WPPI In Vegas

As most of you know (ok, everyone on Facebook...some of you here...), I was in Las Vegas last week for WPPI (Wedding & Portrait Photographers International). I was honored to be one of almost 15,000 photographers in attendance...yes, I said 15 THOUSAND! This was my first WPPI conference, but not my first wedding event conference, so I sort of knew what to expect.

What I didn't expect was waiting for classes! First day, I waited twenty minutes for the wrong class...just to find out that class was full. So I got in the right line and was cut off...6th in line. UGH! OK, lesson learned!
Can anyone guess how long I had to wait for classes? ONE HOUR! Sounds bad? Not really! I had a chance to meet some wonderful new photographer friends! I met some Vegas photographers (oddly enough, none of which were wedding photographers!), a woman from Utah, a woman from NJ. We all had some great conversations to make the wait go by quicker!

Was it worth it? ABSOLUTELY! I saw some fantastic speakers! My Platform favorites were:
Kevin Kubota - so unbelievably inspirational and motivating. His platform class really gave me a lot of "duh" moments and helped me get organized. You may recognize his name from my Alphabet Challenge - he posed the challenge to our class.

Then Kevin hosted Photographer's Ignite - a wonderful blend of 21 top photographers who had 5 minutes to speak on something inspirational, fun or helpful. It was the most fun 2 hours - I laughed and enjoyed myself!
The funniest speaker was Khara Plicanic with "Lessons from Uncle Bob" - what a riot!!!

Another enjoyable Platform class was CT's very own Justin & Mary Marantz - Mary was uber cute by starting her emotional talk with "holy crap! We're speaking at WPPI!" :) Even though I have hear her through PUG meetings, and I am an avid reader of their blog, I was still moved to tears with her story. Fantastic and inspirational! Thank you!

Other fantastic speakers were Doug Gordon (posing), Kay Eskridge (boudoir), Jim DiVitale (Photoshop tips). I have so many pages of notes that I am looking forward to applying to the business!

My Masters classes were fantastic too - I learned how not to burn out with Dennis Orchard and to keep my focus, refocus on albums and lighting with Nick Ghionis, and an intensive class on using and manipulating natural light with Claude Jodoin.

And, I photographed! :) More teasers to come on my walks around the strip, and the shoots I participated! I definitely recommend WPPI to all photographers at every level! Hope to see you next year!