Spring Fun Roundup Part 1 | Chapel Hill Photographer

So it occurred to me this morning that I hadn't yet posted about some of the exciting things that have happened for Megapixie in the first few months of 2012. If you follow me on Facebook, I apologize for the recap, but I wanted to put them here, too, just in case anyone missed them :D First up, my Photographer's Ignite talk at the WPPI convention in Las Vegas. A quick bit of background: WPPI is short for Wedding and Portrait Photographers International, and the convention they host in Vegas every year is ENORMOUS... 16K+ photographers all in one place for a week-long party conference, including a huge trade show and dozens of workshops, speakers, and events. This year was the first time I made the trip, and my two objectives while there were to A: learn stuff and B: meet people. Seems simple, right? But I know how easy it is to get lost in a crowd of that size, so I wanted to figure out a way to make an impact and make some new friends along the way. One rather hare-brained idea I came up with was to apply for a spot speaking at Photographers Ignite, which is the big opening-night show. The basic concept is that there are fifteen speakers who each speak for five minutes on some topic related to photography. Since it's only five minutes, it has to be a pretty concise message, and it's a little tricky to fit a coherent, complete talk into such a short period of time. Making it even more challenging is the fact that you have a series of 20 slides running behind you that are timed at 15 seconds apiece, and advance whether or not you're running on time. Oh, and there are no cue cards or teleprompters... yep: memorized. Anyway, I applied with no expectation that I'd get a spot - most of the speakers are internationally-known photographers and speakers - but lo and behold, I did... and here's the evidence to prove  it:

Not TOO bad, eh? Given how nervous it made me to get up in front of a crowd of 3000+, I'd say the fact that I finished in one piece was an accomplishment in itself!

These next two images were from my super-awesome roommate and partner in crime, Victoria de Martigny of Creative Perspectives in Montreal... first, me up on stage, slideshow running:

...then after the fact with Kevin Kubota, seriously the nicest, goofiest guy in the business... can you tell how relieved I was to be done?

Thanks, Victoria!

Now although that by itself was plenty of excitement, there's more to this story... but that's probably enough procrastination for today ;) Check back in tomorrow for part two!

xox,

annemie