Photography by Lexington wedding photographer Caitlin Worth.

At the beginning of this year, I told myself no workshops, I can’t afford them.  Then Brandi Potter came along with this dream retreat in the Red River Gorge!  Any workshop put on by Brandi is definitely going to go above and beyond to give photographers the opportunity to photograph something unique and beautiful.  I would never have been able to put together a styled shoot like this on my own for less than the cost of the retreat.  Also, I had not visited the Gorge in years and wanted to go back to this natural wonder so badly.

This particular retreat was designed to give us the opportunity to push our photography skills in a dark environment.  All we had was natural candlelight, no flashes.  I was so excited!  This kind of moodiness created by candlelight is one of my favorite looks.  Modern cameras can do far more in dark environments than cameras from 10 years ago, so the use of flash is more about personal style than a necessity.

The setting was styled by the amazing Juniper Sisters.  Definitely check them out if you need an event or wedding coordinator.  Casey made a beautiful macramé for the backdrop.  Brandi styled a cute little moss cake.  I see moss cakes becoming a trend someday.

Brandi recruited two fantastic models (both strangers to each other!) who pulled off adorable and steaming hot at the same time.  Ella models clothes for the Juniper Sisters and she was soaking up all of the paparazzi attention.  Nick was extremely sweet and soft-spoken.  He did great with all the posing tasks set to him by the photographers.  We had them standing, sitting, laying down, hugging, dancing, twirling.  They even jumped in the cold lake for us!

I like meeting and chatting with all the creative attendees when I go to workshops.  I’m always curious as to everyone’s back story and how they arrived at this moment in their career.  A few of the talented people at this retreat were: Alexa of Blueberry Rocket Studios, Ann of Scarlet Moon Photography, Ariana Jordan, Dana Rogers, and Arron May.

A Red River Gorge wedding will give you a fairytale environment for your photos. We had heavy fog and rain during our retreat and it was breathtaking! If you’re planning a wedding there, I’d love it if you took me along with you!

The Juniper Sisters setting up the floral arrangements and Brandi teaching in the background.

The gorgeous details of our table arrangement.

Starting the daytime half of our styled shoot.

We moved things out on the deck to have some room to dance and twirl around!

There was a dock nearby so we all hurried down there as a drizzle of rain was starting.

We finished off this damp session with a jump in the freezing lake!  Thanks, Ella and Nick!

After getting cold and wet, we all stopped to have some supper and wait for nightfall.  Our set took on a different personality after dark.  The Juniper Sisters set the stage with lots of candles.

Poor Ella was so concerned about the flame catching the veil on fire.  I don’t blame her!  We all looked out for her and made sure our models were safe amongst so many candles.