For the past six months, I have been eating, sleeping and breathing The Seniorologie Tour. I created a blog dedicated to the study of high school senior portrait photography and realized putting together a workshop to teach things such as lighting, pricing, marketing and more was perfect.
I have always been a planner. Even my vacations are planned to the last detail. One of my friends once told me that if I ever owned my own vacation home that it should be named, “No Itinerary.” And she was being sarcastic!
Planning is just in my blood.
I have a degree in public relations and event planning goes with the territory. I planned events for a hospital and for Purdue University. I have helped many friends plan their weddings and I have thrown so many parties over the years, I’ve lost count.
So to be able to combine my love of planning events, blogging (Seniorologie) and photography really was a dream come true! And that is why The Seniorologie Tour was born!
Through Seniorologie, I am able to give information to many readers by sharing inspirational photo shoots and the behind the scenes information, interviews of senior photographers with tips on how others can build a successful business and video posts where I share information and experience from my point of view. It is what I was meant to do.
The Seniorologie Tour is a culmination of all of this knowledge that is shared on the blog in a unique workshop experience that brings together four photographers who all have their own unique way of doing things. The tour is like getting four workshops in one!
I began planning this workshop with a location in mind. The Inn at Serenbe has been stuck in my mind ever since I saw it in Cookie Magazine. It is a picture-perfect inn surrounded by acres and acres of beautiful farm land. There are barns, fields of flowers and gardens galore! The Inn is made up of cottages sprinkled around the property, all with a different design motif. This location lent itself to the all-inclusive experience I wanted for the tour.
Once the Inn was picked, I began thinking of every little detail that I could do to make this a wonderful experience for all the attendees. Many, many companies donated items as door prizes and goodies to fill the goodie bags (see sponsor list here). I added special southern touches that matched our location. Atlanta is the home of Coke-a-Cola and as you know, that is one of my favorite things. I added that and a bag full of peach candy to celebrate the first location stop on the tour.
The menu for every meal was carefully thought out and planned to give the attendees the southern treats they have never experienced. Shrimp and Grits, Fresh Strawberry Cobbler with homemade ice cream, Garden Soup and fresh squeezed lemonade were all part of our yummy meals. All of the items we ate were grown on the property as it is a self-sustainable community. From first bite to the last, you knew you were eating fresh!
The speakers on the tour and their speaking topics were carefully thought out. I made sure to have them each talk about something that they specialize in and this allowed each attendee to get a different perspective from each of the speakers. The schedule was planned to allow the flow of the teaching day to go from the beginning of your business to the photographing of a high school senior. Thanks to all the speakers for a wonderful job.
The shooting day was planned down to the minute, and each group was kept small to allow for the ultimate shooting experience. I had to make sure every minute was being utilized to allow each attendee the opportunity to photograph each model at each station and learn from each speaker at each of these stations. By rotating between stations, models and speakers, every attendee was allowed hands-on learning from each of the speakers. Making sure everyone stayed on schedule and delivering each attendee to the right location at the right time was a big job. But I loved every minute of it.
The stations were all planned out with the help of Courtney Delaura of Get Schooled Photo. She pulled together props, hand made props and worked with an awesome company called Altar’d State to get the beautiful clothes worn by the models. It all came together beautifully thanks to her talent as an amazing crafter and photographer.
The models were handpicked by one of my senior clients that happens to live in Georgia. I knew she came to me for a reason and knowing her allowed me to get four beautiful actual senior girls to model for this event. Each of these girls did such a fabulous job and all the attendees raved about them! Thanks girls!!
Michele, our makeup artist, made sure to keep the girls looking fresh and natural. Michele was referred to me by Tasra Dawson, a wonderful senior photographer in Atlanta. I am so glad I got the chance to work with Michele on this project! Thanks Michele!
It was a busy few days, and a busy past six months. But I did it! I pulled off an event that I set out to plan. That is the best part. Working and working to plan something, seeing it unfold and hearing the comments from those that attended. It is a dream come true! I am so grateful to everyone that came to The Seniorologie Tour. Each of you will forever be my friends and seeing you learn from the speakers and use that knowledge in your own businesses fills my heart with joy.
This is what I was meant to do. Thank you Seniorologie Tour!!
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