Nothin’, chillin’ at the Holiday Innnnnnnnnnn.
About a month ago, went to go take some pictures for the Santa Monica Holiday Inn. They just put up a new sign on the exterior and needed to update their website with some pictures. My favorite one is the one from the roof.
More from the SEE&JAY shoot…can’t wait to reconnect in April!
Yes, that is, indeed, Em’s finger picking my nose.
I’ve finally recovered from an entire week of awesomeness. I don’t think I’ve ever stayed in Vegas for longer than 5 days. Also, in the span of 5 days, I consumed McDonald’s thrice. Disgusting, I know. Anyway, this year WPPI was held at the MGM Conference Center. I didn’t know that hotel was so big. It literally took us half an hour to walk from the taxi drop off in front of the lobby to the conference center.
We took a flight Friday night and arrived just in time to check into our rooms and pass out. So adventurous, we are. More like granny status, IMHO.
Look what my AWESOME sister packed us:
The next day, Em only had one agenda in mind. And that was to make it to Gold & Silver Pawn Shop in the reality TV show “Pawnstars”. Apparently, it’s a really big deal. After she forked over $20 in cab fare and we waited half an hour outside, we were in! Maybe I just need to watch the show. I don’t know who the two guys are below, but Em does.
Random pictures from the $20 cab ride back to the strip:
Spent the rest of the day at the poker table while Em spent her time sports betting. We also got to watch the Lion King! Dude, best show ever. Better than Phantom, I swear. We paid $25 for the best seats in the house, right behind the orchestra, about 10 rows from the front!
Ahhhhhhhh sequenyahhhh baba bee chee babawww when yaaaaaaaa whenn yaaaaaa from the day we arrive on this planet….lalalalalala.
Sunday, our classes started off with Joe Photo, talked about albums for a bit. Then it was off to Doug Gordon’s class. He spoke on the main stage and he knew how to get the party started. We were up in our chairs and dancing when this man came on stage. And yes, that is him posing. What a sexy beast.
Went back to the poker tables after class. Pretty much ended up gambling all night. I completely lost track of time. We missed the welcome reception and the keynote address…and the Poker Stars WPPI Tournament! Pretty sure that would’ve been a quick way to lose $80 in 15 minutes though, so in a way I’m glad.
On Monday, I woke up at 6am to get ready for Jesh De Rox’s class. We actually didn’t get there until it was right about to start for some reason. Once again, AMAZING! Here’s us hugging and crying together. Our faces/eyes so RED.
Grabbed some lunch over at ‘WichCraft. Yummm.
Hit the trade show, while lugging all this heavy stuff around. I had my Leica, my SLR bag w/ my body and all my lenses, a netbook, and my leftovers from lunch. That was when I realized that this wasn’t going to work for the rest of the trip. Pretty cool stuff to see around the tradeshow, lots of neat vendors. Em bought herself an amazing gift…she is now the proud owner of a 5DMKII and a 24-70 L lens. Yeah, that’s right! If anyone out there is looking to buy a T1i, Em is selling hers, and she’ll hook you up.
I followed suit and copped myself one of these:
…NOT. I WISH. PLS PLS PLS PLS. MY 25TH BIRTHDAY IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER. PLSPLSPLSPLS???
My damage wasn’t nearly as bad. Picked up 4 packs of film for my Instax Mini, an awesome R-strap, and a B+W UV filter for my wide angle all for $160.
Caught part of Jim Garner’s marketing class before heading back to our hotel to get ready for JASMINE STAR!!!!!!! We got back to the MGM around 6 pm. Her class was to start at 6:30. We are idiots. Gah, her class pretty much filled up at 5:30 so we just waited in line and hoped that we would be able to get in. But of course, what happens? Right when it got to us, they stopped us and said, “Sorry, we’ve reached maximum capacity”. So we looked up at the “bouncer” with sad eyes and just watched her promo video through the doors. We begged for them to let us in…and it worked! We weren’t seated next to each other but we did get to see Jasmine Star. And let me tell you, she IS ghetto fab y’all. WORRRRRRRRRRD.
