Lake Tekapo, New Zealand Workshop: November 27th-28th, 2025

Lake Tekapo, New Zealand Workshop

November 27th-28th, 2025

New Zealand is nothing short of pure magic. After touring around here and having the honour of teaching in these beautiful landscapes, I feel compelled to do it all again! I am coming back next year for more magic!!! I timed this workshop perfectly to coincide with prime Lupin time. :-)

Come and join me for an outdoor workshop in Lake Tekapo, New Zealand! I have timed this workshop to coincide with the magical lupine season! Lake Tekapo has it all! Mountains, a beautiful blue/green jewel tone lake, and lupins galore! Magic, magic, and more magic!
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We will have a mandatory pre-workshop webinar on November 5th at 1:00 p.m Mountain Standard Time. This webinar will cover the shooting foundations for the course. Getting this done before the workshop will free up more in-workshop time for shooting and editing! Please mark this in your calendar.

We will start at 9:00 a.m each day and go until 9:00 p.m each day.

This Workshop Will Cover:

BRANDING AND MARKETING: I will discuss how to brand and market your business in an organic, personally congruent way, and why it is important.

CAMERA SETTINGS: How to set up your camera and editing workflow to achieve rich depth of colour, tack sharp images, and incredible compression and subject isolation.

LIGHT: Light, light, and more light, and shadows too! I will teach you what to look for in outdoor locations that will allow you to light your subjects using 100% natural light and how to tackle tricky lighting situations. I will also teach you how to supplement your light if needed.

OUTDOOR LOCATION SCOUTING: What I look for in locations to create compelling, balanced compositions, and how I use locations for babies, children, and families. You will get to see the behind the scenes shots, and pull-backs of my most popular shoots.

COMPOSITION: I will cover different tools for creating impactful compositions that will draw your viewer in and maintain interest.

CHILDREN AND BABIES: I will discuss how to set up your shoots in a way that honours the individual needs of children and babies. I will cover how to pose babies both asleep and awake and how to get natural-looking photos of children that tell a story and evoke emotion. I will also cover the foundational elements of photographing newborns outdoors.

STYLING: I will reveal how to use wardrobe to create harmonious compositions that aid in the narrative of your images.

COLOUR: I will teach you how to use colour to create compelling compositions.

PRICING: I will go over my unique way of pricing my sessions that allows me the time and resources to really connect with my clients and devote myself to telling their beautiful life stories.

STORYTELLING AND VISION: Perhaps most importantly, I will cover how to tell stories in your work. I will encourage you to use your beautiful voice and find what inspires you to create. I will give you tools that help you create work that is meaningful, impactful, and world changing. And, I will help you do so in a way that honours your own story and your unique voice.

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ON LOCATION SHOOTS: This workshop will include TWO on location shoots. During this time, you will gain first-hand experience scouting light and creating compelling compositions outdoors and indoors.
You will also have the opportunity to watch me work with children and shoot alongside me as we photograph a range of models.

1. November 27th
2. November 28th

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EDITING: I will teach you how to take full control of your images, your creative decision making and breathe life into your images through hand-editing. No actions. No presets. No secrets. We will edit our hearts out on day two.
Be prepared for LONG days. I pack as much as I can into our two days together. 🙂

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*** I will serve lunch and dinner at the workshop.

*** Lake Tekapo is a very small community. Only 300 people live there and the rest is all tourism. There are loads of places to stay. But, the town is so small it only takes 4 minutes to drive from one side to the other. So, getting around is super quick and easy!

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* Students should be shooting in manual mode, and familiar with layers and masks in photoshop to get the most out of this course.

My goal in teaching this workshop is that you all leave with the tools to compose the images that you dream of creating. This workshop will be tailored to your individual needs. Nothing is off the table. This workshop is all about you.

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Workshops are prohibited to those who mentor, host workshops, create actions, or sell photography videos, and those located within 200 kms of Grande Prairie, Alberta. Participants will be required to sign a 2-year non-compete contract. This means that you cannot teach photography-related workshops for two years after taking this workshop. I am willing to make exceptions for those teaching studio newborn photography, pet and equine photography, wedding photography, and business classes. Just ask me to amend the contract.

The total cost of this workshop is $1950 USD. Due to the enormous cost involved in teaching travel workshops in person, these payments will be non-refundable. A $650 non-refundable retainer and a signed contract are required to book your seat. In the event that you need to cancel your participation in the workshop, you may sell your seat to an instructor approved participant. If you fail to make a payment by the scheduled dates outlined below, you will forfeit your seat and will not be entitled to a refund.

Payment One: $650 USD to save your seat
Payment Two: $650 USD Feb 1st, 2025
Payment Three: $650 USD April 1st, 2025

You are required to fill out a workshop intake form and sign a workshop participation contract to participate in this workshop. You must sign and return this form and contract within 7 days of receipt or you will lose your retainer and registration in this workshop.

Please use your own email to sign up for this workshop, not the email of your spouse. I will be sending out important messages and it is important that you receive them.

By completing the transaction for this workshop, you are agreeing to these terms.

Much love, Cassandra xo