A week ago today, I was in Manhattan, KS for shoots and weddings and in the La Brisa Aspiring Photographer Workshop (APW) facebook group that we host, we organize Third Thursday social meetups for local photographers to get together and talk shop. So, last Thursday, it was quite rare because the entire La Brisa team, Autumn, b and I would be able to attend the TT event!

I had finished up my Joy Session early and headed over to pick up b from her Just B Exclusive event and then we headed over to Taco Lucha. Typically, we have anywhere between 6-30 photographers in attendance and we were hoping for a fairly large group because the three of us were in town.

Well, I walked into the back patio to find a TON of people just staring at me. I had no idea what was going on. And then everyone yelled something. To me, it sounded like “Surprise!” but apparently, everyone said “Thursday!” I immediately looked all around me to see who we were celebrating and I think I even started clapping for the mysterious person. Honestly, I had no idea what was going on.

I kept thinking to myself…”What is going on???” As well as…”What do I do with my hands?”

Scanning through the faces, I recognized sooo many people: fellow photographers, former and current clients, and awesome friends. I was ridiculously overwhelmed with everything! Autumn and b had organized everything. On top of that, they had put together a ginormous album of 5 years of La Brisa blog posts!

AND they put together a huge canvas wrap and had everyone sign it! 

They surprised me with a 5 Year Anniversary of La Brisa Photography party! Surrounded by cherished friends, I was unbelievably surprised. I spent the next 3-4 hours making the rounds and chatting it up with everyone. What an awesome night! It was definitely one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me (not including my wife, of course). What an absolutely wonderful evening! Thank you to Autumn and b for all of their hard work and secrecy for putting it all together! Also, thank you to Mrs. Mary Ewing for providing appetizers for everyone! I always tell you how blessed I feel to do what I do and this night was so humbling.

Along with EVERYTHING ELSE, Autumn and b created a video with congratulations from many people who were unable to attend the event intermixed with non sequitur ramblings by Autumn and b. It was hilariously awesome and I appreciated it so much! We are working on finding a way to share the entire 25 minute video and we will post it as soon as we figure it out!
Love these ladies!

Thank you again to everyone who attended and submitted videos! I love what I do and I am so entirely grateful that I have been able to do this for the past 5 years and I am excited to see what the next 20 years of La Brisa will bring!

You can view more images from the night on the La Brisa Facebook page by clicking HERE.