If you know us personally, you know we’re borderline obsessed with a husband-and-wife photography team out of Scottsdale, Arizona known as Amy & Jordan Demos. Our admiration of them started with their work. Their photos are beautiful, bright and joyful – qualities we strive to capture in our own images. But, when we began to read their daily blogs, we grew to admire their love for the Lord, each other, their profession and their clients. We love reading about their love story and their cats, and we really felt like we knew these two people. They were fantastic virtual role models for us, they just had no idea we existed! They would soon meet their favorite internet stalkers, though, when we attended the first ever Amy & Jordan Workshop!
Here is how it all came to be:
We had been discussing what we wanted to do for our first anniversary trip for the past year. We decided that we’d like to go to Las Vegas, California or the Grand Canyon – somewhere on that side of the country – and if we were ANYWHERE close to Amy & Jordan, we had to meet them. They offer coaching sessions for photographers, so YES, sign us up. We emailed Amy & Jordan back in May of 2014 to schedule a coaching session with them. We knew that they had so much to teach us (#demoseducation!), and we were dying to soak it all up.
Well, fast forward a few months, and we began to face the unfortunate reality that Jamie’s mom’s battle with cancer wasn’t over. It was back, and we still had some fights left to fight. That’s when Jordan emailed us to tell us that they were planning to teach their first workshop, and that they’d love to have us there if we wanted to come to the workshop instead of the coaching session. We debated for a while, but decided that we didn’t feel comfortable with the timing, so we backed out.
February 2015 was quickly approaching (the day of the workshop and our first anniversary), and we noticed that Showit (an online education resource for photographers) was giving away a ticket to Amy & Jordan’s workshop. WHAAAT!? It was sold out (within 15 minutes of being on sale), we had already passed up our chance! What is going on!? Of course, we entered, and we told ourselves that if we won, then we’d try everything in our power to go.
Of course, Eric won the contest live on a Showit webcast (where he let out an excited “Roll Tide!”) and we began to plan our trip. The financial burden was lightened and Jamie’s mom was stable. We could sneak away for a few days, spend some much needed time together, and soak up all of the wisdom from our own personal Mr. & Mrs. Miyagi.
Before we were scheduled to arrive in Scottsdale, we were able to spend a couple of days in Las Vegas. We had a blast in Vegas, where we learned first hand that one of the most prominent sins in “Sin City” is often overlooked – GLUTTONY. We ate SO MUCH. The buffets, you guys. Who needs slot machines and show girls… THE BUFFETS.
While there, a childhood dream became a reality… we saw BRITNEY SPEARS live. Check that off of Jamie’s bucket list. We also went to Cirque du Soliel’s LOVE, an amazing show put to the music from The Beatles, Eric’s favorite. We rented a car on the third day and took a beautiful drive through the desert to Arizona and stopped at the Hoover Dam (which was awesome!) on the way. We listened to the entire series of Serial (Eric thinks Adnan did it, Jamie thinks he’s innocent!) and just relaxed. Most of all, we really enjoyed celebrating our first year of marriage and taking some time to just focus on each other. Not the day jobs, the business, personal obligations. For a couple of days, it was just us.
(Warning: the following images are from an iPhone, and some even contain a…. selfie stick. GASP!)
Sunday arrived, and it was time to start the workshop. This blog is already too long, but there is SO MUCH we could say about this experience. From nailing the shot in camera to improving the overall experience for our couples, we really feel like every aspect of our business is so much stronger. We were given the opportunity to put our new skills to the test with a phenomenal styled shoot, which we cannot WAIT to share with you. A sneak peak is below. A&J also snapped a few photos of us, and we’ll always treasure them!
On the last night of the workshop, Amy & Jordan offered to stick around to answer questions that anyone had, which led to them sitting outside with us until MIDNIGHT pouring wisdom, advice and encouragement into us. The experience was truly priceless. On top of all that, they surprised us with champagne and flowers in honor of our anniversary. WOW! While running a workshop, they somehow found the time to go buy us a present!? Their servant’s heart is astounding and really illustrated to us the kind of photographer and friend we want to be for our clients.
Tears were shed and minds were blown. Can we do it all over again!?
We also can’t end this blog post without shouting out to the other AMAZING photographers that we got to know and love while at the workshop. The community that was built amongst us is something we really cherish. We can’t count the times that these awesome professionals have taken the time to give us advice or encouragement since we all parted ways, and it’s so invaluable to us to call them friends.
We’re even meeting up for a day-long double date with Ryan & Alyssa, a flippin’ fantastic husband-and-wife team out of Greenville, SC this April. We’re meeting in Atlanta, having them take some new photos of us for our new website (coming soon!), and spending the day talking shop with an awesome couple who really “gets” us. We can’t wait! They’ve also hooked us up with an amazing wedding in South Carolina this October. Have we told you yet that this was a blessing!?
This whole experience has helped us to know that we’re where we’re supposed to be, and that feels good. We’re equipped to serve YOU guys in whole new ways, and that feels even better.
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