Nora and Chris Photography

Last year was my first year at WPPI and it was amazing.  Brilliant.  Fabulous.  I was also really overwhelmed.  Times 1000.

I crammed my schedule.  Every moment was a workshop, a shootout, or a platform class.  This left me very little time to communicate and network with other photographers.  (This year will be different, we have lots of time to hang out!)

I also went without Chris, and I felt a little overwhelmed with the information overload.  I missed him dearly, but had so much information that my mind was spinning.

Here are some insights about WPPI 2011.

1.  SHOWIT UNITED – THE BEST THING I HAVE DONE FOR MY BUSINESS is use a platform called Showit for my website.  It allows me to be unique, build my website the way I want to have it, and most of all has blessed me with an amazing community.   Last year, through Showit, I was able to meet and greet with some amazing photographers like Jamie Delaine, Jasmine Star and Zach and Jody Gray in intimate settings of 15-30 people.  This year, their roster is PACKED FULL of amazing speakers like Trevor Dayley, Jennifer Rozenbaum, Karen and Isaac Stott and SO MANY more.  These speakers will be speaking to 50-100 people, so still really intimate.  The ONLY way that you can get into these classes is to be a subscriber to Showit.   The COMMUNITY they have built has been one of the most amazing communities of photographers I have ever seen.  No, I am wrong, it is THE MOST amazing communities of photographers I have ever seen.

2. WPPIU – Seriously, this changed my life.  The reason I say that, is because I got to be inspired by some of the most amazing photographers in the world. Jerry Ghionis shared some beautiful insight on how making imagery is better than taking photos.  Dane Sanders changed my world with advice of persistance.  Joe McNally inspired me to use more off camera flash, and to master the artistry behind photography.  In my opinion, if you are in your first or second year, this is something you do not want to miss.

3. Platform classes – I am going to give some honest insight here, NOT ALL OF THEM ARE AMAZING!!!  Last year I went to 7 of them, and 4 of them left me feeling like I had been in a sales meeting.   I don’t think I want to spend 2-2.5 hours being sold to, whether it is a membership to a forum, or a posing guide or some sort of fancy lighting equipment.  Check out before hand if the photographer whose platform class you are going to is selling something…and if you want to catch a few nuggets of inspiration from their sales pitch.

4.  Shootouts – WHAT A GREAT WAY TO PORTFOLIO BUILD!!!! OH MY WORD!!  I took two classes, one from Bella Designs, and another run by Dan Fields and Stephen Knuth.   They were both amazing, and I got some beautiful photographs from both the shoots.  Something to consider when you are doing a shootout is how many people are taking part, because it ends up being paparazzi style.  I was blessed last year that both my shootouts were fairly small, and I got a lot of instruction out of both of them.

5. Tradeshow – Ok, here is a word of caution.  When you are signing up for WPPI, you have to provide an email address.  Here is what I did this year.  I created an email address specific for WPPI.   The reason being is that when you are walking around the tradeshow floor, there are vendors that scan your badge and basically you are giving them permission to email you with special offers and all kinds of other things.  Your inbox turns into an inbox full of sales pitches.  Save your business email and put in an email that you have created specifically for WPPI.

Stay tuned for another blog post on tips and tricks for your first WPPI.

xo

Nora.

Here is an image I shot last year at the Bella Signature events shoot:

P.S. Stay tuned for some exciting announcements after WPPI.  Seriously, it’s going to be as sexy as Montreal in the summer!

So here we are, and 2012 has already started.  Everyone spent the last week writing down their goals for the year, and their misses from last year.

Chris and I discussed our goals for next year, and I have yet to put them down on paper.  Probably because I am scared to.  I am scared to write down a list of things that I may or may not accomplish.  Yes, internet, this is what I am afraid of.  In the immortal words of Erica Albright from the movie The Social Network:  The internet isn’t written in pencil, it’s written in ink. 

But before I actually ink out our goals for 2012, I want to take a moment to reflect back on 2011.  It was an important year for Chris and I, and I want to give some gratitude for some amazing people who have changed my life, and who hold a special place in my heart.

1.  The Board Members of the Vancouver Poetry House – I sit on this board, and it is filled with incredible members who strive to make more poetry happen.  These people strive to support poetry, by paying more poets to write, and perform, and to workshop with children what the art of spoken word means.   For a small non-profit organization, in the last year we have grown up, understood each other, misunderstood each other, put on an AMAZING FESTIVAL, and every Monday, I am reminded of how incredible it is to have a community of incredible poets to inspire and amaze me at the Slam.  If you are in Vancouver, I encourage you to check out the Vancouver Poetry Slam, every Monday @ Cafe Deux Soleils.

2. I am incredibly blessed to have an charming fiancé.  Of course this is a bias, but he is a rock to me.  I have loved in 2011 travelling with him, singing with him, cooking with him, and capturing beautiful weddings with him.  If you  wanna know our engagement story, well thanks to the Vancouver Poetry Slam, he proposed to me with a poem, on stage, making 250 girls swoon in their seats and 249 guys going, S#!T, I hope my girlfriend don’t expect this from me! 

3.  The Showit Community – My Photography Family.  I have written a blog post about them. Read it here.  Seriously, if you are a photographer, and you want to be surrounded by love, and understanding, and a place to just be yourself, this is the place to be.  Feel free to ask me about these wonderful people, I can tell you that each any everyone that I have come across have a VERY special place in my heart.

4. Our Clients – OH MY WORD!!!!!!!  In 2011, we had the most amazing clients EVER!!!  I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!  You guys are the bread and butter of what we love.  Your love for each other, for your families, and DESTINATIONS is inspiring.  We can’t wait to see what 2012 brings.  We hope that you are still madly in love with each other.

With so much gratitude and love, 2011 has been a blessing for us.  2012, we are going to GOAL YOU TO DEATH!!!!!  YOU JUST WAIT!

xo Nora.

And because no blog post is complete without a photo, this was a photo taken at the Brace Herself Auction, where local artists played an incredible show to raise money for someone special to help them get a back brace that cost 3500.00.  We did it, we raised that much, and then some.  It was beautiful.  But the journey for our friend isn’t over, her scoliosis needs medical attention every three months, she needs to see the specialist, that costs $150.00/visit, so if you have a 20 dolla bill burning a hole in your pocket, drop us a line to donate.

P.S.  Keep your eyes peeled to learn about how we set our goals for 2012….and yes, I said 20 dolla…cuz that’s how I roll!