On April 21st I attended a workshop put on by Justine Russo of Justine Russo Photography. It was an all day workshop that took place at the Sandman Hotel in Abbotsford. I came across Justine’s website in…I think it was March… and saw that she was having this workshop and I really wanted to attend! I thought it would be a great opportunity to meet other photographers who like me are new in the business and to learn about how Justine started Photography and what she did to build her business. I was crossing my fingers that it wasn’t full, so I sent her an email and lucky for me there were 2 more spots available! So needless to say I signed up and had been looking forward to it from that day.

 

So the day finally came and I headed to the Sandman. When I walked into the conference room there was a big table with some goodies for all of us. Justine wrote a personal note to each one of us which was a great way to start off the day and really brought a smile to my face :). It was so nice to read those kind words from someone who I was just meeting for the first time! There was also a bag filled with some of Justine’s favourite things, this included chocolate, tea and her fav pen!

 

 

After all 17 of us introduced ourselves, Justine told us about her story. It is always nice to hear how other people started their business and to meet people who are or were once in the same boat. Justine talked about how her business grew, pricing, workflow along with many other things. After lunch we headed to Gardener Park for a styled shoot. There was a table completely set up and we had 2 wonderful models. We got to see Justine in action taking photos of the couple and we were able to take photos as well. Sylvia & Matt were super easy to photograph and they were great models especially considering there were 18 photographers clicking away!

 

The whole day was amazing! I loved meeting Justine and all the other photographers! After just one day with Justine I feel like I really got to know her!

 

I want to thank Justine for putting on this workshop and being so friendly! It is great to see that there are Photographers out there like Justine who are willing to help and give advice and inspiration to those of us who are newer in the industry! It was a truly amazing and inspirational day!

 

And now here are photos from the Styled Shoot!

 

 

A big thanks to all the Vendors who helped put this styled shoot together!

 

Workshop – Justine Russo Photography

Designer – Chantale Demers

Tables/Settings – Classic Party Rentals

Linens – Champagne Dreams

Couch Rental – Trove Vintage Rentals

Florist – Adrienne Ritchie

Hair – Olivia Grosso

Makeup – HD Beauty

Models – Sylvia & Matt