by her dedication to do this! We made her read for a long time, I think we all wanted to hear the end of the story ;)





I LOVE this shot that Corey took during a "transition moment". So many times we stop shooting during times like this... but Corey didn't, and I love this result.



My shot a few moments later...



Sweet Baby Kaden. A quick shot to show scale.



A short nap in the bassinet that belonged to Kaden's dad, Robert, when he was a baby.



Corey's shot... Baby Kaden looks so tiny!



After a very brief nap, we headed downstairs for bath-time.







Quick bath...



Check out this adorable face!





Thanks SO much to Corey for these fun images of me doing what I love the most! It's quite humbling to see how ridiculous I look behind the camera ;)

And an even bigger thanks to Amber, Robert, and Baby Kaden for putting up with a dozen people traipsing through their home. You guys were wonderful!



After a delicious Quiznos lunch, we headed back to the studio to finish off the days topic. We chatted about the shooting techniques important to Lifestyle Photography as well as reviewed some marketing strategies.

After the session closed, we headed outside to play around a bit. Corey snagged a few headshots for a couple of the attendees.

I love this one of Rich. So cute.. er, cool.



Sarah



Nicole!





After that brief photo break, we headed out for a yummy Mexican dinner. Corey had provided super fun Rockstar sweatshirts for everyone. We thought we looked a bit like a high school ball-team at dinner :) So fun.



The party wasn't over yet! We didn't want to leave one another quite yet, so most of us headed back to the studio for an amazing Rock Band tour!

Bree was amazing on drums! (and drums are HARD!)





Shyla and I on bass and guitar:



Jill held down the vocals for most of the night. You can also see Rich and Nicole rocking out on guitar.



Nicole also tried a round on drums... Impressive!



Sadly, I have no images of the real "rockstar", Mr. McNabb... but I do have evidence of his "rockstaryness"...

We were all privileged to be "Corey's Rockers!"



An amazing week! An amazing group of people! I am inspired!

Much love.

-amber

Rockstar Workshop... Day Four!

After such an amazing workshop day on Wednesday, it seemed as if there was no way that Thursday could compare. I mean... brilliant insights, beautiful models, amazing light, and frigid temperatures... what could be better than that?

Well, I'm not sure if Thursday was "better", but it was definitely equally amazing. We arrived at the studio on Thursday morning, and settled into our morning Starbucks as Corey began imparting processing and workflow wisdom upon us. He has created a backup system that is truly remarkable, and every time he demos it for a group, I kick myself for not having fully implemented it yet myself. He is the Digital Asset Management (DAM) master. In addition to explaining his workflow from initial card download through final backup process, he also gave a thorough Lightroom demonstration. The morning was packed with invaluable information.

After Corey finished his morning teachings, we moved on to an image critique. It was so exciting to see the level of photography provided by our students. I was inspired by many of the images, and couldn't wait to see their contest entries! We broke for lunch, and then regrouped at the studio for the contest.

We'll post a slideshow of the students' images soon!

I am so excited about the caliber of imagery that this group produced. There were so many beautiful images. We all took a collective vote, and there was a clear winner...



Rich Smith took the grand prize of a free White Glove wedding album with this image:



Awesome!

After the classroom part of the day was complete, we headed over to Homewood to do a little indoor shooting. I'm sure our models were relieved to get a break from the insanely frigid temperatures.

I love these images that Corey captured of Shyla. The light is absolutely spectacular!





A few of the ever hot Eric and Shyla:







I love these of Jill. The lines of her body are amazing.





We headed back to the studio to regroup... and there were a few moments of ridiculousness in the parking lot. Shyla and Eric decided to model as (as Corey called them) Princess Shyla and Darth Laurits. I was laughing so hard watching this shoot that I didn't even try to shoot myself. Thankfully, Corey performed beautifully as expected. I love these images. Fun times!











After our brief break for silliness, we headed over to The Fiddlin' Pig for an amazing dinner sponsored by Photographer's Edit. This is one of my favorite restaurants in Asheville... they have fun food and awesome entertainment! Rich (our grand prize winner above) took on the task of documenting the night for us. Thanks so much for these images, Rich! And thanks, also, to Nathan at Photographer's Edit for buying our dinner!



The cloggers managed to drag a few of the attendees out onto the dance floor.





A few shots of the group.

Jill S, me, Jill and Corey, Shyla, Eric, and Scott.


Meggie and Lynn.



Bree and Nicole.



Scott, Rich, and Sarah.



Me and the Mcnabbs! Love them!



As the band was packing up, I suddenly hear the lead guitarist singing alone... and all the gals in our group suddenly chime in to sing with him. It was an awesome sound. I just love this place!



After dinner was over, a bunch of us headed over to the Brew and View for a showing of Sweeney Todd. It turned into a crazy fun day and very late night. Seriously good times.

Final day... coming soon!

-amber

Rockstar Workshop... Day Three!

Wednesday was an amazing day. We spent the first part of the morning listening to Corey impart more wisdom. After he finished up, we had the opportunity to have the wonderful Tara Jordan in the studio to talk with us a bit about wedding photography from a planners perspective. I love that Corey always has Tara present... her insights are amazing!

Then, after lunch, we headed out to the Biltmore Estate with our amazing models and did a little shooting! So fun!

Thanks to Shy and Eric, John and Lindsey, Jill, and Breanne for being such amazing sports and for being beautiful, even in the midst of the insane cold!

Thanks also to Emily from Boutique Couture for allowing us to use her dresses. We were also priviledged to borrow a fourth dress from Gwenn at Wedding Inspirations in Asheville. Our beautiful bouquets were provided by the amazing Liz with The Purple Iris. We appreciate all of you so much!

