It would be naive of me to think that I could possibly convey this experience in words, to articulate just how much we enjoyed Imaging USA, how inspired we are, how challenged we are, or how excited we are for this outworking of our passion…this client-centered photography business that we run.
Put on by the Professional Photographers of America (PPA) (of which we are a part), Imaging USA was closer to home than usual and we could not pass up the opportunity to go to Nashville for a few days and learn from some of the best photographers IN THE WORLD.
Dane Sanders was the first speaker of the conference at 7 AM on Sunday morning. Goodness we were glad we drove up to Nashville on Saturday night. Getting out of bed at 3 am to make the drive would not have been fun.
I’m tempted to actually write about each speaker that we heard and what we learned, but that would mean I’d be writing all night. And basically, I’m not up for that. Suffice it to say, Dane, along with each of the subsequent speakers, was inspirational to Rich and I. And the particularly exciting thing was that they all had different stories, different perspectives, different styles of photography, and different business practices. On the one hand it was overwhelming and a bit intimidating to be confronted with vast amounts of talent and information, but on the other, we are challenged and inspired to be all that we can be; both individually and as a husband and wife photography team.
Then we were completely enraptured by the photography and thoroughly entertaining presentation of Australian photographer Jerry Ghionis. I do not exaggerate. I would not have words sufficient to describe the photographic genius of this man. We had a blast meeting him and taking a few photos on the trade show floor:
Then things got a little steamy (which will not surprise anyone who has heard him speak before) Ha!
Here we are with Nathan and Amber Holritz, Dane Sanders, and David Jay during our first visit to the trade show on Sunday. Rich and I had met DJ a few years ago, but Dane is a new friend!
After our overwhelming inauguration to the trade show floor, we grabbed lunch with our friends Garrett and Joy Nudd. Amazing photographers, business owners, and people. Incredible human beings. We love these two and are so thankful for the opportunities we’ve had to hang out. We really can’t wait for the next time, guys.
Taking a two second break in between the craziness 
Following lunch we sat in on Nathan Holritz with an awesome Adobe Lightroom presentation. Once again, we are honored to be peers in this ever-changing industry, but also dear friends. Nathan, you rocked it. Keep giving of your time and efforts – people need it, appreciate it, and are better for it. We love you.
Also, if you are a photographer and would like to have a life, Nathan might end up being your best friend. Outsource your wedding post-processing to Photographer’s Edit and let the team there take care of you, creating freedom and a seamless workflow, not to mention happy clients as a result of speedy turnaround. Let us know if we can answer any questions for you!
Following Nathan’s Lightroom presentation, we met up with a group of local photographers for some laughs and a self-portrait. We were so excited to run into so many friends among the 10,000 photographers who attended the conference! Here we are with Daisy Moffatt (and her friend Michelle), David Smith, and John and Lindsey Bamber…all such awesome people who we are proud to call friends!
And then on to Jeff and Julia Woods for a presentation on Substance and Style, the fourth and final class of the day.
As if our day had not been busy enough, we opted to go to a bowling party hosted by ShootQ and Livebooks where we were honored to be on a team with J Standifer with Livebooks and George Varanakis of Wedding and Portrait Photographers International (WPPI). Our team may not have won the bowling competition but we definitely enjoyed getting to know each other and networking. Very, very amazing opportunity. And, it’s important to note that I beat my husband with a score of 130.
I’m going to try to get my hands on the photo that we took of our humble little bowling team, so I hope to edit this post to add that photo. But we did manage to snag a photo after meeting and hanging with The Becker. I have to say that he was a bit different than what I was expecting after following his work and “getting to know” his online personality. He was a bit more like a teddy bear than I thought he was going to be. We liked him so much and didn’t have enough time with him. Maybe next time we can spend more time chatting and take a decent photo! This is it for now!
Monday was equally inspiring, beneficial, and overwhelming. The day started with a 7 am presentation by Steve and Jen Bebb of Bebb Studios in Vancouver which Rich and I have not yet stopped talking about. We loved their presentation style, content, and personalities! Check out this horrible, blurry, stupid photo of us with the Bebbs. Hey, we were having too much fun to care that it was bad. Amber, thank you for introducing us to Steve and Jen! Fun times and belt buckles.
I also grabbed a photo of the Bebbs presenting at the WHCC booth on the trade show floor:
Next we had the honor of listening to Yervant from Australia and then to Joe Buissink from Beverly Hills. We were blown away by both. End of story.
Here we are with the calming and passionate Joe Buissink…who, even though he regularly photographs celebrities, managed to make us feel incredibly important and interesting. Amazing.
We concluded the presentation part of the day by hearing the famous Denis Reggie. And to make sure that we were completely exhausted, we headed to a party at the Tin Roof hosted by Pictage. Rich and I were SO glad we went, because we had the pleasure of meeting Jim Collins, CEO of Pictage, and Simon Anderson, CMO of Pictage, and hanging out with old and new friends like the ever entertaining Kevin Swan and Shaun Austin with KISS (whom we love), Sara France (whom we thoroughly enjoyed getting to meet!) and the incredibly smart and innovative Gary Fong and his wife Missy.
Here we are with Jim Collins, and we are sooo excited to see what’s in store for Pictage under this new leadership!
(Thank you so much to J Mark and Rebecca Koenig for these two photos. Rich and I were kicking ourselves for leaving our camera at the hotel and J Mark graciously grabbed these shots for us and, as promised, emailed them to us. Thank you)!
And Gary and Missy Fong! Goodness, it was an honor to meet these two.
Tuesday afternoon we spent a bit more time on the trade show floor and it definitely paid off! Rich wore his bowling shirt in an attempt to be seen by Adam Linke of ShootQ, who was said to be roaming the trade show floor with prizes for those wearing the shirts. I saw Adam, flagged him down, and told him that Rich was just waiting to be seen wearing his Livebooks and ShootQ shirt As luck (and a very awesome Adam) would have it, we reached into the bag of happiness and pulled out a coupon for six months of free service through ShootQ…a very exciting turn out. Thank you Adam and ShootQ!!! We’re so excited to take our studio to the next level with you guys!
Imaging USA 2010 concluded on Tuesday evening after a presentation by Jim Garner, another by Jose Villa, and our friend Garrett Nudd concluded the entire conference with an amazing presentation complete with chocolate, hair gel, gorgeous work from all over the world, and some meaningful thoughts and suggestions for our businesses in 2010. He had us laughing and crying at the same time. Incredible.
I grabbed this shot of Garrett while he was speaking on the trade show floor for Graphistudio…but I wish I’d been closer to the front of the ballroom when he’d done his main presentation and was throwing prizes into the audience. That would have made for some entertaining photographic material.
Thank you so much to PPA, Imaging USA, and all of the people who made the conference incredible! We are so blessed to be doing what we love in an industry full of talented individuals and business people who are invested in seeing others succeed!
