Last week I had the pleasure of heading to Camp Do More in Ontario, just 2 hours outside of Toronto. This would be four days full of meeting with like minded boudy photogs, shooting, modelling, getting eaten by mosquitoes, and educating others on how my silly brain works to help empower women through photography. Because I was a little late in making my presentations, I didn't even have time to think about what I was going to shoot so I was little sad, but thought the break might be nice so I could focus on just teaching and meeting some fab humans. Well, fast forward to the few days I spent in Toronto pre-camp with my buddy Taylor (the one on the left above) and we visited this sweet ass vintage shop. After perusing a few racks Taylor held up this old child's size Cub Scout shirt and my brain took it and ran. We then sussed out an additional outfit for her friend Edith (one of the other models at camp...the one on the right above). We found vintage socks, vests, berets, scarves, etc. to make this naughty Cub Scout shoot come to life.After being inspired by all the other speakers at the Camp, I wanted to take something that Boon Ong (whom I did the workshop in Calgary with) does. His blog posts are treated as a full experience and he finds a song that fits for each one and as the music plays, while scrolling through the posts you get immersed in it. It becomes like a still movie...I think I may do this for all my babes going forward. It truly adds to the experience of the images. Anywho, feel free to "watch" our little story unfold below and if you are a photographer interested in coming to Camp Do More next year, we are half sold out on tickets, but you can get yours here!! (And don't forget to sign up for my classes mwahaha).[audio mp3="https://www.terihoffordphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Silk.mp3"][/audio] 
Safehouse Workshop: NYC ~ Winnipeg Boudoir Photography
So...did September even happen? It was pretty much a whirlwind for me. My first adventure found me in Jersey City, Brooklyn, and Time Square X 3 times in the span of 5 days while I hung out with some of the best people in the world. When I first found out about the Safehouse Workshop: NYC through the Babetown Collective (an amazing group of photographers on Facebook/internets) I knew that without a doubt I needed to get there. So, I contacted Babetown's fearless leader Lola Gilbert and I told her that I would do whatever I could do to come play in New York, so she hooked me up with a teaching job for the workshop.
I was beyond ecstatic and actually recall screaming the good news while I was in a hotel room in Vancouver in April! While I knew this week was going to be epic beyond measure, what I didn't expect was meeting SO MANY incredible, talented, passionate, and inspiring people from all over. The coolest thing about Babetown is that it is not specific to one genre of photography, so this workshop was unlike any I had attended before. We had instructors for headshots (#chadshots), self portraits, silhouettes, intimate male portraits, family portraits, maternity sessions, engagement, same sex couples and intimate storytelling, and plus size boudoir by yours truly. So, when I wasn't instructing I was able to partake in the other instructors' classes and at first I was like, "that's silly...I don't shoot X,Y,Z, so maybe I should just hang back"....but quickly I realized just how awesome it was to be a noob at different genres of photography. I'm not saying I know everything about boudoir, but if I'm teaching on the subject, I best be somewhat of a specialist on the topic....but I definitely was not a subject matter expert in the other genres. It was awesome to take little bits from each instructor and see how I can apply it to boudoir. In fact, I have noticed that my work since attending the Safehouse Workshop has been a bit more playful, intriguing and exciting...pulling from the inspiration of those amazing people I met in NYC.
While I am thankful for the opportunities that have come out of this workshop, I am mostly thankful for the amazing friendships that I have made in a relatively competitive industry. I have people I can message on FB, strike up a ZOOM chat, or just send random voice notes to in an effort to make mine and their days better. Since coming back from this Babetown workshop, I am already signed up to instruct at the next 2 Babetown workshops in Idaho and Maine in 2018 and I am so beyond blessed for these experiences. I am so incredibly excited to meet up with my buddies and help inspire and educate other photographers to do the things that make their soul happy.
On the last day, I was watching my new friend Jessica teaching her course on Self-Portraiture (while sitting in a copper tub, mind you) and I was moved to tears. It is such an honor to be able to see people speak with such passion about their lives. It made me happy to be surrounded by people who are just as motivated as I am to never settle for the status quo. The coolest thing was, that almost all of the instructors spoke about their journey to their niche in photography and what set them apart and it was the fact that they were able to see the good in the struggles of their lives. I like to reference it as turning their kryptonite into their superpower....because it's in their vulnerability of sharing themselves and their passion for working through "the mud" and sharing this with their communities that they have become successful and well known in their industry. It has nothing to do with their camera equipment, the amount of $$$ they bring in with their business, or how long they have been doing photography...it has everything to do with the fact that each instructor literally throws their whole being, heart, and soul into their work and into inspiring and helping others in the industry. I am beyond privileged to be part of this Babetown crew.
In addition to all the inspiration, photography, and creativity, there was A LOT of play time. We did a Facebook Live for the Babetown crew where we had to ask each other questions, but it really only resulted in Chad and I deciding we need to have our own podcast, we got lost LITERALLY every time we drove home from the studios (but in doing so had the privilege of seeing the NYC skyline and Time Square multiple times), I got to eat some chicken and waffles, I photographed my babely instructor friends (their shoots to come later!), and of course, we learned that maaaaybe you shouldn't host a mixer the night before the first day of teaching and instead, perhaps should leave it until the last night to avoid epic hangovers and regret.
