Exactly one year ago today, I was at Day 2 of The Italy Workshop with Jose Villa & Gene Higa.  One year.  So much has happened in that one year - all because of this workshop and this trip.  Really, there are no words to describe the experience properly and how it has affected my photography, my business and me as a person.  {You may want to see my friend Molly Michel’s post HERE who more eloquently describes the experience.  Molly also attended the workshop and has become a great friend.}

I can’t imagine having not attended this workshop.  When I think back, I was struggling when making the decision whether to go to Italy or not.  But now, I could not imagine my life without this experience.  So many wonderful things have happened and I am humbled by them all.  Not only was the learning experience great, but I also met so many great colleagues who are now some of my good friends.  In true fashion, the Italy peeps LOVE to travel and we’ve been everywhere.  In this short year because of The Italy crew I’ve traveled to so many new and fun places.  It is so nice to be able to share my passion and love of photography with people who equally are in love with the medium.  Give us a new city (or country), a camera and we’ll be entertained for days - or until the film runs out.

Here’s a recap of the workshop:

We all met at the Florence airport and made our way to Tuscany.  We stayed at the Fontebussi Resort and it was absolutely breathtaking.  Immediately, we got out our gear and started shooting the landscape all around us.  It was gorgeous and we were totally in love.  Check out my post from last year for a recap of Fontebussi & my experience HERE.

Day 1 of the workshop was filled with talks by Jose & Gene and ended with an Engagement Session with models.  Oooo…this is when I fell in love with the light in Italy.  Bellissima!  Also, meet my friend Gio who is a fabulous Italian model.  He is coming to WPPI/Vegas in February so if you need a model, you should definitely hire him!

I could have never prepared myself for Day 2 of the workshop.  Again, more fabulous sessions with Jose & Gene as well as a fabulous model shoot.  Well, fabulous does not begin to describe it.  Picture this…an abandoned village in Tuscany with a resort/villa built around it, nestled in the hills and surrounded by olive groves and vineyards, the sun setting, the crisp fall air, the smell of firewood coming from the surrounding hillsides & villas who were preparing their nightly meals.  Oh, and did I mention, the olive groves?  They were divine.  Check out the two model shoots at Fontebussi & in the olive groves HERE and HERE to see more, or click on the photos below for my original posts with tons of images.

Giordano & Valentina in the old, abandoned Tuscan village:

And Georgia & Omar’s shoot in the olive groves!

The third day of the workshop, Jose & Gene surprised us with a trip to Florence!  One of the biggest things that we learned at the workshop was shooting for yourself and shooting to shoot, to learn to practice and get better.  The trip to Florence was just the thing we needed to put this lesson into motion.  The only caviat…we could only bring one camera!!!  So, I am a digital shooter and always have shot digital since I started shooting weddings.  But, there was a time when I was young and until after college that I shot all film.  So, since I had brought my toy Holga camera, I decided to take one roll of film to Florence and shoot.  And it was a great experience.  Not only did I get to hang out with the gang in Florence, walk around, eat pizza & gelato, I came back with some wonderful shots of the city.  And in the end, I probably had more spectacular shots in 16 frames than I probably would have with 100 shots from my digital.  And it all had to do with using my eye to look at the entire frame and really think about the shot before releasing the trigger.

Here are just a few from that fateful roll of film from that day:

My favorite, and most profound memory of the workshop was the last night, after returning from Florence.  We all sat down for one last family-style dinner cooked by Maria and you knew that something big had happened.  Everyone was talking and hanging out like we were old friends.  Once Alicia started telling how this experience had changed her to the group, the waterworks started flowing and everyone was truly touched by the experience.  Everyone exchanged hugs and thank-yous, but who knew that was just the beginning. 

I will never forget this experience for the rest of my life.

Stay tuned for some of the results that came out of the workshop as well as several more posts on more Italian cities and regions as well as a post on my favorite part of Italy - can you guess what it is?

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