E17: Photographers Weekend in Palm Springs: Behind-the-Scenes Realness

Photographers Weekend in Palm Springs: Behind-the-Scenes Realness

Imagine a desert weekend filled with cameras, chaos, caffeine, and content creation. That’s exactly what went down in Palm Springs for Episode 17 of RAW Edit.We packed up our laptops, creative burnout, and high hopes, and rolled into a four-day Working Girls Photographer Weekend at Natasha’s gorgeous home. On the invite list? Our badass crew: Colie James, Nikki Caviness, Natasha Sewell, plus Kellie Llewellynn and me. Spoiler: no corporate retreat vibes here. Just a bunch of photographers doing the work and living the dang life.

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Photographers Weekend in Palm Springs = Work Hard, Lounge Hard

We weren’t just sipping cocktails poolside (although…yes, we did that too). Between pool floats and fire pit chats, this was a weekend full of intention and hustle:

• Coli played with ChatGPT and started building bots
  
• Nikki worked on editing some of her interior photos
  
• Natasha dove into her website updates
  
• Others were editing, scheduling, batching, and dreaming
  
• And me? I was soaking it all up—and soaking up the sun
  

We had morning walks, brunches that turned into brainstorms, and late-night convos that hit deeper than most marketing courses. You know those moments where you realize you’re not the only one figuring it out as you go? Yeah, it was full of those.

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Would You Rather: Photographer Edition

On our last night, we wrapped it all up with a Would You Rather game—photographer style. “Would you rather lose all your SD cards… or shoot in full sun at high noon with no shade?” (Yikes.) It was funny, wild, and weirdly therapeutic.

It reminded us that even when we’re deep in the weeds of galleries and gear, what we really crave is connection. To laugh, vent, dream, and grow—with people who just get it.

So if you’ve been stuck in the scroll, feeling like you need a reset? Maybe it’s not another preset or another course. Maybe it’s just a weekend with your people.

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Why You Need Your Own Photographers Weekend in Palm Springs

Okay, maybe not Palm Springs. But what would it look like to create your own working weekend?

Set a location
Pick a few biz besties
Plan 1 work goal each
Add downtime, food, and wine
And record your own Would You Rather episode (trust me)

These retreats aren’t fluff—they’re fuel. They remind us why we started. And they’re where the magic happens.Need more of this energy in your life? Come hang out with me at smonsonphotography.com where I’m always dropping the realness on mindset, marketing, and making this biz sustainable.