2023 {online}

Family Retreat

2023FR-Showcase-Gif (1)

Enjoy instant access to the 2023 {online} Family Retreat video collection where 24 talented instructors will guide you on...

  • Family posing + storytelling ideas
    (so you're never left wondering what to say in your sessions)
  • Direction on capturing connections 
  • Creating family films your clients will love 
  • Fine-art and sitter sessions 
  • Editing techniques that add extra polish your images to make them pop...and so much more!

Lifetime Access: $297 USD

Enjoy INSTANT access!

"Fresh Ideas"
Investing in the retreat this year was a great decision, and I’m thrilled with the fresh ideas it’s given me.

Stephanie

"Feel More Confident"
I learned a ton and feel more confident now with my edits.  

Chelsea

"Just Incredible"
This is my 4th retreat and this year's retreat is just incredible beyond words.

Natasha

"Small adjustments, big difference!"
Felt like there was a lot of small adjustments I learned to make a big difference. Was really helpful to watch her do a session and see her prompts/flow/etc. 

Samantha

"So Much to Absorb"
There is so much I need to absorb (and I haven’t even gotten through half the instructors yet!) 

Lisa

"Love all the prompts"
It's so awesome to get a peek behind the scenes. I love all the prompts and the way you set everyone up to capture real, in-the-moment emotions. 

Rebecca

Enjoy unlimited replays!
(Watch on your schedule)

4.alwayslove
5.amazin
29.learnsomethingneweachtime
37.loveretreat

Meet Your Teachers

(To see full class description, hover over the teacher)

To view class details, click on teacher.

Alex Eischeid-min

Alex Eischeid

Unrealistic: An Honest Portrayal of Motherhood & The Power of Personal Projects

In "Unrealistic", Alex guides you in exploring the various roles that mothers & women play in society and the invisible workload that we must carry. She will walk through the various steps of planning a portrait from conceptualization all the way to editing so you can walk away from this class with a better understanding of finding balance within the frame, color theory, and executing an image that tells a story with meaning and expression.

Editing shown: Yes

Amber Walder

Amber Walder

Sunset Sessions : Styling, Lighting & Shooting

Amber will be taking you behind the scenes of a sunset family session. She will show you her typical workflow, how she interacts with her clients, and how she works with light, as well as her gorgeous editing.

Editing shown: Yes

Ariel Perry

Ariel Perry

Styled Senior Sessions to Attract Your Ideal Client

In this class, Ariel will encourage you to think big and out of the box when it comes to styled shoots. She will show you how she organizes, curates, and executes a styled shoot while going behind the scenes as well as in post-production.  Get ready to take your shoots to the next level!

Editing shown: Yes

Annie Nelson-min

Annie Nelson

Capturing Motherhood : Emotive Moments and Storytelling

A behind-the-scenes and editing video of a motherhood session with three littles, focusing on storytelling and emotive moments.

Editing shown: Yes

Colie James-min

Colie James

Documenting Parenthood - How to Create the Modern Family Home Video

Are you interested in adding video to your photography sessions and don't know where to start? In this class, you will learn how to create an amazing experience for your clients delivering both photos and videos in your gallery. She will discuss equipment, camera settings, choosing when to film, and how to edit your final film.

Editing shown: Yes in Premiere Pro

Evelina Eve-min

Evelina Eve

Painterly Editing in Fine Art Children's Portraits

Evelina will share her shooting techniques including when best to shoot to have the best control of the light, how she chooses locations and styles her clients. She will include her editing workflow to achieve her Painterly, Fine Art signature look.

Editing shown: Yes

Iris Hu-min

Iris Hu

Location and Light Inspired: Creative Urban Family Stories

Iris joins us again to share her talent for environmental photography and ambient light to create storytelling family images in an urban setting. Not every family resonates with beaches, parks, and fields for their family sessions, but urban sessions are their jam!  Iris brings you behind the scenes of a downtown shoot and shows you how experimenting with more unconventional locations like rooftops and parkades can set the scene for family portraits that are unique and original.

