I decided to fly into Tromso (a city above the Arctic Circle in the North of Norway) without finding out beforehand what the countryside looked like. I wanted to just absorb it and enjoy it when I landed. I was pleasantly surprised by sheer mountains jutting up from the sea, glazers, fiords, small little seaside villages and warm people. Bjorn met me at the airport with his shy young daughter. Since I love kids, any shy one is just a challenge for me to work on them until they start to smile and give me ‘fives’. As Bjorn showed me around to some of the workshop shooting locations, his daughter, Margareta became all smiles! Bjorn never stopped smiling and I enjoyed the day. We stopped by and watched Hovsep (the host for the workshop) shoot the portrait part of his wedding he had on that day. The bride was very traditional and it was driving him a little crazy. Well actually that is one of the reasons this workshop sold out, the students were hungry to find any way to break out of the overly traditional style, Norwegian brides wanted from there photographers. I tailored my workshop to help put a ladder to that ‘wall’. Hovsep (an Armenian who has brought the wonderful parts of his couture to his family), Henrietta (who is a native Norwegian) have a love story that should be made into a movie! It involves Lebanon, war, love, many, many years apart, chance, and all the ingredients of a love story strait out of Hollywood. They invited me into their home and were amazing hosts. This is why I created this style of workshop, it gives me a chance to make friends and live with people from around the world. I hope that I can at least bring some interesting conversation and some smiles to families that bring me into their lives. The workshop was great and the students seemed hungry to learn. I don’t have all the answers but I do have massive passion to change the wedding industry into something better than it was. The last day the sun came out (we had some misty overcast days) and we shot at one of the more interesting beach locations I have been to. With the big snowcapped mountains as a backdrop we shot with great light and strong waves. Amazing! I spoke at the local photography club also and they seemed to enjoy my talk. Fun! Kassandra and little Asia met me after the last day and we drove around North Norway for 5 days. We had good times with Hovsep and his family! The last night Hovsep and I photographed the aurora borealis, the best one I have ever seen! Thank you Hovsep and Bjorn for putting on a great workshop and for all of your hard work. Looking forward to coming back again!

Here are some of my favorite shots from many of the photographers at the workshop.