Fall in Love Retreat 2011 (San Luis Obispo)

This retreat was life changing for me. I say 'retreat' now because I really can't call these experiences 'workshops' anymore. 'Workshop' sounds so mechanical; so 'how to'. My workshops have become far more than 'how to'. They are challenging, refreshing, and inspiring; everyone leaves encouraged, motivated and changed.

Have you ever heard this proverb? --"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." Well, what happens if the man falls in love with fishing? Well, that guy becomes absolutely obsessed with all things fish... fishing poles, tackle, bait, boats, lures; you name it! He spends his life fishing, feeding his family and he loves every minute of it. And he becomes an excellent fisherman in the process!

My focus has always been to encourage photographers to fall in love with all that they do and to work from that place of inspiration. --To fall in love with people, beauty, light, colors, brides, grooms, and all things weddings. When we love what we do and do what we love than love comes back to us and everyone prospers. We create images we never dreamed, we go places we never expected, we meet people we never would have. This photography retreat is just a small example of that.

Two years ago I had some Swedish photographers who couldn't make it to my first workshop at Flying Caballos Ranch. Since then they have been trying to make it, but our schedules never aligned. So, in November I hosted a workshop/retreat just for them. They brought another couple of amazing Swedish photographers out for a California road trip with a stop through San Luis Obispo. Honestly it was humbling and intimidating to have these amazingly talented ladies travel halfway around the world to spend a couple days being inspired by little ol' me! But I've learned that saying 'yes' to things that scare you only pave the way to personal and professional breakthrough.

We spent two days together diving into the heart of who we are as artists and why we do what we do. Lisa Leonard was our guest speaker and styled two different inspiration shoots for us all to exercise our creative photography muscles. She was amazing to have with us; her business and brand are totally inspiring! Check out this amazing Video by Joel VanZ and then enjoy the photos!

Before you go you must check out some photos from these amazing Swedish photographers! Isabelle of 2 Brides Photography was the motivating force behind planning this workshop so I want to share about her experience.

"The main reason we decided to go on a trip to California is an amazing photographer called Cameron Ingalls. He is not only an awesome photographer, but also a mentor, inspiration and a really good person. You know one of those that you just instantly like. We had planned to attend his worskhop already last year but things came in between and we had to reschedule. After a loooooong wait it was finally time and we are certainly not disappointed. Not only we were so incredibly good taken care of by Cameron and his wife Anna, who cooked super good food, we really got to go into ourselves during these days and find the keys and tools to why we do what we do. The workshop that Cameron has is called “Fall in Love With A Moment” and that is exactly what you do, every time.

Now looking back, it was one of the best things I’ve ever done in a long, long time. In those 4 days I learned so much about myself, and what I can accomplice and how to get there.

When I saw the move made from the workshop by Joel VanZ tears ran down my cheeks, and I just want to say: thank you, thank you, thank you to Cameron Ingalls for making this all come true and for making us all see the beauty, talent and strength that we all carry inside ourselves. To Joel VanZ for capturing this and making the memories even stronger. To Lisa Leonard for her inspiring story and her great advices. The tools you gave me are invaluable, I will treasure that forever. God bless! I hope you realize what an impact you have on people, you can really make a difference. To believe in one self is one thing, to have someone telling you you've got IT is such a huge gift! Thank you for that and keep on doing exactly what you do! Inspiring people on sooooo many levels, in life, work and beyond." -Isabelle Hesselberg 2 Brides Photography

Lena Larrson also posted some amazing images!