We headed out with our Life & Craft Workshop attendees at golden hour for a glam engagement session on the ranch. So much of the workshop experience that we wanted to create for our community was showing them what a day in our life looks like. While most of our engagement sessions don't include gorgeous lounge furniture or a bouquet worthy of a pin on even the most discerning Pinterest board, this shoot was still a great representation of how our actual clients get to interact with us on a shoot, how we pose (or more accurately, don't pose) our couples, and how we tell a story with the images we take.

We had another fantastic team of Houston creatives come together for this shoot, including our sweet models Kellan and Michelle Caldwell. Aside from being our friends, Michelle is an exquisite photographer here in Houston too. Community over competition, y'all! 

If you're interested in joining us for a future Life and Craft Workshop, sign up to be notified when we announce our next workshop at the ranch.

Life & Craft, (We're planning the next one!)

Luke & Cat

This season in our lives has been full of weddings, traveling, and teaching, all of which culminated in hosting our workshop for photographers, the Life and Craft Workshop.

From the first time we talked about our workshop, we knew that we wanted to host a luxury event here on our Texas cattle ranch, and what better way to kick that off than a four course meal served al fresco in the front yard of our 100 year old farmhouse.

If you've seen the television show Parenthood, talking, dining, and laughing under bistro lights as the sun goes down is the experience we wanted to create for our workshop attendees. Designer Lindsay Lucas of Lean On Me Events perfectly captured our vision and, alongside some of the best wedding creatives in Houston, created something far better than we could have hoped for.

The warm tones of autumn served as the anchors for the table design, which included deep walnut farmhouse tables, flowing textured florals, and accents of copper, brass, and gold throughout the dinnerware. A table highlight was the copper menus, etched with calligraphy descriptions of the four courses. Sophisticated yet adventurous farm to table food was served as our guests toasted their futures and prepared for 3 days of learning and community.

If you're interested in joining us for a future Life and Craft Workshop, sign up to be notified when we announce our next workshop at the ranch.

Learning & Collaborating,

Luke & Cat

About 5 months ago, I was sitting in Vegas in our hotel room about to head out to breakfast with Luke during WPPI, the annual conference for wedding and portrait photographers. I was scrolling through Instagram and immediately felt a weight on my shoulders.  Looking down at my Aggie t-shirt, blue jeans, and Nike Frees, I felt like an outcast amongst the cliques, the fancy outfits, and the cool kids club.

This reminded me of the very first time we went to WPPI, many years earlier. When we stepped off the elevators, everyone in the lobby would turn and look to see if it was someone worth talking to, and if they weren't (I'll give you a hint - we weren't) they went back to talking to each other.

This is a feeling that I thought would go away, but 5 years later, it hurt, just the same.

In that moment, I knew that I wanted something different for us.

For some, speaking at WPPI or having dinners and toasts with a superstar posse is the brass ring. And that's not to say those things aren't fantastic, fun, or something to be proud of. But... here's the deal: I want more. Not just for myself, but for our industry.

Our industry deserves leaders that are genuinely passionate about helping others build great businesses, take better photos, or get the confidence they need to have the life they want. Because let's face it - our businesses all exist so that we can have the life that we want. We've seen some who seem more passionate about Instagram followers and notoriety, and that saddens us. We believe our industry deserves better. 

We came home fired up. Our own business coach had us write 20 ways OUR workshop would be different than the norm.

We wrote things that were raw and unfiltered, like "1) We will not act like we are perfect" or "3) We will come from a genuine place of loving photography and loving our clients, not from a place of tricking people into spending money." 

We also wrote things that were elegant, like "7) We will have time for community and collaboration, sharing stories and meals, realizing we can all learn from each other."

For over a year we've been making plans and laying the groundwork for something big for photographers. We've been sharing great content on our blog, sending out newsletters about having the right mindset, and doing lots of one-on-one coaching calls helping people build the business to support the life they really want. 

And now, it's all come full circle.

We're so proud to debut an entire new way of 'being' that we know this industry needs. The culmination of years in this business and months of planning have led to this moment, and we're excited to share the new Life & Craft Workshop with you! Visit www.lifeandcraftworkshop.com to learn more!

Leaving Cliques Behind & Creating An Authentic Community,

Luke & Cat

We love to teach photographers how to hone technique, artistry and business acumen to create a life that improves your craft, and a business that supports your life. For a fast track to your authentic Life & Craft, check out more about our workshops we host on our cattle ranch in Texas.

If you like this post, be sure to sign up for our FREE Life & Craft Newsletter for photographers. You'll receive great content like this straight to your inbox every two weeks!