Two months ago, I flew to Tacoma to meet one on one with a photographer who I personally look up to; Mr. Sean Flanigan. Due to the bad rep that most photography workshops get, I hadn’t ever attended one and nor did I care to. During the last 5 years of being a full-time wedding photographer, I took the long route. I learned everything I know now through research, practice, and experience.

Over this past winter I had hit a bump. More or less, a “creative block”. I had realized that throughout the entirety of 2010, I had been shooting less for myself and more for wedding blogs and magazines; and what would be “editorial-worthy”. I had been obsessing over details; blogging more details than one should. And don’t get me wrong. I grew tremendously as a photographer last year and received a lot of recognition for my work. And I am so thankful for that. I do not take it for granted whatsoever.

This year, my main focus is to get back to my roots, which is to shoot and process in a style that compliments the type of photography I first fell in love with years and years ago. Like I said, I was never interested in workshops, and nor have I followed Sean’s work for very long. But as soon as I looked through his work, I felt such a connection, and I knew that he would be the one I needed to meet and give me the creative kick in the rear that I needed. I’m going to be honest and say that I was a bit intimidated and nervous before I met him. In my head, I made him out to be this old, cranky, cocky man. Not sure why, but honest to God, I thought it. I was dead wrong. He is a humble, down-to-earth guy (young too, haha) who truly believes in marriage (like I do), and practically tears up every time he talks about his son. And I found that so endearing and human about him. After spending the entire day with Sean, I was sad to go. But I was excited for the year ahead of me. I am more determined than ever to top last year.

Meet Carly and Yaro. They’ve been married a few years and were so gracious to be models for Sean and I. These two are so euro-chic, aren’t they? I just loved spending time with them and although they’ve said they don’t do this very often, I have to say they were complete naturals. To see Sean’s images from this session, click here.