I always say the sign of a good workshop is when I come home with laryngitis and a sore stomach from laughing so hard, and Babetown DEFINITELY delivered both of those! Is it April or May yet??? I will stop babbling now and inundate you with photos from the amazingness that was The Safehouse Workshop. If you are a photographer and want to get in on this amazingness, you can check out the other Safehouse Workshops here and come see me in Maine or Idaho (or both, heh heh heh).
BoudyCamp Success ~ Winnipeg Boudoir Photographer
2 weekends ago, I held the first ever BoudyCamp: a workshop for boudoir photographers, at my studio here in Winnipeg and I fell in LOOOOOVE. I always knew I loved to teach (after all, I went to uni to become one!) but this workshop revived me and gave me even more mission to go forth and help photographers find their voices in an extremely saturated market! We had 2 lovely models, Taylor & Nikita, who got did up by my powerhouse hmua, Nicole Velasquez, and this gang KILLED it. Perhaps this will be a one off, where the attendees bonded so quickly, but I loved it. Everyone went for lunch together and now they know they have a support network of bad ass bosses ready to help them out!
(image on the right by the talented Alicia Marie Photography)We had a handful of peeps from Winnipeg, but we also had a few travel in to share their talent and stories and take home an arsenal of tools to help them up their boudy game. We talked about the WHY of the business, branding & marketing, the importance of being authentic for themselves as well as their clients, and of course we got down to the nitty gritty of posing and lighting.
It was a day full of smushy brains by the end, and I was creatively satisfied (and exhausted), but it was so awesome to see people get pumped up to try new things, willing to put themselves on the line, and make themselves vulnerable and be completely honest with me. It makes it soooo much easier for me to help people when they are 100% honest and willing to listen to constructive feedback and take a plan and set it in motion.
(image on the right, by the awesome Mark Phinney)We can never grow by staying in the same spot and if we don't try new things, then we won't get anywhere. A huge thing I teach is that I want them to be bad at photography....because we have to be bad, before we can be good. It takes continual practice, pushing through the frustration, and knocking over obstacles. We tend to forget that everyone who is "successful" in the business (which is a whole other topic), was bad at one point and if they are smart, they will continue to be horrible at things. When they master the thing they were terrible at, then it's time to be terrible again. You don't grow from being 100% on point, but rather from figuring out what didn't work and why and this may cause tears, sweat, and "wasted time" but it's not at all. At least you tried, then you know and you don't repeat it again. You go about it from a different angle and you start again. It's not for the faint of heart, but it shouldn't be. Anything worth doing, will not be easy.
So, yah, that was essentially BoudyCamp in a nutshell and now, the only question is...how long do I have to wait until I can host another one??
But don't take it from me, here's what the stellar attendees had to say:"BEST WORKSHOP EVER!! And I am 100% serious. Having attended a few workshops in the past 2 years I always left feeling unsatisfied with either the way the information was delivered, or not enough shooting time, or not great communication ect. I have to say this was the best workshop I have ever done. Teri goes above and beyond by constantly giving you feedback, showing and demonstrating. Touching base with YOU and YOUR business. She is real. She is honest about her business which is so refreshing (No sugar coating!) She gives her honest opinion on everything and will answer literally any question. The Workshop wasn't just about photographing a pretty model but also about who we are and WHY we are interested in Boudoir Photography. She digs deep- really makes you think! It's not just surface stuff. (No fluff!) Learning from her (I call her the Master Boudoir Photographer) was everything I could have hoped for. Her humor, her outlook on boudoir, on empowerment, everything. I also loved that she brought 2 different models (with 2 very different shapes) in to shoot! Everything she taught was practical (You could actual do it, even on a budget!) & I could take what I wanted from her mentorship and apply it to my own skills & knowledge. So Invest in yourself and your business. Book a Workshop with Teri! You will NOT regret it!!" ~Alicia Marie
"Teri is very knowledgeable when it comes to the boudoir bizz and women in general. You can feel the passion when she talks about it. Which is what, for me, makes the experience so memorable and beneficial. I loved every minute of the workshop! I was just given a lot to think about with my business which is very helpful. Made me think about why I need to figure my "why" and why it's so important to follow it. I also took away how important it is to practice practice practice. It was super helpful to have had those stunning models willing to be pretzels for us to work on posing which for me is a weak spot. It was all just amazing!" ~ Sam Stregger
"I really enjoyed the workshop. Teri has a contagious passion for what she does and I left feeling inspired. It was a very informal and non-threatening learning environment and it was evident that Teri, despite all of her talent and success is just a down-to-earth person with a huge heart and desire to help people reach their full potential. Sometimes working as a photographer can burn a person out a bit, this was a good way to fall back in love with the process and journey of creating images!" ~ Mark Phinney
"I expected my mentorship to be a show up, dump my photos, receive some critique, and that would be it. The fact that Teri dives right in to the nitty gritty, the bottom, to find out what makes you tick FIRST blew me away and left me in tears literally. We didn't even look at my photos! It was an amazing experience. The fact that she is going to help me revamp my portrait business over the next few months to create happy clients leaves me feeling very optimistic as I was ready to pretty much shut it completely down. Teri will change your fucking life. My favorite part was when I admitted I was worried over the non-instructional part of the day with the models. Teri immediately addressed the fear, we discussed it, and sent me on my way. I was still worried and did freeze with the posing but the fact that there was a moment of problem solving not just a "you'll figure it out" was amazing." ~ Chantelle Enns, Chantelle Dione Photography