2015 Wedding and Portrait Photographers Conference

Each March I make it a habit of leaving the cold climes of Michigan to enjoy some warmth and sun. My destination is the WPPI Conference in sin city, Las Vegas.

 

From its name you can easily guess that the WPPI Conference is for photographers who are involved with weddings and portraits. WPPI is mainly a learning experience for the 12,500+ participants. This year they attended more than 200 seminars, classes, demonstrations and photo walks taught by 150 expert speakers. Among many of the photographer-instructors were: Bambi Cantrell, Roberto Valenzuela, Julieanne Kost, Jerry Ghionis, Tamara Lackey, Clay Blackmore, Lindsay Adler, Bob Davis, Bruce Dorn, Gary Fong and Kevin Kubota. Subject matter included practical shooting techniques, posing, lighting, equipment, accessories on the technical end to marketing, advertising, pricing, client retention on the business end. The WPPI show a staple in the photo industry – this was its 35th anniversary. It’s the premier show of its kind drawing photographers from 60 different countries.

Another side of WPPI is its huge 75,000 square foot Expo where some 275 vendors demonstrate and sell their newest equipment, accessories, supplies, software and services.

As you walk around the exhibit hall you’ll see live demo shoots, discussions and displays.

 

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panel discussion at Nikon	entertainment at Plustek lighting
Bambi Cantrell	lining up to speak to Sony reps

 
To join the WPPI or learn more about the 2016 WPPI conference and expo, pleae visit WPPI Online site.

 
Please stay tuned for several upcoming articles about equipment and accessories that I reviewed at this year’s expo.

 

 
Written by Arnie Lee

 

 

 

 

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Wedding and Portrait Photographers

In early March while still in the midst of Winter in the Midwest, I very much look forward to escaping for a few days to sun and warmth of Las Vegas to attend the Wedding & Portrait Photographers International Convention.

As its name suggests, the WPPI event is aimed at photographers who specialize in weddings and portraits. This year the conference included more than 160 classes taught by a number of well-known instructors: Lindsay Adler, Zach Arias, Bob Davis, Jerry Ghionis, Michael Greenberg, Peter Hurley, Scott Kelby, Sandy Puc and Jennifer Rozenbaum to name a few of the 170 instructors in all. Classes ranged from practical shooting techniques, lighting, posing, using specialized equipment and accessories, building and maintaining a growing client base, marketing, advertising and pricing.

WPPI is internationally known and more than 12,000 photographers trekked to Las Vegas from 64 countries to learn from other successful pros. Interestingly, more than 50% of the attendees were new registrants this year. My observation is that more than half of the attendees were women – suggesting that women are rapidly growing the wedding and portrait photography business.

In addition to the convention, there’s a large expo where the attendees can view the equipment, accessories, supplies and services offered by more than 300 exhibitors.

As you walk around the exhibit hall you’ll see live demo shoots, discussions and displays.

 

Jerry Ghionis demonstrating lighting techniques	Bambi Cantrell discussing wedding photography
Tamara Lackey explaining the importance of time of day	Demonstrating camera techniques at the Sony booth
Miller and GraphiStudio showing a myriad of album covers and photo book services

 
If you’d like the join the WPPI or if you can benefit from attending next year’s conference and expo, please visit the site WPPI Online site.

 
Please stay tuned for several upcoming articles about equipment and accessories that I reviewed at this year’s expo.

 

 
Written by Arnie Lee

 

 

 

 

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Wedding & Portrait Photographers International Convention – Part 3

Last Wednesday was the last day of the WPPI Trade Show and I again walked the aisles to take it all in.

Most of the attendees are at WPPI to learn techniques that they can harness for their wedding and portrait photography businesses. To promote their products, companies provide floor demonstrations that show ways that their products are used.

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For example over at Canon‘s booth, noted photographer Clay Blackmore was demonstrating how he uses Canon’s portable strobes for making portraits. Here he is shooting in this on-floor studio. His setup uses a softbox strobe and background strobe triggered by his on-camera flash and a pair of reflectors. His demo attracted many attendees who were interested in seeing the results of using simple equipment and techniques. His camera was equipped with a wireless transmitter which immediately sent the images which were displayed for the audience.

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One of the largest group exhibitors were the photofinishers. The competition was less based on price and more based on selection and customer service. As you can see by the exhibits, there is a tremendous selection of size, finishes, variations and mountings. Albums, postcards, posters, t-shirts, more….
Pictage	Bayphoto
WHCC	Color Inc

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Shootsac makes camera accessory bags that don’t look like camera accessory bags. Designed with the female photographer in mind, they’re both practical and fashionable. For more information contact Shootsac.

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Triple Scoop Music is in the business of licensing music. They have a large library of more than 7000 songs. Photographers that want to use music for slideshows and/or videos can license any of these songs which can then be used royalty-free. Having licensed music in the past, I am convinced that having a single point of contact makes for a hassle-free way to add music to your productions. For more information contact Triple Scoop Music.

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Having heard about Fuji‘s 3D camera, I stopped by their booth for a demo. The Fuji W3 camera is an advanced point-and-shoot with two lenses. When you snap a photo, the two images are combined to form a single “.mpo” file which you can immediately view on the specially designed 3-1/2″ LCD without using glasses. Plug your camera into a 3D television, pop on a set of glasses and you’ll see amazing 3D effect of this camera. Below is an example. When viewed, I was able to see the 3D effect of my outstretched hand. This stuff is cool. For more information see Fuji

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As a frequent trade show goer, I’m sometimes blasé about walking up and down aisles. But this week, I could sense real excitement from both exhibitors and attendees. I too came away excited about the WPPI show.

This trade show is mainly about small businesses – photographers seeking the know-how to profit from their skills. They want to stay ready for the opportunities that arise as the economy recovers. I’m heartened to share the energy.

As an aside, I am a frequent visitor to the Las Vegas trade shows – 2 to 4 a year for the past 30 years. From my un-scientific measure, it’s been 4 years since I’ve seen Las Vegas as busy as this week. With concurrent conventions taking place the hotels, casinos and restaurants were filled. I’m hoping that this is a sign that things are looking up for economic growth all over.

 

Written by Arnie Lee

 

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