It’s been four months since I returned from my photography workshop in Paris. When I thought about all the things I wanted to share about the workshop and started to actually make notes for this blog post, I realized that one post really wouldn’t do it justice…so it’s going to be three! I’ve never done a three part post EVER so that should be a clue about how impactful this experience was. I learned so much, and going into 2018 I have some really big plans for Degrees North Images and a lot of changes to implement. As I work on my new, from scratch, business plan, I’m excited to see the transformation. For now I want to share the first two days of my time in Paris at The Signature Atelier. I hope that if any photographers considering attending round two of this workshop (it’s happening!) find these posts, it helps them to decide if it’s for them.

DAY 1 – Check In

I arrived into Paris Noord via train from Amsterdam around noon. Most of the attendants were arriving by plane, but lucky me had a little side trip and got to experience European train travel! My new friend Alicia, who I’d met a few months earlier, was arriving by train from Germany not long after me, so we made plans for me to pop over to Paris Est station to meet her. When we found each other in the crowded station we took one look at our bags and simultaneously declared, “stairs aren’t happening!” We got an Uber from the station to the house.

We arrived early to find two other attendees, PJ and Marie, already waiting, and since check-in wasn’t until 2pm we decided to walk down the road to grab a coffee. We talked about our travel getting into Paris and about how ready we were for this workshop. The buildup was finally over! At 2pm we headed back to house and were greeted with hugs from Abby and Katherine, who pointed us all in the direction of our rooms.

THIS HOUSE was so beautiful and exactly what you hope a classic French home would be. It was like it had been pulled out of a movie. It ended up that this house would be as much a part of our experience as the lessons, the shoots and the exploring. My room was on the 3rd floor and I would be sharing with Cassie, with the adjoining room being shared by PJ and Marie. We all arrived to our rooms to find lots of welcome goodies waiting for us, including a Katherine Bignon robe made just for us! It’s one of my favorite souvenirs from my trip. After we did a little unpacking, we headed out to the garden for drinks and conversation. The rest of the evening was spent getting to know everyone and eating the first of Katherine’s many amazing authentic french dishes. Katherine’s husband is a born and bred Frenchman, so she has had lots of experience cooking with his family.

DAY 2 – Lessons and the Latin Quarter

My first French breakfast did not disappoint! The French don’t really eat savory breakfasts, instead they like to start the day with something sweet. So for breakfast we had croissants with jam and pain au chocolat. You guys…pain au chocolat is like a buttery, flakey, soft pillow filled with smooth chocolate. It’s freakin DELICIUOS!

After breakfast we jumped into lessons starting with Designing a Vision Based Business. I love that our first class was a dive into the deep end, and particularly this subject. Abby talked about vision being more than just our bottom line. She said ultimately vision is “a deep seated conviction hardwired into who we are as creative entrepreneurs.” It’s the thing that keeps us pushing through.

Vision gets talked about a lot in creative circles, but honestly, sometimes the subject really falls flat because there is an element of fluff that just completely misses the mark with me. Luckily, Abby and Katherine are unapologeticlly real when it comes to discussing vision. Honestly, the information and questions posed in this class helped acknowledge in a more tangible way, the direction I wanted to take my business in, and it set the tone for all my work for the rest of the week.

Next we talked about the 5 Facets of a High End Photography Business. This was a great self check. I learned an insane amount about the intricacies of workflow in the military and guest service while working for Disney. When I started photographing for an income, these experiences came in handy. This class showed me I’m doing really well in the service aspects of my business. I’m also doing well in the workflow areas, including my backup systems and scheduling and hitting deadlines for clients, but there is some room for improvement with other things like hitting deadlines for behind the scenes workflow like sharing blog posts within a certain amount of time. On the tough side, and I’ll hit on this again later, I started to see how my website is failing me hard. I’ve known all year I need an update, but wasn’t necessarily sure where to start and now looking at the five facets Abby was discussing all together, I could see the major fail. More on this later when I talk about my website review.

A little before noon we left for the metro and headed to the Latin Quarter for lunch, followed by a tour of some Paris highlights. With the towers of Notre Dame peeking over the tree tops we scattered to find lunch in one of the many stalls. I grabbed a gyro that was served in a rolled up paper plate. I don’t know if I was just so hungry or the combo of the ingredients, but it was insanely scrumptious. With everyone eating “fast food” we congregated across from a cafe just two doors down from the famous Shakespeare and Company bookshop.

With happy bellies we began our walking tour with a stroll past Notre Dame and Chanel…because Paris. But really though, we found ourselves wondering among shops, patisseries and cafes. Windows full of beautiful books, clothes and macarons where at every turn. The Paris from the movies is real and I was standing in it.

We visited one of the sites of the National Archives. Once the Hôtel de Soubise, this building was declared a property of the state by a Napoleonic Decree in 1808. It is now part of the Museum of French History and the French National Archives. We initially stopped into this spot so Abby could begin getting head shots. We didn’t spend a lot of time on the grounds, but it was a cool spot to take in.

Next we headed to Palais Royal for more head shots. The skies were moody and we ran into a little rain, but no one cared as we all pulled out our umbrellas. Paris in the rain…is it really a bad thing? Nope. It cleared up soon enough and while Abby rolled through each portrait set, we explored the area and photographed each other. I have to say this place was a favorite. Palais Royal and its gardens were created by Cardinal Richelieu in 1633, and was home to many royal families until the Palace of Versailles was finished being built in 1682. It has 260 black and white striped octagonal marble columns in its courtyard, a very controversial art installation when erected by artist Daniel Buren in the mid 1980’s. Les Deux Plateaux is now beloved and considered an icon of Paris. So yeah…I got some head shots here!

As if this wasn’t all enough, we next went over to the Louvre. One of my absolute favorite paintings in the world is under its roof and although I didn’t get to go inside, just to be in its vicinity was awesome. We walked past the large glass pyramids and explored the various courtyards, even stopping to take in some live street music…classical of course. I definitely made sure to get a photo of my #DNIcompass with the pyramids.

We left the Louvre and walked back along the Seine stopping at some of the street vendor stalls to look at their art, books and trinkets. I spotted a woman lying under a tree reading a book. Parisians are my people, if for no other reason than their love of books.

After a long day out in the city we headed back to the house where we all scattered to our rooms to upload our photos from the day. While we rested, Katherine and Jenn worked on whipping up our second delicious dinner. Katherine insisted no trip to Paris would be complete without dining on crepes, so she made us the most savory ham and cheese crepes which we polished off with some chilled Cidre Brut, a sparkling farmhouse cider.

Read more at:

Days 3 and 4 of The Signature Atelier
Days 5 and 6 of The Signature Atelier
Shooting Film at The Signature Atelier