The evening rolled out with Kelly Manno (here's her website - visit!) the event creator/dreamer/coordinator telling her personal heart-wrenching story of how she got into photography. Talk about a tear jerker! Kelly is very sweet and down-to-earth, and it turns out she's been doing these shot party things for a few years now! I had no idea!
We broke into 'Breakout Sessions' and I chose to hang out with baby-whisperer Tonya Nickel (her site) for the "Working with Newborns (and their nervous parents)" seminar. Tonya was great - very helpful on how to handle newborns, the equipment that works for her, the set ups she uses, etc. - I just wish we would've had more time! 30 minutes flew by, and then I was off to visit "The Bloggers Panel" with Kelly Park, Michelle Ross and Clary Pfiefer. This was a Q&A session and it seemed like a lot of the other girls in the room felt the same way that I do. There was a lot of, "how do I get from feeling like a total putz to feeling confident in my work?" and, "how do you get past those days when you feel like you just totally suck, and you should just give up?" and, "what pushed you to the next level?" and, "how do I charge for this?"
Its true. We're all looking for a secret ingredient, something they have that we don't.
After that we broke into groups and did a shooting workshop with models. I was under Clary's instruction and she was wonderful! Very informative about working with couples, posing (and NOT posing) and working with light.
That's Clary (smiling) working with the models. Clary has a GREAT smile, and it's a little 'gummy' like mine. I love gummy smiles!
After that we had a social hour and dinner made up of appetizers and the main stage was taken by... Jasmine Star!
Jasmine was very open, very funny, very hip and very educational. She gave us a lot of her secrets and ideas about what made her successful. She told us her personal story, which was also heart-wrenching and funny, and basically - she was inspirational. Just inspirational.
A huge THANK YOU to all of the great women I met yesterday! It was wonderful and I can't wait until next year!
Me and Jasmine!
Great post, Sam! Looks like you had fun too.
ReplyDeleteJasmine does such great work....we need to get together so you can fill me in on what you learned from her! ;)
Simonne
www.BollaPhoto.com
Sam-
ReplyDeleteIt was so fun meeting you! You have such passion for your work- it's very inspiring! The conference was great and can't wait for more!
xoxo
a
Hey ladies!
ReplyDeleteI'll address you each individually, here -
Simonne - definitely. I will email you and we can plan a photo shoot soon. I desperately need some portraits of me!
Amanda - it was really great meeting you as well! It's great to see so many other women passionate about the same thing as me. I grew up literally surrounded by men, so meeting and hanging with some chicas was great. Best to you! xo