Mike Colon 777 Workshop in N.O.L.A.!

Posted on December 1, 2010. Filed under: Wedding | Tags: 777 workshop, Mike Colon, New Orleans, NOLA, Partner con |

A few weeks ago, I entered a last-minute Facebook contest put on by Mike Colon for his 777 Workshop held in New Orleans and won! This was very exciting for many reasons . . . #1 Mike Colon is one of the few “famous” photographers that I follow #2 I was hand-picked out of hundreds of applicants #3 I felt I was in need of change and a new perspective . . . and best of all it was a fun road trip away to NOLA . . . a place I had yet to visit!

I had a great time and met some really great people I now consider friends . . . here are some fun pictures from my day . . . my loooong day! We didnt part ways until well into the wee hours of the next day! I was exhausted but it was all worth it

The 777 workshop started off with an intimate discussion amongst strangers circled around a coffee table with cameras and laptops in hand. We all gave our “who, what, when, why and how” and then Mike started the lesson. There were only 6 of us there to listen and soak it all in.

I believe he is telling us he is not nervous . . . see not shaking

Throughout the day I would snap off a few shots of whatever was in my view to try some of the different techniques learned . . . and fellow photographer Brandon Mohair was across from me and well . . . was in most of my shots

and John Mitchell was to my right:

Sharon De la O, Trent Bailey Cobb and Adam Coberly were also in the room and luckily for them i wasn’t facing their direction too much

After several hours of lecture we had lunch and headed out for a live shoot:

Here are a few “behind the scenes” shots with our beautiful model, Jessica.

Here are a few of my favorite shots that I snapped of Jessica:

Can you guess how excited I was to find a GWP bike in the middle of the French Quarter??!

So very Excited!

I know I said a few but when Narrowing it down to 20 or so shots from close to a thousand really is a few

After our shoot we went back up to the room for a couple more hours of lecture and then Mike did a quick wardrobe change and we headed to dinner . . . a fantastically delicious dinner! . . . At the Famed Palace Cafe’!! But on our way there we had a few adventures . . . like the random parade that broke out right in front of our hotel!

Mr. Colon himself was excited to see the parade

After the parade we proceeded to our restaurant and ran into . . . Modern Day Gypsy’s . . . I say Modern day because #1 he had a blackberry and #2 he had a Facebook account!

This was quite the treat . . . the music was awesome!

Doesn’t their dog resemble the famed blue dog from artist George Rodrigue??!

We finally arrived at Palace Cafe’!

And we picked up a dinner guest Mike Adrian from Maui decided to dine with us too . . . as a side note it was great to meet another fellow vegetarian photographer!!!

I decided to snap a shot of everyone entering the restaurant . . . quite comical . . . blurry and comical

I think Trent was still talking with the Gypsy’s so here is a snapshot of him at our table

We all voted and decided that instead of indulging in Palace Cafe’s famous banana’s foster that we would instead enjoy coffee and beignets at Cafe’ Du Monde! Here is a shot of Mike snapping a shot of himself for his wife

This is our waited Adrian . . . I think we brightened his day. . . not sure though

delicious deliciousness . . . that is how I describe beignets.

Just look at all of that sugar!

Hey uh, Mike . . . uhhh you’ve got a little . .. yeah right there . . .

Here are a few shots of my sweet sweet new friend, Sharon. I am soooo glad we met!! We had one of those “I feel like I’ve known you all my life” times . . . I miss you already Shar!

She is getting some face time in with her hubby . . . and just looking cute

Theeeen someone had a great idea . . . a beignet eating contest. This idea came after Adam ate one in one bite . . . I decided not to post those pics

I think Mike was a wee bit reluctant . . . that sugar mountain can be intimidating!

It got intense . . .

I don’t even remember who the winner was but we all had such a great time!

And enjoyed some piping hot chicory coffee

The “Mikes”

I leave you all with this one last picture . . . it was very late . . . around 1:30 A.M. the next day and we were walking back to our hotel and decided to go up Bourbon Street and there were 2 NOLA police officers walking ahead of us and well . . . this turned out to be one of my favorite shots of the whole trip