Live. Love. Learn: Thirst Relief Benefit

Save lives while learning from your colleagues!

LaCour has volunteered for Thirst Relief's unique Mentor Program.
Thirst Relief International helps families who desperately need clean drinking water!

This once in a lifetime opportunity to get personal feedback will only be available for one week. Mentoring sessions will be auctioned online and 100% of the funds will bring clean drinking water to families in countries where there is a need.

**Click Here to bid on a 90-minute one-on-one session with LaCour

Mentors who have volunteered to help you and Thirst Relief:

Becker | Charles and Jennifer Maring | Chenin and Doug Boutwell
Chris LaLonde | Dane Sanders | David Beckstead | David Jay
Davina Fear | Denis Reggie | DQ Studios | Gary Fong | Gene Higa
Huy from f8 Studio | Jeff Jochum | Jefferson Todd
Jeff and Julia Woods | Jerry Ghionis | Jessica Claire
Jim and Lara Davis-Hicks | Joe Photo | John at Imagemakr.com
John Michael Cooper | LACOUR | Laura Novak
Liana Lehman | Marcus Bell | Matt Antonino | Me Ra Koh
Michele Celentano | Mike Colón | Mike Larson
Nathan and Amber Holritz | Parker Pfister | Pepper Nix
Wildberry Studio+Design | Vicki Taufer | Yervant

Details: The auction is open from March 1st until March 8 at midnight PST.
Mentoring sessions will take place in Las Vegas during WPPI, March 24-28.

**CLICK HERE TO GET INVOLVED NOW!**

Learn from Huy and Linda in Atlanta!

We're thrilled to announce that we are hosting a special seminar with Huy Nguyen and Linda Wallace in April!

Huy and Linda are two of the most talented and innovative photographers working in the wedding industry. They are a constant source of inspiration to the LaCour team. Mark just spent a wonderful week teaching alongside Huy and Linda at The Foundation Workshop.

On April 25 and 26, Huy and Linda will share their knowledge and experience with photographers at The NO MODELS Workshop. Come spend two days with Huy and Linda at the LaCour studio in Atlanta!

Huy and Linda will teach you to find inspiration in real life and real stories!

You will be inspired. You will be challenged. You will be changed!

**Click Here to Sign up Now.

Chicago Bridal Show Slideshow

As we posted earlier this week, Rachel and I photographed a Vera Wang event at the beautiful Peninsula Hotel, sponsored by Chicago Social Brides and our friends at Belle Vie Bridal Couture. We just created a slideshow from the event. ****CLICK HERE**** to view the slideshow.

On the road, again?

One of the benefits of having Joy and Garrett Nudd as friends is that they are always travelling south from Chattanooga. And our home base of Atlanta is very hard to avoid! We love our impromptu get-togethers with Garrett, Joy and the adorable Graycen. Thanks for stopping in Atlanta tonight for dinner guys. Have fun shooting in Savannah this weekend! We look forward to seeing your beautiful photos!

Birthday Flair

We had a surprise birthday party for Bill Holland (Bill is the director of this year's Foundation Workshop) and I just had to sport some Elton John-ish glasses. Thanks to Emilie Sommer for the cool photo! Also, check out the Foundation Workshop blog. I've been updating the blog with fun pictures from each day of the workshop.

Foundation Workshop

I am in Allen, TX, teaching at the Foundation Workshop 5, (photo by Sergio)which is a workshop developed to help wedding photographers improve their photography and editing skills. The workshop is structured very similarly to great photojournalism workshops like the Eddie Adams Workshop, Missouri Photo Workshop and the Western Kentuky University's Mountain Workshop.

What happens at this workshop is each participant is given a photo assignment and then spends a couple of days making pictures to tell a story about the assigment - very similar to how we worked in the newspaper and magazine journalism world. And then each evening, the workshop participants sit down with a team of photo editors and talk about the work they shot that day and figure out how to improve. My role in the workshop is to go out into the field with students and help them think about the story they are telling and give them tips and instruction to improve their shooting and their "seeing" of moments.

There are amazing faculty members at the Foundation Workshop who I've already learned so much from, just by talking and sharing ideas. I'm updating the workshop blog daily, so check it out for fun photos this week. The workshop started Sunday night and ends Thursday night. I'll post more throughout the week.

Whirlwind Week!

The Peninsula Hotel Ballroom
A model with one of Vera Wang's gowns previewed at the show.	We've had a whirlwind week! After our workshop concluded, Andrew and I flew to coastal Georgia for a destination wedding. And Mark and Erin drove to SC for a 3-day Indian wedding! After the wedding, Andrew and I flew to Chicago to shoot an exclusive Vera Wang event at the beautiful Peninsula Hotel. Thanks to Chicago Social Brides and our friends at Belle Vie Bridal Couture in Chicago, who sponsored and organized the event! Sunday morning, Mark left Atlanta to fly to Dallas to join the faculty of the The Foundation Workshop. We added new images to our blog post about our inaugural workshop! Be sure to check it out!
Models exit the Peninsula Ballroom Andrew flying in the groom's plane (groom as pilot!) on Saturday morningCrane Cottage at the Jekyll Island Club Hotel

The Business of Storytelling Workshop Recap

Erin Reed Adams and Mark Adams played Bride and Groom for the "hands off" shooting demo at Biltmore Ballrooms
We had an amazing week with everyone who attended our first Business of Storytelling workshop. We've added new photos below...
It was great to see so many talented people eager to learn and grow. And what really made an impression on us was how insipiring it was to see everyone helping each other. It seemed like every day, everyone would share their thoughts and ideas with each other. The sense of community and collective desire to help each other was powerful.

