Sunday, March 4: I’m on my way to WPPI, heading to the premier conference for portrait and wedding photographers and videographers —a conference with twice as many attendees as there are people in the town I grew up in, and I’d be fibbing if I said I wasn’t just a little bit nervous. So here it is, my account of my WPPI experience, Day One.
After really going through the various schedules and whittling down my choices to a select few nearly-possible-to-do-them-all options, I’ve concluded that this trip is going to be a whirl.
My WPPI experience will include my list of must-attend events— the show floor, the Rangefinder Rising Stars photography exhibit, the shooting bays, the live podcast broadcasts, and yes, the parties!
I have my hope-to-attend events—at least one photo walk, lots of seminars, and many Rangefinder Talks on the WPPI stage.
And I have some question marks, including, What is happening on the Fuijifilm Cloud Stage, when, and how do I find out?
If Luck is a lady for me tonight in Vegas, I’ll sail into the Mirage without a hitch and have time to freshen up before popping into the Welcome Reception to start meeting some of the inspiring attendees from around the country and world, and I’ll make it to the Staff Dinner to meet all the awesome people putting this show on.
Oh, Luck, be a lady tonight! My WPPI experience has begun!
UPDATE: Lady Luck is good to me! I made it to the Welcome Reception and now it’s time to fill up my plate at the Staff Dinner. Boy, am I hungry after a full day of travel. Bon appetit!
UPDATE 2: I got to chat with Angie Whitten, who is an accountability coach with The Portrait System‘s “On the Hook with Kevin and Angie” program and is keeping the WPPI Instagram account hot with updates from the show. She has been talking with a lot of WPPI attendees and says they are really excited about the show floor, which opens Tuesday, March 7. They’re looking forward to trying out different products and getting hands-on education in The Portraits System shooting bays. Says Whitten: “There’s a crackling anticipation about what’s going to happen. We know it’s going to be an amazing week. We just don’t know how it’s going to unfold. If you fast forward to Friday, we’re going to have stories…that will be core memories in a decade…it’ll be like, that was epic!’”
Abbey Pleviak is based in Venice, FL, and writes for The Portrait System, The Portrait Masters, and Rangefinder Magazine. She has a passion for storytelling through indie filmmaking & theater and loves shooting on Super 16mm film for its vibrant, natural beauty.
This content was originally published here.