Emilie and I just returned from a terrific couple of days in Vegas at the Engage09 The Encore, a luxury wedding business seminar! The speaker lineup was terrific…starting with Rebecca Grinnals, who also put on the day, and Marcy Blum to Simon T. Bailey and the brilliant Sean Low. Networking at this event was 2nd to none! Randy Fenoli, Director of Fashion at Kleinfeld in NYC and “Say Yes to the Dress” fame entertained us in the evening at Blush. Our great friend Jennifer Dominick of LoveLifeImages brought her Snapshot Studio to capture some of the fun!
Just four years ago thousands of families from New Orleans and the Gulf Coast states were left homeless, with many of their personal belongings destroyed by the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. A large majority of these families lost what could arguably be their most valued treasures – family photographs.
In response to the disaster wrought by Hurricane Katrina we’ll be providing hundreds of families with charitable mini portrait sessions as part of PartnerCon New Orleans! With YOUR help, all families will be provided a CD of their images the day of the shoot, along with a package of assorted prints delivered to them a few weeks later. This is your opportunity to play a direct role in making a big difference in the lives of others, while simultaneously enriching your PartnerCon experience.
We’re seeking 100 attendee volunteers to make this charitable shoot a success. Reserve your spot now!
The Details:
The shoots will occur on Thursday, November 5, from 1 – 6 pm (volunteer teams will be organized into 2-hour shifts)
We’ll be photographing more than 200 families at venues located near the West Bank in New Orleans, just 10-minutes from the hotel.
We’ll have 5 – 7 shooting stations set-up (with back-drops) — each family shoot will last approximately 15 minutes.
Volunteer teams will be organized in advance of the event – each team will consist of a photographer, assistant, image downloader/laptop attendant, runner and various other roles and responsibilities (team members will have the flexibility to rotate responsibilities).
Those that prefer to be the Photographer on their team must supply their own camera and 2 off-camera flash units (we’ll be providing all the other gear, including light/flash stands, remote triggers, backdrops, CF cards, extra batteries, etc).
I am headed out on the road again! This time I am on tour with WPPI for liveBooks! We are hitting some great towns and I look forward to meeting new people and seeing some old friends. If you are in Atlanta, Minneapolis, Dallas or Boston and want to get together…drop me a line!
4 different cities. 17 different speakers. 4 different topics.
4 CITY ROAD TRIP
This coming September, WPPI is taking the show on the road for the first-ever WPPI Road Trip. You don’t want to miss out on an opportunity like this!
Atlanta – Monday, September 21, 2009
Minneapolis – Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Dallas – Monday, September 28, 2009
Boston – Wednesday, September 30, 2009
17 SPEAKERS
Each city will host 4 distinctive speakers that you’ve come to know and love at previous WPPI Conventions. The 2009 WPPI Road Trip roster includes: Bambi Cantrell, Tony Corbell, Jim DiVitale, Kay Eskridge, Beth Forester, Jim Garner, Doug Gordon, Kevin Kubota, Robert Lino, Lori Nordstrom, Sarah Petty, Ken Sklute, John Solano, Eddie Tapp, Vicki Taufer, Jed Taufer and Kirk Voclain.
4 HOT TOPICS
Each stop on the tour will cover 4 specific areas, designed specifically to cultivate your technical skills, inspire creativity and enhance the productivity of your professional photography business.
Business & Marketing
Lighting & Posing
Wedding or Portraits
Workflow
ALL FOR JUST $149
Each stop along the WPPI Road Trip includes 4 programs, a buffet lunch and a mini trade show with some of your favorite exhibitors, companies and sponsors all for just $149!
Choose 1 city and pay just $149
Or… choose 2 cities and pay just $249
Or… choose 3 cities and pay just $349
And because we know someone will ask, come to all 4 cities for just $399!
BONUS!
For a limited time, WPPI is offering FREE registration to the 2010 WPPI Convention and Trade Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, to all attendees who register and attend any one of the stops on the first-ever WPPI Road Trip! If you’ve never attended WPPI before, there is no time like the present to take advantage of this extraordinary opportunity near you.
To find out more about each city and the specific speakers, please click on your city of choice below.
