A while ago, about a year to be exact I celebrated with one of my BFF’s Kristy McLean as she lost 100 pounds! Not only did she inspire a totally healthy, almost 20 pound lighter me, but I also had the pleasure of taking her “after” photos. She won $250,000 with Team Beach Body’s Million Dollar Body Game! I was soooo excited for her and still I am so excited to be able to stay healthy myself! Something that I totally love as well is Team Beach Body continues to use MY photographs of Kristy on their website! Surely a very nice complement of the quality commercial work I am capable of contributing!~ I am a beach body coach and if you feel the need to become a better healthier you, then you can visit my website and see all the different products Beach Body has to offer! www.teambeachbody.com.chrisrose My life has never been better, stress handled, don’t get sick, but beyond that and the obvious health benefits, I can’t WAIT for bikini season! For now enjoy my work on the Beach Body site!

Already have a couple people registered for this one! I only allow 6 people. A full day of fun, learning your basic camera settings, shooting, and simple photoshop. Perfect for you and your new DSLR, learning to shoot off auto and getting amazing images! Register with this link:

Register for February Beginning DSLR Workshop

Cost: $169
Location: Irvine, Christine Bentley Photography
Time: 10:00am – 4:00pm

Meet Maggie. She’s all of these things and more: Personable, funny, sweet, talented, smart, inquisitive, determined, friendly, honest, and loving. She is also my friend and I call her that now. We hadn’t met until this past weekend! As soon as she got out of her car I KNEW that they day was going to be amazing! She had the greatest smile. I was totally humbled as one of the first things she said to me was, “thank you so much for today I totally value your time and appreciate you taking the time for this today.” I was blown away and hoped that she was still going to feel this way at the end of the day!….I had a feeling she would.

We started our day with a Newborn Session. I do TONS of newborn sessions and think back to my first newborn session. I was SCARED to death! So the more practice the better. I have to say, that the more newborn sessions you do, the more comfortable you will be. There is the basics, that’s what I taught Maggie today. Then, once you are comfortable and willing to move out of your comfort zone and test yourself, that’s when you get some amazing and more original images. But it also depends on the baby, some just aren’t having a great day and the basics is all you will get. They are still beautiful. Always remember when you are doing a newborn session, that parents will love your photos, cause basic to the photographer, is not so basic to the client. Here is what we captured on this mentoring day:

Following the Newborn Session, Maggie had some of her own clients she wanted to practice on. I like to give people a grasp on SIMPLE studio work. I do a TON of high key images in my studio. I use natural light and coached Maggie on getting HUNDREDS…of amazing images. At times during a mentoring session, I will shoot over the shoulder of my student. However, these shots were all Maggie and with a little help with posing and ideas she came up with some amazing shots! I love where my studio is and I usually always take my clients outside as well…..train spotting and roll up doors are a perfect background! Great job Maggie, check out her image!

We had a great working lunch and as I mentioned, seeing she is now my friend (ahhh) we talked a TON! Probably more than we should have, a little gossip, a little about our pets, our jobs….We just got carried away in conversation and I couldn’t ask for anything more! I mean, it was great and I can’t wait to get together again….. For Maggie and anyone who believes in me enough to want to learn from me, our day never ends when your workshop does. As much as I possibly can I will continue to help you out!

Our final shoot was a family in what I call my secret spot. So fun that Maggie and I both shoot Canon and we also have the same camera body (Canon Mark II 5D), it was great! She borrowed and used some of my lenses and was able to use the 50mm 1.2 and the 70-200 2.8. How great it was for her to be able to see why I use these lenses and how they help me with the ultimate outcome in my portrait shoots!

Ending the day we went to my house to finish up with Photoshop. Photoshop is like a fingerprint. We all have different ways to get a similar outcome, but we all also have a different eye to what we want an image to look like. Remember to make things your own and have your own style, shooting and editing should be what makes you, you! Once you are comfortable with what you so in photoshop, you’ll figure this all out. But in the meantime, it is a good idea to find out what others, whom you like, are doing, to get you an idea of where to start!

