Since Sunday afternoon, I was in Richmond, BC at the lovely River Rock Hotel and Casino for an awesome Photography Convention called Image Quest. Image Quest is put together by the PPABC. They bring in amazing speakers to teach, share, and inspire other photographers. Several amazing photographers from the OC that I REALLY admire and look up, to such as Dane Sanders, and the lovely Jasmine Star were there too! It was great to have them here in Vancouver! Locally we had the opportunity to listen to Miranda and Reilly of Blue Olive Photography speak upon a very important subject, social media and the impact it has on us photographers. Great information on using social media such as Facebook, twitter and others. I found the info presented all around to be just what I needed to hear, and took away so much information that my head was hurting yesterday! (Thank you Andrea for the Motrin!)

Another bonus of hanging out at a photography conference is having the opportunity to connect with other photographers that I communicate with daily! However, never having met formally! So, Image Quest helped me to connect and meet IRL (in real life) with many twitter and Facebook friends! BONUS! I loved meeting you ALL!

I also made sure that when I went to the conference, that I would be sure to step outside of my comfort zone, and meet other photographers which I did not know at all. I wanted to make a connection with atleast one other person I had never met before, so I met several other photogs. this way too. I also enjoyed the taps on the shoulders and being recognized as a twitter or facebook friend. That is the power of social media right there! Amazing.

I got home late last night, kissed the six sleepy heads in their beds sawing logs. I actually kissed all of their heads twice. I was hoping they would wake so I could tell them that I loved them. However, I just had to whisper that in each of their ears. Then,  my husband Cliff and I sat down with a decaf (I had picked up from Tim’s) and had a slice of brownie that he made for us. We talked all about the conference, and the exciting impact it had on my life, and on my photography business. It was very exciting! Made me feel not so sad about missing WPPI in Las Vegas earlier this month!

I had troubles falling asleep and stayed up until 3 a.m. reading through my notes, and implementing information I learned in the last three days! Whew!

Today, I am super happy that I had the opportunity to get out there, and I am especially thankful to my awesome husband Cliff who took care of our six kids while I was away. It was a nice treat to get away by myself for two nights, and I have to say a special thank you to Laura Hana for welcoming me into her home for two nights. A huge highlight of the conference was getting to know Laura, and Sherry Lu, who also stayed at Laura’s home.  I had so much fun!

So, what I learned is this. If you are not on Facebook, or on twitter and you are a photographer! I think you are missing out! It is the new way to connect with an amazing group of peers. And hey, even if you are not a photographer do it too! You just never know what opportunites are out there.

I am thankful for the opportunity to learn, and to grow. And, make new friends!

Cheers!

Cathy xo

P.S. I have one photo of Jasmine Star and myself on my iPhone, however not a lot of time to get it off the phone. So, I leave you with a link to her blogpost on Vancouver! She had a good evening in Vancouver! I hope you come back Jasmine and JD. It was awesome to meet you both! #truff

P.P.S. Boudoir session on the blog next!