Pittsburgh Wedding Photographers at the 2010 PDN PhotoPlus in NYC

This past week, I spent time in NYC for the PDN PhotoPlus event. It is the first major photography conference I’ve attended and I came away from it with a lot of inspiration for my Pittsburgh wedding photography business and I’m so grateful for an awesome experience. My family was a little bit leery about me going on this trip alone (because of my child-like tendency to often get lost in the moment), but I survived! And for anyone who is thinking about going to NYC, but is hesitant about reports of bed bugs, I stayed in a hostel and it was bed-bug-free and very tidy, I might add.

Anyway, back to the conference. This is a great conference and it’s easily accessible if you happen to be living in the North East. As a wedding photographer, I have given a lot of thought to which conference I’d try first and I have to say, I have no regrets. I took the Megabus (which is awesome) from Pittsburgh and was within walking distance of everything. On top of that, I made some friends and learned a lot. So for other photographers out there who might be considering a conference next year, I give this one a thumbs up! Here’s the Javits Center where it takes place:

My favorite speaker? Joe McNally. I’ve read his book Hot Shoe Diaries and knew he would give a great seminar. Now I have tons of notes for new things I’d like to try—too bad the wedding season is winding down. I may need to schedule some test shoots if there are any past clients out there who would like to have some fun and let me experiment a little. Just let me know if you’re interested.

Plus, Joe is a Nikon shooter. So we speak the same language. Speaking of, this photo below will make my affinity for Nikon clear.

These photos were taken with my Blackberry. I’m letting my hair down a bit by posting these photos because I’m still buzzed about this conference. In fact, once I get my iphone, I’ll be sharing a lot more photos like this where I’m not so fussy about presenting only my best work. I plan to open up a bit more in my posts and I hope that will bring about more interaction with readers. So family, friends, clients and fellow photographers, let me know what you think when you get a chance. I’d love to hear from you!

I also loved Jasmine Star. She is so inspiring and likable. And after her seminar, I know just what I need to do to spruce up my marketing. After hearing Joe and Jasmine in the first day, my head was spinning!

And then there was the expo—I came home with a ton of catalogs and brochures. And I still want what I’ve wanted more of all along: more light modifiers. The “need” for new gear in this business is unending and I’m glad my husband is pretty easy-going when he sees new packages on our front porch. Anyway, here are a few things on my wish list:

And lastly, here’s a guy who has no fear – zooming by on a scooter with no helmet in traffic on West 34th Street. Crazy! I <3 New York.