The third class of my Everyday Beauty workshop with The Bloom Forum just wrapped up. I am so grateful for each student that has seen something in my work and signed up to be a part of this class. It is a gift to get to know them each on a personal level and have a glimpse into their world . I always feel inspired as our time together comes to an end. I love to see their growth, their excitement, and their love for photographing the every day blossom. Today, I would like to share the work from some of the students in my July and January classes. Thank you all for the friends you have each become. It was such an honor to get to have this time together.
Amy Nowak
The minute I first saw one of Ginger's images online, I knew I had to find a way to learn from her. I quickly emailed her and found out that she was teaching the EverydayBeauty class through the Bloom Forum. I was so lucky to be able to have an active seat in her July workshop, and she taught me so much more than just how to take pictures and find the beauty in everyday. I love her heart and soul more than anything. She pours her heart into teaching and her photographs- sharing with us her children, her faith, and her passion for motherhood, family, and capturing the beauty that surrounds us every day. I could look at her images all day long because I just see so much love in all of them. That is what I wanted to be able to do. Ginger taught me how to shoot with more than just my camera. She taught me to shoot with my heart. She taught me how to "see" the light. And as she would say..."even in the darkness." She taught me that we are all on our own journey, that we all can tell our story, and that even those small, mundane moments are important and gone before we know it. It is in these small moments that I have begun to find the real beauty within my family. I realize that to capture these times is making me a better mother and a more fulfilled person. I now feel like I am now part of a very special group of women in photography that has been blessed by Ginger's gift of teaching. I can not thank Ginger enough for opening my eyes to Everyday Beauty. It has been such a blessing for me and my whole family, and I know that years down the road, they will look at these images and be able to drift back into their childhood. They will be reminded that there are simple moments in life that shaped who they are, and it is these moments that will be cherished and treasured the most.
Carey Pace
From day one in my photographic journey, I’ve taken “everyday” type images. Documenting the reality of my children’s lives was always my goal, and has always been all I’ve ever done. It’s just “all I know.” However, as artists, there is always room to learn, grow, and evolve our art. I took Ginger’s workshop hoping to learn a thing or two for my ongoing project of photographing my kids in a beautiful, memorable way. On the other side of the workshop now, I sit, utterly blown away. I feel like it is THE best class or workshop I’ve ever taken.
A huge portion of photography is seeing the light and learning to utilize it to create the art you see in your mind. Ginger touches on that certainly, but the large goal of this workshop is the other portion of photography — seeing what to actually include in the image. Whether you are someone who has never attempted to take documentary, real life images of your family or someone who has never done anything but, you will walk away from this workshop changed.
She walks you through seeing your children, your home, your life environment through the eyes of a documentarian, and teaches you how to compose and create images that reflect your reality in beautiful ways. Every lesson and assignment are accompanied with myriad examples, to solidify the written concepts for the visual learners out there (which I suspect a lot of photographers are). My biggest takeaway from this workshop is becoming much more intentional, purposeful about my compositions. I’m always photographing, but participating in these assignments and lessons has given me new eyes for how to create my work. If you are someone who doesn’t know where to begin in trying to create lifestyle photography for your own family, this workshop is a gold mine.
On top of all that, Ginger is one of the most kind and genuine souls I’ve ever known. She takes her role as teacher incredibly seriously. She truly wants all of us to learn to photograph our own family beautifully as she does her own. I appreciate someone who does what they say they are going to do. Forum posts are made on time, everyone is given thorough, thoughtful, constructive yet encouraging feedback, everything is organized clearly, formatted nicely, etc. Ginger goes the extra mile for everything. In today’s world, this stands out. I could not recommend this workshop more highly.
Camille Vaughan
Ginger Unzueta and the "Everyday Beauty" workshop was beyond inspiring. It was obvious from the beginning that Ginger put her heart and soul into this workshop and she wanted to make sure we all walked away seeing life and our surroundings differently. I have a new understanding of finding the light in my home, not forgetting the details and most importantly capturing and telling the story of my children's life. I truly feel like my photography grew by leaps and bounds in those two short weeks. I also loved how Ginger created such an uplifting learning environment. She kept the workshop very interactive and the other huge bonus were the new friends that I walked away with that share the same passion I have for photography.
Cindy Cavanagh
Hope Davis
Ginger's workshop goes right along with so many personal projects I am currently working on. I wanted to share one of Chris and Carson I captured yesterday. Carson was having a hard time saying goodbye to his daddy who was getting ready to leave for a mission trip to Haiti. I'm sure I would have missed this tender moment if it wan't for Ginger's assignment. I can't thank you enough Ginger for opening my eyes to everyday moments right in front of me.
Maria Manco
I am SO glad that I signed for this class. I am no stranger to taking photos of my child – I have tons. But this class has helped me to start approaching photography with my heart and think about what is important to me and what details I want to remember forever. She leads with lots of examples and more than just showing the photo she explains the why – why did she want to remember a certain moment, why did she choose her camera settings, etc. It was really insightful and inspiring. We had lessons on finding the light in your own home, composition, perspective, details, story telling, and more. Ginger is encouraging in her critiques while still making suggestions on things to try or think about for next time. Thank you so much Ginger for a wonderful class and a great experience. I feel recharged about WHY I love photography so much – to remember how life feels at this moment.
Janet Crouch
I first heard Ginger Unzueta's name while I was taking my first Finding the Light workshop. Praises rang out from numerous participants about her amazing talent as a photographer as well as her faith and character.
Rachel McCalley
What draws me back to Ginger's work time after time is the way that she is able to capture small moments with her children. You can actually FEEL how much she loves them in her photographs. When I saw that Ginger was hosting a second "Everyday Beauty" workshop this summer with the Bloom Forum, I could not wait to sign up and begin to learn how to do this in my own photography.
