Time to spill ALL the details ladies!
You are going to have three full days together with me, Brian, Rick and Garrett for the San Francisco Discovery Workshop!!
Thursday night, April 30th, at 7pm, we will gather together for wine and gourmet pizzas at Rick and Garrett’s hip, new studio on 4th Street in San Rafael. This will be an evening to reunite, relax and get ready for the next three days! (Spouses are invited! That means you, Jeramy! 
)
Friday morning, May 1st, at 10am, we will start our first day at the beautiful Cavallo Point! This gorgeous location is located right under the Golden Gate bridge and couldn’t be more picturesque
and cozy space for a workshop of 30 women.
Right outside our room is an inviting spot for conversation or journaling…
Topic for Day One: Discovering the Artist Within
We know there are a number of business and technical things we could teach on, but as the four of us came together, and discussed our vision for this workshop we agreed that our biggest strengths to offer as a team is our passion and inspiration for being artists…creators of life. The four of us also felt a deep agreement that this passion must first come from within–a deep exploration to knowing oneself. Thus, we start the first day with doing some soul searching, deep sea diving so to speak to Discovering the Artist Within.
Rick and his wife Leslie (an amazing professional dancer),
Garrett, Brian, and myself will be leading the day together. We will have exercises, small group exercises and guided reflection time. This day is about finding the strength within and how this strength sets you apart. Regardless of the economy’s state, we are all given a dream to pursue. This first day is about digging up our dreams and giving them strength. I know it may sound abstract, but if you’ve ever seen the four of us work together you understand how intense and wonderful this first day will be.
Dinner will be at 7pm. Location undecided. But please note, ALL dinners are COVERED in your tuition (except Sunday, see below)!
Saturday morning, May 2nd, we meet at 9:30am at Cavallo Point, and caravan to Rick’s stomping ground: Stinson Beach.
Topic for Day Two: Discovering the Mystery and Beauty within Your Subject: Portraiture with Rick Chapman
For Day Two, we caravan out to Stinson Beach where Rick and his family live. We spend the morning learning from Rick and his powerful, yet sensitive approach to portraiture. Rick has taken numerous portraits of celebrity athletes, people who have had their picture taken hundreds of times. Rick shows us how he makes his connection with clients a new, fresh and intimate time.
After lunch, we will be bringing in 10-15 portrait subjects. The group will break up into smaller groups of 2-3 people. Your group will be given a block of time to practice all that Rick’s taught with your portrait subject. The portrait subjects will be coming from all walks life. Your mission is to capture their spirit by using the tactics and approaches Rick teaches. We will then come back together and share.
A group dinner will be held in Stinson Beach at the local favorite, Sand Dollar!
Sunday morning, May 3rd, at 10am, we are back at the Cavallo Point for our last beautiful day together.
Topic for Day Three: Photo Coaching: Helping Your Clients Relax in Front of the Camera
There is never one way to do things. Rick has a certain way of capturing the human spirit, and Brian and I have a different approach. The more approaches we can teach you, the more prepared you’ll be to work with every type of person!
We spend the first half of the last day learning all about Photo Coaching–the approach Brian and I have to capturing our clients.
Brian and I came up with the term Photo Coaching over a year ago b/c we often feel our clients (family or wedding) need coaching to help them relax in front of the camera. The term has stuck and spread like wild fire! We are so excited to incorporate this subject into a workshop! If you were unable to get a spot in our Master Class at WPPI, you’ll get the full tamale at this workshop! Brian and I are going to pull out ALL the stops as we model, make fools of ourselves, and teach you every tactic we use with our wedding and portrait clients.
The second half and last part of our workshop begins after lunch. We will spend our last few hours discussing the topics we learned over the last three days, doing group exercises, reflection and a couple other things that you have to wait and see.
The workshop officially comes to a (sad 
) ending at 5pm for those of you who need to fly out and get home before Monday morning. Dinner will not be planned or organized.
Oh, I almost forgot! To see a 360 degree view of Cavallo Point, check out this link Garrett provided!
FAQ–Here WE GO!!!
Who is this workshop for?
This workshop is for women only. Sorry Jeramy. It is not a beginner workshop. We expect women to have a good understanding of Aperture, Shutter Speed and ISO. If you’ve attended one of our workshops, your in good shape for coming! We will be discussing composition and the creative process a lot during this workshop. Rick, Garrett, Brian and myself will all be available to answer technical questions, but the focus is not technical.
This workshop is also for women who are wanting to pursue their own photography business or want to strengthen their existing business. As you can see from the topics, we will be unfolding all our tactics behind capturing the images we do of our clients.
This workshop is especially for those who are feeling overwhelmed, discouraged, and in desperate need of creative inspiration and connection with other women who share a similar passion. As we designed and discussed the mission of this workshop, this last group of women were on our hearts the most. We want you to leave filled up and inspired to pursue your dreams that much more!
What does it cost?
The workshop cost per person is $1499. But we will be offering two specials. Starting tomorrow at 9am PST, we will open registration for all FORMER workshop attendees first. They will have the opportunity to register for the Early Bird Special of $1249. A week from tomorrow, we will open up registration to everyone else for the same price. This special will be extended two more weeks for everyone else. The Early Bird Special will last three weeks total, starting tomorrow. After that, the workshop tuition bumps up to $1499.
Can I put a retainer down?
YES! Absolutely! Just remember that this is a retainer not a deposit. This means the retainer is non-refundable under any circumstances. Please be thoughtful about registering b/c we book rooms, airfare and the location space and pay for things up front. Last minute cancellations really hurt the overall workshop. If you decide to put a retainer down, we’re going to consider it as an act of good faith that you will pay the remaining amount. If for some reason you can’t come, we cannot refund the retainer.
The Early Bird Special retainer required to reserve your spot is $749. The remaining balance of $500 will due by March 9th 2009.
Airfare
Knowing that women are flying in from everywhere for this workshop, be sure to check out Virgin Air and Alaska TODAY! We just realized last night that they have crazy cheap flights to San Francisco, some sales ending today!
Hotel Options
The Cavallo Point has beautiful rooms and the prices range from $200 something up to $500. It’s nice to be on location, but if your looking for something more economical, we have a WIDE range of options. There are too many to list here, so once you register we’ll send you a list of hotels in the area to check out. Price range varies. FYI, Garrett and Rick did suggest the Acqua Hotel in Mill Valley. Take a look at the place. If enough women are interested we could ask them about a group rate. But like I said, there are a LOT of hotel options so no stress.
How do I reserve my spot?
If you are a former workshop attendee, expect to get an email from us sometime tonight or early tomorrow morning that has the link to follow for registration. If you haven’t received an email from us by 8:30am tomorrow morning, email Brian at brian@merakoh.com. (Only former workshop attendees will be receiving an email to register early.)
Almost forgot! Meals!
All meals are included in the tuition cost, except for breakfast. Thursday night’s Meet and Greet is also on us. But remember, Sunday night is your own night to head out or hang out with friends from the workshop. We will officially end on Sunday at 5pm.
Promise…
We promise to have lots and lots of stories, laughs and possibly a few tears at this workshop–all signature elements to a Me Ra Koh Workshop!
Can’t wait to see you all!
Registration starts tomorrow morning! Check your email tonight and tomorrow morning for the link to register! Can I get a Hip Hip Hooray!!!
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For fun photo exercises, check out our popular Instructional DVDs Refuse to Say Cheese and Beyond the Green Box (They are BACK IN STOCK!! Yeah!!), our 101 Kits for starting or expanding a business in photography , click on the words of your choice!
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