Just over a week ago, I got the opportunity to attend the 2012 WPPI (Wedding and Portrait Photographers International) convention. There are SO many reason I LOVE that conference, but the main one is that I get to see friends who I connect with and follow from all over the world for one week, non-stop. We get to eat, fellowship, worship, pray, and just hang together and its generally the only time we get to connect in person.
Just over two years ago, Stephanie of Celebration Portraits, participated in a online workshop called “CreativeLive” with the amazing Jasmine Star (one of the most talented, popular and sought after wedding photographers in the business). At that times, Isaiah and I were just starting out and we were glued to learning. Every FREE online workshop we could get our hands on we were there. We watched a 4-week wedding go down online, complete with final wedding day of my now dear friend Laura, who at the time was the bride. Stephanie participated and through Twitter and Facebook and Laura, we have become great friends.
Stephanie is the kind of friend that you NEVER get tired of. She is the kind of friend that you can meet once and fall in love with and be life long friends within minutes. She is the kind of friend, that when I was in Los Angeles in December with no real place to stay, she opened her home to me in the middle of the night. She loves God. She loves people and has a wonderful heart!
Prior to WPPI, Stephanie text me to ask if I was coming because she was ready for some new pictures. Its both a honor and quite intimidating to be asked by another photographer to photograph them. They know what they like, they generally have a preference for hot or cold imagery and you JUST DON’T want to get it wrong. We booked… met in the desert and below is what we came up with. Had no idea that it was the FIRST time Steph would be in front of the camera for a portrait session and HONESTLY I have no idea what took her so long. She absolutely gorgeous. She knows her angles and sooooo much fun!
You can check out Stephanie’s work at: Celebration Portraits or find her on Facebook. She is out of the Calabasas area and focuses on seniors and families and a few weddings here and there.
You can follow her on twitter here.
