This past weekend, aside from being rife with spanish teenagers, was also the weekend of the Professional Photographers Association of New England's annual conference. Luckily for us, it was held at the Radisson in Nashua, so we were able to do both. The PPANE conference is fun, from the print competition to the programs to the trade show, and the camaraderie you get from seeing friends from far away. And making new friends, which seems to happen spontaneously. Photographers are a friendly bunch. That's what happens when you love your job.
Anyway, we were invited to join an eclectic group from the conference for drinks at Martha's Exchange. The group included my wife and I, George Wakefield from GW Moulding, his girlfriend speaker and print judge Jill Sanders, who is also president of the Illinois PPA affiliate, another print judge Cindy Romano, John Snow from Larson, David Maheu of his eponymous background company, Christel Aprigliano from PPA national, and the President of PPA Ron Nichols and his wife Carol. Let me tell you, this is one fun group!
During the course of the evening, it was revealed that Jill and George are now engaged. Ron was quick to whip out his iPhone to record the moment and upload it to Facebook. Then we all began planning the wedding for the national convention in Nashville. It was hilarious. All the people with electronic toys were fanning the flames on Facebook. It was a total hoot.
After dinner, we took everyone down for a tour of the studio, the scene of the spanish exchange party a few hours earlier. Some of the props were still out, and when Christel started putting on the angel wings, there was only one thing for a photographer to do: take pictures. I just turned on the lights and started snapping away. A totally impromptu, silly time. Here are a few highlights.