We miss all of you and can't wait to see you again!

We'd like to extend special thanks to Carrie Hopson (Biltmore), David Jay, Tim Zielenbach and Denis Reggie for their generous help in making our first workshop a success!
Cameron Clark and Eric Shunk at the shooting demo
Andrew Niesen explains bounce flash at the Biltmore
Rachel LaCour Niesen caught the "reverse angle" on the first dance
Mark and Erin joke with Eric Shunk during the "available light" portion of the shooting demo
The talented Hollye Schumacher chats with students during the shooting demo
Mark Adams waxes eloquent with Tammy Chambers

Patty Boge and David Jay
N'neka Scruggs, Erin Reed Adams, and Jenn Linke at lunch with David Jay.
David Jay charms the ladies :)
Rachel LaCour Niesen is always smiling!
Jerry Tomko promises to be Erin's dance partner at the next LaCour shooting demo! (There's always Vegas, Jerry :) )
Mark Adams tells us about his traumatic parmesan cheese incident (T-shirts coming soon!)
Macintosh Users Group (MUG) members Regina Holder, Kelly Lee Flora, David Jay, Andrew Niesen, Rachel LaCour Niesen, and Jerry Tomko
Patty Boge, Ernie Russell, Eric Shunk, Amanda Kohn and the back of Cameron Clark's head
Many thanks to all who attended! We didn't get our cameras pointed at everyone, but we love you all!

Thoughts on Music by Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs has written a very frank article outlining his thoughts concerning the licensing and selling of music online. Jobs states, "With the stunning global success of Apple’s iPod music player and iTunes online music store, some have called for Apple to 'open' the digital rights management (DRM) system that Apple uses to protect its music against theft, so that music purchased from iTunes can be played on digital devices purchased from other companies, and protected music purchased from other online music stores can play on iPods. Let’s examine the current situation and how we got here, then look at three possible alternatives for the future."

Read the Entire Article

Southern (California) Hospitality

We had a great time catching up with fellow photographers during our quick trip to Laguna Beach. Thank you to everyone who welcomed us so warmly.

Dane Sanders, who I first met a couple of years ago at one of Mike Colon's workshops, invited Erin and me to a lunch meeting with some of the best photographers in the OC. From Left to Right: Jules Bianchi, Dane Sanders, Jim Kennedy, Ryan Phillips, Joe Photo, Jessica Claire, Becker, Chenin & Doug Boutwell and Erin and me.

During lunch we talked about how networking has influenced our businesses. I've always felt a responsibility to share with others what I have learned throughout my life. I have grown directly as the result of other people - mentors, friends, colleagues - sharing with me their stories and helping me to improve. I sincerely feel that I have an obligation to pass that knowledge on and help others. It was simply great to join in the conversation with other like-minded photographers. Ron Dawson videotaped the luncheon and Dane will soon be featuring portions of the conversation on Simple Photo TV.


Here I am on Becker's lap begging him for an invite to his world famous party in Las Vegas during WPPI/DWF. This was the first time I've met Becker. Simply put, he's hilarious! I wish I had half the wit as Becker.


Erin and I also had the pleasure of having breakfast with Paul Gero Paul is a fellow newspaper/magazine photojournalist turned wedding photographer. This year, Canon named him an Explorer of Light. Not only is Paul a talented photographer, he is an amazing person. What stands out to me is his pure love for and excitement about his family. When he talks about his wife and daughter, Paul simply glows like no one else I've met.

Check back soon as we'll be sharing a little bit about the wedding we photographed while we were out in Orange County.

Beautiful Orange County

Ok, we're ready to move to Orange County. Just look at this view! We shot this last night from The Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel and just had to share it with everyone (Ignore the hurried sandwiching of images for the pano). It's absolutely gorgeous out here. We'll post more soon. Right now, we have to hurry off to photograph a wedding.

Dodging the Weather Bullet

::CLICK HERE TO SEE THE VIDEO::

It has been one of "those" days, in an amazing kind of way!
We got a call this afternoon about a wedding in Laguna Beach, CA. Immediately, we were thrilled! Then, came the punch line...the wedding is taking place this Friday! So, the LaCour crew went into hyperdrive to prep and pack for the assignment.

As Mark and Erin prepared for a Thursday departure, the bad news came. The National Weather Service expected a huge ice storm to cripple Atlanta overnight. Delta Airlines preemptively cancelled over 200 flights, and it became clear that the only way we could ensure Mark and Erin arrived in LA for Friday's wedding was to get a flight before the ice storm hit!

So, about 6 hours later, Mark and Erin hopped on a flight to LA!

As I write, they are on Delta's last LAX - bound flight. ::CLICK HERE:: to watch a video clip of them at the airport with eight bags of luggage.

:: CLICK HERE :: to watch the hilarity ensue as Georgians prepare for the scary winter weather.