April 1, 2010

• My First Time to WPPI…

  Here’s What Happened In Vegas…

  Over the years, I’ve been asked if I’d be at WPPI a multitude of times.
  Yet, somehow I’ve NEVER been able to make it. There’s always been
  SOMETHING going on during the event so I’ve had to skip!!

  This year however, everything we’d planned for the week of WPPI
  was able to easily be moved… So at the very last minute; I went!

  Arriving Saturday, I was able to hook up with a bunch of old friends
  from my days in Orange County… Folks like the venerable Becker,
  the adorable Keats, and the rockin’ awesome Jeff Norwood.

  I also made some awesome NEW friends like Jen Otchy, and finally
  connected with internet buddies like Aric Becker…

  All in all, Saturday was rockin’… But then Sunday began.

  It all began with a little lighting workshop Lan & Vu Bui put on.
  They sold it out almost instantly and had a great group of folks
  to teach. Sadly though, two of their models failed to show at the
  last minute and my dear friends Matt & Stevi offered to step up
  (You may remember them from our time in NYC, they’re the best!)

  Here’s a few shots from the workshop:

  

  Another friend from our last NYC trip was there as well… Feuza Reis!!

  

  Another one of my very favorite people was there as well;
  Mike Larson and I ended up rooming together for the week.

  He’s a TRUE rockstar of the industry, and has some of the greatest
  character of any man I’ve ever met… If you’re a photographer, or
  even just a fan of photography, I encourage you to spend some time
  getting to know Mike… It’ll be well worth your while.

  

  That’s his new Canon 1D MkIV — I spent the week playing with it and I’m in LOVE.

  

  The little guy above is the soon-to-be child prodigy of Grace Liu Anderson‘s
  (He’s really an AWESOME little munchkin!)

  Sunday night was a private little Pictage get together at the Mandalay Bay
  which soon was carried away by the Go|Bee Party… I made a few new friends
  there as well (who promptly shoved me into a photo booth)

  

  The following morning (Monday) I made the rounds of the trade show
  (several times) finally finding myself at the Bui Brothers/ Pictage/ Dane Sanders’
  “New Media Lounge” complete with comfy couches, Wi-Fi and the all important
  iPhone chargers.

  Here’s a quick shot of Lan Bui with the 1D MkIV and 85mm F1.2L MkII

  

  As the day drew to a close I started running around like a crazy person
  getting ready for Mike Larson’s incredible speech on “Character Marketing”.

  Did I mention that this is Vegas, and the conference center is about a mile
  from the hotel rooms? Well, it is… And all in the same casino!

  Mike’s speech was a great success, despite technical difficulties that would
  certainly have thrown off a less passionate speaker.

  More shots from the Canon 1D MkIV:

  

  

  Here, Mike demonstrates his best Jedi mind trick on my dear
  friend Ginny Corbett:

  

  Mike’s workshop was an overwhelming success, people walked
  away each feeling more inspired to lean on their character as
  the foundation of their business… Each inspired.

  Many thanks to Mike, and to Kiss Wedding Books for making the workshop
  happen… I was honored to be a part of it!

  Tuesday dawned a new day… With BIG plans!!
  First off was a morning session with legendary wedding guru Grace Ormonde.
  She was really working the audience; helping them understand the best ways
  to get their work published in magazines like hers.

  Lawrence from ToFurious had invited Mike down to do one of his famous
  “camera tosses” to record the event. (Mike and I actually MET because of
  a camera toss in Times Square a few years ago, but that’s a different story
  for a different time

  Here’s Mike’s shot:

  

  Pretty cool, eh?!

  Next up, we had to run over to the New Media Lounge for Mike
  to hop on “AskDane” with Dane Sanders…

  Along the way we bumped into Becker and I finally got to subject
  him to what I can only call “Beckering” — He’s famous for shooting
  hundreds of photos of subjects in a single pose, largely to get them
  comfortable, and partly to ensure he’s captured the PERFECT moment.

  But, I had the 1D MkIV in my hands which meant I could fire off
  10 frames a second for a full minute or so… I only took fourty or fifty
  pictures, but darnit, I still feel like I “Beckered” him good

  
  

  Then, it was off to the ShootQ booth for another quick speech.
  (It was actually really fun chasing after Mike all afternoon, I got
  to capture all kinds of things

  

  Next on our list was a sprint over to the OTHER tradeshow building
  for Mike’s speech at the Pictage Booth… Where my dear old xanga friends
  Bob & Dawn Davis were just finishing up:

  

  Jim Collins, the CEO of pictage is the one in focus… That man is a rockstar

   

  Simon from pictage interviewed Mike all about his thoughts
  on Character Marketing, etc. He was quick to point out that one
  of Mike’s photos hung above us… Which was pretty darn cool

  And then in a blur, we were off to our next stop…
  Dane Sanders‘ Platform Session… With nearly a thousand other people
  crowded into the room!!

  Mike, Jesh De Rox, and I ran to the front row right as things
  were getting started… Here are a few photos:

  

  You’ve got to see Mike’s pictures from this… They’re awesome!
  He doesn’t have them up on his blog yet, but I’m sure they will be soon

  That evening was a rapid fire series of rockin’ parties…
  First off was Dane’s after party at the Centrifuge Lounge, followed
  by the biggest party of the week… Pictage’s VIP Event at Studio 54.

  Both Kiss Wedding Books, and ShootQ sponsored shows during
  the party, and when my friends Kevin Swan & Shaun Austin from
  Kiss asked if we’d shoot their special event, there was no way we
  could say no!

  So, here are a few shots from that:

   

  

  

  And here’s a rockin’ awesome video Lan & Vu Bui put together:

  After the Pictage party, a group of us made a dash to the Mandalay Bay for
  Becker’s [b]School party… Which ended up being ANOTHER awesome event

  No pictures though, I left my camera in the room, that thing gets heavy fast!

  

  Wednesday morning, I was scheduled to fly out at 8:00AM but I skipped
  my flight to attend the first ever “Unite” meeting at a WPPI.

  Unite is an incredible group of Christian Photographers, led by Mike Larson &
  David Jay as well as many other photographers around the country.

  We worshipped, prayed, and shared for about 2 hours… And my only wish, is
  that it had gone on for 10 times as long… It truly was an immense blessing
  (and well worth the cost of booking another flight, haha).

  David Jay and Mike asked if I’d shoot a few photos to capture the event;
  they’re attached below:

     
  
  

  And since that’s about all the vertical ones I took, let me find a few more
  landscape style

  

  

  

  There are so many more photographs to post, and so many other friends to mention;
  but I must let this post end somewhere!

  Many thanks to each of you who made the week so wonderful…
  I can’t wait until the next time we meet, and I am truly blessed by each of you.

  As always, I am here to serve.

  

  P.S. If you were there, would you do me a favor and leave a comment with
  YOUR favorite moment from WPPI 2010?

  I’d love to hear from you!
  (Even if you weren’t there

  • 2:11 pm
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