The workshop was AMAZING! Her critiques were so helpful, always giving me positive yet constructive feedback. She pushed me both technically and creatively and helped me to try things that I'd always admired in other people's work but never thought I could do with light. But most importantly, she helped us to find the beauty in the everyday, the ordinary moments and she taught us to tell stories through our photographs.
And for that, I will be forever grateful.
A friend of mine commented on a photo I posted a few weeks ago. She said, "You always capture such emotion in your photographs." It was probably the nicest compliment I have ever received. And truth be told I don't always capture it. But since taking Ginger's workshop, I can tell you it's what I strive for every time I click the shutter.
XO ~Rachel McCalley
Bethani Giannini
I so loved this class. The Everyday Beauty class is just that- It taught me how to capture the beauty of my everyday life so that I can remember and cherish those special in between moments in the years to come. This class taught me how to see and slow down - the little moments of everyday life are some of the most important to capture. How do you want to remember your life? What may seem mundane today will be beautiful to you tomorrow, if you're not aware of it already. Take this class. It will change how you look at your everyday. Not only will you capture those moments, but you will appreciate them more. Ginger will help you learn to tell a story through your images, to document, and to reinforce the saying "Enjoy the little things in life. For someday you will realize they were the big things."
If you are considering taking Ginger’s Everyday Beauty class do not hesitate, in my opinion it is simply the best! I feel that it has helped me out of my creative slump and finally find my style of photography! I have taken many photography related online classes prior to this class and while I learned something in every class I never felt I could pinpoint my style of photography. This class has given me direction and focus and also the courage to look at things from a different perspective. Ginger shares everything, I mean EVERYTHING, with her students and you can tell she genuinely wants everyone to succeed. After the first two modules I felt like I had my moneys worth because the lessons really made me stop in my tracks and reflect on what I wanted to do with my photography journey. I realized that I needed to stop trying to do what I thought others wanted and start doing what I wanted. I feel that this new direction will make me so much happier and I now have the confidence to make the steps necessary to get there. The step by step building of lessons helped me develop a focus that I lacked before and also provided me with a plan for how I will arrange my future sessions. Ginger is extremely honest in her critiques but sensitive at the same time, which allowed me to post questions freely and also share my work without feeling nervous. In addition to Ginger the other workshop attendees offered great inspiration and support through the forum style of the class and I cant wait to follow all of them and see how we all grow.
Ginger Lobb
I was so excited to take this class. Ginger's photography has been a huge inspiration to me for sometime now. I love the emotion captured in her lifestyle images. I was at a place where I needed to be taken back to the reason I fell in love with photography. Being able to shoot for myself and feel good about my images is what I was looking for and I felt a great sense of confidence and pride in my pictures after taking this class.
Holly Donovan
I received Everyday Beauty as my December birthday gift from my mom. I had no idea how much of a gift, in the end, it would be. This was my first workshop at the Bloom Forum, is was on the top of my 'to do' list for photography. I had admired Ginger's work for months, I could go through her albums for ages. When I heard of the class I knew I had to take it and learn how she produced such inspiring and beautiful work. I could relate to her vision and was in awe at the small everyday moments she captured so perfectly. I started my first 365 a few weeks before, with the hope I would grow from this class and that it would help keep my motivation steady. What I wasn't expecting was the level of personal attention from Ginger. All of her feedback was genuine and honest, and so much more than just a few words. She left me feeling good about work I turned in, even though there were days I knew it wasn't my best. Her kind encouragement kept me shooting for my 365 during some very hard weeks at home, not to mention in our very cold climate where shooting everyday can feel like a chore. The techniques from the lessons in this class were exactly what I needed to gain to produce lifestyle images of my children at home. I thought I knew the basics, but I was missing so much. The workshop gave me all of the tools I needed going forward with capturing creativiely composed and meaningful memories and I use them every single day in my work. This class was exactly what I needed at the right time, shooting indoors can be a struggle and motivation can be my biggest challenge during the winter months. At the start of it, I had thought maybe I was taking it at the wrong time, but in retrospect, it was the perfect timing! I practice the lessons every time I pick up my camera. Ginger's encouragement, kindness, wonderful CC was such a great bonus alongside all of the detailed material which included beautiful examples which were such a big help. Everyday Beaty was one of the best workshops I have taken to date, and that is saying ALOT! So grateful!
Mickisha Glenn
The drive behind my photography has always been to capture my life in a beautiful way! I remember early on in my photographic journey looking at images from different photographers and trying to pin down what transformed them from a snapshot of someone’s life into art. I stumbled upon Ginger’s work one day and was drawn to the beauty, light and joy in her images. Her work spoke to my heart--this is what I wanted to achieve, to be able to capture my family and the events of our life in a transformative and beautiful way!
I wish I had the words to sum up how amazing Ginger and the Everyday Beauty Workshop are! Ginger truly helped me to look at the ordinary moments of my day and turn them into magical memories that can be enjoyed forever! No matter what point you are in your journey as a photographer she helps you to look at your life and your photography with a fresh perspective. To break down and analyze the different aspects of photography, light, and the spaces in which you photograph. Her thoughtful instruction and examples of her beautiful imagery were the perfect combination to help me understand and apply the lessons during the workshop.
More than anything Ginger has taught me to be more intentional and thoughtful with what I photograph--to look for the beauty in my life, my home, and my family. To stop and think about what I want to remember and what memories I want to make and to record all the aspects of my life. These skills have not only impacted me as a photographer but also as a mother and woman. Photography has always helped me to stop and see the beauty in my life. After taking Everyday Beauty I have more knowledge, vision, and intention to continue to seek out and record the beauty of my everyday!
