What It's Really All About!

By: Kathryn Brown

This week is all about putting a face to a concept. A concept that just three years ago was a little light bulb that went off and thank goodness it did! We have started this upcoming retreat off by introducing you to not only the speakers but also the photographers who are coming along with us. Why? Because that's a big part of what it's really all about...

Let me take you back to the beginning...I am a mother, wife, sister, daughter, friend and to that list I am happy and proud to say photographer. I started out like most others in that I had always had a passion for photography, capturing a moment. Even when I did not have a camera with me I watched things happen around me in a cinematic view, trying to freeze it in my mind so that I could remember every detail and every emotion that went along with it. It was so bad, that even in high school, my friends would comment (ok, tease) on how I always had my camera with me.

Fast forward ten years and I finally took the steps to become a professional photographer. I was lucky and had tremendous support of family and friends but I wrestled with doubt, feared failure and struggled to find a balance between work, family life and saving even a smidge of "me time". Thankfully, I am an overly positive person and have tremendous faith in taking the path that God has placed before me and did not let any ounce of worry hold me back.

I dug in, determined to succeed and continually improve and in that process found the most amazing group of friends, colleagues and mentors along the way. I attended meetings, workshops, shoots and even did some one-to-one consultations. Through it all I found that I learned the most from my true friends, those who really cared about me and the success of my business. They were not seeing me as competition or only speaking to me because I "paid" them to. Those who inspired me the most really cared and would be there for me to talk to, answer my silly questions and challenge me to push beyond the limits I placed on myself. All this was done over a cup of coffee, at a just for fun shoot, dinners, birthday parties and the like.

That's when that little light bulb went off and the original vision of the Photog Retreat began...The idea was simple: Create an environment where friendships flourish, Everyone was viewed as peers, Egos were no where around, Learning would be casual, relaxed and fun. Needless to say lots of prayer, planning and communication went into transforming this vision into a reality. And I am happy to say that it was successful. But not because of anything I did alone- The underlying foundation that really truly holds it all together is the strength of relationships- our connection as a group of photographers all striving for the same thing...SUCCESS!

Success through encouragement and support

Success through learning, simplifying and improving

Success in our goals both business and personal

Success through opportunities, challenges and new adventures

Success in finding our true self- as an individuals, artist and more!

What I personally got out of the Photog Retreat would fill pages and pages but the one thing that I cherish most is the lifelong friendships that I will forever have because of it. Knowing that following through with my one little idea that began the domino affect to meeting these wonderful people who have had such a profound affect on me both personally and professionally is what fuels my mission of paying it forward and continuing the same opportunity for others. It is my passion, my heart and I am forever thankful to those who have taken (and will take) this journey with me.

In closing, I thought that it was appropriate for this post to share the images below that are from the trip to Chicago with one of my best friends and fellow photographer (Ezra Marcos) that served as inspiration for the whole idea of the Photog Retreat to begin with.

Looking forward to what the future has for us all!
xoxo,
Kathryn