welcome home {Dublin and Brum}

So we did another two workshops! One at our office in the Custard Factory and one in the beautiful city of Dublin!  It feels quite a while ago now but having said that.. looking over the images from all the homies that came and shared.. again.. I feel so bloody thankful that we get to do them and how the little bubble of Welcome Home always seems to feel so special..

So first up.. Dublin.. we headed over with the lovely Lee and Dawn from Shutterbox Films and with a day to chill.. pretty much ate our way around the city.  We enjoyed the most amazing Bento Box from ukiyo (you have to go there) and then later that night we had the most beautiful 3 course dinner at our workshop venue.. Fallon&Byrne.. (you have to go there too!).. see I told you we ate a lot.  

The following day we headed back to Fallon & Byrne to meet a new bunch of homies.. and what an amazing bunch.  We laughed a lot, maybe cried a little bit, had the best lunch provided by Fallon & Bryne (including the biggest sandwiches you've ever seen - so big Dawn called them 'events') and then had the absolute pleasure of photographing the gorgeous Kate and Brian for the afternoon.  After the workshop we all then headed to a Mexican for the best tapas and to catch up with the lovely ladies from One Fab Day.  Add a cooked breakfast the following morning and we had truly eaten our way through Dublin.. and as you might have guessed.. we loved every single minute of it.  I'm actually embaressed to say that I'd never been over to Ireland before.. and this is definitely going to be my first trip of many..

So first up.. our amazing friends/partners in crime, Shutterbox Films made us another friggin' amazing little film of our Dublin workshop.. honestly.. these guys blow us away every single time.  It was so nice as this time I said to Lee to just play.. there was no agenda as we'd filmed other workshops before so he was free to be creative.. and this is what this pair do best.. give them your wedding.. your event.. give them the reigns and just watch the magic.. :)  We can never thank these guys enough and we have an absolute ball with them every time..

I also want to say a huge thank you to all that helped us out for both these workshops.. we couldn't have done it without you guys!!

Shutterbox Films, Fotofafa, Folio Albums, Everybody Smile, HipHip, Fallon & Bryne, One Fab Day, Century Studios,  Kate and Brian, Adam and Lizzie.. we love you guys!

Here's some images of the gorgeous Kate and Brian followed by some images of the day from some of the homies..

A big thank you to Christina Brosnan and Brideen for the following images..

The following week we were back and cosy in our office and had another 14 new homies join the ever-growing group!  This was our second workshop at the office and it was quite a squish but the group were fantastic.. completely opening up, sharing ideas.. giving so much inspite of their much bigger audience.  We also had the gorgeous Adam aka Mr Rock My Wedding and his beautiful lady Lizzie model for us which was bloody lovely.  Adam hadn't had a couple shoot before so it was so so nice to be able to give them the experience and also some photos of them together.. they totally nailed it and were an absolute pleasure to shoot.Again.. (I feel like a bit of a broken record) but every time we do another workshop I'm blown away.  When I first looked at what I wanted to talk about I never realised just how important it was to me.  I've learnt so much about myself.. about my style.. about what is truly important to me as a photographer and to me as a person.  I have learnt something from each homie that comes and shares their story and with each workshop I go away feeling more positive, more inspired, more creative and more determined about this wonderful journey we're on..Here's some of my images of Adam and Lizzie followed by a selection of images of the day from some of the homies.. :)

A big thanks to Paul Stott and Binky Nixon for the below images.. 

We now have over 70 homies and have had our first 'Welcome Break' last week where 30 of us went glamping and danced our socks off.  The Facebook group is a huge melting pot of advice, support and laughs and by coming on this workshop every single one of them has made a pledge... to nurture and invest in this family we have created but also to nurture and invest in themselves.. to look at their 'home', whatever, wherever or whoever that might be.. and to be honest and open about their journey. It just doesn't get much better...