WPPI 2012 Highlights | Personal Story

Imagine this. 16,000 photographers in one place. A place in the middle of the desert called… Las Vegas. Yeah, baby!

I’d like to tell you more about it but you know the old saying. Whatever happens in Vegas…

Ha! Just kidding. Anyway, a little background. WPPI is an international association of wedding and portrait photographers that I am happy to be a member of. Every year, they organize a convention that provides photographers the opportunity to learn from the best in the world. This was my third year attending and I always come out if it with a great experience and tons of ideas to implement.

Here are a few highlights from my time at WPPI!

1. I got to hang out with my friend Teresa, a wedding photographer in the Los Angeles area, whom I met last year. I also met and got to know a few other photographers from around the globe. It’s quite exhilarating to be around people who shares the same passion as you.

2. If you’re a photographer and don’t know who Cliff Mautner is, shame on you! This year, I took Cliff’s 2-day class and let me tell you, he’s the real deal. One of the best instructors in the industry and a master in seeing light. His approach in wedding photography — which is capturing moments that depict relationships — resonates with me so much and motivates me more to be the best photographer I can be for my clients. I can’t thank him enough for sharing his knowledge with us.

3. A surprise performance by Ingrid Michaelson. Her song, “The Way I Am” was actually our first dance song on our wedding. And guess what? She performed that song so beautifully, I couldn’t help but have a smile on my face all day. Just too bad I didn’t win any free tickets for her mini-concert that night. Booo.

4. I finally got myself to buy Fundy’s Album Builder! I’ve been teetering back and forth before about buying it but when I got to meet Fundy himself and saw how easy it is to design an album in under an hour, I was sold. It helped that they had a discount for the show as well.

5. Attending Scott Robert Lim’s class on lighting at 8 am in the morning. I love his energy and his manner of teaching. I had an “a-ha!” moment when he mentioned using variable ND filters to reduce the shutter speed outdoors, allowing us to use flash at sync speed. I will definitely have to try that out.

There you go! I can’t finish this post though without showing a sneak peek of Sheri and Matt’s engagement session a few days before I left for WPPI. And you better come back again to see their blog post in the next few days because they are just so cute!