You never know when you will meet someone that will lead to new business. While in NYC for the PDN Photo Annual Party back in May I met Jose Azel on the roof of Tribeca Skyline Studios. Jose is the man behind Aurora Images which just so happened to be based right here in Portland, Maine! After a few meetings and a nice lunch, we found that we could have an interesting partnership with liveBooks and Aurora’s archive. Jose was kind enough to invite me to his photographers annual meeting on Sebago Lake last week! I was pleasantly surprised with the amazing talent that was in attendance at the meeting. Photographers from across the country and from right in my back yard were taking part. There were break out sessions, group meetings and a pretty sweet soccer game!
Future of Our Industry Q&A session in the sun. Speakers Jose Azel, Miriam Marseu (SI), Amber Terronova (PDN) and Rich Clarkson.
Image taken from Aurora Twitter Stream...not sure who took it.
Thanks so much for having me out Jose! I look forward to a terrific partnership…
Marketing is the lifeblood of a business! I have said that marketing (and sales) feels like walking up a down escalator…when you stop you begin to go backwards. Not all marketing is created equal however. Studios that have consistent branding will continue to see better and better results. The people receiving your message will begin to trust your company more as they see your brand driven on all your marketing or anything that touches the client/potential client.
A good example of this is a branded newsletter. Newsletters are a great way to keep past, current and future clients informed about your studio and it’s activities. They keep your brand on the forefront of the persons mind, so if they need your services or know of someone that might need your services, your name will come up. Here is an example of the recent emilie inc newsletter:
Emily and Jake met through mutual friends while students at Emory University in Atlanta. Now living in Chicago, they returned to Emily’s hometown in New Hampshire to treat their guests to an elegant celebration at her parent’s home. Tropical storm Danny let up just after the barn ceremony for outdoor formal photos.
I ask my associates to take a photo of the dress when they arrive no matter the location. We’ve had attics and storage rooms, and we can now add basement to the list. Love it.
Emily’s parents built this barn specifically for the wedding. The bright sunflowers and hanging stars added great splashes of color.
Married!
Beautiful reception details.
Toasts.
When editing these images, I was so struck by the light of the reception and how beautifully it played a role in the evening.
Toasting… cupcakes!
Check out more of this fantastic wedding in the 10×10 album design below:
Congratulations, Emily and Jake!! J enjoyed documenting your big day, and meeting so many of your wonderful relatives and friends (including emilie inc. couple Erin and Brett!)!!
Last year we updated the Emilie Inc website with video testimonials. Typical testimonial pages are rather flat and uninspiring. This page really allows Emilie’s ambassadors to speak to how their experience was on the biggest day of their lives. I think it is really powerful and we have had great feedback on it, even a couple I saw last night that said they wanted to do one.!
We believe in hiring the right people for the job…Check out Wonder Dog Films for some of their other terrific work…
A huge thanks to Roots Workshop photographer Eric Laurits and emilie inc. multimedia producer Morgan Kirkham for putting together this testimonial video from a few of this year’s student interviews. For more information on the workshop, please bookmark www.rootsworkshop.net, our new dedicated blog! If you take a spin over, you’ll notice some important dates… And so, without further ado, please mark your calendars for September 15th at 9a, and pass the word that Roots ‘10 registration will be open to accept students for next summer! That’s right, Roots returns to the Cape July 18-23rd for our third year!! Visit the newly redesigned workshop website for more information and please email me with any questions! Can’t wait!
photographers: J and Whitney
ceremony: private residence overlooking Bar Harbor and Frenchman’s Bay: Hancock Point, Maine
reception: Crocker House Country Inn Hancock Point, Maine
caterer: Crocker House Country Inn
florist: Newland Florist Ellsworth, Maine
band: Jeff DavisonBig Chief Band
gown: Ultimate Bride Chicago
transportation: Ford Model A
Emily’s family has been vacationing in Maine from Virginia since 1990. Now living in Chicago, Emily and Zak chose to exchange their I Do’s in Hancock Point, the sweet village where her family has a summer camp. Combing elements of their Catholic and Jewish backgrounds, Emily and Zak wrote their own ceremony and exclaimed their giddy love in front of nearly 200 guests.
How they met, in Emily’s words: Zak and I met at a New Year’s Eve party in Chicago. I had just moved and only new one person- Mia Clark (from sailing school in Maine)- who happened to go to Kenyon College with Zak in Ohio. She invited me to the party at Zak’s house. We were friends for 6 months and then started getting romantic!
On to the photos…
What a sweet scene. The family’s Model A, which every woman in the family has used on their wedding day.
Emily and her girls got ready on the front porch of her family’s cottage.
Meanwhile, Zak was across town doing the same.
