Jerry Ghionis/Bambi Cantrell Seminar

Today I attended a wonderful seminar put on by two of the worlds Top 10 Wedding Photographers, Jerry Ghionis and Bambi Cantrell. It was a really, really great workshop that touched on almost all issues that affect wedding photographers, including:

• Photographers are business people first, and have to have business skills to survive this industry. It's wonderful to wear your artistic hat and take great photos, but if you cannot effectively run a business, you will not survive. The both pointed out how photography is one of those rare industries where the business owner feels the need to wear and manage all hats, including: photographer, designer, marketer, color editor, sales person, accountant, receptionist, cleaner, personal assistant and more -- and how this eventually burns us out completely. Isn't this relatable photographers?? We don't like giving up creative control at all, but we must if we are to achieve any sense of balance whatsoever.

• Establish an impressive brand if you want to stand out and rise above the competition - and they shared tips on how they have both accomplished this.

• Jerry spoke in great length about training your eye to make the absolute ordinary extraordinary. It was pretty impressive to witness his abilities of walking into a very mundane, or even overly messy house, and see the portraits that he creates out of nothingness. Its wonderful to see this type of work, because I have always felt the backdrop matters very little compared to subject you are capturing, and he raises this concept to a whole new level for me. His work is so inspiring.

They also both spoke in great length about advertising, marketing, creating assignments for your self at every wedding, posing techniques, album design, outsourcing, lighting techniques and so much more.

All in all, I walked away inspired and with some very tangible techniques that I think will help me to continue to evolve in my craft. Plus I got to spend time with my photog buds Kim and Melissa, who are both always wonderful to hang with. Since I didnt bring a camera with me today, they will have pictures from our day on their blogs.