Summer Adventure: 2013 internship || dfw wedding photographer

"When you are imagining you might as well imagine something worthwhile..."

// anne of green gables

I've always been a little bit in love with May Day.  Long before I even knew what it really was, I loved it because it conjured up visions of barefoot little girls dancing around a may pole in soft green grass, with flower crowns in their hair.  It seemed like a day meant for picnics and summer frocks, strawberry lemonade, pink cake, sunshine, and of course flowers.  After finally doing a little research on it one day to see how closely my visions of flowery happiness lined up with reality, I realized that May Day was every bit as lovely as it sounded--flowers and all.

So what better day to announce something equally happy: dates for this years Summer Adventure!

I definitely deliberated for a little while about wether scheduling one for this summer was wise or even a possibility, between a busy shooting schedule and the fact that I'm married and will be 7 months preggo by this time.  But I'm not generally one to back down from a challenge so lil' raspberry and I are happy to announce that we will be hosting the 2013 Summer Adventure: internship this June!

Date: June 26-29   Location: Gaylord Texan in Grapevine, Texas   Cost: $625

Who should apply: girls age 16 & up who are looking for a little help learning some of the ins-&-outs of starting their own small photography business or honing their talent as a visual storyteller or one who documents life-lovely.

This is the 3rd year that I'll be hosting this, in the past 2 and 1/2 years I've hosted 7 internships + 22 girls and I love it a little more each time.  (See here and here for a peek into past years)  Every year I've been able to hone my vision of what I'm hoping to accomplish and cover during the week and each time it changes slightly but gets a little bit better.  After last year (which was amaaaaazing fun!) I realized that beyond just coming and sitting in sessions, going on shoots, talking about how to use photoshop or lightroom or how to write a contract, what really seemed to be a huge part of the learning process for everyone was just being surrounded by other young photographers who are in the same boat as you generally speaking and learning from each other as well as learning from me.  So my goal this year is to incorporate a little less "session" time, and a little more relationship time.  And as a part of that goal I'll be accepting up to 7 applicants, but I'm also opening it up to past attendees (alumni! whaaaat. ;) who would like to come back for three days of fun and a little "refresher" course!  (Alumni you can expect an email from me this week with details on how you can be a part of the week if you're interested!)

Topics we will cover: shooting in manual + running a photoshoot/shooting a wedding + editing in Lightroom/Photoshop + branding + posing + marketing + pricing + I'll do my best to answer any other random questions you might have!

The cost of tuition covers the internship and materials, food (3 yummy meals a day!) and lodging.  You're responsible for flight/travel to get you here, and spending money for starbucks runs, fro-yo, tacky souvenirs, or anything else we might be able to squeeze in.

If you're interested in being a part of the adventure, fill out THIS APPLICATION and email it to me (jessica @ jessicashae . com) as sooooon as possible!  I would ask that you please please only apply if you're serious about coming and know that you have the time and resources available for it.  There is a good chance I will not be able to accept everyone who applies (because of size limits) and I would hate to turn girls away to make room for you only to have you drop out last minute.

Looking forward to seeing all of your applications, this is always a highlight of my summer :)

Much Love,
Jessica Shae

Summer Adventure recap || dallas, tx engagement & wedding photographer

Sonic runs and toes dipped in the lake after a hot hour and a half of shooting.  Late nights where messy buns and pj's were the dress code, strawberries and nutella were our fuel, and laughter came easily.  Awkard (read: hilarious) elevator rides at the hotel, and sing-a-longs in the car with colbie callait and the zach brown band.  Conversations and stories that echoed up and down the hotel hallways as we walked to and from the elevators.  Skin kissed by the sun after a few hours spent floating down the lazy river at the resort pool.  Three photo sessions, lots of editing, business talk, branding, designing, blogging, and eating boatloads of delicious food all crammed into 4 short days of fabulousness.

I have to admit that I was a leeeetle bit stressed + apprehensive going into the week.  This years internship was just so much different and bigger than last year, I'd planned the best I could but went into it not really sure how everything would flow and hoping that I'd be able to teach these fabulous girls something they didn't already know :)  I was so excited to actually meet all the sweet girls that I'd been emailing and talking for the past few months but just co-ordinating getting all of them + their luggage from the airport to the hotel seemed like a feat in and of itself.  (I did get everyone, and quite safely I might add.  Despite the fact that my freshly cleaned car was covered in bird poop Monday morning when I walked out to go to the airport, half of my headliner somehow pulled down-yay for tacks!-someone smashed my rearview mirror in while it was sitting in a walmart parking lot, and I lost my gas cap when I filled up with gas and forgot to screw it back on.  Yes, all this happened within a 24 hr period.  My poor car.)

