Last Thursday, Jules Bianchi and I taught our first ever Light and Fast seminar on lighting for professional photographers. Teaching is exhausting but exhilarating. We had a great group with a great attitude. Here’s some photos that I took of Jules:

Here’s the class photo:

We got some great feedback. Here’s a couple of emails that I received:

Just wanted to thank you for the great seminar. I learned a ton by just seeing how you work in person. Actually, one of the coolest parts for me was the little video clip that you showed when you were shooting in that hotel. That was great and to hear you comment on it was even better. My understanding of lights and lighting definitely jumped up a notch.

And here’s another one:

Hi John,

I just wanted to drop you a note letting you know how much I enjoyed
yesterday’s seminar. It opened my eyes to sooooo much, and you did an
amazing job of explaining the technical mumbo jumbo to the common person.
I really look forward to doing one of your Rimrock workshops! Again thank
you so much for the enlightening experience!
With the great feedback and the fact that no one threw eggs at me, I’ll definitely be doing more. Sign up for my Photographer’s Business Coach if you’d like to hear the latest word (as well as get lots of useful business advice).

John

Sorry everyone for my blogging absence. I’ve had so much going on that I just haven’t had a chance to sit down and blog. I’m happy to report though that Baby Camryn is out of the hospital and is doing fine. Yeah! I’m so happy for Ben and Regan.

Here’s the update that she sent me last week:

WE ARE HOME!!!!!! Camryn tolerated the extubation extremely well, and has been doing amazing since Saturday. We left the PICU on Sunday evening, and spent the last two nights on a less critical and much less depressing floor of CHOC. She was weaned off the oxygen and has very easily returned to feeding (something everyone was concerned about after having a tube in her mouth for two weeks.) The doctors gave us the green light to leave this a.m. and we couldn’t be happier!!! She is a VERY strong little girl and has impressed everyone with her resilience. (There are older babies who were in PICU longer that still have not been discharged from the recovery floor.) As we have been told many times, this is the worst and scariest season of RSV the hospital has seen for at least five years.

This has been a trying period, and we are very thankful for your thoughts and prayers. They have been of great comfort to us, and have given Camryn strength to overcome her illness. We will continue to say our own prayers of thanks for Camryn’s recovery, as well as prayers for the families of the children who were not as fortunate as Camryn.

John

I received word from Regan and Ben that little Camryn whose photo I posted on the blog last week is sick and in the hospital. I hope she won’t mind, but here’s a little bit of what she wrote:

“Camryn was admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit last Saturday after a very scary trip to the ER during which Camryn was turning blue from difficulty breathing. It started with a little nasal congestion and a slight cough, but our daughter has been diagnosed with RSV (Respiratory Syncycial Virus) … a virus that manifests much like a common cold to an adult or an older child, but can be very severe for tiny infants.”

Camryn has been on the ventilator for over a week now. Again, from Regan:

“We continue to wait for the virus to run its course so that she can be weaned off the machines, and it simply takes awhile for that to happen. We are told, repeatedly, about how severe RSV is this season, and that it is not uncommon for babies to be on a ventilator for several weeks while they recover. The PICU is now full of babies who are suffering from the same virus, all of whom are on vents.”

Regan and Ben have been visiting the blog to take a peek at the photo that I posted so I’m sure that they’d appreciate some words of support. Besides being exhausted and tired from the ordeal, they also managed to get sick. So it’s been a rough week.

Regan, Ben and Camryn: I wish you three the best! My prayers and thoughts are with you.

John

First, some details…

This is what I call trouble in a bottle.

The dress came without a hook at the top. According to the bride, it first came in the wrong size so they had to redo the entire dress. The people at the shop helped her to try it on the second time, but then failed to mention anything about the missing hook. Fortunately, the coordinator, Lynn Schuster with Pure Planning, had some thread. Together we managed to hitch the dress together.

The bottom line for any bride is to always bring a bridesmaid, mom or someone who will be with you when you put on the wedding dress to make sure that every little bit fits together. It’s especially important to bustle the dress completely during the fitting. I can’t count the number of times that nobody knew how to bustle the dress or that some of the strings were discovered missing when it came time to do the bustle.

The Darlington House is an old Spanish Revival house that’s about 90 years old. It’s filled with architectural details and beautiful window light. As Galya was waiting to walk down the aisle, she rested in this window nook. This was one of those moments when you know you’ve got something special.

I like to joke that around Christmas you can have any flower you like, so long as it’s a Poinsettia. Venues are all overflowing with them this time of year.

I was a little tired so I stayed in my car.

John