Alli McWhinney Photography

I spent the last 5 days watching the live broadcast of Jasmine Star on Creative Live.  Creative Live is worldwide free creative education created by the amazing Chase Jarvis.  The Jasmine Star course was a five day course…all live, including the filming of an actual wedding!  It was really amazing to get both classroom education as well as to see Jasmine behind the scenes at a real wedding and then seeing her post production.  Here is how the days were broken down:

Day 1:  The entire day was a classroom session.  This session included Jasmine’s history and how she became so successful in such a short amount of time.  The main focus was branding and how there are so many opportunities using social media.  The main point I took from this session was to brand yourself online as a person, not as a photographer.  Clients are selecting a photographer as well as photographs.  If a potential client feels that they know you before they contact you then chances are they already know that they like you, and your style, because you have been so transparent on the web.

Day 2:  This day was a hybrid of classroom time and “hands-on” learning.  The classroom time consisted mostly of Jasmine taking online questions.  The second portion was the real first look between the bride and groom.  Unfortunately, I was unable to watch during this time but it consisted of Jasmine demonstrating how she uses light and posing her clients.  I sure this portion was awesome and I am bummed that I had to miss it!

Day 3:  Live wedding day!  The entire day literally followed Jasmine and her second shooter JD as they shot the entire wedding.  Jasmine would talk to the camera and let us know why she was standing where she was, what settings she was using, and why she was getting a certain shot.  Although there was some down time during the day (as there is at any wedding) I felt confident because there were many times that I could say “I do that too” while I am shooting weddings.

Day 4:  The day again began with a question and answer session with both Jasmine and JD.  The classroom then continued to Jasmine showing all her images from the wedding day and how and why she chooses certain images to show the clients.  She also spilled some her photoshop secrets which was really cool to see how she attains such a beautiful final image.

Day 5:  This was basically a full day of Q&A that dealt a lot with branding yourself and your business after the wedding is over.  She also talked a bit about her pricing as well as her business structure.  The main thing I took from day 5 was to value your time.  Time is money and you are running a business!  Keep that in mind with everything you do.

Overall this was a really good educational experience.  I have always admired Jasmine Star but this performance really proved what a hard worker she is!  If you are interested in watching this course you can buy it here!

And here is a picture of Jasmine Star and me from a seminar last September that my friend Brooke took…

Last night I had to the opportunity to attend the Michigan Wedding & Event Professionals networking event here in Ann Arbor.  It was so much fun to meet so many different industry professionals as well as to be in the presence of many awesome photographers.  It was overall a great night with a great group of people.  If you are in the wedding industry here in Michigan you should definitely join us next time!