creativeLIVE karma

Hi, my name is Kenna and I am a creativeLIVE addict. If founder Craig Swanson at creativeLIVE says jump, I say "how high"? Perhaps I wouldn't jump off a bridge if Craig suggested it, but these days I find myself willing to do most anything for creativeLIVE. Name my first baby boy Craig Chase Klosterman?? hmmm - not sure about that one either...

I ask myself, why am I such a groupie that I preach and tweet, tweet and preach about creativeLIVE all day long? Well, because my life is all about the interconnected cycle of giving, receiving, giving, receiving. That's kinda how the world works in my humble opinion. creativeLIVE karma - yes, that's it. As Craig says, I'm a true believer.

creativeLIVE gives me and the world free creative education, and we all receive it with gratitude, pass it on to others around us, make the world a better place using the tools we have learned. Try it on for size - pay it forward by turning friends and colleagues on to creativeLIVE, and see how it changes their lives like it has yours and mine. CL founders Chase Jarvis and Craig Swanson believe in the democratization of creative education - and they are walking the walk, not just talking the talk. My fellow partner-in-crime-chat-hostess Susan Roderick and I are stunned every single day with how much we have learned from our involvement in creativeLIVE over the past year - for free. Wow - were we ever in the right place at the right time to have become volunteer chat hosts at CL? Thank you Universe!

The list of upcoming FREE photography workshops in 2011 is not just impressive, it's downright crazy talk! Vincent Laforet and Jasmine Star are BOTH back in the CL house after stellar weekend workshops in 2010. And the workshop announcements have only just begun. Meanwhile - there are a ton of other exciting weekly classes in addition to these weekend workshops - can you say John Greengo? And I'm not just talking about classes on photography, but courses exploring many more avenues of the creative life. Plus, the archive of classes that can be purchased for ridiculously low prices is long and growing.

Here's a brief summary of what creativeLIVE has announced so far for the weekend workshop series:

March 4-6: HDDSLR - Moving from Still to Video with Vincent Laforet

Creative Live Promo from Vincent Laforet on Vimeo.


March 18-20: Posing and Lighting with Bambi Cantrell



April 9-10: Building Your Wedding Photography Business with Jasmine Star



May 13-15: Food & Culture Photography with Penny De Los Santos



July 29-31: Street Photography with Mikey & Andy of Lighten Up and Shoot


But wait, there's bound to be much much more. Are you ready? I am!

Alright Craig - what do you have for us next? And what can WE (the interwebs) do in return for that juicy creativeLIVE sharing-of-goodness karma next? 

Post-processing Jasmine Star

During the Jasmine Star wedding photography course, the creativeLIVE Five students discussed Chase Jarvis' blog post about the concept that "It’s easier to be inspired than it is to create." Thanks to J*, I am more inspired than ever before in my journey of building my portrait and humanitarian photography business. The fact that I'm not pursuing wedding photography didn't matter as I soaked in all of J*'s lessons about not only being a photographer, but also being a savvy businesswoman. If you didn't know it already, J* is one smart lady. She talks the talk (twice as fast as most) and walks the walk (even in those high heels!). I've heard it before, but Jasmine reinforced that being a successful photographer is 20% photography and 80% business. (Of course one's definition of "success" is another matter entirely, but you know what I mean.) I've got some work to do.

Behind the scenes & off camera, Jasmine and her right hand JD are 100% the real deal. One example is that during every lunch break, Jasmine & JD would insist that the cast & crew go ahead of them in line for food. When motioning for them to go ahead of me, they both said, "no, you all have been here longer than us today." I noticed this over and over in many ways. J* & JD - you are so gracious, take nothing for granted and you truly live & breathe the Jasmine Star experience.

To bring all y'all on the internet backstage, here are more behind-the-scenes photos of my J* experience.

Now it's time for me to create, to post-process all of the mental images imprinted in my mind from our collective 5-days of intense learning. Starting with blogging again, I'm putting myself out there to the universe so that said universe can hold me accountable. Next - redefining my brand, which truly is a reflection of me. My three words are candid, compassionate and soulful. I'll approach not only my photography, but all of the divisions of my brand with these 3 words in mind. I'll be working on incorporating these into my website, blog, client interactions, promos, business cards, thank you notes - every single touch point with a client.

I had an aha moment yesterday when my friend Tanya told me that she & her husband cried looking at the photos I took of her and her horse. She said, "When I look at your portrait of me, I see my true self. I see me and how I feel about life. That is truly a gift." Honestly I was pretty blown away by that and it helped reinforce what I seek to create in my photographs, and that I can do this. Thank you Jasmine, JD and creativeLIVE.

Shout out to the creativeLIVE Five: Audrey Smit, Nate Perkes, Sachin Khona, Stephanie Miller, Victoria de Martigny, my fellow "voice of the internet" Susan Roderick, and our beautiful bride Laura Marchbanks.

Can't wait to see what masters photography course Craig & Chase of creativeLIVE come up with next!

Keepin' it real with Jasmine*

There's no time like the present. Yesterday I was incredibly inspired by Jasmine Star dishing out how she changed the game in wedding photography by creating her own. And wow is she winning that game! She definitely lives and breathes her motto KIR: keep it real, revealing the honest ups and downs of how she became one of the top 10 wedding photographers in the U.S.

I haven't been blogging for quite some time, using other social media outlets such as my Facebook fan page and Twitter, as well as my website to promote my photography business. But it's time to get back in my own game, creating conversations through my blog so that you can really get to know who I am as a person, not just a photographer. Time to use blogging to build the personal division of my brand, as Jasmine calls it.

I've had the pleasure of being a chat host at creativeLIVE since April, being a "voice of the internet" on behalf of all of you participants around the globe. I learn so much not only from the instructors of the courses I've taken, but from all of your insights and the conversations that happen in real time, live. creativeLIVE and Chase Jarvis are truly changing the game of creative education.

Time to get ready to rock it with Jasmine for Day 2 of her 5-day epic wedding photography course. Today we meet the lucky couple Laura & Billy, bride and groom, and watch Jasmine work her magic. It will be fun to watch Laura, a wedding photographer herself, be on the other side of the camera.

In addition to the few in this post, I've posted more behind the scenes photos of Day 1 with the hopes that you'll feel even more likeyou are here with us in Seattle. You'll even get a sneak peak at the venue as we were setting up yesterday. I gleaned so many golden nuggets from Jasmine yesterday as she talked a mile a minute! Check them out on my twitter feed and follow me @kennakphoto as I'll try to keep up with Jasmine over the next 4 days!

Don't miss Day 2 and KIR!