The WPPI Experience

After an amazing week in Vegas hanging out with some really great folks, sleeping hardly at all, and surprisingly not gambling too much, I've returned home, shot a wedding and now....crashed. I'm super beat today. This post will be a little lengthy since I wasn't able to update the blog much this week and a lot has happened. Honestly, the days kinda blend together a bit....and sadly, my camera's date was off so now I really don't know when stuff happened. I'll probably have to split the whole "WPPI Experience" into several posts: some about friends, new and old; some about some cool new products I saw; and some about just the many happenings at the show...so keep checking back! So here goes....

DAY ONE: Saturday, March 24th

I arrived a day before most of the crowd I know, so I took it kinda easy that night and was back to the hotel by midnight. I did take a brief stroll on the strip and didn't remember it being as trashy and crowded.... but it has been a few years since I've been there.


Although it's still a really cool place....


DAY TWO: Sunday, March 25th

The WPPI conference was held at Bally's and Paris:



Once we (and by we, I mean a bunch of people that fluctuated from time to time, mostly the gang from the recent Mike Colon workshop) got signed in, we started making plans for the evening. I think we started out at the OSP party at Paris. Here I am with my dear friend Amber Holritz.


DAY THREE (I think): Monday, March 26th

Here's a shot of Jessica working hard selling her cool new product: the Shootsac.


In Jessica's booth also sat a cool gadget: the Simple Photo Booth....check it out: I'm on the home page! Here's a sample shot:


Also be sure to watch the fun video on Becker's blog here...I'm in it too with my friend Andy.

I heard Liana Lehman speak in the morning...good, but she needed a spotlight on her. She had a standing room only crowd.


That night after dinner we headed over to the Palms to the Kingpin Suite for a party. Here's Tiffany giving the thumbs up.


Brittany Hanson stocking up for later:


Tom Flint livin' it up:


Mike knocking down some pins:


Two of Mike's interns, Roseanna and Brittany:


Kenny Kim (Kenny, I still want a t-shirt):


Danny Wayne and Andy:


A couple more of Roseanna:




I arm-wrestled Shyla....and lost:




One of me that Brittany took (look at that form!):


And one more of Brittany:


DAY FOUR (Has it been four days?): Tuesday, March 27th

Tuesday got rollin' with a huge margarita amongst friends: Tom Flint, Blake Schwendimann, Danny, Michael Norwood, Tiffany, and dear, sweet people, Jennifer and Brandon Manuele.




Then we walked around the trade show for a little while and hung out with some folks at the Pictage booth.


Me Ra and me:


Hanging out with Dane Sanders, my friend David Burke, Kenny Kim, and a bunch of others that gathered around:


Later, we headed over to the Pictage party at Paris:


Me, David Burke, Michael Norwood (are you blinking or do you need to lay off the sauce?), Danny, and Bibiana from Pictage:


My friend Nathan:


Shoes...mine and Shannon Hodson's:


David Jay and I made an Amber sandwich:


My new friends, Jaysun and Jos:


As the night progresed, the lack of sleep, combined with a little alcohol made things a little tougher to recall. Here I am with a cool guy named Mark (anyone know his last name?..UPDATE: I found his card. He's Mark Lenoce), and two lovely ladies (are they photographers?):


Brittany again and Priscilla O'Sullivan:


We had a quiet dinner with just a few folks (was this the night?). Here are my friends Mike and Amber making eyes at each other:


Amber, DJ, and Amy:


Afterwards, we met up with some of the Pictage crowd at Studio 54 in the MGM.


Frederick Johnson and David Burke:


Looks like someone else had my camera for a while (is that Sara France peeking over Frederick's shoulder?):


Looks like we were proud of our VIP stamps:


At this point, my memory started getting worse that it usually is. The last one in this series was taken at 6:08am (was my camera set still on Eastern? maybe it was only 3:08). Please help me out a bit with some of these names and I'll fill in the blanks:

Me, Michelle Walker, and David Luebke:


Me, some great guy in a cool shirt, Sara France, and Frederick Johnson:


Sara France and another classy lady:


DAY FIVE (although they're all running together now): Wednesday, March 28th

I started out the day giving a little support and going to see my buddy Mike speak at the Lexar booth:


Me and Ray Santana (Uncle Ray):



We hung around the trade show some more in the afternoon, then headed over to the Platinum Hotel to see Mike Larson (check out his link to see a couple more pics) and Brittany Hanson do their lighting/bonce demonstration. I only had my little point-and-shoot, but I had a great time anyway:














Wednesday also happened to be the brithdays of two of my lovely lady friends: Amber Holritz and Jenn Manuele (both turned 21 or 22, I think). I had a nice little lunch with Nathan and Amber, Kevin Myers, Kevin Swan, Amy, another young lady whose name escapes me right now, but whose green eyes were absolutely amazing (wait, Janey sounds right...hope so), and a few other people. Sadly, I didn't get any shots, but Jeff Jochum led us off in Happy Birthday. Later that night, a bunch of us met up at Caesar's for Jenn's birthday. Mike Colon called me and came by for a minute, but his intern could not get in, so the respectable guy that he is, didn't leave her hanging. Mike Larson and his beautiful wife, Jenn Manuele, and Tiffany Aicklen:


Chimping, drinking, and dancing:








Jos is groovin':




A round of drinks:


Did a professional photographer take this one?


Oh, and for those of you that witnessed my thinking it would be a good idea to jump down some steps for fun: the bruise on my back looks like I was beaten with a bag a hammers after a rugby game.

LA make-up artist Brooklin Rogers lookin hot and pouty:


Jenn and Brandon get serious (it's ok, they're married):


Craig and his beautiful wife, April get serenaded:




Brooklin again:


I don't think I took this one. Anybody know her?
I didn;

I didn't take this one of Jaysun either...I think it's a self-portrait:


Andy couldn't quite make to 6am this time:


In retrospect, this group of images barley skims the surface of the trip. There were so many moments that I wish I captured. And so many new friends and faces that I wish I could have posted here!!

On DAY SEVENTY THREE (aka DAY 6), I said a few goodbyes and wished that I'd had a chance to say a few more. I took a late night flight back to NC. I met Chuck Eaton in the airport...nice guy. I managed to make it all day Friday helping my wife move out of her Antique mall space (she just doesn't time for it anymore) but moving was not something my body was ready for. And of course, I shot a nice long wedding on Saturday, but that went very, very well...awesome couple!