A couple of weeks ago, I attended a photography conference in Santa Barbara called UNITED. It is a photography conference for a fantastic group of people who come together from all over the place to share ideas, listen to photographers speak, teach, learn, and get fired up for the upcoming wedding season. I drove down from Sacramento to Santa Barbara with a fellow photographer friend of mine,
Kim. It was both of our first time attending this conference and for me, a first time attending a photography conference in general! I didnt know what to expect. Kim and I left Sacramento eager to learn, grow, and make new friends.
The conference was held right on the beach so naturally, Kim and I had a little photoshoot. Here’s some I grabbed of her..
Then she turned the camera on me…
On one of the days during the conference, food trucks came out near the beach to feed us. Most of the photographers attending sat on the lawn near the beach and ate their lunch. I joined a group of awesome photographers and we talked about life, business, and anything else that came to mind. One of the photographers that I had lunch with was Jodi Anne. She and her hubby were in from Las Vegas and I was so excited when we got to take some “Baywatch” photos! Well, that’s what we called it. 😉
Meet my roommate for the conference: Mark Potter. Originally from Perth, Australia, Mark is a wedding photographer who now resides in North Carolina. I had never met Mark prior to the conference but I can say with confidence that I’ve gained a lifetime friend in him.
Kim and I also took my roommate and her roommate Ashley to their first ever In-N-Out experience! The HATS!
We also hit up a little photo booth action…
The biggest thing that I wanted to take away from this photography conference was re-assurance that this is what I was destined to do. Being around amazingly talented photographers who share the same passion and their willingness to give back to the photo community did exactly that. I heard amazing and talented photographers speak, made new friends, and gained knowledge that I cannot wait to implement into my business this year. In my opinion, an extremely successful trip!
Here we all are…
One of the people I was most excited to see was my good friend
Melissa. I haven’t seen her in a year but it seems like only a day has passed. She’s an amazing wedding photographer up in the Seattle area and I couldn’t resist this collage of selfies with her…
Out on a run one day, I caught Melissa and
Rachael taking photos of each other. See!!! Kim and I aren’t the only ones.
I also saw another beautiful photog friend of mine,
Heather (left) who is also located in Seattle. And I finally got to meet the insanely talented
Ashley Fisher. She’s expecting her first baby!
SO much happened over the course of this 4 day conference it’s hard to fit it all into one blog post! This is merely the small amount of photos I took from my phone and camera. Next year, more selfies need to happen. Thank you to all of you who made this such an incredible experience. I can’t wait to come back!
See you next February, friends!
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