Editing shown: Yes

Jodi Lynn Buckles-min

Jodi Lynn Buckles

Creating Living Poetry through Light and Emotion

Watch Jodi behind the scenes as she guides a beautiful, golden Storytelling Family Session at the Northern California rolling hills. You will watch how she utilizes light dynamically to strengthen her Storytelling and poses and prompts to create natural connection and true emotion. She will include a portfolio review of her favorite images from the session as she walks you through session flow and shooting with intent and purpose.

Editing shown: Yes

 

Karina Beck

Karina Beck

Intentional Storytelling 

Confidently direct storytelling sessions in your vision, while preserving client authenticity. Learn to meet your clients where they are, rather than force a connection to what they’re not. Some of us love to run wild; sink our feet into the dirt, let the wind tassel our hair, and twirl to our hearts desire. While, some of us love intimate moments; finding stillness, being connected with slow movement, and structured prompts for intentional emotions. Let’s give space for genuine connection, however that looks for each family.

Editing shown: Yes

Kirsty Brassington-min

Kirsty Brassington

Child Portraiture

Be a fly on the wall in as Kirsty photographs her model in studio and then watch as she edits an image from the session in Photoshop with hand edits from start to finish.

Editing shown: yes

Ksenia Belanger-min

Ksenia Belanger

Fine-Art Children's Portraiture

Watch as Ksenia photographs an enchanted forest session with a toddler.  She will walk you through her location choice, outfit selection, use of light, and angles to capture a beautiful portrait.  Watch as she edits 2 images from the session to achieve her Fine Art Portrait.

Editing shown: Yes

Laura Parkin-min

Laura Parkin-Warner

The Magic of Motherhood

Join Laura as she captures the beauty of motherhood during a golden hour beach session with a toddler. Learn her unique filmlike techniques for capturing emotive images and follow along to see exactly how Laura brings her images to life with her final edits.

Editing shown: Yes

Leah O'Connell-min

Leah O'Connell

In-Home Lifestyle Family Sessions with Confidence and Creativity

Photographing families at home can be full of unique challenges like space, lighting, aesthetics, distractions... after all, not every family lives in a spacious, well lit, styled oasis! In this class, I'll take you behind the scenes of a casual, in-home family session, set a simple townhouse with two small kids, tight rooms, and minimal natural light. I'll walk you through my thought process when making decisions around those challenges and demonstrate how to troubleshoot, direct, and confidently create playful, natural family photos.

Editing shown: yes

Leslie Kerrigan-min

Leslie Kerrigan

Working with Senior Boys : Planning, Posing and Editing

Leslie walks you through how to prep a senior male photoshoot from prepping to posing, styling, and location choices, and how they differ from female seniors.  She wraps it up with her editing workflow.

Editing shown: Yes

Lucy Baber-min

Lucy Baber

Prompt, Pose, Play : Infusing Sessions with Laughter & Joy

In this class, Lucy explains and then demonstrates BTS how she guides her clients using playful activities and prompts without any stiff poses or fake smiles.

Editing shown: Yes

Nicole Park

Nicole Park

Capturing Family Connection Amid the Chaos

Join Nicole behind the scenes during a toddler family session with 3 young children! Watch her embrace the chaos while capturing family connection. You'll see how she allows children to take the lead while working through unpredictable and wild moments. She prompts and directs the families when needed while creating space to allow moments to unfold naturally.

Editing shown: Yes

15-min

Meshea Shaffer

Family Connections in the Middle Childhood Years

Meshea will show you in this class how to capture the love and hugs and snuggles that parents treasure with their kids, working with kids in the middle years between 6-12.  You will see how she guides a family into a playful session while still making connections with each other.

Editing shown: Yes

16-min

Missie Lafrenz

Easy Breezy Motherhood Sessions

Join Missie for a behind-the-scenes motherhood session as she creates emotive, beautiful, relationship-centered images. You will be equipped with a renewed confidence to document motherhood in a beautiful, dreamy, and emotive way!

Missie will also cover her editing techniques and show you how she achieves her signature ariel portraits!

Editing shown: Yes

17-min

Sarah Havens

Authentic Family and Couple Photography

In Sarah's class, she will cover how to create authentic and intimate connections between family members and couples through prompts, posing and composition. She will also walk you through her editing process using presets, actions and manual fine-tuning.