Emily is the oldest of five sisters!
Married!
The dance floor was packed all night long!
Preview their fantastic 10×10 flush album design below:
Happy marriage, Emily and Zak! I loved coordinating the logistics of your wedding day for you, and have been hearing the smiles in J and Whitney’s voice all week long as they rave about your amazing celebration! Congratulations!!
Julie and Brendon met in high school and have been together ever since (all together now: awwww!). So sweet. Together with their darling daughter and flower girl Avery, they hosted an intimate wedding ceremony and reception on Peaks Island off the coast of Portland in Casco Bay. Julie has been vacationing there every year since she was born. emilie inc. associate photographer J had fun hanging with this Massachusetts crew on the island.
Brendon and his boys.
Adorable Avery.
Congratulations!
How gorgeous are those garden roses?
Overturned boat and lobster traps are the perfect backdrop for an island wedding portrait.
Love the emotion of the Brendon dancing with his mother.
Someone else had some exciting news to share this night, too!
Take a peek at their 10×10 flush album design below.
Recently I had the pleasure of meeting and spending a few days with Ned Jackson at the Roots Workshop in Cape Cod. Ned is one of those people that you can instantly like and as you dig a little deeper it only gets better. Ned is a husband, father, teacher and Boston Wedding Photographer, please get over and check out his stuff! His business is taking off!
If you have not checked out Sean Low’s blog to this point…you should certainly get over and see his new one! His site is clean and to the point…kinda like Sean. I met with him last week in NYC briefly and was highly impressed with what he has to offer our industry! Make sure to post a comment and continue the discussion he is starting with his thought provoking posts…
This week has been a terrific week of instruction and making of new friends! This year I functioned as the cook for the crew and worked my normal job for liveBooks. The students did a terrific job with their photo stories and each person took away a little something different from the workshop. Eric Laurits was the staff photographer and did a fantastic job of documenting the learning process.
Here are a few images from the week at Roots Workshop:
If you’re a wedding or event professional in the Midwest, here’s an event that helps a good cause (proceeds benefit Pink Initiative) and lets you network with other professionals in a fun way. If you’re not a golfer, not to worry – the barbeque is open to everyone. Here’s some more information:
J spent his 4th at one of our favorite venues, Laudholm Farm, set among rolling hills of Wells, Maine. Typical of our season so far, ominous weather rolled in just an hour before the scheduled ceremony with rain- and hail! A quick decision was made to have the ceremony in the barn and guests were happy to be indoors, and even happier when it cleared for a beautiful afternoon.
Catherine, who met Greg through work connections at Harvard, recently moved from Montreal to Maine. Her family all spoke French, so an interpreter was on hand for both the ceremony and toasts at dinner, providing many laughs throughout the evening. The day ended where it began, with a bit of dancing in the barn.
On to the images…
From gray to bright blue skies. As they say in Maine, if you don’t like the weather wait 20 minutes.
The bridal party gathers before the ceremony.
Dramatic ceremony scene inside the old barn with twinkle lights.
Greg and Catherine.
The light at Laudholm is magical during any part of the day.
Adore this image of Catherine’s son running ahead of them in the field just before sunset.
Sweet reaction to toasts at dinner under the tent.
Awaiting the cake cutting. Priceless.
See more of their imagery in the album design below.
Felicitations, Catherine et Greg! Je vous souhaite de faire un beau mariage et d’avoir une vie à deux pleine de bonheur, et bien sûr une lune de miel merveilleuse au Mount Katahdin!
The first ever on demand photo book created for the main stream media. It is on sale at Amazon for only $34.95 and is a hard bound, 200 page photo book that includes hundreds of images from over 140 professional photographers following Obama’s historic road to the White House along with his first 100 days.
OK so it is a cool photo book but the reason that it is important for photographers to see is that unlike a normal photo book which is printed and sold in book stores this is only available from Amazon because each book is printed on demand. The professional photos and layout etc already exist and then the person ordering the book uploads some of their own photos as well as their name etc and they become a co-author, the invitation to the inauguration includes their name, the thank you blackberry email is to them, etc. It is the first time ever that I think a photographer has mixed a professional book with the end users images.
This is the future of book publishing. Tons of wedding photographers and others are already creating their own books at Blurb etc but this shows that with some front end interface photogs can not only do that but help end users create their own compelling pieces of history as well.
If you want more info or to be in touch with the people running this let me know!
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