Thank you Maggie! I had SUCH a FABULOUS day! I truly loved working with you and I know for so many reasons you are going to do wonderful! You images you took this weekend are AMAZING and truly I can see your love for photography……we have that and much more in common! XXOO

A few months ago I met Christina, some of you have met her already, but if you haven’t you will. She is a bride of mine for next year as well as my intern for the next few months….how fun is that! I love her and I love that she also referred me to her soon to be Brother in Law for their wedding. That is how I got to meet Lynne & Joe. This couple as you can see are totally in love. Lynne always happy and smiling, and Joe always agreeing but with a smile on his face, this was the case everytime we went to meet at coffee…..(okay I just realized I need to get myself in gear and off to a networking event….write more in a couple hours! XXOO)

Okay now I’m back…..LOL! Okay so Back to Lynne and Joe, First met her BEFORE I had my studio and yeah so when you start you meet most of your clients at Starbucks, well, at least I did, I mean I’ll straight out admit the addiction to a good cup of coffee…anyhow, we met there, in Huntington Beach, at Starbuck’s, and it was all I needed to know that this couple was going to have an amazing wedding and that these two were going to be wonderful clients. AND Lynne and I also share the same taste in casual attire (juicy couture!).

They had their wedding at the Torrance Marriott. My first time shooting at a Marriott and so funny, when I was little and grew up in Anaheim, near the Marriott I thought all people got married there. But not only have I never been a guest at a Marriott wedding, never shot a wedding at one either until this past Saturday.

Ann, Lynne’s sister, totally transformed this place into an amazing wedding oasis! It was AWESOME! The details were just amazing and the menus, well those were made out of Chocolate! The donut maker, the sliders and fries at the end….wow, just wow and a very happily married couple mixed in all that!

I also had the great pleasure of shooting with my wonderful friend Jack Ratana. I am not so sure I could have found a better shooter to have assisted me on this day! The great drive there, talking shop and just having a great conversation to really being a super fun shooter! What an amazing guy! What an amazing photographer! I was so luck and Lynne and Joe as well to have him for this day!

ARE YOU READY! I am so excited to begin registration for my Going Pro’s Workshop in October! The dates for the workshop will be October 17th and 18th! Yes 2 full days! I am so excited to meet all the new attendees! I had such a blast with everyone at my last workshop! They all had incredible images and I am so excited to share some of them with you! I have emailed all the people on the waiting list as you are the first to receive priority registration! You so know that you wanna come and be a part of this! We truly had a great time! Please read some of the testimonials and check out what we got to photograph! See you in October! Registration will open tomorrow morning and you can visit the workshop site for more information or to register, you can also register here starting Friday September 4th at 9:00 am PST! Bentley Workshops!

Date: October 17th & 18th
Time: 9:00 am Start Times Both Dates
Location: 9272 Jeronimo Suite 105, Irvine CA 92610 Christine Bentley Photography Studio
Cost: $425
Register Here:

What’s Included: Everything you need to know to start your portrait business. A great workshop for photographers who want to thrive in this business and need that little extra direction. You will have models, families and a guaranteed great time! We will learn some photoshop and how to shoot in natural light to create stunning and amazing portraits! For more details please visit the website @ www.bentleyworkshops.com

Here are some of out AMAZING SPONSORS!!

Please enjoy some images from various photographers at the last workshop in August! XXOO “Thank you so much for the fabulous workshop! I felt so inspired by you, your passion & dedication. Thank you for giving me that push to believe in myself and my talent!” Cassie Bannister “Thank you for the amazing experience! I learned a great deal at your workshop. As I said that day, I like to shoot youth sports- but I think you’ve sparked my interest in portraits. Thank you for giving of yourself so freely and being so open and honest (&funny!). Thanks so much for everything!” Shelly Schaffer “Thank you so much for the workshop! It was awesome! You were awesome!!! Really, the workshop was a steal. I had so much fun and cannot wait to edit my images. Thank you for putting it all together and offering this wonderful opportunity. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!” Astrid Baloun “Thanks for the other day. I learned a lot. Mostly about all that it takes to run a portrait business these days. Wow! Blogging all the time, Face Book, telling people where ever I go they look great and I do portrait photography, etc. Lots of marketing involved to be really out there and successful. That is true with any business isn’t it. You were amazing, did an fantastic job. I am sure everyone was happy with your workshop. I will write more later and you said you were going to email us something so we could analyze your workshop. I am 110% positive you will get all positive revues. You provided way more information than I expected. “ Greg Peterson “Even though I am already a pro photographer, I really enjoyed Christine’s “Going Pro” workshop. The workshop had a great mix between shooting and lecture time. And the models were so amazing!! Christine was so patient and so giving-sharing techniques on everything from how to shoot infants to tips in Photoshop. It was great fun! I thoroughly enjoyed it and highly recommend it!” ~Julie Blair