It was a blustery Saturday for the trip into Las Vegas for WPPI. I heard many a tale of diverted and delayed flights and very bumpy landings! My flight had an unsuccessful attempt at landing in Vegas before being diverted to Los Angeles. While sitting on the tarmac, I decided to rent a car and drive to Vegas. WPPI is about choosing your own adventure from a myriad of possibilities, and it just felt right to make a bold decision, you know? And what a great way to start my WPPI Diary!

For anyone considering the drive, I can tell you confidently that it’s a smooth and easy ride! And there is nothing quite like rolling into the bright flashing lights of Las Vegas while listening to local DJs pumping dance music. (For those who enjoy dance music, check out DJ Pandafunk! So fun!) 

Day One: The WPPI Adventure Continues on The Portrait Masters Stage 

WPPI kicked off today with The Portrait Masters Conference, happening alongside WPPI in Las Vegas for the first time. For me, this was the perfect way to begin. It felt like home room meets family reunion meets high-level motivational download of invaluable information.  

I started my day with Jeremy Cowart’s talk: A Futuristic Approach to Portraiture with No AI. Cowart is up to some interesting stuff. He’s working with a computer whiz who created generative code that edits a batch of images with different filters applied to each one all in a matter of seconds. In the following second, it generates a gallery and sends it to the clients. It’s a remarkable way to streamline editing and sales. To share the wealth, Jeremy is starting something he’s calling Free Photographers, that will help photographers free up time while making more money. If you’re interested DM him.  

Following the theme of adventure, Cowart reminds photographers, “We are discoverers” and invited the audience to expand their minds about what is possible in their workflow. He says, “Sometimes we need to see a magic trick – something we’ve never seen before – just to get our wheels spinning.” The wheels were spinning in everyone’s minds this morning as they considered how technology truly can be harnessed for more profit and more free time. 

Next, Sue Bryce took the stage to encourage photographers to step into their confidence and truly embody the photographers and successful entrepreneurs they wish to become. She laid out ten steps for confidence building that can be manifested in the eight pillars of a successful photography studio: 

1. Brand — Encompasses who you are, what you do, and why you do it. 

2. Product – How we deliver on our brands with saleable items. 

3. Money – The root of exchange. In order to make money, we have to come to terms with our issues around accepting it. 

4. Business – This takes money to the realm of equal exchange and profitability. 

5. Service and Experience – Working out how shoots look and how they feel. 

6. Systems – Creating systems creates the momentum that keeps money flowing through your studio. 

7. Marketing – An area with many subcategories. This is a major part of running a business. 

8. You – If everything else is in place, but the money isn’t flowing, it’s you who is the problem that needs to be fixed. 

Bryce encourages everyone to consider stepping into that challenging adventure of identifying how our most confident self would manifest and creating that brand now. Bryce says that it’s perfectly natural to experience imposter syndrome when stepping into a new role. She says, “The one thing that fixes imposter syndrome is mastery,” so the pathway to overcome imposter syndrome is to master your craft and your business abilities. 

Welcome to The Playground 

After lunch, The Portrait Masters Conference Group reconvened in the all-new Playground, which is a hall of shooting bays with select vendor booths. I found the Playground to be extremely pleasant to be in. It was arranged spaciously with plenty of room for photographers to queue up at each of the booths and still get around each other. I hope it will remain a fixture in TPM’s to come! 

For those who did not purchase TPM tickets, you can still experience a WPPI adventure in The Playground by getting tickets to The Wedding Masters Summit, The Lighting Masters Summit, or select Photo Walks. All three groups will have access to shooting bays in The Playground. 

Icon Awards Judging Room 

I also visited the Icon Awards Judging Room which was happening at the same time at The Portrait Masters Conference and is open to everyone who has a Show Floor Pass. The judges sat in a semi-circle the front of the hushed room as one by one the print images were brought to a lit podium before them. They took turns sharing their feedback on all the stunning images which were projected on a big screen for the room to view. Afterward, volunteers placed them in the Icon Gallery on the Show Floor.  

It’s worth noting that this year for the first time, select images in the Icon Gallery will be marked with a blue dot. These images have behind the scenes video available to watch online. Directions for how to do so will be displayed at the Icon Booth. 

Icon Awards Co-Director Melissa Ghionis became emotional near the end of the judging session, thanking everyone who has offered their time and energy and take on personal expense in order to keep this valuable community sustaining awards program running.  

Icon Awards are in their inaugural year after taking over after the WPPI Print Competition closed. May it last into perpetuity! 

Parties Tonight 

The first night of WPPI will be festive indeed and include more “Choose Your Own Adventure” with three parties and an after-hours party. First, The Portrait Masters Awards & Accreditation will celebrate — in Vegas Glam attire — the top placing images of the most recent round of competition, which was just announced last week. You can view the Winner’s Gallery here. 

This will be followed by The Silent Disco Party, which is such a great setting to dance to the music channel of your choice, or remove your headphones to chat in quiet setting with fellow photographers. 

At the same time, WPPI’s Welcome Reception will kick off in the Grand Ballroom. 

For those who want even more party, tonight’s after party will be at the Marquee Nightclub. 

I’m hoping to catch a couple z’s before party hopping tonight! I haven’t had much sleep the last two nights, but even if I don’t manage to snooze, you’ll see me out there for sure. There’s a great old saying that certainly applies in this curcumstancce, “I’ll sleep when I’m dead!” 

Tune into my WPPI Diary this week to find out how my WPPI adventure continues!

[Read: It’s Time! Get Ready for WPPI!]