On Rockstars, Tornadoes, and the Power of Positive Thinking

I've had a chance to dry off, rest a bit, and reflect on this week's StyleLab. It's been 2 years since I've taught a workshop and I forgot how much I love this feeling.  The feeling that not only did I teach a fabulous group of photographers, but I learned from a fabulous group of photographers.  If I knew of some fabulously eloquent quote about learning from one's students, I would insert it here (alas, I don't, but perhaps I will do a little research and edit this one day.)

For some time now, I've hesitated to teach another workshop.  Mostly because I loathe the term "rockstar photographer," and I am decidedly uncomfortable standing in front of a room and discussing my "genius," (of which I am totally lacking.)  But I do LOVE to teach, and I LOVE to make friends, and I LOVE to create with other artists.

I've also hesitated to teach a workshop in Orange County, because they are plentiful in this neck of the woods.  Trust me Internet: I have cursed my geographic location on more than one occasion.  But Orange County *is* a lovely place to visit.  There's Disneyland, the (in)famous Laguna Beach and, of course, our consistently beautiful weather.

So you can imagine my chagrin when I tuned to the weather channel a few days back, only to find out that Orange County was bracing for record rainfall.  Right during the StyleLab.  But SoCal threatens to rain all the time and never acts on it's threats, so I ordered a tent as a back-up and thought nothing of it again.

That is, until Tuesday morning when I watched the incredible Angel Swanson and Kristen Brancaleone wade through mud and run through torrential rain to set up what turned out to be an amazing tablescape.  And when it came time to take my 20 students outdoors to photograph Angel and Kristen's handiwork, it rained and it rained and it rained some more.  Then came thunder and lightening and hurricane-force winds.  And finally, when CNN announced a tornado warning, I decided that is simply wasn't safe to be standing, ankle-deep in water, with nothing but a metal tent to shelter us from said tornado.



It turns out that my positive-thinking about the forecast, and my blind trust of SoCal's reputation for weather, bit me in the proverbial ass.  But instead of crying on my Nikon (which I admittedly wanted to do), I looked around and noticed how much fun we were having.  Angel and Kristen were smiling ear-to-ear, Jocey and Amy were laughing their asses off and the students were happily rocking their garbage-bag-ponchos.  I really couldn't help but smile.  And it was right then that I decided to take a page from Angel and Kristen's book and *think positive.*  After all, when else do you get a chance to photograph something beautiful, make 20 new friends, and witness a history-making storm all in one day? It was a fabulous day indeed. 

I will post lots more photos on Monday, including a list of the amazing vendors that made this happen.  But for now, here's a quick sneak peek of a shoot I will never forget-