It was the First day of the Imaging USA convention for us and the main reason we came out here. We woke up at 5am and when you aren’t used to waking up that early it can be a pain.
The night before we made our way to the hot tub of which we hoped it would be empty but it was not our luck, there was a couple already in there. The couple we met as it turns out was there for the Imaging convention as well, and they had flown in that day from Missouri. It was nice to chat photography business with them and because they didn’t have a car and would have to rely on a bus and rail system just to get to the convention, we offered to take them. What really sucked is that they would have had to miss out on the first section of classes because of the shuttle. Autumn and Allen own Thomsen photography and are a great couple to chat photography with. Olga and I were wondering if we’d meet anyone while we were out here and its cool we did.
The night before we made our way to the hot tub of which we hoped it would be empty but it was not our luck, there was a couple already in there. The couple we met as it turns out was there for the Imaging convention as well, and they had flown in that day from Missouri. It was nice to chat photography business with them and because they didn’t have a car and would have to rely on a bus and rail system just to get to the convention, we offered to take them. What really sucked is that they would have had to miss out on the first section of classes because of the shuttle. Autumn and Allen own Thomsen photography and are a great couple to chat photography with. Olga and I were wondering if we’d meet anyone while we were out here and its cool we did.
The first class we took was all about shooting with wireless flashes on mono pods. These two photographers where a trip to listen to, they are http://www.tricoastphotography.com/ – it was Mike and Cody speaking with Mike doing most of the speaking but Cody was cracking us up. That dude is seriously funny. What I liked most is, now a days you have just single photographers, or you have husband and wife photographer teams, I had never seen two pro photographers come together and work together so good. One would take photos sometimes while the other holds the flash, or visa versa. They said they don’t care who gets the shot as long as the client is happy. And the humor they use keeps the clients, happy and makes for a great time. Super great lecture on the use of wireless flashes and the use of the new “RadioPoppers”, http://radiopopper.com/ they are supposed to be the biggest newest thing.
Second class was on Magic of Posing and Lighting with Hanson Fong speaking. He cracked me up so much I thought I was in a comedy club or something. Hanson had a challenge that anyone could pick out any couple in the room and he would make them look good and if he couldn’t he would give them his whole backdrop and stage lighting, but no one did. Hanson did however take some larger people and put them together and showed how to slim them down and make them look better. When he was building a family group with the various members it was much like what Paula had taught us in a PPASD class before, so it was some good learning. Towards the end, they had a wedding couple come out and they started up some cool music blasting. He would go around them and pose them up in so many different ways, that you could easily get at 100 plus really cool images for the couple to enjoy. Good learning there.
Olga stay in that class room to learn Bellies & Babies while I took on a combination class on “Employees- Can’t live without them” and “Ring a Ding, Don’t be a Ding a Ling on the Phone” . Out of those two speakers I like the second one better. The first speaker talked about what are some good questions to have for the interview, having benefits ensures you might keep them around longer, working with incentives rather than just an hourly wage. But the second speaker, Angela Carson, was really good and seeing how the best tool we have as photographers is the phone this was pretty beneficial. Like when someone calls you should stop what you are doing and smile, it puts you in the right mood to chat. You shouldn’t just ramble on about yourself; listen to what the customer wants. Asking leading questions and before asking a question you should say, “May I ask you a question”…. Don’t know why that is but it makes sense. All in all found it to be really educational.
I hit the imaging expo between 12 – 5pm and my head felt like it was about to come off. There was some much stuff there; every software that I’ve ever seen in a magazine was there, Graphic Authority, On 1, Kubota, and even some I hadn’t seen before. Nikon was there with all kinds of lens and cameras, and so was Canon but I stayed away not to be swayed to the dark side. I think every speaker I saw today was a Canon shooter. All manner of printers and album companies, the place was awesome. Anyway too much stuff not enough money, sad to say.
Last speaker of the day was Julia Woods on Profitable Portraits, very inspiring and a real eye opener. She talked about low volume, high priced sales and selling some really impressive wall mounts. If you can imagine a wall mount showcasing some 6 images hanging over your couch for about $4000 - $5000 just for the one piece. She talked about how you chat with clients, discussing with them what they want, and what you can do to make it happen. To plant the seed of an awesome wall mount hanging over their bed or couch, setting up to do the photo shoot. Discussing the price toward the end of the private session because she said herself, most clients get the urge to throw up when they see the price. But after they go home and think about it, giving them some two weeks to think about it, they tend come around and drop anywhere between $2000 - $8000 on her work.
Last speaker of the day was Julia Woods on Profitable Portraits, very inspiring and a real eye opener. She talked about low volume, high priced sales and selling some really impressive wall mounts. If you can imagine a wall mount showcasing some 6 images hanging over your couch for about $4000 - $5000 just for the one piece. She talked about how you chat with clients, discussing with them what they want, and what you can do to make it happen. To plant the seed of an awesome wall mount hanging over their bed or couch, setting up to do the photo shoot. Discussing the price toward the end of the private session because she said herself, most clients get the urge to throw up when they see the price. But after they go home and think about it, giving them some two weeks to think about it, they tend come around and drop anywhere between $2000 - $8000 on her work.
Well its time for bed as we have to get up again at 5am. Tomorrow will be a challenge as there will be multiple classes I’d like to go to but can only choose one at a particular time frame. And we also get to see Anne Geddes tomorrow night, the line just to get tickets was wrapped all around the main lobby, as you can imagine Super long. I had to set out of the Hanson Fong class to use the bathroom and I was able to pick up our tickets with no line, thank goodness.
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