WPPI - What I Learned and What I Already Knew

WPP... what??? WPPI - Wedding & Portrait Photographers International. It's a photographer's conventioin held every year in Las Vegas, and every year I think about going but then don't. Except for this year. This year I got tickets to the trade show - my photo friends all said you learn just as much there as you do in the classes. Well, they were right. Besides being overwhelmed by the vast number and variety of photography services out there, I also got to listen to some pretty cool speakers at some of the booths, including Kevin Kubota, Doug Gordon, Louis Pang, David Beckstead, Carrie Sandoval & Brittany Woodall, and a bunch of other people whom I can't remember their names.... :) I learned some new things and also was surprised by a few things that I was already doing that these pros do (yahoo for me!). I got to try out a few lenses that I've been eyeing. I finally signed up to be a part of the Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep organization. While sitting at the Nikon booth listening to Cliff Mautner, he advanced his slideshow to an image of a bride sharing a rose with her grandmother. He tells the story of this bride and how her grandmother was sick and wouldn't make it to the wedding. The bride asked to go to the hospital first, before going to the ceremony site. He captured those few moments between the bride and her grandmother, then they proceeded with the rest of the wedding day. The grandmother passed away a week later. He went on to say (I'm paraphrasing here) it's not about making a million bucks as a fancy wedding photographer, it's about creating & capturing a moment that will be special to that client, moments and memories that mean something to them. And it really is. Many times I've have had the thought "Why do I do this???" I always come up with the same answer. All these years, I could've had a simpler, less expensive, less time-consuming hobby that I could've kept to myself instead of sharing with my friends & family. Why have I spent so much time working on other people's portraits instead of my own kids? I could've been doing a million other things... But... I like photography... and I like making beautiful images... and my kids can only handle so much camera time... and I like helping you freeze those moments of your life that you want to remember for ever. I want to help you have great memories of your life. And that's why I do photography.