My friend Madie and I decided at the beginning of 2016 to go to Shutterfest in St. Louis. We both wanted to go to a photography conference, but decided that since this one was in driving distance, it was the best place to start. It was an exciting, overwhelming, educational, exhausting and fun experience and I’m so glad that I had someone to go with.
Madie and I are all checked in for Shutterfest!!
The conference started with and image competition on Monday, but neither of us submitted images so we left Monday night. We arrived, got unpacked and all settled so that we could start the day bright and early with registration.
The lobby at Union Station Hotel in St. Louis was always busy. There were so many interesting places to photograph.
Registration was a nightmare. It took around forty-five minutes from start to finish. We started by waiting in line, but the lines – oh the lines. They were wound around the hotel lobby furniture and since they weren’t just straight in front of each little booth, people seemed to just cluster and you had to constantly clarify which line anyone was in. It was a good principal, but no one was really told ahead of time how it would be set up so we all just winged it.
People were setting up to shoot all over the hotel, even from one balcony all the way across the lobby to another. The hotel is gorgeous, and they performed a light show on that incredible ceiling, even though it did interrupt our Shooting for Albums class a couple of times.
Home from Shutterfest with so many new ideas to apply to my business. Photo of my Shutterfest 2016 badge and two Shutter magazines.
I did enjoy the platforms – which were held each morning and after the lunch break. The platforms we attended were about marketing, creativity and pushing to better yourself, and better tips for wedding photos. I definitely got a lot from the wedding photos platform on Wednesday.
The platforms and welcome were held in the grand ballroom at Union Station Hotel in St. Louis, renamed Canon Theater for the event.
Another great thing about Shutterfest were the food trucks. While the lines for lunch on Tuesday were ridiculous, the pizza was delicious.
Lunch at Pyro Pizza on Tuesday was delicious.
As we were leaving on Tuesday evening, we were able to walk right up to the taco truck and grab some grub for the drive home.
Food truck fish tacos were phenomenal. I would eat these everyday.
I loved and was able to take some thing away from each of the four classes I attended. On Tuesday, I attended a video fusion class in the morning and a reception lighting class in the evening. There were so many video tips and tricks for my DSLR that I was so happy to learn, as well as some setting advice. The reception lighting class was especially useful since I have Andy and Kate’s wedding in June. (See their engagement sessions here and here.) While the photographers teaching the class use cinematography lighting instead of speed lights , it was useful to know about the lighting placement. We had some great models to work with for this class.
Photo from the reception lighting course with Christine and Rich Yodsukar at Shutterfest 2016. For this image, two hot lights were used. Models: Stephanie Hanley and Max Richards.
On Wednesday, I had another hands-on class about engaging engagement sessions, focusing on how to connect with a couple to produce emotive images. Our models were fantastic and worked really well with our group. It was a bit windy, and the lighting was somewhat flat, but I still had a great time.
Matt and Bre were great to work with during out “engagement session.”
Bre with our instructor William during the class.
That afternoon, the shooting for albums class was supposed to be outside and another hands-on class, but the weather prevented it and it ended up as more of a lecture. It was super informative and great information for my recent switch to in-person sales as opposed to giving digitals with the session.
It was also so cool to see all of the vendors at the event. Madie and I were able to get some great deals on some things. I was able to get a new lens and a spider holster and strap, all for great prices. I also signed up to be an elite member at Behind the Shutter so that I would start getting Shutter magazine in the mail.
We left Wednesday right after the last class let out and headed home. We didn’t sign up for/stay for the Shutterfest Extreme on Thursday, but it looked like it had a lot of really great information.
All in all, I think I would definitely be interested in going back to Shutterfest again, but I would probably want to go down on Monday night to avoid the Tuesday morning registration struggles.
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April 2, 2016
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