So one of the greatest things about Imaging USA was meeting other photographers. Now when you’re in business there’s competition and it can get ugly. But the photographers that I met and heard speak were genuine, sincere and friendly.
People asked how I got into photography, what did I like shooting… and who doesn’t like talking about something you love to do. Now imagine talking with dozens of people who also love doing it too. Awesome.
I met two ladies (Lisa and Debbie, ljphotographystl.com) from the St. Louis area who are running a wedding-driven business out of Lisa’s home. They want to find a way to cut back on weddings and transition to more family portrait photography to complete the life-cycle.
Then there’s Melissa Cannon from New Orleans area. She’s a wedding photographer as well, and she in the middle of building her studio, from the ground up, literally. She’s also planning her own wedding for this coming April. I bet it will be awesome. Debbie and I told her that we were planning on crashing it.
Pearl was reinventing herself. After moving to Boston from the Cayman islands she’s in a new place and is jumping right in, specializing in high school senior portraits.
I met Andy Contreras from Miami on Saturday. Andy is a web and graphic designer, and photographer. She used to shoot fashion photography which led to shooting weddings. She’s in the progress of moving away of the fashion style of shooting to a more journalistic approach. She also posted a few photos from the PPA convention on her blog, be sure to stop in and check it out.
There were many others I met, a few from southern California, one person I met ran for state senate in PA and another built her business in Vancouver but is moving across Canada with her husband (cause he they brought a McDonald’s franchise) so she brought on an assoicate to run the BC business while she’s away.
I did however, meet one photographer from Walnut Creek, Tiffany Fong. We were introduced during the Q&A at Saturday’s program. As it turned out Tiffany and I were booked on the same flight home. So instead of trying to rush to fit in our conversation, we talked the entire flight back to Oakland.
I look forward to keeping in touch with all those that I met and seeing how each of their businesses grow and change. More over I can’t wait to see them again and enjoy a few more hours in their company.