Years ago professional photographers conventions and schools were spread out all through the year so you could pick the best one and the best time to attend one. Then several years ago a new group formed and bucked the trend and went for January. This quickly became a popular convention because of the time of year and the great speakers and programs. Soon almost every group and association followed and now almost every convention is in January and February, so either you close and go to all of them or you pick and choose the ones or one that best suits your needs. I pick and choose!
Last Thursday morning I met up with a couple of my best photographer friends and headed out on our annual January trip to Florida to go to one of these conventions. The convention officially started on Friday afternoon so we had time to explore Tampa and St. Petersburg and play some before the real education started. It was a great convention with lots of programs covering almost every topic related to senior and children's photography. By noon on Saturday I was already on "brain overload" and wondering just how much more I could absorb! Things slowed down some on Saturday afternoon and I was able to regroup.
Before it was over I had made new friends, reaquanted my self with a lot of old friends, learned lots of great new techniques and came home really excited to see what all this year has to offer. On the last day of the convention I just couldn't stay out of the trade show and have 4 new beautiful backgrounds ordered and I can't wait till they get here.
These are a few images from Thursday night in Ybor city. If you follow me on Facebook I am sure you already saw some of the other images I added from "the road". Hope to see you soon!