I attended my first PPA-NC expo last week and while I had no idea what to expect, it did not disappoint! I am ready to take my photography to the next level and add more genres to my wheelhouse. The workshops were great. The instructors were great. The people...the people were simply amazing! My fellow photographers were friendly, welcoming and super helpful. It was so nice to meet some of the best vendors in the industry, see their new products first and nothing beats the opportunity to see, touch and feel the products that we will be offering our clients. So what was the best part? Well I would have to say the networking and making new friends, but touching the heels in second place were the late night shoot outs! They were late and went on until we decided we were done (so...note to self: stay at the hotel next year ha!).

I normally shoot on location and I love it! And while I mainly focus on photographing high school seniors, the shoot outs gave me an opportunity to try something new. First, it was in studio, with studio lighting and backdrops. And I have to say I really enjoyed that. It's motivated me to do more studio work. Secondly, we worked styled models outside my typical genre. It was so much fun!

This young lady was amazing. My camera lens was just drawn to her face. The styling chosen for her put me in the mindset of the Kate Winslet in Titanic or Michelle Pheiffer in The Age of Innocence. When photographing people there are so many moving parts it was nice to have constant lighting so that once it was set up, I could focus on relating to my model and posing.

This one...just a blast! I love stepping out on the edge. I loved the coloring, the makeup the wardrobe. Very little direction needed with her, she fit right into character and did her thing! Amazing! It pays to step outside your comfort zone, you just might tap into something awesome...and this was just the first one! Check out the next post to see what we did in the next shoot out. Stay tuned...