Favorites from Photography Unconference

This is Serena. She is a beautiful person with a gorgeous engagement ring (thanks to Jeremy for letting me guess the stats). She was gracious enough to pick me up at LAX, drop me off at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank so I could see Pete (AND take a peek at the Ocean's 13 set and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip) for a while then pick me back up and drive us to Pismo Beach, CA for the conference. She was lucky enough to also sleep with me for 3 nights and drive me back to LAX on Sunday (we took a detour to the beach for sunset pics). We had lots of giggles. I took this picture of her. It's one of the favorites of my trip. SHE is one of the favorites from my trip.

This is Robin of Bellissima Photography in Pittsburg, PA. Honestly, I was a little nervous meeting her because she's such a smart and put together business woman (she's also a full time engineer) that I thought my crazyness would rub her wrong. My thoughts of her all changed when we had breakfast the first morning and she shared a secret with me that we have in common - how fun is THAT? Her seminar on business and album design has changed my way of thinking for the better. I'm so excited to implement all the ideas I have! She is one of my favorites from the trip! Oh, and she brought TO DIE FOR truffles, suggested by BruceBruceBruce - so yummy and they melt in your mouth (but I won't be having anymore for a while because another favorite from my trip and I are cutting out soda, junk food, fast food and candy). She thought of getting us altogether for a time-share type situation so we could have a house on the CA coast to vacation at and gather together again. We've decided one of us will have to win a lottery to have enough $ to buy one (those houses are outrageous).

And this is Ryan P Flynn. He's the one I'd hand-pick to be family. We had been in contact before the conference via email because I had questions about editing. He lives in Seattle so we had that in common as well (and blowing head gaskets on our Toyota trucks - but mine was back when I had James and now my neighbors dad owns him). I wasn't the only one that felt this way toward him; guys and girls alike have told me how easy going and sweet he is to be around. The spirit about him is peaceful and I feel lucky to know him. What a huge help he was with helping me learn my new camera (switched to Canon last week). There is quite the learning curve with new gear but I figured most of it out pretty quick and am LOVING the switch. Thankfully I could run over to Ryan and ask him to fix something if I got stuck. I sure know how to pick 'em. He's one of my favorites from the trip too. Hopefully we'll be hearing wedding bells for him and his cute girlfriend so I can fly up (or live there by then) and attend/shoot his wedding. Awe.

This is Serena again with one of my favorite pictures of ME taken this weekend. I'm not sure who had the camera (they kept passing it around, but I think it was Ryan that took this one). I think Serena and I look so cozy cute together. You should hear her laugh; that's cute too. She's getting married April 2008 and I think I'm a shoe-in for an invitation (hint hint). Haha. I just remebered that I'm not a very good hinter - not subtle enough to call it a hint. More like kicking down the door :o)

This is a part of how crazy I am. Um, lay on the floor and let's see if we can make a picture out of it. Umm, no. But it's fun to see me act like a dork, huh? There were other cameras taking pictures too so maybe one of these on the floor turned out better than this one. Sure makes a difference what angle you're at when taking pics. That's why I'm a professional - it's my job to know the best angles.

Here's Aimee again. This time you can see her in full splendor. Guess how many kids she has. I didn't take this picture. Again, the cameras were all over the place. Sure do feel lucky that I got this image on my card though. She's just a peach and I can't wait to see her again at WPPI.

This is Riley, Aimee's brother, my weight loss buddy and a new Bestie. He's the one that came up with the great line about deja-vu (see yesterdays post). One of the first cool things about meeting him (although it seems like we've known each other forever; like I felt with Jeff and Doug - My Lisa knows what I mean) was that he was mostly along to help Aimee (and get some practice shooting) but offered to help me with my equipment. The lenses are the heaviest part of camera gear and it kills my shoulders and back. I probably had him carry my bag once, feeling a little guilty treating him like a pack mule LOL. He's a big favorite of the trip. Our sarcasm and sense of humor are neck and neck which made it fun for sparring and joking around. Think I surprised him with my quick wit to which he responded with a challenge of sorts to see who's funnier (I am, by the way - just kidding - we're 50/50). I mentioned before what foods we're cutting out for our weight loss but we're also accountable to each other for exercising at least 3 times a week. A friend of mine down the street is letting me use her workout equipment anytime and I can bring Piper too. Y'all can encourage me all you want because I could use a little umph to get me going sometimes.

Here's another favorite, John Michael Cooper. He was one of my favorite guest photographers (the other was Jose Villa - so gentle yet stunning photography). This guy was so nice to share his expertise and show us some of his tricks (he takes pictures in pitch darkness using only handheld flashlights to light the subject with a 20 second long shutter - amazingly cool). When I first met him I offered to do whatever I could to help him since he was being so generous (I got to hold lights and shake a tree). He's such an inspiration and just cool to be around. He showed us how to handle shooting in the rain and how to see the big picture of an image. Notice Riley and Aimee in the background (she'd like to say that she was NOT looking at JMC's bootie - just so that's on record). I didn't take this photo, it's was taken by Mark (who didn't realize what a smart alec I could be until he met me in person; takes one to know one, to quote a 2nd grader LOL).