During the months of January - March I am often asked what I spend my time doing?! While I may not be shooting as much as I might say during April - October, I am still VERY busy. Emails, website revamps, file organization, office work, mentoring, it fills my days and keeps me on the go. But since the pace of business life is very diferent this time of year I'm also afforded opportunities that I simply would not be able to under take during the busy months of wedding season, like continuing education.
It has been a while since I've gone to a workshop or conference so when the opportunity to attend Inspire Photo Retreats came up I just knew I had to take part! And I'm SO glad I did. Inspire is a completely differenct and unique type of conference. One where you are all equal, peers teaching peers, in an approachable, comfortable and friendly environment. Having attended Inspire before I knew that this was the heart behind the conference but I was pleaseantly surprised to see that this kind of atmosphere has only grown and matured in the years since. It was so encouraging and uplifting to be surrounded by peers and friends, each of whom were helping to lift up those around them and empowering others to take big steps. Who wouldn't love being around such awesome-ness?
As creatives who run businesses it can be very easy to fall into a rut of just trying to run a business. The creativity can often be muddled by the day in day out tasks that need to be accomplished. Taking a few days away from the business to refuel my creative side was SO needed. I left feeling refreshed, rejuvinated and inspired. In short, I cannot wait to head back next year!
So what type of things did I learn at Inspire?
- Standing Out In A Saturated Market, learning how I can tape into my unique perspectives and how that translates into the client experience.
- Fine Art Wedding Photography, learning how to incorporate film into my digital workflow (SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS!!)
- Why You Need To Be Published, learning the ins and outs of blogging and publishing content.
- The Wedding From Hell, leanring how to handle the many situations that arise on a wedding day and how to create beautiful and artisitc images despite less than ideal conditions.
- The Business Plan, learning how to formulate a proper business plan and who that will dramatically effect your efficiecnty and effectiveness in your business
- Mentoring, I had the opportunity to help mentor three women in various stages of their business. I learned so much just by listening to their unique stories and their visions for their business. If you're reading this, thank you for sharing your hearts!
- Connecting with Elizabeth from Showit, the company that hosts my website! It was awesome to put a face to product that I love so much and to chat together about how Showit can become even more involved in the New England community. That is what makes Inspire so great!
- Meeting new friends and see familiar faces with amazing! I even connected with a dear friend who I didn't even know was going to be there, it was an amazing experience from start to finish!
And to top it all off friends, Melissa and Tom from Long Haul Films documented the week's activities and compiled them into an amazing video! I might be biased (they did my promo video!) but I think these two are AMAZING and I was so excited to see them working HARD to get this video made. Check it out, it's pretty great!!
Inspire 2015 - The moments in between from Long Haul Films on Vimeo.
Far right image courtesy of Grazier Photography.
Image from Inspire Photo Retreats by Wayne Chinnock.
If you've been considering coming to Inspire definitely make it a point to attend in 2016! It truly is a special three days, a place where you can grow as an artist, grow as a business owner and grow relationships with the peers around you! I can't wait to see you there in 2016!