Friends of Pictage Partner Conference 2009 - New Orleans, LA

Happy Monday everyone, can anyone believe that we are just over 1 week away from Thanksgiving already? Where has this year gone?

On to the fun stuff, here is a collection of photos from Partner Con - NOLA of a bunch of Pictage friends doing what we all do best...Have a great time!!

Enjoy.

Shari Zellers and Alex Abercrombie


Jim Collins and Rene Tate


Pictage's Danny Faccini and Michael Caro


Shawn Reeder, Sarah Hodzic, Monty Jessop, Danny Faccini, and Nitin Somalwar


Chris Williams and Alex Abercrombie


Alex Abercrombie, Debra Gerson, and Jessica Del Vecchio


Kip, Laura, Shawn Reeder, and Sarah Hodzic


Pictage's Paul Manke with lots of lanyards

Pictage Partner Conference - Day 3 - 11.5.09 - New Orleans, LA

Not be outdone by the previous 2 days of seminar learning, Day 3 began Thursday with the highly anticipated off site shooting workshops. Pictage hosted 8 off site shooting workshops for the conference attendees that registered. These 2-hour workshops were held at various locations within the French Quarter and within walking distance of the Astor Crowne Plaza. The sessions were led by some of the best photographers in the country, including David Beckstead, Mike Colon, Joe Buissink, Sara France, Kurt Gerber, Scott Bourne, and Grant Oakes.

The second half of Thursday was the event that nearly everyone has been talking about and eagerly waiting for the past 9 months and was extremely excited to be a part of. Pictage coordinated with a local charity to host nearly 200 families for a free portrait session. These families were the unfortunate victims of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 that lost virtually everything they owned including all of their family photos. Many of these families have never gotten a chance to have their family pictures taken again because of the painful recovery process and costs involved.

Myself, to be a witness and participant to this event was truly touching. I thought to myself, what better way could we "give back" to these families by using our talents and skills and providing them with "new" family portraits as a small step in helping them rebuild their lives.

One lady that came to have her portraits taken stated to us: "We thought everyone had forgotten about us..." Another stated "this is just the beginning, my children will never have pictures of their grandparents again" To me personally, this was the "icing on the cake," the "satisfaction," the "joy and happiness" of all our hard work this entire week. To see the smiles on these people's faces said it all, they didn't care what they were wearing, they didn't mind at all because they were having their pictures taken again, not by the media as victims showing their anguish and loss, but as people, as American Citizens.

Enjoy...



Mike Colon (center), Jeff Youngren (far right)










Joe Buissink (left) and Denis Reggie (right)












On the bus back to the hotel from the portrait shoot. Downtown New Orleans at night.

Pictage Partner Conference 2009 - Day 1 - New Orleans, LA

The Pictage Partner Conference Day 1 got off to a rockin' start on Tuesday, November 3, 2009 to the wonderful sound of live jazz music. With Pictage staff ready to kick the event off this was surely to be the event we all envisioned that would soon become reality.

The event got its official start with Pictage CEO, Jim Collins, kicking off the event with an invigorating Keynote that was sure to energize everyone and get their creative minds clicking without a second to spare. The schedule was jam packed with a lineup of speakers sharing their insight, leaving everyone trying to figure out just where they were going to finally sit down and begin their furious note taking.

Here are a few images from Day 1 to show exactly what Partner Conference was all about....





Jim Collins presenting his Keynote to open Partner Conference Day 1


The Youngrens with their presentation, "Keepin' It Real In A Rockstar World"


Jared Bauman - "Your Business – On Auto Pilot for Six Figure Income"


Phil Thornton was gracious enough to review SEO - "SEO for Photographers - Google Ranking Demystified"


Denis Reggie had an all new presentation, conveniently titled, "A debut presentation – never seen before"


During the lunch intermission, the Sponsor Hall was well visited by all of the attendees. Sponsors included: Canon, Simply Canvas, Livebooks, KISS Albums, Tafota Designs, Leather Craftsmen, and Asukabook to name a few (in no particular order)

New Orleans, LA - Pictage Partner Conference 2009

WOW!! 

What a week this has been.   Words cannot even begin to describe what an awesome week it has been in New Orleans for the annual Pictage Partner Conference.  This was truly a week of inspiration, dreams, happiness, joy, sadness, warm hearts, accomplishment, firsts, great friends, great conversation, and the best part - Memories for a LIFETIME!!!

While there are now over 1000+ images from the past 5 days to now go through, I cannot wait to begin sharing them with everyone so please stay tuned for new pictures from the past week!

Thanks again for your patience, and have a wonderful weekend!!

Twitter, Pictage Partner Conference, and MLB and NBA rambling...

Hello everyone...I hope this post finds you well. The weather is changing and it seems as though Summer may be over for us here in So Cal. The temperatures have dropped and the winds have picked up. Hopefully there will not be any new wildfires popping up any time soon.

Here are a few updates for the week for Miura Images:

1. After much resistance, stubbornness, laziness, you name it...we are now on Twitter! Please follow us: @miuraimages

2. We are off to New Orleans (NOLA) in a couple of days for the annual Pictage Partner Conference to hear some of the best photographers in the nation share their wisdom, insight, and experience with the rest of us.  Be sure to check back next week for pictures and updates from NOLA.

3.  The World Series has finally begun...while the Dodgers and Angels came up short, the Yankees and Phillies are sure to put on a good fight for the Championship.  Game 1 goes to the Phillies, winning 6-1 and taking the 1-0 lead in the best of 7 series.

4.  The 2009-2010 NBA season kicked off last night...The LA Lakers begin their title defense and all of the blockbuster off-season trades and free agent signings should make this a very interesting season of basketball, both in the East and the West.

That's all for now... until next time.

Pictage Partner Conference 2009, New Orleans, LA - 20 Days and Counting

20 Days Left Until Partner Conference 2009

Register today and prepare to experience 2-1/2 days of engaging speaker sessions, knowledge sharing, hands-on shooting workshops, and leading demonstrations for professional photographers.

Discover first-hand what is becoming one of the most talked about professional photography conferences of the year!  Be sure to sign up and register now...do not miss out on your opportunity to learn from the best.  Click on the logo above for more details and information.   Hope to see you there!!

If for some reason you cannot make it to New Orleans to experience this first-hand, be sure to bookmark/follow/tab my blog page for photos from the events of each day.