Review of Pictage’s NOLA PartnerCon 2009

10Nov09

I don’t even know where to begin this post! The past 10 days have been a whirlwind of activity! From Baton Rouge to visit my dad, Mississippi to visit my mother’s gravesite, New Orleans for Pictage’s PartnerCon, Photowalks with Ginger Snapps, Atlanta and Savannah for a romantic weekend with E….I’m exhausted still and reminded that my bones are working on 43 years. I literally took thousands upon thousands of pictures and rather than try to post them all one blog post I’ve decided I’m going to parse them out over this week. Otherwise my fingers will fall off and you will doze off!

I pretty much covered my visit up until PartnerCon and since this was my first one I thought I would describe it in better detail. As I mentioned previously, I didn’t know anyone there. So making this a successful journey I had to fight the demons of my terribly shy and stuttery past and try to make friends with folks. As it turned out there were no worries there. I can honestly say that I did not meet one unfriendly person and I made it a point to meet someone new every day – another one for you, Mom! (For those who don’t know me, when my family first moved back to the states after living in Europe for a few years, I was so shy that I didn’t talk to anyone for months. My mother finally sent me packing to school with the mission of talking to at least one new person every day for a week. True to form, Mother knew best and before I knew it I had a group of friends and a social life in no time after that ). Anywho, the folks I met were either just starting out on their journey, like me, or well on their way and at the conference for networking or fine tuning. Either way, folks were there to help. The newbies supported each other and the old pros offered advice and suggestions. It was a truly productive environment. Most notably, the folks I met the first night were the ones I wound up bumping into again and again. So, Will, Sarah, and Garth, thanks for everything! My new friend Connie was also there but our schedules barely matched up and I only bumped into her briefly. I wish we’d had more time to hang out!

Specifically, getting into the conference the first day I started off in Jason Aten’s “Starting Out Right” and listened to the voice of experience telling me things that made made sense in a clear and practical manner. I will implement his suggestions. Next I went to Scarlett Lillian’s “Find the Fabulous in Each Bride and Groom”. I hadn’t heard of Scarlett before, and though I’ve never met Jasmine Star, she reminds me of an East coast Florida girl version of her. Scarlett’s talk answered my Photographer’s Identity conundrum 3 seconds into the session. After that I was hooked on every word. The answer – let every woman know she has an inner supermodel and it’s my job to showcase her. Plain and simple. Have the heart of a servant and you will not fail. (That last part was mine Yay me!). After Scarlett I of course had to go to rock star Mike Colon’s talk. I don’t know what I like better, the fact that Mike, by all accounts, seems to be just a regular person with no commanding presence (which when you think about it could work against a photojournalist style photographer) or the fact that he is utterly unimpressed with his “celebrity” status. That doesn’t mean I wasn’t a little starstruck when I saw him in the halls and passed him quickly by barely making eye contact. I’m such a nerd. After Mike was another celebrity photographer, although I had not heard of him. Denis Reggie gave an Oprah style “My Favorite Things” presentation that was akin to having the privilege of picking the brain of a Donald Trump, Stephen Hawkings love child. Anything that just happens to fall off of this man you want to pay attention to. While I could relate to him the least, I was able to glean a wealth of information from his experience. That closed out the first day and since the Monday night before had been a NOLA Saints game, AND my room faced Bourbon Street – meaning that revelers were out until wee hours in the morning – trust me I know – I went straight to my room and into a coma until the morning. (Well that was the plan anyway. I almost burst into tears when I heard the same music and drumming I heard the night before. I understand why my room came with ear plugs….and yes, I did use them.)

The next morning I was up bright and early for my photo workshop with Erin and Jeff Youngren. I touched on this in the post below and won’t go into too much detail here other than it was another great opportunity to shoot fabulous looking people in one of the most interesting cities in America. These workshops also help to boost my confidence as I – against the advice of every professional I’ve met – compare my work to other togs. I mean, I don’t suck. I see that. And the more times I press the shutter, the more experience I have and more knowledge I can tap into to “get the shot” and to get the effects I want to get. Numerous shots of the workshop follow.

After the workshop I hit Jamie Karlin and Micheal Kress’s “Mitzvah Boot Camp” which chipped away at the tip of the iceberg of this family event that most gentiles don’t understand. There is a wealth of information that I still need to learn about this rite of passage but it’s one in which I can provide my services and become part of the family tradition. It is the untapped resource for many photographers and I appreciated the openness and familiarity of this session. Next up I went to Zach and Jody Gray’s impromptu talk. The original speakers had some sort of conflict so the Grays graciously filled the spot and were candid and open about the road to their success. They were a definite inspiration and I couldn’t help but think how that could be E&I…granted we’re the Grays 20 years later but everything they shared made sense and nothing, thankfully, was rocket science. Next up for me was Jay Goldman. Many of the sessions that I wanted to attend conflicted with each other and this was one of them. Dane Sanders was speaking at the same time and I really wanted to see Dane, but I have Dane’s book and Jay’s topic, Flash photography, is one which befuddles me much of the time. Boy was I in for a treat too. Jay was hysterical. Another celebrity too…He’s been on America’s Next Top Model as a photog. It was great learning from greats. I rounded the day out with Roberto Valenzuela’s “Harnessing Talent Through Deliberate Practice”. This speech delivered as promised. Roberto’s disciplined approach offered a roadmap to becoming a better photographer. No if’s, ands or buts…He told you what you need to do and how you need to do it. I was both inspired and intimidated by his gift as an artist. We had a wonderful dinner that night and I was sure to drink a glass or two of wine to help drown out the revelers below my window. It worked.

Thursday morning started with a 2 hour speech by Gary Fong. This guy is incredible. I bought and promptly left in my room upon checkout the next day, his book, The Accidental Millionaire. I think that’s probably a sign…LOL. But more importantly I think Gary is an accidental millionaire like – I dunno clever analogies escape me now – but I don’t think anyone that focused accidentally becomes rich. Gary is, in many ways, ahead of his time and acutely attuned to business opportunities. I, on the other hand, am acutely attuned to reality TV. SIGH.

After Gary we, the volunteers, piled into buses and were shuttled off to the West Bank of NOLA to help the families affected by Hurricane Katrina. Pictage offered this event to anyone of the victims of this storm by taking portraits for families who may have lost theirs during the storm. It felt good to give back to a city that’s given so much and to a state that I call home…..

That details my experience with the conference. I got my money’s worth and then some. The people were friendly, the food wonderful (of course, it was Louisiana!), and ideas and creativity were exchanged without any of the snarkiness or “I’m better than you-ness” that sometimes occurs when creative people get together. I left the conference relatively unscathed. I sacrificed sleep for sure, as those below me laughed and danced and drank. I lost a memory card and a camera battery (thus justifying my Gobee bag purchase Yay again!), and left Gary Fong’s book in my room. But I would do it all in a second. But I won’t. I will do it again in a year when Pictage returns to NOLA for the 2010 conference. I hope to see you there!

Below are many more pics from the shoot and many more can be found on my Flickr.

Tomorrow I’ll talk about when Ginger Snapps came a callin’ in NOLA and our night and day of shooting photos. Thanks for reading this far!

WV

This is goofy of Zach but loved Jody’s look

different white balance..see how it changes the skin tones?

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Tags: Denis Reggie, Erin and Jeff Youngren, Gray Photography, hurricane Katrina, Jamie Karlin, Jason Aten, Jay Goldman, Michael Kress, Mike Colon, NOLA, PartnerCon, photography, photography workshops, Pictage, Roberto Valenzuela, Scarlett Lillian, Zach and Jody Gray