Lots of new ideas for ‘08 at the Wedding Photographers’ convention

Posted by Chris Mann Posted in General, News |

We’re always on the lookout for new tips and techniques to help us take better and more creative photographs, so earlier this month I went to Tampa in Florida to attend the annual convention of the Digital Wedding Forum.

The DWF is a worldwide association of photographers who specialize in weddings and portraits, and most of our industry’s top practitioners - including 9 out of 10 of the world’s top ten wedding photographers - are members. So I was keen to hear from some of the “best of the best” what’s new in wedding and portrait photography.

The Convention spanned four days - and included seminars, workshops, photo-shoots, and impromptu masterclasses, in and around the Grand Hyatt in Tampa Bay.

One of the highlights was the so-called “Wedding from Hell” - in which photographers acted out parts in a dramatized wedding, while four top wedding photographers showed us how they would cope with some of the things that can and do go wrong - from a crisis with the bride’s dress to misbehaving groomsmen! I was co-opted to play the part of the father of the groom - it was great fun - and also very informative to see how some top pros handled the sort of drama that can crop up from time to time…

Here’s the “bride” (Bridget Traynor) and her “father” (Ray Prevost) walking up the aisle at the “Wedding from Hell”. The “congregation” here is probably the biggest collection of wedding photographers ever gathered in one place!

Here’s a glimpse of the chaos - as Jen Bebb (right, with microphone) tries to explain how she would keep the wedding moving along smoothly, the errant “wedding co-ordinator” (foreground), played with comic brilliance by Jesus Tirso in a very eye-catching shirt, wanders around taking snaps with his “point-and-shoot”… That’s me just behind Jesus’s head getting in the way and snapping away with my point-and-shoot as well!

Back indoors, Australian master photographer Jerry Ghionis showed us how to use any available light (even a video light shone through a glass vase!) to create interesting and different portraits:

The Convention was also an opportunity to meet and chat with fellow photographers from all over the world: ((below, L-R) Ray Prevost (Modesto CA), Melissa Tirado (Boston MA) and Jerry Ghionis (Melbourne, Australia)

In fact Australians were well represented as speakers at the convention: here are two more - Yervant (left) chats with Tony Hewitt:

Even after the official seminars were over, the delegates and speakers kept talking and sharing ideas late into the night - the Hyatt bar even gave us a special late extension! Here’s Tony Hewitt in the bar, standing on a chair demonstrating a portrait technique - at two o’clock in the morning!!

It was a very informative gathering - there was a great variety of seminar topics - but the consistent theme was the need to make real personal connections with our clients - to truly understand their needs - many of the speakers emphasised this aspect as the key to taking better and more meaningful photographs.

…oh and we had a few drinks and a lot of fun too!