Hi all! I am so sorry that I haven’t blogged for almost two weeks! First, I was sick. Then, I had days to catch up on business needs. After that, I went to my trip to Salt Lake City, Utah! If you follow me on social media (mainly Instagram), you may have seen all the updatsfrom the trip! After the trip, I took a few more days off to celebrate my 21st birthday with loved ones! Now, I am back to tackle a crazy week (let’s be real, MONTH) ahead of me! 🙂
I just wanted to make this blog post to share how the whole week went with some photos!
First off, I just wanted to explain what the whole retreat was about! All the girls who were part of the retreat are part of a small photography group on Facebook and Morgan, of In frames Photography opened her home for us to spend time learning from each other, bond, and photograph eight shoots all within a few days! You will be viewing some behind the scene photos, iPhone shots, and a couple professional photos from the week. You will be able to see each session we got to capture later on here on the blog, as soon as the sessions are edited! 🙂
Tuesday:
Full of tackling the to-do list of taking care of clients, running last minute errands, packing, and resting for the trip!
Wednesday:
Woke up at 6 AM to head out the door by 7AM to make my 9 AM flight to Salt Lake City, Utah! I tried to sleep on the plane, because I was still tired and I knew I had a very busy day ahead of me, but… the sleep did not happen! haha! As soon as I got off the flight and saw all the views surrounding me, I was in AWE! After soaking the views from the airport in, Morgan, her assistant Dani, and Emily of Emily Muench Photography picked me up from the airport! I have already met Morgan from having her photograph David and I last summer when she was visiting San Diego, but I have never met Emily! As soon as we hugged, it felt like we’ve already met!! I mean, we have been talking for months before we actually met in person, but still! hehe! We had a couple hours to kill before we picked up Sarah of Shuttergram Photography (I’ve worked with Sarah a few times before too! She is located in SoCal as well. 🙂 ) So, we went to Target to just explore. Let’s be real though, you can never just go into Target and NOT buy anything! So, the girls bought more clothes before we got some Starbucks to chat! After we picked up Sarah from the airport, we headed to get some food before we went straight to our first shoot! At the shoot we met the model and other photographer, Jessica of Jessica E Photography. After the first shoot, we went home to Morgans to have a quick editing party before we went out and got some more food!
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Thursday:
This day was an early morning and late night type of day for all of us! We woke up early for hair + makeup, then headed to first couple of boudoir shoots in the morning! Let me tell ya, I am SO excited to share the GORGEOUS photographs of the BEAUTIFUL models from these shoots!! I adored the studio we used!! Once it hit 2, all we wanted to do was eat and then sleep. We grabbed something to eat, but that didn’t help our energy. It actually made us all full and want to sleep even more. We didn’t have time for a nap, so we headed right on over to our next shoot! We all somehow had energy! Probably because our shoot was at a LAUNDROMAT!!! What!? Uhhh-yes! Yes, please!! Something totally out of my style and the light at the location was GORGEOUS! We were all excited and forgot how tired we were… until the model was changing outfits and we were leaning/laying on tables! haha! After the shoots, we had yet another editing party with pizza delivery and full of bonding!!
“I shoot people!”
(Photos by Sarah – Shuttergram Portraits)
Friday:
This day was all about Bridal + Weddings!!
I don’t have any photos from the morning shoot, but we went into a restaurant that was dark and we got to work with shadows! Something that is totally out of my norm! I can’t wait to share with you all what I got to do as I got out of my comfort zone and learn new things! 🙂 Luckily, after this shoot, we were able to go back home and rest for a few hours before we headed to a BEAUTIFUL location for a styled wedding shoot with such an adorable couple!! After the shoot, we all went to get tattoos… Or so we thought! I ended up chickening out and not getting one, but I still got the stencil put on me! A little part of me still regrets not getting it… but I still have the memories + photos to look back on to remember the Pine Tree to represent this trip! After the tattoo trip, we again, went out to eat to fuel us up for another editing party. After taking the time to edit, we all stayed up late bonding and having a great night full of laughter!
Saturday:
The day we all dreaded! The day we were all leaving. We had planned to do headshots that day, but with sleeping in and having to get ready for our afternoon + evening flights, it didn’t happen. We were still able to hang out a little bit more and start creating ideas for our next trip!
Oh! Morgan got us such cute sweatshirts! The back showed such a cute + creative logo that represented our trip and then the front had our names with our business names! 🙂
After my flight home, David picked me up from the airport and the first thing I received after a hug and kiss? A dozen red roses!! Then, on the way home, he handed me my first birthday gift! Alphalete shirt I have had my eyes on! This night is what really made me realize my birthday weekend just started! We then went to one of our favorite local Mexican food place for dinner!
Sunday:
Since David had to work on Monday, my real birthday, we spent this day together celebrating it!
We slept in a little bit before having some breakfast to hold us over until we went out. But before we went out, he surprised me with a Thai Massage! We both have never had a Thai Massage before and it was exactly what we both needed! After our couples Massage, we ate, and I got more presents! (Like a FitBit Charge HR! YAYYYY!!!!), we also had a gym date, a mini birthday session (literally only 20 minutes before sunset! haha!), and then we spent the evening resting before we went out with a friend at 11:30 to have my first frozen margarita at midnight!
David is not a drinker (Which I absolutely adore!), but he got a drink since it was my 21st birthday! It was such a treat to not have to count our macros and enjoy the evening! After one drink, we headed home and called it a night!
Monday:
I finally got to sleep in!!! YES!!! hahaha! After such a busy week, it felt AMAZING to catch up on some sleep! I mean, I did get waken up (along with the whole Orange County) at 7:00 AM from the small but mighty storm we had! I was worried that the rain would stay all day! I LOVE the rain, but only when it’s a lazy day and I will not be out and about! Plus it was my birthday! I am all about sunshine and warmth! Luckily, it didn’t rain… It ended up being really blue out with sunshine! Though, with a cold breeze! But I was happy to not have to worry about rain while being out with loved ones during the day! 🙂
I even got the chance to clean up my room a little bit since I made a huge mess before + after my Utah trip!
I then went out again for a free pizookie at BJ’s Resturant with family + friends!
Now, it’s time to get back to business with a fresh heart and mind! 🙂 Happy Tuesday, friends!!
Remember, keep a look out for the blog posts coming of all the photos I got to capture!!
XOXO,
Shelby Danielle
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