WPPI 2011

WPPI (Wedding & Portrait Photographers International) was in late February 
(yeah I'm totally late in getting this posted) 

Myself and 15 thousand other photographers flock to Las Vegas for a week long feast of all things photography!  The classes, the trade show and the connections and friendships made are all incredible and make this a event looked forward to each year.  This was my 2nd time attending and  once again I learned and gained so much from attending.  

This year Kathy Sco and I had Clisty B joining us for the fun and boy was there fun to be had.  Aside from spending all day in amazing classes, meet ups and drooling over the goodies on the trade show floor we had a blast goofing off till the wee hours as only Mom's with a few days away from their kids can do!

The view from our room at the MGM Signature

Soaking in the swakiness of the Cosmopolitan Hotel and it's enormous chandelier.

 

This rad store which the name escapes me now had these super rad old sewing machines all over the store, WAY cool!

 

Clisty deep in thought...

 Glad I lugged the "real" camera... most of my shots were using my phone! :)

 I could stand and watch these fountains for hours.. so pretty!

 

Me and Melissa from New Skin Media!  This gal stinking ROCKS!   She is the super creative megamind behind my new cuteness at Darbym.com! Yep that is my website on her literature! Whoot! She is an amazing designer, if you need a new custom Smug site skin or blog or facebook fan page... give her a call and tell her I sent ya!

Shall we talk about the food in Vegas... Yum -o!  Good thing we did a ton of walking all week.

Tamara Lackey is always a fav.

Ma Ra Koh rocked my world, loved her message. (LOADS more on this in another post)

Clisty and Kristen at the uber cool penthouse suite at the MGM, gotta love our Smug lunches, I always learn so much and love hearing how others are using the Smug tools!

As mentioned before I 100% cherish the connections made during this week... the late night discussions over ice cream, the chats in line waiting for your favorite speakers,  I come home excited and proud of what I do and excited to put into action all that i've learned!

Stay tuned for more thoughts on WPPI real soon! 
To see more images click HERE!

WPPI 2011

WPPI 2010

Or in other words...

Wedding and Portrait Photographers International

In March I had the opportunity to attend this amazing convention with 15,000 of my closest photographer friends in Las Vegas at the MGM convention center 

 photo by: Joel Jenkins

I was able to meet up with several photographers from both UT and AZ and room together for the week. The amazing ladies: Kathy, Joanna , Kelli, Terri, and Caitlin 

Did I mention that each and every one of these ladies was 100% fabulous?  Well they are! 

For weeks I poured over the WPPI offerings and came up with a jam packed agenda, workshops from the best of the best in the biz, trade show drooling over the latest and greatest gear and product, 

Lunch meet ups, photo shoots and parties galore!

WPPI 2010 Agenda

Sunday March 7

2:30 – 4:30      Audrey Woodard  

7:30 – 9:00      Opening reception

Monday March 8

8:00 – 10:00    Jes de Rox  

11:00 Secret    Lunch @ Diego’s @ MGM

3:30 – 5:30      Trade Show

6:30 – 8:30      Jasmine Star Rm  (go early)

8:00 – 10:00    Pool Party MGM

11:30 - ??        LLP OCF Workshop (after party, location TBD)

Tuesday March 9

8:00 – 10:00   Tamera Lackey 

12:00              Smug Mug lunch round table discussion

2:00                 Dawn McCarthy @ Smug booth

2:40-3pm        Jasmine Speaking at Kubota  Booth

3:30 – 5:30      Dane Sanders

6:30 – 8:30      Brianna Graham  Selling Your Vision

9:00 – ?           Smug Mug Slumber Party 

11:00 – 2:00    Pay it Forward Party 

Wednesday

8:00 – 10:00    Lori Nordstrom

2:30 - 4:30      Johnathan Canlas 

Dinner then airport

We pretty much stuck with the agenda above with the exception of a few things. 

Honestly were so tired by the end of the day we were not the party animals 

we thought we were going to be.  

We LOVED the Smug Mug  PJ Party on top of the MGM and made friends with 

the Jarvie window and Photobooth!  

and bonus we didn't have to wear heels or get dressed up for it!

A true highlight from the workshops were Jesh de Rox, who at 8am on a Monday morning had 900 people in tears and moved in a way that will change the way we photograph forever.  More in Jesh in another post, BIG things coming to Darbym.com! 

After getting in line with 900 others hours early 

 we scored 2nd row seats for the one of my favorite wedding photographer 

Jasmine Star's workshop on Fabulous Getto Marketing! She did not disappoint!

Photo by: Lynette Curtin 

Waiting for Jasimie 

Caitlin, Terri, Kathy and Me

Kathy and I started this Photography biz journey about the same time.

I can't think of anyone else I'd like to be on this crazy journey with than her! 

I Love you Kathy!

The trade show was huge and a tad overwhelming, it was fun to see old friends  

Wade and Markam  at the Smug booth and meet so many new friends at my time there.

 WPPI is going to be a yearly occurrence for sure now!  

I've come home with some many ideas for product to offer my clients, marketing ideas, 

services for my brand and or course technical overload!

On the way to the airport we stopped off at Cafe Rio and indulged in some yumminess 

know as Sweet Pork Barbaco Salad  with cilantro lime dressing. 

(OK, now I'm hungry!)

Stay tuned for shots from our wee hours of the night photo shoot 

of a beautiful bride and groom on the Vegas Strip!