Photographing the Awesome in Castle Hayne, NC

Every year, I try to attend at least one in-person photography workshop and this year I chose Kayla Coleman's three day retreat in Castle Hayne, NC - which was AMAZING!

I approach my photography work from a photojournalistic/storytelling perspective, whereas Kayla's photos have an elegant, fine-arts look to them and it felt good to open myself creatively to a different way of looking at couples' and wedding photography. Kayla is an fantastic teacher and I learned so much (most of which I still have to implement - updates to Darcy Troutman Photography coming soon!). 

We stayed at this bizarre "artists' retreat" in the woods called Walkeworld (check out the airbnb listing here), which I found FASCINATING and would love to return to one day. 

Dogs roam the knick-knack filled property (much loved dogs). As one fellow workshop attendee phrased it, "this house makes me want to buy a ton of junk and fill my own home with stuff." 

We photographed a styled shoot with professional models, which is new to me - it felt glamorous to try out poses and directions on these crazy beautiful (yet still kind and cool) people. I especially liked that the couple was "real" (married with a dog). 

Hope you all are having a great spring! I have tons of gorgeous engagement, wedding, and family photos that I'm hoping to share soon (there's never enough time for it all!). 

Workshop - Kayla Coleman Photography
Venue - WalkerWorld 
Models - Kendra Carelli,  her husband Dominic Carelli, and Christiee Doo
 Florals - Wildlinewedding