Our beautiful brides...

John and Lindsey













Shyla and Eric









Eric alone... this boy is so pretty!



Breanne! Fun story behind Bree becoming a model for us. We had an extra dress, and Corey just happened to ask her if she wanted to model... Our shoot started at 2:00, and Corey randomly asked Bree about modeling at lunch! We had less than an hour to drive home, try the dress on, find some shoes, and get ready for the shoot. Doesn't she look completely stunning?













Jill (Corey didn't have the opportunity to photograph Jill, due to the hectic schedule.. but we did grab this one of her. She was amazing!)



The amazing florals









Some of the behind the scenes action













Corey and I headed back, after the shoot. Thanks so much to :e: for this shot.



I grabbed this shot to prove to you guys just how cold it really was...



In order to warm up, we popped into Starbucks for a quick drink. Of course, as always, there were antics and shenanigans.



It was an amazing day. I have really grown to love this group, and am so excited about continuing to get to know them.

-amber

Rockstar Workshop... Day Two!

Tuesday has come and gone way too quickly! We had an information-filled morning. Corey first spoke with us about his amazing extreme shooting techniques. I have heard this topic from him several times, and I never cease to be inspired! One student said that he had already learned his money's worth, just during the course of the Extreme Shooting topic!

After Corey spoke on shooting, our wonderful friend, Adam Linke from Pictage spoke for a few minutes about the amazing-ness of Pictage. After the short Q&A session, we headed off to 12 Bones for an amazing barbeque lunch! Thanks so much to Adam for driving up from Atlanta to hang out with us, and to Pictage for treating us to one of the best lunches in town!

Eric was certainly amusing at lunch... he modeled some of the signage for us...



And then he had to show off his amazing sandwich... "The Hogzilla!"



After lunch we headed back to the studio for some more amazing eduction. Larry Crandall, an amazing photographer and co-owner of White Glove First Edition Books, spoke to us for a while about how to shoot for better album design. After he completed his enlightening talk, Corey gave a pretty comprehensive lighting demonstration, and we headed out to shoot some models!

We have awesome models! We had the beautiful Shyla and ever so handsome Eric, as well as the stunning Anna and her spectacular partner, Jon. We can't even begin to express how much we appreciate their patience and hard work!

Here a few of Corey's images from the night, as well as some behind the scenes shots:























After we did some shooting (while it was SLEETING), we headed to Wild Wings for a super fun dinner. White Glove graciously picked up the tab, and allowed us to have some of the most amazing chicken I have ever had the privilege of enjoying. And the company wasn't bad either!

Corey and I with our wonderful friend Larry.



Corey never takes a break... we arrived at our booth, and he immediately saw another amazing shot!



How our models act on their downtime...





Thanks SO much for dinner, Larry (and White Glove!)



After all that fun stuff, we headed back to the car, and of course found many amazing shooting opportunities on the way! A few more of Corey's shots (and behind the scenes stuff)...













We're having so much fun! More soon, I promise!

-amber

Rockstar Workshop... Day One!

Monday!

We had an awesome first day. There was so much going on, that I really didn't have any time to take any pictures!
Corey spent most of the day discussing his sales, marketing, and pricing strategies... and it was exciting to see our amazing group of students just soaking in the information.

We also had the opportunity to have Rachel and Andrew here in the studio for an awesome ShootQ demonstration and then a delicious lunch at Mela downtown. A huge thanks to them for making the trek up here, and treating us to some super spicy Indian food!

Our group...

We decided to take a fun group picture before Andrew and Rachel headed out, and it seems that *someone* in the group is a bit on the accident-prone side! During the very short group shoot, a chair was broken, a vase was turned over and water went everywhere, and then the 40x60 canvas was knocked off the wall! Funtimes, for sure.








More soon!

-amber

Rockstar Workshop... The Beginning!

Hi all!

I'm excited to be blogging from Day 1 of the February installment of the Rockstar Workshop!

Sunday was jam-packed with all sorts of fun stuff. Corey and I started the day off with a little fun. It was so nice to take a break from the hectic-ness of all that we have been working on lately, and to spend a little time doing what we love! We went to the Nature Center with the Carolina Nature Photographers Association and did a little nature photography.

Corey in action...

And his results...

After that mini-break, we headed back to the whirlwind world that is life! We headed back to the studio and Corey filmed the intro to his soon-to-be released DVD. It was fun to see the genius of Four Seasons and Portal films in action!

I can't wait to see the finished product.

Immediately following the taping, we moved into the opening party for the workshop. The wonderful Tara Jordan transformed Corey's studio into a perfect party playland. Beautiful flowers were provided Liz with Purple Iris and delectable edibles were provided by Colorful Palate

For desert we had an awesome rockstar cake by Cakes by Jane and a super cool chocolate guitar by Chez Nous Confections. Of course, no party is complete without a martini! The ever delicious McTinis were provided by the wonderful McNabbs. The students arrived, and we enjoyed socializing and getting to know one another. I am very excited about spending more time together; it seems like an amazing group!

We had the privilege of having the beautiful Rachel (modeling our McTini below) and her awesome husband Andrew hanging out with us at the party. They'll be talking with us on Monday about their studio management tool, ShootQ (one of our amazing workshop sponsors!)

Corey and Jill McNabb and Jonathan and Tara Jordan...

The rockstar himself..



Corey and I! We're excited about this upcoming week!



Here's a quick slideshow of images from the party! I'm going to try to update you guys every day... We're having a blast!

-amber