Los Olivos: A Jose Villa Workshop

... Honestly, I don't even know how to start this post. I've deleted the last 3 sentences(!).

Basically, I arrived -- insanely inspired -- and I left with the determination to craft beautiful images as, Jose Villa said, "an art director." But more on that later. First, I'd love to share my images with you.

One of the best experiences? Anna Spence letting me borrow her film camera to take one roll of film! With only 16 frames, I tried to choose wisely. Here are a few of my film photos:

And just so you know -- none of those are edited. None. It completely makes sense why so many are in love with film. Despite all of that, Brian from Richard Photo Lab reminded us that this is simply Jose Villa's medium and not the single way to make such beautiful art. But boy it's hard not to get so excited about it when you see the results.

The models were incredible. It was so hard for me to narrow these images down.

What breath taking styling. The florals, the props, the hair pieces, the dresses. Can I just take this crew home?

I love couples, I really, really, really do. But I was definitely in my element with this model. She took direction and just RAN with it. Took it to another level. When I asked her to slowly drop her bolero, she immediately connected the action to an emotion.

Beautiful.

None of this could have been possible without these inspiring vendors:
Figueroa Farm House, Jose Villa Workshops, Jill La Fleur, Mar of TEAM Hair and Makeup, Joel Serrato, Kate of Flower Wild Design, Found Rental, James Cagle - Accountant, Cypress Albums, Fuji Film, Richard Photo Lab, Invitation Suite: Ceci New York, Hair Pieces: Mignonne Handmade, Dresses: BHLDN, Cake: Maggie Austin, Napkins: La Tavola Linens, Calligraphy: Chelsea Petaja.

I didn't only take photos -- I also took notes. Lots of them. I'll be sharing those later :) Thank you for letting me share this dream goal with you all.