How can I possibly describe a whole week of WPPI in one post?! I’ve decided that I can’t. It’s impossible to tell all of the stories and so I am going to give you the absolute best highlights of the week!

1. First highlight… having Michael with me this year! Even if it was only for 48 hours, I loved watching him see the city for the first time and experiencing it with him.  We’ve traveled together our WHOLE LIVES. We’ve seen so much of the world together and so I  when I came to WPPI last year without him, it was SO weird! I loved having him with me!

I’m tired… and you can tell in this picture! ew.  Michael, you’re looking good:)

Not a huge fan of the picture on the right but look at the sailors! They made it blog worthy.

2. Second highlight was having my good friends Jessie and Jill with me! I can’t tell you how much of a blessing it is to have friends in this industry! I couldn’t imagine doing this on my own!

I look exhausted, I blame the amazingly loud ice machine outside our room!

3. Exploring hotels.  When you’re not a gambler, you have to find some other way to appreciate these extravagant hotels! They are so impressive and HUGE! The casinos are never-ending and every single one has it’s own unique style.

Here are a couple shots from AirHorns and Laser’s party hosted by SW Magazine at the Wynn Hotel (by far my fav hotel out there! The decor was so classic, yet modern. I loved it!)

Wow. Look at that grain…. it was seriously pitch black in there.

4. Dinner at the Grand Lux before Michael had to fly home!  Here’s Jill at the Venetian after dinner that night! The food was simply amazing!

5. Another amazing highlight of the week was just getting a chance to meet other photographers and build friendships.  Seriously, I think I learned more and gained more knowledge from my time with individual photographers than I ever did at a seminar.  Maybe that is why I was only motivated enough to go to two of them!  Jamie Delaine describes the feeling just perfectly on her blog.  If you haven’t already, you should probably check her out.  She’s 19 and doing absolutely incredible things! It blows me away.  I was so great to randomly spend time with her this week and to a little glimpse of the heart behind this huge success.  What an amazing girl…..get to know her! :http://jamiedelaineblog.com/

6. Another amazing lady I had the privilege of running into was the beautiful Stephanie Fay.  I have followed Steph’s blog since her engagement session with Jstar.  It was one of my all time favorites! Then, I saw her wedding pictures and was hooked! (I mean, my roomates and I seriously looked through that blog post a million times!)  Steph and her husband Stephen are a gorgeous couple and I was so blessed to experience their relationship on a personal level this week.  You know when couples just seem like best friends? Yup, that’s them. Love them! I was so bummed that Michael didn’t get to hang out with them but hey! That’s what next year is for!! Thanks Steph and Stephen for sharing a little about marriage and what it is like to work together.  I can’t wait to see where the Lord is going to take you in the future!

7. I can’t forget this one! Another highlight was attending Stephanie Fay’s Showit Meet and Greet session on Tuesday! Here’s a pic I snagged from her blog! Good times!  Ps. Kristin Leigh… I want to hangout! We’re too close not to! Kristen is a VA, MD, and DC photog! Check out her blog!

Check out Stephanie’s blog for more!

8. Highlight #8: Getting the opportunity to represent my amazing website company, SHOWIT!  I hosted a photographer’s meet and greet on Tuesday morning (Left picture) and had a blast! (Thanks for the picture Jill!)

9. Showit’s Photographer’s UNITE:  I can’t explain in words how amazing this was! Unite is a group of Christian photographers that came together Wednesday morning solely to praise the Lord. Talk about AWESOME! It was so refreshing to sing and hear from other christian photogs that are HUGE leaders in this industry.  David Jay and the whole Showit team just blew me away this week. Thanks for being so solid and incredible leaders! I’m am so proud and honored to be associated with this company and community!

(VA Photogs, stay tuned for more info about UNITE! It’s coming to VA and I’d love for you to be a part of it! If you’re interested, shoot me an email!)

10. LAST BUT NOT LEAST! Our engagement session with the beautiful Jasmine Star was just incredible.  I’ve heard from others that she is just a totally different type of woman.  She’s a super-woman.  I don’t understand how one woman can accomplish so much.  I guarantee you that she talked to every single one of the 15,000 photographers that were at WPPI! Ok, that is an exaggeration, but she could totally do it! and she would do it with a huge smile and genuine heart.  Michael and I both left our time with her and JD just in awe of their “real-ness”.  That’s probably not a word but it describes them perfectly.  When I booked Jasmine, I knew I wanted to have her at my wedding for two reasons.  One, lets be honest, her images are incredible and two, I loved the personality, energy and passion I saw in her through her blog.  Michael and I walked away from our session 100% confident that Jasmine and JD were a perfect fit for our wedding and we couldn’t be more excited! Keep checking her blog to see more of our images! We’re SO excited!!!

Image credit : Jasmine Star