It’s been a long time coming but my wife’s flower shop Fleurtacious Designs website finally has a new look! It’s not breaking news that Kris Ann and her shop have been killing it for almost 8 years but this website is surly breaking news. I’m really happy with the job Stephen Orsini (same dude who did my site) did on this website. It’s totally “Fleurtacious” and fits Kris Ann, her shop and design style to a T. She also has a blog on there that Lily will be updating regularly with anything floral related so be sure to hit that up. Feel free to head on over, poke around and check out the wonderful work they all do! Lastly if you haven’t “liked” Fleurtacious Designs on facebook do it now! ;)

Peace,
JP

Wow! I don’t even know where to begin here. WPPI was absolutely incredible. I guess I’ll start out by saying thank you! Thank you all for making this trip out to the desert the most memorable one ever. You all know who you are. I may have saw you on the trade show floor or in my very first platform class or just in passing. Either way you all had such a positive effect on why this WPPI was so special. I cannot wait to do it again!

On day one of the trade show I was asked to speak at the Zenfolio booth. This is when it started getting real to me. I walked up to their booth to see my headshot (done by the talented Chris Sawicki) and a little bio. I was like ok, wow, thats me. I presented twice on Monday for about 30 minutes each time. It was great meeting you all at the Zenfolio booth. The dude with the cool glasses is the founder & CEO of Zenfolio Alex Peyzner. I meet Alex last year at WPPI. I was so impressed I immediately  switched my web hosting to them. They are a fantastic company.

Aside from business Vegas is about meeting awesome photographers and making friends. The dude on the left in the middle I feel needs no introduction. Now photographers, if for some reason you live on the moon he’s Chris Becker or just “Becker” I met him a few years ago at WPPI. I consider him one of the most important people in our industry. He’s also the mastermind behind The [b] School. If you’re a photographer looking to learn and share this is the place to be. It’s like facebook but for photographers.  The other couple in the top b&w photo are the most awesome people I’ve meet at WPPI. Dale Benfield and his very soon to be wife Meredith McClary. We met Dale and Meredith (I call em “Meredale”) at WPPI last year and instantly became friends. They’re just cool like that.  So those images were from Beckers party. The images on the right are from the Airplanes and Blazers party. That too was a fun time.

On Monday night my lab Millers Lab & mpix pro took about 60 of us photographers out to dinner at Tao. The dinners with them are always great. Thanks to Sara Kauss for this “table shot”. Good times!

On Tuesday (the day of the big night) I spoke at the mpix pro booth. Thank you to all who sat down and listened to me!

Blah blah blah! The next time I’d speak was later that evening…

At 6:00pm-8:00pm to be exact… When I saw this sign outside of my room my stomach dropped just a little. When I first got the news this past August that I ha been selected to speak and have a platform class at WPPI I was like “SAY WHAAAAAAT?”. I couldn’t believe it. When I chatted with my WPPI contact she asked how many people I thought I’d draw. I was like “I don’t know 75-100 people?” She told me she’d put me in a room for 300 people. My only request, don’t put me up against Jasmine Star. LOL.

To my surprise my pre-board had 18 of 210 seats left. When I stepped up on the platform and noticed people were sitting on the floor I was in total awe and incredibly flattered. I’ll admit I was nervous leading up to the whole thing but around 5:45 the nerves disappeared and I got up there and did my thing for just over and hour and half. Before I started I asked who else but Big Joe to give me an intro. It was touching and wonderful to have my father up there for the first few minutes. Once he intro’d me I went into my 3 minute video then turned on my mic and went for it. I have to say I had a blast up there! I can’t thank all 300+ peeps enough who sat and listened to me instead of grabbing dinner from 6-8 on a Tuesday night. I wish you all mega success in your businesses and lots of luck! You all rock! (the photo on the bottom is from an iPhone so pardon the quality)

I’ll end with this. Moments after my platform was over… Pops was a proud dude that night. Viva Las Vegas!

With WPPI right around the corner I thought I’d do a little blog on it… For the non photogs WPPI is the big convention / trade show we talk about every year. It’s a wonderful time to meet other photographers, become inspired, see new products, industry trends, gamble, eat, party, eat, gamble, party and eat! WPPI (wedding portrait photographers international) draws in near 15,000 attendees and grows more and more every year. Thats a whole lot of shutterbugs in one city huh? Anyway we’ll be there. I hope to meet all of you photographers who follow my blog and are attending.