Editing shown: Yes

Shannon McTighe-min

Shannon McTighe

Heart-full Family Sessions

Go behind the scenes with Shannon as she shoots a family session with two little ones, and see how she incorporates her storyteller style into posing and directing her families. You will then get to see her edit the images to create a cohesive gallery that tells all parts of the family story.

Editing shown: Yes

Rebecca Lueck

Rebecca Lueck

Playful Family Adventure Sessions

Join Rebecca for a fun and carefree adventure family session. She will share how she preps her client, how she lets her sessions be child-led and truly a fun experience, as well as her editing workflow.   

Editing shown: Yes

Twyla Jones-min

Twyla Jones

The Art of Authentic Posing 

Are you a photographer struggling with posing clients, finding yourself repeatedly using the same poses, or feeling that your work lacks authenticity and emotion? Join Twyla for a one-of-a-kind golden hour family shoot that will revolutionize your approach to photography and help you create captivating, heartfelt images.

In this immersive, emotive family storytelling styled shoot, Twyla will share her secrets to crafting dynamic, authentic, and creative photos that resonate with viewers and introduce you to her unique approach to intuitive posing, which involves arriving without a predetermined list of poses or inspiration for the shoot. 

Editing shown: No

Teacher name

Shan Fisher

Timeless Sitter Family Sessions

In this training Shan will show you how to maximize a simple setup with lighting, different shooting angles, posing, and communicating with your clients while capturing the connections to bring out the best of every baby and family.

Editing shown: yes

Teri Hofford-min

Teri Hofford

The Business of Body Image

Not seeing oneself represented in the media is a huge hurdle that many potential clients face - they want to book a photoshoot , but they don't think someone "like them" can do it and with a better understanding of how body impacts our clients, we can also understand how it impacts our bottom line. In this course, body image educator, photographer & author Teri Hofford is going to help you challenge your biases and beliefs around bodies by providing you a simple 4 step framework for shifting your business to not only SHOW different bodies, but enable you to be a safe space for different bodies. Because at the end of the day, all bodies are worthy of documenting - so why aren't we seeing them?

Editing shown: n/a

2023 {online}

Family Retreat

Lifetime Access: $297 USD

2023FR-Showcase-Gif (1)
34.loveeaseandflexibility

Our past students have shared countless success stories … 

What will YOUR story be?

6.bettereveryyear
fam-retreat-testimonial-5-min
41.lovevariety
fam-retreat-testimonial-1-min
fam-retreat-testimonial-3-min
fam-retreat-testimonial-2-min
fam-retreat-testimonial-4-min
33.lovedlastyear
fam-retreat-testimonial-6-min
Hey Lovely02

Created by a photographer

for other busy photographers.

If we haven't met yet, I'm Lisa!

When I first got started, I so badly wanted to learn from others. But I couldn't take time away from my family (and business) to travel to in-person events.

Plus...I found my brain could only absorb so much info before what I'm learning goes in one ear and out the other!

Can you relate?

That's exactly why I created the {online} retreat experiences.

So MORE people can enjoy the energy and inspiration that comes from an in-person event (without having to travel!)

family-testimonial-auralove

"..such a good investment!"

Over 24,000 students have experienced our online retreats + classes...

will you be next?

With such a wide variety of talent joining us this year to teach, we don’t just get to witness how one person works; we get to see the process from a variety of different photographers.


Because there isn't just ONE way to do things
(and for that I'm grateful!)

2023-fr-polaroid-double1-min
1-5th retreat-highlight
26.learnedsomuchlastyear
7.chockfullofawesomeness
13.favtimeofyear-lovethese
24.last2havebeenincredible
8.didnewborn-famlooksgood

Ready to join us?

Frequently Asked Questions

"I love being able to go back and reference so many different videos"

 

~ Marion

Have a question

unanswered?

Leave us a note. We’ll get back to you within 24hrs Mon – Fri 9AM – 4PM PST

(Having work hours makes us feel a little corporate – but we’re all about having work boundaries!) 🙂

Name