Emma Case Workshop – Custard Factory Birmingham

A couple of months ago I was lucky enough to attend a workshop by one of my favourite photographers, Emma Case. I first came across Emma whilst doing an Aspire photography and business course. As soon as I saw her work it was love at first sight. I was fairly new to the photography industry then. I knew I loved taking photos, I had this burning but scary desire to turn it into a business and was spending all my spare time poring over photography how-to websites, looking through flickr at all the amazing images, learning about editing techniques and understanding my equipment and suddenly realising that I just had to have that £1,500 prime lens! When I looked through one of her sample wedding albums on the course I was blown away by, not only the beauty of her work, but by the honesty and realness. Emma makes the everyday things in life beautiful, and through that we see what life and love is all about. In her weddings, she captures those small, simple details – granny’s old tea cups, silently gathering dust on the top shelf, the leftover dishes and champagne glasses from the morning’s breakfast, the look in dad’s eyes as he sits quietly waiting for his daughter to finish getting ready or the fleeting squeeze of a hand – simple, beautiful things on an extraordinary day. That’s what I love about her work so much, and that’s what I hope to show in my work, as well as all the fun and joy and love.

Aaaaanyway… back to the workshop. So one May morning I got up at silly o’clock and headed off to the Custard Factory in Birmingham, along with 9 other excited peeps to spend the day with Emma, Pete and Shutterbox Films and talk photography, being creative, staying true to yourself, being inspired, our businesses and generally “shoot the shit out of stuff” as Emma put it! It was an incredible day. I met some amazing people. Emma was, well, just a lovely, down-to-earth person, just as she comes across on her blog. I felt part of something that felt right and I realised I AM on the right track, even if I do sometimes have to pinch myself because I can’t quite believe I’m doing something I absolutely love. Nothing beats that feeling of people seeing my images of something or someone they love and loving them. Nothing.

I’ll never forget that day and what it gave me… oh, and if spending time with Emma, Pete and 9 other photography-obsessed people wasn’t enough, we got to shoot the most gorgeous, yummy couple whose wedding Emma will be shooting later this year. Here’s some of my images from the day…