“Beyond the blog” I have a platform class from 6:00pm-8:00pm on Tuesday February 22nd. I’ll be speaking about marketing and my Elario Photo Booth you can find out more here. I’d be totally honored if you photogs attending WPPI would come see me. This year WPPI has a Pre-board System. It was designed to guarantee you a seat for a platform class. Currently I have around 90 pre-board spots open. I believe my room seats 300. If you’re interested in pre-boarding for my class click here for more information. My platform talk is sponsored by Millers Lab and drop it MODERN with giveaways from them as well. The catch is you gotta stay and listen to me ;)

I’ll also be around on the trade show floor as follows:

Monday Feb 21
12:00pm Trade show floor
Zenfolio booth- I’ll be speaking about how I use Zenfolio in my workflow.

12:45pm Trade show floor
Zenfolio booth- A repeat of my 12:00pm talk.

2:00pm – 4:00pm Trade show floor
Millers Lab & mpix pro booths. I’ll be at their photo booth. Come by to have your photo taken and a chance to win 1 of 5 Apple iPads!

Tuesday Feb 22
1:30pm Trade show floor
Millers Lab & mpix pro booths. I’ll be speaking about marketing and photo booths. I’ll be giving away a drop it MODERN backdrop too!

6:00pm – 8:00pm Room 309
Platform Class!! “Beyond the blog”  Come see me! Sponsored by Millers Lab & drop it MODERN

Wednesday Feb 23
10am -12:30pm Trade show floor
Millers Lab & mpix pro booths. I’ll be at their photo booth. Come by to have your photo taken and a chance to win 1 of 5 Apple iPads!

Again, it would really be great to meet some of you. This is when twitter can really be fun by using the #wppi hash tag and letting everyone know where the hot craps tables are or when you’re anywhere hanging. Check my twitter @jpelario I’ll be a tweetin’ machine! Viva Las Vegas!

Peace,
JP

Yeehaw cowgirls & cowboys! I’m fresh off a trip to San Antonio Texas for Imaging USA which is one of the big photography trade shows (it moves every year too, next year New Orleans!). I was asked by my lab Millers Lab & mpix pro to speak at their trade show booth and their Luxe Lounge. If that wasn’t enough I was at the drop it MODERN booth too for photo booth tutorials. I met some fascinating people, hung with old friends and made many new friends. I want to thank the people who sat and listened to me for an hour multiple times. I’m honored and glad to have shared with you all. On my way out Tuesday I received a text from Southwest saying my flight was canceled (ice storm in Albany), gotta love technology right? Anyway this allowed for me to spend one more day/night and actually see San Antonio. All my time before that was spent at Imaging so I took a crumby flight cancelation and made the best of it.

Before heading to Texas we shot an awesome winter wedding with lots of snow! My intentions were to have blogged Pam & Adams wedding but loosing a whole day to traveling has made this difficult to get to. Here is a little teaser image from Saturdays wedding. I was stoked to have set off our 2011 wedding season with these guys! Make sure to check back soon to see their full post.

I don’t know if I have officially announced this yet but it’s pretty big news. I’ll be speaking at WPPI in Las Vegas this year. I have a platform class from 6:00pm-8:00pm on Tuesday February 22nd. I’ll be speaking about marketing and my Elario Photo Booth you can find out more here. I’d be totally honored if you photogs attending WPPI would come see me. My platform talk is sponsored by Millers Lab and drop it MODERN with giveaways from them as well. The catch is you gotta stay and listen to me ;) I’ll also be speaking at Millers & mpix pro’s booth, drop it MODERN and I believe the Zenfolio booth too.

One last thing. Instagram. It’s an free iPhone app that makes sharing photos totally fun and I’m totally addicted to it. I’ll be instagraming all season like a crazy beast. So download it find me (jpelario) and share photos. It’s a cool app, no I’m not endorsing them I just love it. These are some snaps I instagram’d in San Antonio. The one of me in the bottom left was from my photographer friend Jewell of The Lovely Photo in Balitmore MD. Thanks for the snap Jewell!

One last thing.. to the brides (& grooms) to be. We’ll be at the Glen Sanders Bridal Show this Sunday. Sunday, Sunday, Sunday lol.. Come see us!

Thats all for now.

Peace,
JP