After class, we ate dinner. Spicy McChicken sandwich FTW. Why do these only exist in Las Vegas? Please bring them to LA. They are so delicious, especially for $1.
Headed over to the ‘pool’ party. Except they moved it to the arena because of the rain…and right when we got there it ended. FAIL! But guess who we sawwwwww!!
Look at what part of our room looked like on day 3. Hehe.
Next day, we packed up and were ready to head home. We checked out the award gallery, the other half of the trade show, and then back to the tables for some last minute action. Headed to the airport, got home at 8:30p and it felt goooooooooooooood to be back.
I will end my post with this picture of the Diane Salad from Green Street in Pasadena. DELISH.
It’s been about 24 hours since I’ve returned from WPPI 2010. It was altogether an amazing experience. Learned alot from the industry leaders. But the one speaker I’d really like to blog about really didn’t have much to say about photography. Except that it can be used as a medium in which we can revive what we think is lost love. I never expected to be moved the way I was…especially not that early on a Monday morning. I really didn’t. Nor did I expect to walk away from that room in utter awe of this beautiful 2 hour session with Jesh De Rox. It was personal, it was deep, and it was intimate. I can’t tell you how many times I was brought to tears. Okay, I lied. I cried like a little girl.
Relationships are the single most precious thing that a human being can have. As Jesh put it, “Happiness is only real when shared”. Then why all the heartbreak? Because things start stacking up between two people, whether it be fear, pain, expections, etc. Do they get less valuable? No. Our ability to see them diminishes. Here’s what gets in the way: you see the person that has done you wrong. It only exists in your mind. 99% of hurtful things are but misunderstandings. Differences in language. Jesh has allowed me to realize how powerful photography really can be. It can be used to create a space in which the very moment these ideas that shouldn’t belong to people can disappear. And it can be one of the most beautiful places on Earth. I really don’t know how else to describe the experience, except that it was beautiful. Jesh is on to something, and it’s something big.
Jesh De Rox WPPI 2010 from Tiffany Lee on Vimeo.
He ended his talk with a guitar solo to accompany his slide show. Afterwards, we went up to talk to him and it always breaks my heart into pieces when I see grown men crying. No joke, there were 50-60 year old men bawling while they were thanking Jesh, and Jesh stood there and starts breaking down into tears and they hugged and cried and hugged and cried some more. That’s how powerful it was. I think I cried 3 times waiting in line to talk to him, just because I was watching everyone else cry and hug Jesh. I’ll leave you guys with something he said that really hit home…
if something is worth doing, it is worth doing with everything you have. if it’s not, then why are your spending precious moments of your life doing it?
I will be attending WPPI 2010 this year. My first year there and I’m super stoked!!
If you would like to contact me:
tiffany@domophotography.com
twitter:
@tiffkathlee
LETS DO THIS! Here’s my tentative schedule!!
Friday
9:25 p.m. – 10:15pm
Fly in to Vegas, check in at hotel.
Saturday
Workshops
Sunday
12p – 2p
Joe Photo
2:30p – 4:30p
Doug Gordon
6pm – 7:30pm
Gregory Heisler – Canon Keynote Address
7:30pm – 9pm
WPPI & Canon Welcome Reception
9pm – ???
3rd Annual Poker Stars WPPI Tournament / MGM Poker Room
Monday
8am – 10am
JESH DE ROX!!!!! (Geez, excited much?!)
10am – 3:30pm
Trade Show
3:30pm – 5:30pm
Judy Hermann
6:30pm – 8:30pm
JASMINE STAR (GOD, IM GOING TO BE STARSTRUCK…TWO TIMES IN A DAY. My heart can’t take this)
8:30pm – 10pm
30th Anniversary WPPI Pool Party?
Tuesday
8am – 10am
Marcus Bell!!!!
3:30pm – 5:30pm
Craig Heidemann
6:15pm
GO HOMEEEEEE!
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