Jasmine Star: the fix || dallas, tx engagement & wedding photographer

I'm not a huge fan of photography workshops, "mixers", or conferences.  I think this dislike stems from several things--One, since I'm a hands on learner, sitting in sessions for hours at a time "learning" about photography doesn't always do a lot of good for me.  I need interaction, and to be able to watch people actually DO things for it to start to sink in and take hold in my brain :)  Another reason is because over the past 3 years I've spent hundreds of dollars on workshops, etc. that have been a complete waste of money.  Either because the information provided wasn't helpful or applicable, or because it seemed like it was just a day full of biased reviews of their "amazing" sponsors tools or equipment that they want you to buy.  And lastly because. . .as much as I love meeting new people and making new friends, walking into a room of 200-300 photographers can be slightly intimidating.  I've found that more often than not I come away from workshops feeling overwhelmed with all the things that I'm not doing "right" as opposed to feeling encouraged and ready to take my business to the next level.

So I've learned to choose wisely who and what I spend my money on and to take a friend with me so in those awkward moments of "I don't know who I should talk to next" I have a friendly face to chat with for a little bit :)

But when Jasmine Star announced that she was bringing "The Fix" to my city there was really no big hard decision to make :)

I spent way too long yesterday trying on multiple outfits, not liking anything I put on, and stressing about what to wear, because let's face it, Dallas-ites are styyyylin, and I was determined not to look like a 16 yr old (something I have a problem with a rather lot) :P  I left the house 15 minutes later than I'd planned, and about ten minutes down the road realized that I'd forgotten to grab business cards and I didn't have any kind of note-book to take notes in.  Perrrfect.  I googled the nearest Target (yay for iPhones!) and pulled off the highway to run in (I was wearing heels, so it wasn't actually a very fast run) for a notebook.  I hadn't been back on the road for ten minutes before getting stuck in bumper to bumper traffic.  It was at this point I started muttering unkind things about Dallas traffic and decided to try a short-cut.  Always a smart move :P

But at the end of the day I wasn't stressed over all those little things that filled my day, I was encouraged and excited to be doing what I do, full of new ideas, and re-inspired with old ones that I'd almost given up on.

Jasmine is one of the most inspiring photographers I know and every chance I've gotten to hear her speak I've walked away with a sore belly from laughing so hard/much, and feeling encouraged and ready to try new things and step out of my comfort zone.  Her life and business are a testimony to the fact that trust in Jesus, making sacrifices, hard work, perseverance through the tough discouraging times, the times of feeling like I really have no clue what I'm doing and maybe I should just quit, can take you places that you'd never dreamed of going :)  One of my favorite quotes from the evening was:

"Sacrifice doesn't guarantee success, it's merely a pre-requisite for success."

I scribbled notes as fast as I could the whole time, trying to soak up as much as I could...but I know it will take days and even weeks to really flesh out what I learned and how I'm going to apply it.

Thank you Jasmine for all you do to make our industry better!

p.s. It also totally made my night to be there with two of my darling friends, Elisabeth and Julie!  Love you ladies! :)

p.p.s. (on a completely un-related note) Today we're celebrating the first day of March with 80+ degree weather--yayforspringwhichisrightbeforeSUMMER!

Much Love.
Jessica Shae