There we sat trying to decide if we were truly ready for a Katelyn James Coaching Session. It was one of my dreams to be able to not only meet Katelyn, but to further invest in our business and make it a better experience for my clients! We were both nervous of the possibility but also extremely excited as well! I have always been told that if you have a fear of doing something you should do it anyway. That is so true! I knew that if we allowed our fear to hold us back then we would never do it so we purchased the session and therefore starting planning! I knew it was going to be an amazing thing for us!

The day finally came for us to make our trip to Richmond. We made it there and settled into our hotel but I couldn’t sleep. I tossed and turned for most of the night! I was so nervous! One of my dreams was about to come true the next day and I was feeling so many emotions! Eventually I did manage to get a couple of hours of sleep and I woke up so excited and on edge I couldn’t stand it! Deep breaths… deep breaths…dancing…yes dancing in the hotel room. I couldn’t wait..the day was finally here!!!!

We were to meet Katelyn at an Italian restaurant called Bertucci’s so we decided to arrive a little early since that always helps with nerves a little. We went ahead and got our table and waited for them to arrive. To be honest, I felt like I was going to faint from being so nervous but as soon as Michael(Katelyn’s husband), Katelyn, and Ashley Link(the other photographer that would be joining us that day) came through the door and hugs were exchanged the nerves went away! Everyone made us feel so comfortable and we had a great lunch! Spectacular lunch actually! The food at Bertucci’s is delicious and of course the company was fantastic!! 🙂  Seriously, we probably could have stayed there the entire day and just talked about everything, but it was time to leave so we could go take some pictures! 🙂 Katelyn took us to locations I would have never expected to get wonderful photos in, but of course she showed us how to make the most of any location and get beautiful images! IT was amazing to watch her and we learned so much about posing, lighting, communication and making your clients feel comfortable!  After we took some photos (behind the scenes) and after Katelyn took headshots of us and Ashley it was time for our one on one Q&A session at her home. We said goodbye to Ashley (Ashley was the sweetest and so talented! Anyone who hasn’t seen her work is missing out (http://www.v-a-photography.com/) and made our way to Katelyn’s house.

Her home was so inviting and beautiful! She has the cutest office and we were also greeted by…Bokeh!! 🙂 We were looking forward to meeting him! He is just the cutest! Our Q& A session was so enlightening and inspiring! It was the breath of fresh air we needed! I had five pages of questions, but Katelyn is such a wonderful teacher and had already answered so many of our questions. We talked about everything from workflow to working together as a husband and wife team.  For so long I had been having doubts about the business being successful, but Katelyn gave me the motivation to keep going. I could never thank her or Michael enough for helping us and making us feel so welcome! We can’t wait to put all of her advice to use in our new business!

Now for some behind the scenes photos….  🙂

..and now to show some of our headshots that Katelyn took that day! We have been so excited to share these because they are absolutely beautiful and I know a lot of you have been anxiously waiting so without further ado….. (Katelyn James Photography- YOU ROCK!!   http://katelynjames.com/ )

Us with Ashley Link! 🙂

Us with Katelyn James! 🙂 

Our adventure was definitely a wonderful, amazing, inspiring, fantabulous 🙂 and every amazing word I can think of  experience! So blessed to have had this opportunity and meet some new friends! Hoping we get to go to the next reunion and meet all of Katelyn’s mentees and make some more amazing friends! Stay tuned for more photos from our trip to Richmond! 🙂 You don’t want to miss them or seeing us running on the beach! lol
Amanda & Chad

Bellamanda Photography

www.facebook.com/BellamandaPhotography

www.bellamandaphoto.com