CeFlo Retreat

In January of 2010 one of my closest friends, Ms. Sarah Bray decided she wanted to create some sort of retreat solely for female photographers in Orlando to promote both personal and professional growth - out of this desire the CeFloFePhos was born.  The acronym stands for Central Florida Female Photographers and it grew from the original 8 of us in January 2010 to an astounding 190 members across the state of Florida.  This is no longer an Orlando thing...or heck even a Central Florida thing...lol.  Twice a year we host a retreat - usually lasting 3-4 days and consisting of food, fun, and of course photography.  We have gone to St. Augustine, Siesta Key, Savannah, and Lake Wales.  


This most recent retreat was hosted at the Westgate Ranch in Lake Wales, FL.  There were 7 of us who attended for the weekend and one more that met us up for the shoot out.  It was a fabulous time.  We stayed up way too late talking...and honestly I think we all would have stayed up later if we could have.  We discussed highlights of our year, struggles we were having both personally and within our business, brainstormed ideas - and in simple terms, we bonded.  In the morning we all got primped up and headed outdoors to do a mini shoot out of each other as both a warm up and a way to get new head shots.  It is not often that we find ourselves in front of the camera so I think it is helpful to be reminded of what it is like in front of the lens.


In the afternoon, our beautiful model Sarita met up with us and we headed out to shoot.  8 photographers and one model can certainly be overwhelming, but we had a great time.  Sarita was a pro and new how to handle the onslaught of cameras.  We each had turns posing and shooting which allowed us all to get slightly different looks/perspectives.  The feel of the shoot was glamour, beauty, and fashion - and Sarita rocked it!


We even met up with Zach, one of the employees of Westgate Ranch who willingly acting as a second model for a bit and even let us use a horse in our photographs.  It was fantastic.  In fact, all the employees at Westgate Ranch were helpful, accommodating, and friendly.  I will probably look at going back for a family vacation as the kiddos get a little older.  


I feel so lucky to have been part of the creation of this group and have made it a point to attend every retreat and function.  My husband has been more than supportive in helping me achieve this as well - volunteering to watch the kiddos while I'm gone.  In fact, for our first retreat in St. Augustine he ended up coming with us because Mr. B was only 3 months old at the time!  


Alright...I am blabbing to much.  Without further adieu...here are a handful of the images from the retreat.  







Oh and I can't write this post without showing what it's like to have 8 photographers on one location...


Love you girls!


4 comments:

  1. Bwahahaha, they're stilling on top of each other!!! That's awesome! These shots are gorgeous, Jessica!!! Love love them!! Awesome job!

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  2. Well, I can't spell, that was supposed to say *sitting* not *stilling* - wth?

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  3. tight work and the photog pile up totally cracks me up! :D

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  4. sooooooo gorgeous! absolutely in love with those images :)

    And the last one, too funny. I cannot believe you got a picture of that moment! So defines the CeFlos!

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