Introducing the WORKSHOP Series!

There’s a funny thing about passion. Sometimes its been inside of you for as long as you can remember, other times it sneaks up out of nowhere.

When I became a wedding photographer in 2012, it was more of a sudden realization of “this could be possible!” Yes I always loved taking pictures but it never occurred to me that it could be a full time job. That passion has grown and changed over my six years as a professional photographer and I’m sure it will continue to do so over the next however many years.

Something else I have always had a passion for is teaching. At the start of my college career I wanted to study education, and even though it didn’t work out for a number of reasons, I still found different parts of my life where I could incorporate teaching. I worked at a summer camp and taught summer school classes, I was a TA for a college class that helped freshman on academic probation, and after school I started coaching aspiring photographers. It was always a part of my story.

When Dylan joined our family last June, I knew I would embrace being her mom with open arms. However, what I didn’t anticipate was the passion I would have for motherhood, and the community it inspires. I found myself spending time every day talking to other moms online and in person, sharing my experience and joys and heartaches, and growing together. My new title as “mom” came with the responsibility of guiding this tiny human through life AND documenting as much of her story as I possibly could. I never wanted to forget her first beach trip or the first smile; the first time she walks you better believe I will have digital photos, an iPhone video, and most likely a blurry film photo since I’ll be trying to catch her after all that documenting!

I realized how incredibly lucky I am (AND how lucky Dylan is) that I have the ability to take quality photos of her childhood.

Then I thought about all the people that want the same ability but have no idea where to start. I wondered if maybe there was a way for me to combine my three passions for photography, education, and motherhood…

And within a week of the idea coming to me, I created WORKSHOP. WORKSHOP is a series of classes that will help people (moms, dads, kids, and everyone in between) make the most out of everyday life, through photography and eventually other mediums as well. I want it to be a place that inspires creativity and community in the South Bay. I put together the very first class of the series, “Photography Basics for Moms” and it sold out within a few days. 12 moms spent 2.5 hours with me and learned how to use their DSLR in manual mode and to control the three elements of exposure. Then we spent some time practicing their skills indoors at our gorgeous venue in Hermosa Beach and then on the beach at sunset. It was an absolute dream and now they will be able to capture every day life in a beautiful and artistic way!

Here’s what one of the mom’s said: “An amazing way for mom’s to get together over wine, a beautiful view of the beach, and learn valuable skills on how to capture life’s precious moments of our families. A gift that keeps giving. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Well thanks to Jessica we now know how to take that picture! :)”

Let me give you a little behind the scenes peek at what our day together looked like:

This week I am so excited to announce that there are three more upcoming classes with limited tickets available. They are Photography Basics, Family Beach Day, and Hike and Shoot. You can learn all about them in two places:

The WORKSHOP Homepage: https://jessicahickerson.com/workshop/

OR The Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/workshopsouthbay/

If you live in the South Bay I hope you will join me on this WORKSHOP journey!