Thank you so much for all your love and sweet comments regarding my family’s time of loss right now.  I appreciate it more than words could express.  The status has changed now.  The nurse says that since he’s so young, he may hang on to life a few more weeks.  I hope it will be sooner rather than later… just so hard to see him in this state and wishing him to be free of his broken body and be at peace.

Meanwhile, I thought it might be good to write my post about Photocamp Utah 2010 today.  It was an amazing event.  I’m still in awe at it, actually.  I’ve participated in a lot of conferences and events and this was unlike any I’ve ever seen.

The top priority of the photographers who put this together was for the attendees to fully enjoy their experience.  So much work and preparation was done (by a volunteer army) to make sure that all 300 attendees could breeze through registration as quickly as possible (fastest registration I’ve ever seen for that kind of crowd – included giving every attendee a sponsor-filled goodie bag, their name badge and a shirt to those who ordered one).  Also, volunteers helped make lunch fast and easy, too, assisting attendees in obtaining their box lunches in record time (especially amazing since there were 5-6 different lunch options, including options within those options like wheat/white bread and drink choice).

Some fab photogs enjoying their lunch break (photo by Rich Legg)

Aside from that, as a speaker, I couldn’t have been more well-taken care of.  Every possible need was accounted for.  In a random turn of events, on my way out the door that morning, I slipped on ice and fell down our front 6 stairs, landing flat on my back (scary thing, especially when pregnant).  Luckily, I was fine – got bruised and banged up pretty good, though – but sadly, when I pulled out my laptop to make sure my presentation was working prior to my class, the screen had gone abnormally dark.  Upon further examination, I found a big crack in back of my laptop.  Thank heavens for the wonderful Photocamp support, especially Jeremy Hall, who made it a priority to make sure my presentation would still work connected to my laptop and the projector, while also helped me make a backup copy on another volunteer’s Mac in case mine didn’t work.  Luckily, everything ended up working just fine, but it was a HUGE relief to not worry about my broken Mac messing up my presentation.

Teaching my Food Photography Class – the class went really well!  All the seats were full, leaving people sitting on the floor or wherever they could; was really fun to have a room full of people excited and interested in food photography.  Thanks to Dough Girl for bringing cookies to my class! (image taken by Nicole Young/@nicolesy)

I thoroughly enjoyed both keynote speakers.  I loved this quote that the morning keynote, Bruce Hucko, shared with us: “Making photographs.. is a way of shouting, or freeing oneself, not of proving or asserting one’s own originality.  It is a way of life,” Henri Cartier-Bresson. Bruce spoke about how photography is about awakening yourself to the world around you, showing intimate appreciation.  He talked about how “seeing means using your senses; it means encountering subject with your whole being.” He said that we are what we see and that because of this, every photo we take is, in essence, a self-portrait.  Bruce was brilliant, soulful and inspiring to listen to.

One of my favorite Bruce Hucko photographs, entitled “The Weaving Lesson”

I attended Todd Keith and Renee Lee’s (BellaOra Studio) of  “Take Hotshots, not Snapshots” class and was blown away by how succinctly they were able to define photography.  They are extremely talented photographers and have a really fun, unique style.  Some favorite bits of wisdom from their class: goal of an image is to create an emotion within the viewer (for food photography, this is hunger, generally); if it’s not adding to the photograph, it’s taking away from the photograph; focal points on the right side of the rule of thirds are usually more powerful; the tripod is a LIGHTING tool; editing is what shows each photographers personality – part of your photography style; and don’t get comfortable in your photography, constantly pushing yourself to the next level.

One of my favorite BellaOra Studio shots – aren’t they amazing photogs?!

But the highlight of the entire day was hearing Zack Arias speak as the final keynote.  This guy is the real deal.  I was blown away to hear his story.  Listening to him speak was life-changing, especially in regards to my pursuit of professional photography.  He opened his presentation by quoting that “photography calls many, but chooses few.”  He said that he has definitely “heard the call” to be a photography, but many times has felt that he is not “chosen.”  So how does he succeed?  He works hard and puts his family first, no matter what.

Keynote speaker, Zack Arias, at Photocamp Utah 2010 (photo taken by Nicole Young)

Zack Arias is a music photographer, shooting bands and editorial music work.  He posed the question, “who of you would ever choose to photograph bands?”  I don’t think there were hardly any in the audience who raised their hands, to which he said, “yeah, cuz you think there’s no money in it, right?”  We all laughed, agreeing.  Then he blew our minds by talking about how he thought so too but then one night when he was scouting out bands to shoot he started to notice the band’s equipment.  He learned that bands are broke because they spend all their money on their music (buying expensive instruments, amps, etc.) and that they didn’t value their photography in the same light as their music.  So, he took on the task of teaching the bands in his area that having an awesome band shot would give the band greater success as they pursued their musical careers, especially showing people that they were really serious about their music.  This concept is completely brilliant.  How often do we all choose what our dream would be, decide there’s no money in it and give it up?  I loved his take on this; has left me rethinking my strategies and aspirations as a food photographer.

One of my favorite images by Zack Arias

In Zack’s studio he has a cover of the Rolling Stones hanging up with the words “the goal” overhead.  He treats every photoshoot, no matter how big or small, as if he’s shooting his “goal” photoshoot for Rolling Stones.  Because of this, his clients get stellar results and they have become his advocates, spreading the word about how powerful his photography is.  I loved this perspective.

Images by Zack Arias – shown in his Photocamp presentation, talking about finding unexpected scenes and lighting for his images; also used these as an example to show your clients your images during the shoot so they trust you throughout the shoot as a good photographer, rather than just “good at photoshop” if they don’t see the images until after the shoot (both images taken in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, where greenery like this is hard to find)

Zack also talked about how he used to be really shy, but had to force himself to get over this so that he could succeed as a photographer and provide for his family.  He now makes sure that everyone he meets knows he’s a music photographer.  I loved hearing him talk about how much his family means to him.  He takes his kids on shoots with him to help them understand how Daddy is providing for them.  He spoke with so much love for his sweet wife, Meghan, and how she’s supported him in pursuing his dreams.  He reminded us all that no matter what happens with our photography, we must know our family, meaning that we put them first and acknowledge if ever a time came that we had to choose between the camera and our family, we would choose our family.

Image taken from my iPhone of Zack Arias talking about his family during his Photocamp keynote.

All-in-all, Photocamp Utah was an incredible experience.  I feel so grateful to have been a part of it.  There are so many other wonderful things I could write about from that day, but I’ve already gone too long.  Thank you to everyone who put Photocamp together!  It was an event to be proud of and I eagerly await word of Photocamp Utah 2011!

p.s. You can view Zack Arias’ keynote address and many of the other classes at PhotocampUtah.com

Tagged as: food photography, photocamp utah, photography