The next day Anie presented
her Pink Marketing Concepts, a very valuable and enlightening presentation and discussion that looks at wedding sales through the eyes of the female to the female – partners were invited to sit in for this session also. Our teachers then offered some of their business advice, sales and marketing tips. Alex Nozdrin gave a talk outlining his rules for good album design. We had now almost reached the end of the course, so there was a Greek meal and party at the beach bar for everyone to relax and socialise with each other. The final day was left to
Yervant, to hone our finishing skills through further advance in Photoshop techniques. Then we had an informal Q&A session with all of the presenters, with lots of interesting questions and answers, before the course closed.
Audio intelligence
During the course of the work- shop Ashford Daly Photography managed to conduct audio interviews and spend quality 1-2-1 time with five of the presenters – Bambi Cantrell, Nik Pekridis, David Beckstead, Gra- ham Monro, and Yervant & Anie (the Grand Dream Team). These interviews will be able to be heard on Ashford Daly's Raw Files (see end of article) and there will be links shared on the MPA Facebook page. Questionnaires are cur- rently with the other two VIP presenters, Michael Greenberg and Laslo Gabany, for writ- ten responses so they will also be sharing their thoughts and views with us soon too. Here are some facts: Number of delegates: 70 Countries represented: 32 Number of people involved overall, including spouses/part- ners and family members: around 120
Spouses welcome: Yes – to accompany for a vacation, and to be able to attend certain workshop elements throughout the week as advised and where they wanted to.
Main messages throughout the workshop: You are creative artists don't forget that.
MASTER PHOTOGRAPHY 28
Your brand, skill and creativ- ity is what people will buy into regardless of the price level. Don't de-value your work, in- stall realistic pricing for you and your work, and have value and worth upon the images you cre- ate and the products you make available to display them in – it's an investment in your artwork which people are deciding on. Finishing is very important and will set you apart from the hobbyists, weekend photogra- phers or those who place no importance on continuous learn- ing from real professionals. Develop and define your own style, not what's in trend this month or year or that 500 or 5000 other photographers ap- pear to be churning out around you – have a point of difference, your own point of difference. Have a unique product mix that you yourself like and there- fore want to sell.
Marketing to brides and their emotion, is key to success with wedding photography today. Think about your own futures – invest in yourself and learn your trade, price correctly, know your real worth, your art is an investment, you are professional photographers. Work harder and smarter. Inspire others.
Don't give away your images or work on disc. This is killing our industry and sending the wrong message out to the wed- ding market place and potential clients.
Professional photography organisations like the MPA, AIPP, WPPI are there to help and sup- port you, and they are our voice within the global industry.
What did we get?
We learned much from the collective vast experience of the gathered group of VIP photog- raphers about branding, sales, marketing, posing, lighting, technical skill and finishing techniques. We have mas- sive networking opportunities with this expert group going forwards.
Lessons learnt and shared honestly and openly from the presenters to the delegates and their partners were invaluable and quite eye opening.
Above: using wide-angles – a subject demonstrated by Laslo Gabany. Top right: classical Greece inspired this setting directed by Bambi Cantrell, with a statuesque classical-profiled model to suit. Bottom right: in contrast, David Beckstead’s use of a colonnade and a model in more modern mode, at Corfu’s Asian Museum. Award provided by Yervant and sponsored by GraphiStudio.
A message from Anie
Well, well.... What a F A N T A S T I C, wonderful, amazing, astonishing, outstanding, incredible week in beautiful Corfu, Greece! WOW to say the least! Yervant and I would like to thank our generous Masters: Bambi Cantrell, Michael Greenberg, Graham Monro, Nik Pekridis, David Beckstead and Laslo Gabany for sharing their individual expertise and inspiring the big group with so much passion. We deeply thank each and everyone of the participants who travelled from 32 different countries of the world to participate in this workshop. This clearly states that ‘photography’ is a truly universal language and a passion shared equally. Yervant and I are eternally grateful to each and everyone of you and hope that we can continue this wonderful NEW journey TOGETHER and keep inspiring each other to reach new heights in our craft and enjoy greater business success. Oppah!
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