The Foundation Workshop 6 ~ Dallas, Texas

Photojournalism has become a great influence on wedding photography in the past few years, and is being sought out more and more by brides and grooms alike. Many people categorize photojournalism simply as ' candid photos,' which is partly true about the style, but photojournalism is really so much more. Imagine trying to tell an entire story in as few pictures as possible, and those pictures also need to be artful. It is much more difficult than many people would think!

The Foundation Workshop, started six years ago by Huy Nguyen, a former Dallas Morning News photographer and current member of F8 Studio, was formed in order to teach photographers more about the photojournalism experience.

My assignment was to show up at the McKinney, Texas community center two days in a row and find the story. Without knowing ahead of time what may or may not be going on there, I slowly got to know the regulars, and found many willing and unwilling subjects to take pictures of! It was invigorating! :)

I ( Andrew) especially want to thank my team: Huy Nguyen (team leader), Mark Adams (mentor), Sergio (mentor), Becca Spears (assistant), and then also my fellow students, Erwin Darmali, Joe G., Leigh Miller, and Jesseca Hattey, for sharing their artistic vision, constructive criticism, words of edification, and friendship. I won't forget any of you! Also, thanks to Ben Chrisman, who came to my assignment location on the first day and shared some of his vision with me. :)

Here's a link to the final slideshow that my team leaders put together for the work I shot during those two days. It's a Quicktime movie, and should load pretty quickly.

The Class of 2008 ~ Foundation Workshop Group Photo


'Arrive early, stay late...' ~ Some of Andrew's work from the shoot...


























Becca said on her blog: " Andrew Mejia covered the daily happenings at a rec center in McKinney. Andrew has a natural eye for composition. I could see him layering and anticipating moments where all of the elements of the graphic image and peak action come together (see the first picture below). Andrew's biggest hurdle after his first day of shooting was feeling comfortable getting close to his subject. He was hindered by the common fear of not wanting to invade a subject's personal space. We basically said, "you've got to get over that." The thing is, there couldn't be anyone nicer than Andrew. I'm sure the general public would be absolutely fine with him invading their personal space. Take a look at these two wonderful images. Just love them. When the first picture came up onto the screen at our final presentations, there was a sweeping cheer. A bunch of photographers in a room know how hard it is to get a complex layered image like this."







...and a few miscellaneous photos of Andrew on the job




Thanks again to my team for making the experience so amazing!

For testimonials and shout-outs regarding this workshop, see the Foundation Workshop 6 Blog, and to see work from each individual student check out the Foundation Workshop 6 Website.

All images copyright 2000-2008, Sedona Bride | Katrina + Andrew Fine Art Photojournalism
Accepting Commissions Worldwide

WPJA.com and AGWPJA.com ~ 3rd Quarter, 2007

Katrina, the founder of Katrina Wallace Photography, which since my joining ( Andrew Mejia, Katrina's husband) has become Sedona Bride, is currently a member of both the Wedding Photojournalist's Association and the Artistic Guild of the Wedding Photojournalist's Association. While she has placed images in many of the past competitions, this quarter ( Q3) she placed in the top ten overall in both organizations.

Check out either the WPJA.com or the AGWPJA.com to see Katrina's winning images, and then also the fantastic images from other photographers that are helping to shape the industry in which we work.

We're honored, and I am especially pleased ( as her husband), to have Katrina's name up there in the overall top ten with photographers who's work we really admire and respect.

There are photographers from around the world, like David Murray from Maine, our friend Kym Skiles from F8 in Texas, Anna Kuperberg in beautiful San Fransisco, Jeff Ascough from the United Kingdom, and Dino Lara from the Philippines.

The judges for the 3rd quarter 2007 WPJA competition were photographers from the VII Photo Agency ~ if you're a photojournalist you know who these amazing photographers are ~ some of the world's top photojournalists, like Eugene Richards, Lauren Greenfield, Gary Knight, and Christopher Morris. Their images have appeared in TIME, Newsweek, Fortune, LIFE, National Geographic, American Photo, and other well known magazines.

The photographers at VII Photo Agency are truly amazing photojournalists. Be sure to see their work on the VII website. If you don't see it there, I'm sure you'll be seeing their images soon enough in the latest headlines.

Below are some screen-captures from the WPJA.com and AGWPJA.com website, with Katrina's name circled in red.







And here are the images...

A 3rd place in the transportation category:



A 5th place in the groom getting ready category:



And a 2nd place in the bride getting ready category, which also placed 2nd in the AGWPJA.com getting ready category. We'll show the AGWPJA image since that's the one we get to retouch and tone. There is a rule that WPJA images cannot be enhanced in any way, but the Artistic Guild lets photographers enhance images in any way they'd like. We get to do all the artistic enhancements we would have done in the traditional darkroom via computer, minus the yucky chemicals.



We want to say a special thanks to our clients Sara and Drew, Tonja and Ed, and Kate and Joerg, for entrusting us with the documentation of their beautiful weddings, and from whose weddings these winning images came. This would not have been possible without their love and their excitement for photography! You guys are amazing!

Blessings!
Andrew + Katrina

All images copyright 2000-2008, Sedona Bride | Katrina + Andrew Fine Art Photojournalism
Accepting Commissions Worldwide

International Photo Competition ~ The Wedding Photojournalist Association

Katrina just got 3rd place in the details category in the most recent international photo competition through the WPJA. Congratulations, Katrina!

Here are screen captures of all of the awards Katrina has won with the WPJA:
















All images copyright 2007, Sedona Bride, Accepting Commissions Worldwide