I attended the WPPI conference in Las Vegas for the first time and it was an awesome experience. The Wedding and Portrait Photographer International Conference is held annually in Las Vegas and this year it had about 14,000 attendees from all over the world. It’s a chance for photographers to gather for networking, socializing, seminars, and attend the trade show for the latest and greatest in photography. I think the best part of the conference is listening to photographers speak about something they passionly love to do and to share their experiences with everyone else.

I wish I could have attended every possible seminar as I enjoyed most of the ones I attended. My favorite seminar was definitely by Jesh De Rox titled “Beloved”. He shared with everyone how in his “beloved” photo sessions, he is able to make couples fall in love again. It was very touching how he is able to make couples feel and how he can connect with the couple for them to show their emotions and for Jesh to be able to capture those emotions onto his images. The seminar ran over time but everyone in the crowded room stayed to listen to him finish. Jesh also killed it when he brought out his guitar and sang along to the ending slideshow. At the conclusion, he got a well deserved standing ovation as he brought everyone in the crowd to tears. I was so moved by his presentation and never expected that a photography seminar could be so emotional and get me to cry, that it was pretty amazing. I cant wait to try some of his “Beloved sessions” tips and tricks. Some other highlights for me were from Jonathan Canlas, Jerry Ghionis, and waiting over an hour to listen to Jasmine Star‘s seminar!

It was nice to see a lot of familar faces as well as meet new ones. It was great to share some meals with the group from the Fred Miranda Forum that included Ed Pingol, Sam Hassas, Maurice Ramirez, Jason Q. Tran and more, sit in a intimate Q&A session with Stephanie Fay, and listen to some super talented photographers both in the seminars as well as at the trade show booths. I am truly inspired and motivated by attending this conference and can’t wait to go back next year!