My Awesome Weekend at CPR San Jose

I almost didn't make this amazing weekend! Our van has been broken and I couldn't leave Damian without a vehicle. My super dad came to the rescue and told me to take his car. Thanks Dad! I need to thank my sugar momma as well. She paid for me to attend and wouldn't take no for an answer.

So my adventure begins a few months back when I ran into my friend Melissa. Melissa used to be my client when I was a massage therapist for Dr. Herrera (my college job while studying to teach). Melissa mentored me when I got my first teaching job. A few years later, we discovered we both shared a love for photography and scrapbooking. We'd scrap together occassionally at our local scrapbook store. So anywho, I ran into her, as usual, at the scrapbook store and we both began talking about CPR and decided to go together. I also want to out Melissa! She has taken Jessica's online classes. She doesn't participate on the message boards, but she lurks frequently. Her friend Mary attended as well. Mary is the life of the party I tell ya! I think we convinced her to try digi scrapping at the Spraground. Come to the dark side Mary!

I arrived in San Jose late Thursday night. I will never drive late at night alone ever again!! I thought for sure that I was going to die from falling asleep behind the wheel. Damian talked to me on the phone the entire drive up North. I missed Lisa Bearnson and the kickoff bash (bummer!), but I was just happy to be there safe (at 1:30 a.m.)!

On Friday, I registered and received an AMAZING goody bag! A scrapper's dream of goodies!


We had Erin Manning's class first. Loved her! She talked a lot about shooting in natural light and looking for natural frames. I left a few minutes early to get a good seat for Candice's class. I was eager to meet her. I hope I didn't scare her! I was a worried that her class might have a lot of the same things we learned in her Oh Shoot! class. She did not dissapoint, lots of new stuff! She took us outside to discuss lighting. The buzz from all the attendees was she was one of the faves (I am not surprised!). She is a natural teacher and super nice!



We met up with JenInSF for lunch! She is awesome and a kindred spirit! We hit it off immediately and ended up having some classes together. I love making new friends!


We also had our class with Skye Hardwick. Holy cow! She is an inspiring and amazing children's photograper! She gave us tons of ideas about using our pictures to tell stories! She lives in California now and I am tempted to set up a session with her.

We finished the day with Renee Pearson. Lots of great photoshop techniques. Some I already knew how to do, some that she took a different approach to (which is good), and some that are completely new to me. WOOHOO! Renee is really animated and super friendly. I throughly enjoyed the time with her!

Saturday began with Nicole Hill's Child's Play class. Wow! She had tons of great ideas/strategies on how to play with kids while shooting them. Definitely a plethora of good ideas to use with my own kiddies! I left a few minutes early (again!) to get to Jessica's class. I did not want to sit in the back for this one!!

As Melissa, Mary, and I waited in line outside the door to Jessica's class. Every attendee on their way out kept saying this was the BEST class! Of course it would be, it's Jessica! Melissa and I, the big dorks that we are, took jessica a birthday present, hometown favorites Smith's cookies and DeWar's Chews. She is just as adorable as her pictures and exactly how I imagined her. It's weird meeting someone you know, but you don't know. I am not one to be star struck, but I must admit I was! Meeting someone that has taught me something I love and is important to me makes me a bit emotional. I was proud of myself that I didn't cry when I met her. I really thought I would! Well, her class rocked as I had expected!!! Did you know you can open a jpg and edit it in RAW (insert choir of angels singing)? Wow! She explained her whole process(workflow) while editing in RAW. I would've paid the $500.00 just to take hers and Candice's class!Jessica was nice enought to take a picture with me and Melissa.



We met up with Jen again for lunch and had the next class with her as well. We had the still life class with James Ransom. What a great guy! He's a little soft spoken, but we were all captivated with what he had to share. It was definitely the quietest class of the weekend. Everyone was such a good listener (no chatty Cathy's in this class). He went over his workflow with us and discussed with us how we could apply shooting still life to scrapping. He also gave us great technical tips!

Our last class was with Brian Smith. He is right, flash is not a dirty word! I consider myself a natural light photographer. There are times when flash is necessary and he gave us the best tips! Honestly, this was one of my favorite classes! A few people in the earlier sessions were a bit bummed out as there were a ton of beginners in some tracks and it sucked up a lot of his teaching time. He didn't get to finish some of the material he had hoped to cover with them. On a side note, the number of beginners there was my only complaint about the event. The same people kept asking the same questions. I was under the impression this was an event for the intermediate photographer. I think the one thing CPR should consider is having a beginner's track. Oh, and the lady with the baby, I thought no kiddies were allowed at the event? Well, anywho, Brian rocked and covered everything he had hoped to share with us. He taught us about fill flashes (how and when to use them) and Slow Synch flashes. Slow Sync flash is my new cool favorite trick! Basically, you use the flash to freeze your subject, but not the background. Check out Mary and Melissa!



For the next few hours, there were shoot stations throughout the hotel. We met up again with JenInSF and decided to join Erin Manning out by the pool. It was so awesome to pick her brain. She taught us more about shooting in backlit situations and how to achieve rim lighting. We had a blast with her. Here's what we shot.






This was an awesome experience and I am so grateful I had the opportunity to go and improve my skills! A chance of a lifetime in my book! Since Ali Edwards had cancelled, Melissa, Mary and I decided it would be best if we hit the road early. I was eager to get home to Jack. It was his birthday Saturday. We said our goodbyes to our new friend JenInSF and dined at Burger King. I arrived home just before 11:00 In time to kiss my sleeping birthday boy. Those of you going, you will love it!! I can't wait to start scrapping my expereince! TTFN!