Want to catch our Capturing True Emotion Photographers in Orange County?  They’ll be attending The Chuck Jones Big Draw event on August 7th.  In the July 2011 Issue of the Ladera Times you can read more about these two amazing events.  You can follow our “TOUCHPOiNTE Top Ten’s” and The Event Complete Column every month in the Ladera Times to stay in the loop.

Read the Full Article Here on Page 24!

Do you want to learn how to enhance your photos like a professional? Attend our online workshop What can Lightroom do for you? Lightroom Quickstart Course this Thursday at 6:30 PM PST. 
This introductory class will give you a taste of what Lightroom has to offer. Whether or not you are an experienced user or have never used Lightroom before you will come away with a better understanding of Lightroom along with some tips and tricks you can use right away to improve your images and workflow. 
In an hour and a half, 
we will cover: importing, organizing, rating and selecting in the Library module. A lot of time will be spent giving you a tour of, and tips for the Develop module. We will finish with a brief overview of what the Slideshow, Print and Web modules have to offer. There will be time at the end for Q&A. So what are you waiting for? Sign up now at www.CapturingTrueEmotion.com Limited seats available.

Today is the last day to purchase your tickets to the Art-A-Fair on Groupon Orange County! The Art-A-Fair in Laguna Beach is a historic festival for the artistic community.  The deal is ON: Two tickets for only $7…that’s a steal.  Grab the whole family and don’t miss out on this opportunity!

The 4th of July is always full of bright colors, memories and fireworks.  Now, it has a new milestone, The Capturing True Emotion Photography Workshop’s second Peoples Choice Photo Contest is now in session!  It started over the weekend for the month of July.  Here is a refresher about this amazing opportunity to win some spectacular prizes…and bragging rights!

The CTE “Peoples Choice” Monthly Photo Contest! Help us recognize talented photographers by voting on your favorite image. We are awarding some pretty incredible prizes to the Winner! A Think Tank Camera Bag, a Capturing Couture Fashion Camera Strap, a Gary Fong “Pop-up” Flash Puffer (flash diffuser) and 2 Free passes to any *Capturing True Emotion Workshop or Extended Safari (Montana/Europe Expeditions NOT included). The winner will be announced at the first of each month. The winner will be chosen by “Popular” Vote on our Voting page.

To vote just click on your favorite image below and then click the Facebook Like button on the page, that’s it!

Contest Rules:

• Image size must be no larger than 300kb

• Horizontal Images cannot be wider than 800 pixels

• Vertical Images height cannot be larger than 800 pixels

• Image must be JPG, PNG, or GIF formats

“Art” and “Beauty” will be appreciated but Nudity will not. Inappropriate, lewd or offensive images will be removed, so please be responsible for your content.

For free and easy re-sizing, please go to picnik.com

Want to get tips on photographing fireworks?  Check out the CTE Blog!

We are so thrilled to see how many participants entered the first photography contest for our friends at, “Capturing True Emotion Photography Workshops.” We have had over 150 photos submitted for the month of June.  Personally, I really enjoy the art of photography and have always had a keen eye when documenting my travels.  No, I don’t own a super expensive camera nor do I think I will ever be the next, Val Westover However, I saw some really amazing photos that inspire me to get a nice camera one day! Our educators, Val Westover and Stephanie Adriana, have impacted tens of thousands of aspiring photographers and created an influential community on their Facebook.   Everyone is looking over the contest to tally up who the winner will be.  The winner will be announced on the Capturing True Emotion Blog on Friday, July 1st…we know the suspense is killing you.  Thank you everyone for participating and we look forward to your July People’s Choice Photos to start coming through. The holiday weekend will definitely provide you with plenty of photo ops!

WOW!  Congrats to our partners, Val Westover and Stephanie Adriana from Capturing True Emotion Photography Workshops.  They have just been featured in one of their participants blog, pretty cool huh? Not only did their loyal fan, Sara Wellensiek, talk about how much she loved the workshop, Val and Stef and shared her own photos, but she is also conducting a FREE giveaway! The winner will be able to attend any of the Capturing True Emotion Photography Workshops across the country.  We are excited to see the positive feedback from the participants in such a unique and flattering way.  Sara, thanks for featuring our amazing photographers and being proactive with your photography and blogging skills.

Find out how to enter to win the giveways! Please check out Sara’s Blog: Mom Endeavors.  It’s all about Cooking, creating, couponing and other everyday mom endeavors!

You can only imagine having a well-known company across the country. The blood, sweat and tears that gets put into having your own business are unfathomable to some. Many professionals hope to become a successful entrepreneur in an industry that they love. Val Westover and Stephanie Adriana have an undeniable passion for photography and their company has recently been overwhelmed with exposure across the United States. When we initially sat down with Westover and Adriana to begin planning their exclusive “Capturing True Emotion Photography Workshops” we were ecstatic… little did we know just how big of a success this was about to be.

We started off slow with just a few cities and in three short months we are currently working in Albuquerque, Houston, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, Orange County, Salt Lake City and Tucson. Also, we are excited to launch our upcoming line-up which is Austin, Chicago, Dallas, Portland, Seattle and Vegas. Westover and Adriana could not be more appreciative and humbled by the continuing success of their workshops. In addition, this is a phenomenal holiday gift idea for your friends and family that reside in any of the fifteen cities where the workshop is offered. Keep a look out on Groupon.com for upcoming “Capturing True Emotion Photography Workshop” deals in your area.
The Event Complete staff is beyond honored to be a part of this amazing journey with Westover and Adriana so we wanted to take the time to gloat about their success. All of their supporters are anxious to see where in the world Val and Stephanie will be teaching their photography workshops a year from now!

As you may know, Event Complete has partnered with award winning photographers, Val Westover and Stephanie Adriana with their “Capturing True Emotion Photography Workshops” for the first ever, Groupon Experience. I had the pleasure of attending a workshop in Los Angeles at the prestigious UCLA campus this week with Val and Stephanie… and what a great experience it was! I was able to see firsthand how phenomenal the workshops are due to the superb teaching techniques from Westover and Adriana. They provide so much useful information in just four hours that it is equivalent to the amount of material you learn throughout a college course. Over 100 attendees were present and the energy in the room was inspirational. During the lunch break passionate, eager photographers lingered around for a chance to speak with Westover and Adriana for once in a lifetime advice. The Photo Safari provides the attendees with a hands-on outdoor photo assignment to enhance and practice the skills they learned in the workshop. Mid-day all of the attendees went out to a beautiful area of UCLA to start shooting. We were surrounded by libraries and museums with intricate architecture, sunlight and abundant landscape… it was perfect for any aspiring photographer. I have posted a few of my own pictures that I took at the photo safari that day, and may I add that I am an amateur! I consistently heard feedback from the participants throughout the day and it was nothing but positive. “I have learned so much from this class Val, now I know what all of the buttons on my camera mean!” an attendee announced. As we were leaving the parking lot that evening attendees were stopping Westover and Adriana to personally thank them for the amazing workshop. At the end of the day, I “captured the emotion” on Westover and Adriana’s faces. I saw their love for teaching photography and what a rewarding profession it is.

Photos taken by Kim Johnson

Michelle Patterson, CEO of Event Complete and the Ambassador of Groupon Experiences Photo taken by Val Westover