Illuminate

The name of the photography workshop I attended earlier this Spring hosted by the fabulous Amanda Eaton with Amanda Eaton Photography. The name served very well for what we would be learning that day… how to illuminate our subjects. Amanda Eaton is a natural light photographer in Lee’s Summit, Missouri, who I was so glad to finally meet in person after following her work on facebook. Going to photography workshops is one of the best learning tools for both aspiring and experienced photographers, learning first hand from another photographer what works for them.. and doesn’t work.. and you get new perspectives every time you go to one! I love to learn. We started with a quick classroom course on the basics of light, how to see it and look for it, and how our camera sees light, bringing together all these lessons I’ve self-taught myself. I had several “ah-ha” moments pop in my head leading me up to be able to shoot this entire session in manual! I was so proud to finally have manual “click.” Now I can’t imagine doing anything but.. you have so much more control in any situation, gives you the freedom to be creative with different settings, plus it allows for exact exposure every time!

The models of our couples/mock engagement session were Ben and Alyssa, good friends of Amanda, who as you will see are one of the most beautiful couples ever. And they were so nice and patient with us while we were all messing with our cameras, changing settings, etc., as there was six of us shooting them. We walked all over downtown Lee’s Summit, a gorgeous little town.. I would love to visit again and just hang out there some afternoon and go to all of the boutique shops and stop at the ice cream place I saw  🙂

Doesn’t she have the most captivating blue eyes?!

Love that beautiful backlight and the sunflare in my lens!They are such a cute couple and you could tell they were so in love having such a fun time together.