Inspiration is for Amateurs // Wedding Photography Conference WUN 2.0

A week ago (actually 2-3 weeks*) I was in wintery Stockholm, where Way up North 2.0 – Europe’s Wedding Photography Conference event took place. I have been there before. In 2015 then was the first WUN event and there were many great events after this. You can read my blogs from previous events in Stockholm and Rome.

Inspiration is For Amateurs

This was not a conference like previous WUNs. The event was streamed online, and I was happy to be in the studio audience for the live show. A smaller and more intimate experience with an opportunity to talk with all attendees and speakers. Two full days with great talks and a ton of To-do tasks to improve my work.
I wish I could use the word inspiration, but I am seeking for a professional photographer attitude :D

If you stop reading here, then you should know, I like this format better than the previous one :)

Let’s see why!

Inspirational Speeches and a Lot of Great Ideas How to Improve Photographers life

Hannah Millard – Photographer and videographer from the UK – she manages to do video and stills at the same time. I think my mind would explode if I tried this at a wedding. Millions of decisions to make a picture or film, this or that at the same time.
It works for Hannah, and you should check out her work.
Thanks for being so nice and friendly person to meet. Hope to share my homework soon – 1-minute video from Stockholm.

Andria Lindquist – She is a real professional speaker, she owns the stage, and her message is very clear “Experience over images.” Photographers often forget that great images are not enough. Communication and our practice, how we educate our clients are more crucial than we think. This was a second time when I saw her on a stage. Shame on me that I haven’t done the homework (for example, pdf files, etc.) from the first time. There is always a room to improve my client service.

Karing Hagglund – the first non photographer speaker in this conference. Former karate champion & national coach and now a public speaker. Well organized speech with an emotional touch to the depths of everyone’s heart.
One of the takeaways is this line:
“It is ok to lose to your opponent, but it is not ok to lose to our fear” (a line from the film Karate Kid, I have not seen this film jet) – we are not fighting in photography, but often there is fear of experimenting, doing things differently, developing our style and way.

*I stuck with this writing because as a freelancer photographer my work-life balance is a matter of opportunities. Sometimes it’s quiet but time after time a working wave is coming and all you can do is work as good and hard you know. After every working wave peace and more relaxing time come. In a short version – there wasn’t enough time to sit and write. But I am dedicated to doing this, and here we go again :)

Joshua D’hondt – I like her approach. A creative way of documentary style family photos. It might sound easy, right, but in reality sometimes it is 500 frames and plenty of time to get the right photograph and situation.

Anna Kuperberg – Reportage of emotional reality. She is a dog and cat person, and also a great family and wedding photographer. I loved her trick with a shoe on her head to crack emotions from kids. A photo session should be fun, and she knows how to get it right.

After the speeches I found a quiet, comfy place and sat down with my notes and did a summary from this day.
The first day finished on a high note.

Later in the evening, a big group of participants met at a big dinner table to get know each other and discuss what we had learned and who we were.

I got a portrait of me and did one in return :)

Wedding Photography Conference // Day 2

Tuija Seipell – Be aware of experience. A brilliant speech. Now I see differently cleaning carts of hotels (I went to some hotels in Riga, to
get this photo :D ). The question is how to find “cleaning carts” at my side of work and how to improve. The more I am prepared, the less goes wrong.
After this lecture I wrote down this sentence:
“!!! How to keep this inspiration and will to do great things and grow every year (every day).”

Jacey Lamerton – she reminds us how to be the best, not the cheapest. All about blogs (not the right word – we should come up with a better word to describe a blog content) and we all are small media companies. We make content to entertain, engage and teach our target audiences a valuable thing.
Killer content matters.

Erin Bishop – a fresh perspective. A speech from an event planner about relationships of photographers and event planners. We should talk more about all the aspects of the wedding day, why and how to organize the day better, to get the best photos and happiest clients from every wedding. Preparation time, the first look, sunset time photos and eating time for the photographer. All the important stuff.

Lauren Scotti -Photographer from Los Angeles. Community VS. Followers, the real you makes others feel more connected to you. It’s so easy to say, but oh boy, it’s hard work to achieve that.

Lindsay Adler said things straight up. Work as your dream client has already booked you. Show the photography work what they can use already. And there are no complains, Lindsay shows how to create great images with cheap tools. Imagination and ideas matter the most. We have all tools we need, just work and learn how to use them to get great images.
She has a great website where photographers can learn her knowledge – https://learn.lindsayadlerphotography.com/

A lot of this information is similar to previous WUNs only in a bit different shape and form from different speakers.

For me, it is mind-blowing. So much information, I have a long To-do list, and now all that matters is do the WORK to become the best photographer.
Why is inspiration for amateurs? Because often long To-do lists are collecting dust in corners, journals and phone notes.

It is good to repeat the best practices and ideas. Even better, it is very important to meet other photographers, to share your knowledge and interests about everything.
A community is a power, and it is so great to be one of them.

Tickets to view WUN2.0 are available until March 10th.
LAST CHANCE!