The whole week was filled with unforgettable memories, and I can't express how grateful I am for every single girl who came and was a part of those memories.  I miss each of you OHSOMUCH and I wish I could have kept you here all Summer long.

4 days, 10 girls, one resort, approximately 20,000 pictures--one grand adventure.

Hannah Elise Our Iowa delegate who kept us all laughing with her quiet dry humor.  I knew I would like this girl from the moment that I found out that she celebrates half birthdays too, hellooooo bff material :)  And besides being an awesome photographer, she's also a fabulous graphic designer and it's fun to see how she's incorporated that into her business :)
Julianna Grace Julianna was one of the youngest interns but you never would have guessed that--this girl has talent!  Her sweet little demure smile was a favorite and her quiet confidence working with our models was impressive :)  Nebraska natives check out her work and hire her!
Olivia G.   She had us all (ok, so maybe it was just me) jealous of her natural tan from day one, and kept us laughing with stories about her 10 siblings (4 of whom are from Ethiopia!).  She's from Indiana so I'm already trying to figure out how I can go see her on my next visit up there to see The Boy's family!  Her photography is beautiful and I love the raw, natural feel that it has.  (also, the way she crinkles her nose when she laughs is adorable--so hire her on that basis if nothing else:)
Madeline Hunt   Her business name is Sofia Hilder (don't let that confuse you) and as she put it in her "about me" section of her new blog, she "is smiling or laughing about 80% of the time.  Seriously...she neeever stops, she's one of the happiest people I've met :)  She's from Minnesota, and therefore doesn't always know how to pronounce things properly ;)  But if you hire her you can be sure you'll laugh a lot.
Anna Mae  Her beautiful freckle-faced smile was a happy addition to our little group and we were obviously fast friends because of our mutual love of Nutella, and her homestate, Colorado :)  I had so much fun getting to know her better, talking politics and photography (two of her biggest passions) and I'm so excited to see where her business goes in the next few years!
Madison Grace  Maddi was the only intern that I had actually ever met before the internship.  She is a long time blog reader and I was so excited to meet her a little over a year ago at one of my brothers basketball tournaments.  She helped represent my aweeesome homestate with her winsome smile and sweet southern personality.  West Texans hiiiire her before she's all booked up! ;)
Hannah Nicole  Many of you are already well aquainted with this fabulous girl, since she was the one who redesigned my blog+website this spring.  I was so excited when I heard she was not only interested in being a part of my internship but that she would also be willing to help me with the design part of the internship.  She did the lions share of helping all the girls redesign her blogs and did a fabulous job on all of them! :)  But besides that, she was so much fun to have around, even if we did tease her incessantly about her Minnesota accent and the way she pronounced "Bag" ;)
Lauren Rae Though this girl saaaays she's from Chicago we were all convinced she'd flown in straight from the beaches of California :)  She just looks like she belongs there.  This girl was eager to learn, asked tons of questions, and after a year of shooting and learning I'm so excited that she's officially launching her business this summer!  Chicago peeps check her out!
Chelsea Raye  Chelsea was the only local intern and since she was also the oldest intern she was affectionately nick-named mom #2 of the week.  Chelsea showed up with her awesome pink and purple streaked hair, big smile, and hilariously bubbly personality and we all fell in love with her.  And like being a talented photographer isn't enough, she's also a dancer and teaches dance at a cute little dance school in the DFW area.  She's fuuun peeps, and her kiddo photos are especially amazing!

Anna, Olivia, Hannah, Madeline, Hannah, Chelsea, Julianna, Lauren, and Maddi, I love you all thanks for making this week one of the greatest ever! :)
p.s. I realize there are a lot of them, but you serrrrriously need to go check out all of their blogs!  Click on their name underneath each of their pictures and take a peak and their new brands + blogs (a few of them are still a work in progress--so keep checking back) and leave'em some love!
p.p.s. for those of you who've been asking if I'll be having another internship next year, to be honest I'm just not sure.  I'll be married by then (ahhh, happy dance) and life will look very different, so while I'd love to do another one, I'll have to re-evaluate next spring and see if that's a possibility!  But if I do have another one I'll announce it on the blog so stay tuned!
Much Love,Jessica Shae

Summer Adventure: preview || dallas, tx wedding photographer

The past 4 days have just flown by.  The Summer Adventure started this past Monday afternoon and I think we hardly stopped to take a breath in between all the talking, laughing, taking pictures, and making hilarious memories.  We wrapped things up this afternoon and I sent all the girls off to their respective home states, and now I'm hurrying home to squeeze The Boy's neck one more time and repack my bags to be ready to leave with my family at the crack of dawn tomorrow morning for our three week vacation.

Can't wait to tell you all about our fun week, but for now here's a peek at it through instagrams :)




Much Love,Jessica Shae