Ryan Ray Workshop

Ryan Ray has been one of my favorite photographers for a long while. When I was working on an album and TweetDeck chirped saying, “Do you think anyone would be interested if I put on a workshop?” I was pumped. Sure, I may have been “that guy” and replied about 4 seconds later, but I’d have forgotten otherwise. It came up when Drew Cason and I were talking, and we decided we’d both go. It was about half the price of any other workshop I wanted to go to, and required no airfare!

Drew took care of the hotel, and I drove. By took care of the hotel, I mean he found a roof over our heads. I’m not convinced it wasn’t a halfway house for Denton, TX. Some of the strangest people and animals I’d ever seen in my life. Yes, I said it. Animals. There was one man who walked in with a German Shepherd that, if the need arose, could tow my Trail Blazer. MASSIVE animal. There were people who looked like they hadn’t washed their hair in three weeks walking up and down the halls, and a small dog in someone’s room. I’m 90% sure a good bit of them had been at this particular Days Inn for a while. If you are reading this and you are in that particular Days Inn, I apologize if I’ve offended you. But you can’t argue with it. It was surreal. However, it was cheap and safeish, so it worked!

The day began with breakfast at Ryan’s house, getting to know the other people attending the workshop. Everyone was so much fun to talk to. Most the attendees were from the Dallas area, but some were from Houston, Pheonix, Washington (I think?) and a few other places. We spent all morning and most of the afternoon hanging out in Ryans house, asking questions and listening to him spill the beans on what did and didn’t work in his senior photography career. Then, around 4:00, we got to go out and shoot a couple high schoolers Ryan had never met, and who weren’t models. It was so much fun watching him interact with his clients. My focus was definitely not on shooting and trying to build my portfolio (some of the shots are below). I did snap a few shots every once and a while, but mostly I just took in everything, trying to soak up any and all knowledge I could.

It was almost a 12 hour day, but 100% worth it. Ryan and his wife were so incredibly kind to open up their home to us, for the sake of making us better. Be sure after this to check out Ryan Ray’s website. You won’t be disappointed. The workshop was easily one of the best investments I’ve made in photography, even just for the chance to meet all the other photographers and listen to everyone’s passions, confusions, and situations. It was also cool the next day to meet up with Emma and mine’s wedding photographer, but more on who that is later this week!

The old saying goes, “When you quit learning, you quit leading.” No matter what industry or arena you are in, take any chance you can to stand on the shoulders of giants.