Sometimes you happen to meet a group of people who are so kind, supportive, and talented, you feel like you've met your newest old friends. That's how I felt when I attended the Inspire Boston photography conference last year, and why I just returned again. As a portrait and commercial photographer, I am definitely the minority there (most are wedding photogs), but I learned so much and met so many talented people, that I was very excited to come back. And I'm so glad I did - though sadly I lost my voice and alternated between foghorn blow, torch singer rasp, whisper, and honk. It was awesome - and by awesome, I mean either A. not awesome or B. entertaining. I never knew what was going to come out next. There were two courses that I particularly enjoyed - Carrie Draghi's off-camera lighting class, and Jane Shauck's commercial photography lecture.
This image of Patrick Rogers was taken in Carrie's class using a cross-lighting technique to highlight his beard. I love playing with light and the minute I saw Patrick I knew I could do something fun! He is a real teddy bear, that guy, and his beard is definitely eye-catching.
Jane's talk, accompanied by some endearing banter with her husband, Mike, was worth my entire admission, it was so helpful. Jane is an elegant woman who balances two different photography businesses, and works primarily out of Connecticut and New York. Jane and Mike also used to live one street over from me in Arlington, MA! Small world. Now they're in CT and I wish they still lived in A-town so I could pick their brains on a regular basis. I really enjoyed watching the ebb and flow of their interaction - I wonder if I can convince Jer to shoot along with me in the future? Hmmm...
One of the best things about the conference was just hanging out with fellow photo geeks, and exchanging headshots with each other - tables turned with who is in front | behind the lens! Jocelyn Mathewes, pictured here, is the lovely type of talented quirky soul Zooey Deschanel could only aspire to be (I may be biased). I also enjoyed working with Brian Friedman, a wonderful photographer who is based out of NYC.
I was also very flattered have placed in the Inspire Photo Competition for the portrait that first comes up on my website. Many thanks to Matt and Enna Grazier for organizing this wonderful conference!