In case you didn’t know, Houston is FULL of creatives and inspiration people. Over the weekend, we had the opportunity to bring some of those people together for a photography workshop with the Houston Blogger Union. Natalie and I facilitated a Q&A panel with a fabulous group of photographers, Maritere Rice and Michelle and Kellan Caldwell of Cotton Weddings. We learned about great starter cameras (Canon Rebel), what HDR actually means, and what makes a great picture (natural light, being yourself, and paying attention to proportion and lines).

Then we got to put those learnings into practice and play with shooting fashion, food, florals, and more! Thanks so much to our fabulous group of vendors who helped make this event possible! Everything was insanely picture perfect and beautiful to work with. The event couldn’t have been made possible with out help from them!

All the florals from F. Dellit Designs were absolutely beautiful. My personal favorite was the flower crown and hair accessory! Natalie and I channeled our inner hippies before, during, and after the event and rocked the hair pieces all day! So beautiful.

Whisk Bakery absolutely nailed it in the bakery department. In addition to the beautiful cookies, cupcakes and handmade mini-cakes, everyone in Houston is now crushing on the magical Unicorn Cake!

Did you know that the spot that now is Lawless Spirits & Kitchen  was home to the capital of Texas when we were our own country? Now it’s home to everyone’s new favorite flower wall for photos! In addition to having super crazy official rebel status, Lawless was the ultimate host and offered up a beautiful space for our event. We nibbled on Texas cheese platters, snapped pics of their burgers and truffle fries, and sipped on their vodka lemonade cocktails.

Local stationary and invitation store, Katie and Co. tied the whole event together (literally!) with swag bags for everyone and fun coasters, napkins and stationary for us to photograph.

“Clicking the camera buttons are better with a  cocktail in hand” – LaShanta Green (@lashantagreen)

Some of our favorite Houston jewelry lines also made an appearance! Burdlife and Brenda Grands dressed us to the nines and we all fell in love with their beautiful pieces–especially the Texas shaped necklaces!

The Houston Blogger Union is all about building collaboration over competition and encouraging each other to grow. I loved meeting everyone and gained so much inspiration from the bloggers who took simple stationary props, styled them and brought them to life. I hope everyone took as much away from this experience as I did!

“#HoustonSupportsHouston” – Madison Payne (@madzpayne)

Pictures by Cotton Weddings, Jillian from Cup of Charisma and Laura from Guy Girl Golden, and many others like Maritere Rice  who snapped pictures on my iPhone. We may or may not have had too much fun 😉