So, the United 2014 Conference ended several weeks ago and many photographers in attendance have long blogged their experience highlighted with photos, lessons learned, friends made and plans for next year. It’s taken me so long because I really couldn’t decide which part of the experience that I wanted to blog about.  I knew that if I tried to write about everything that I went into the conference with and everything that I came out of it with I would have the longest post in the history of blogging!  So I will try my best not to ramble, share my experience, and hopefully help another photographer decide if this is a conference they want to attend next year.

My Reason for Going: I have decided to attempt to attend at least one photography conference annually for two reasons: 1) to network and 2) to grow!  I considered attending United last year, but I knew there were other workshops and conferences that I’d already planned to attend and adding another didn’t make sense at the time.  When I saw everyone in one of my photography Facebook groups talking about it and seeing blog posts afterwards I decided then that I would be there this year! I heard about the friendships that were made, the awesome shoots that happened and how many people grew in their businesses, so I wanted a piece of that!  When registration opened, I hopped onto the computer and signed up the within the first hour to ensure that I got the Early Bird rate!  Once it was confirmed, I was pumped!  I thought “Yeah, I’m in!  I’m going to United!” and in the very next breath fear struck and I said “Wait….I don’t have any of my close photographer friends going!”…yes, at this point I was sitting there talking to myself!  I reached out in another photography group and found a friend from the Blink! conference that said she would go and also be my roomie!  A few weeks later, her plans fell through and I was back to square one and contemplating selling my ticket.  I went back and forth about it and finally I decided that I was going through with it.  I booked my flight and made my hotel reservation and decided I was doing it!  I was forcing myself out of my comfort zone.

Once I Arrived: I flew into Los Angeles and stayed there for a night so that I could visit some of my friends that I hadn’t seen since I lived there.  I also did a couple of shoots while I was there because the weather, as usual, was awesome.  Just add smog!  The next day I hopped in my rental and drove up to Santa Barbara.  I was smiling and singing on my little solo road trip with anticipation of meeting my new roomie that was coming all the way from Nigeria only to find out once I got there that her flight was canceled due to weather and she wouldn’t be in until the next day.  Yikes, now I didn’t have anyone to hang with during the welcome reception.  Again, I allowed fear to set in.  I tried to relax and watch t.v. and then debated even attending the welcome reception.  I texted my some of my friends back home and told them I was nervous about being there by myself.  They are so used to seeing the outgoing Terri that this talk of fear didn’t make sense to them.  They each offered an encouraging word and told me to let them know how it goes….

The Conference: I walked around for a little bit by myself and once registration opened I went and picked up my badge and swag box.  I heard someone yell “Terrrrrrri” as only Abby Grace would and I was so happy to see her!  I hugged her as she was headed back to her room to put her stuff down and once I picked up my stuff I did the same.  I didn’t see her when I walked back up but I ran into Katelyn and Michael and hugged them.  They had a swarm of people waiting to meet them, so I went and hung out on the balcony and wandered around looking at the large mounted winning photos from the photo contest.  I saw Candice Wright walk in with her crew and I knew I wanted to meet her so I walked up and introduced myself and she remembered me from the Facebook group.  I said I need someone to hang with so I’m hanging with y’all.  She said come on and started introducing me to people, one was Ashley Peterson, who lives just 2 hours from me! Oh, Virginia was WELL represented this year! Now that I made some new buddies I was ready to enjoy the conference!

(Excuse the quality- these are iphone photos pulled from Instagram)

Early the next morning, like 6:30am Mikey and Samantha of The Photography Smiths hosted a Trash the Dress shoot.  You can see my photos from the shoot HERE! About 40 photographers showed up along with my new friends – Candice and Ashley.

Sessions started with talks given by the leaders of PASS (a photo sharing software)- Andrew Barlow and David Jay.  The line-up of speakers each day was awesome and I was too busy taking notes to take photos.  Some of the speakers were Matt Kennedy, Justin & Mary, Kevin Hall, Katelyn James, Mike Larson, and Trevor Dayley.  There were also panel discussions for websites and branding and parenting and running a business!

After the sessions, I attended Jordan and Amy’s sunset engagement session.  You can view my photos from the shoot HERE! Here are a few behind the scenes photos:

Lunch after the Tuesday morning sessions was held on the lawn of of the Fess Parker Double Tree picnic style!

Tuesday night was the Gala that had a setting of a wedding reception and we were able to get our copy of the latest Shoot & Share magazine and see the photo contest winners.  The gala was also the setting for 5-minute Fuel.  It’s where photographers had 5 minutes to get on stage in front of EVERYONE and share anything they wanted to share for 5 minutes.  There were some emotional moments, educational moments and funny moments shared.  Next year, I may challenge myself to get on stage in front of my peers and share something…maybe!  I buried that statement here because no one will probably see this!

I also learned some new Off Camera Flash techniques with cigars and smoke  from Trevor Dayley.  Below are a few photos from that shoot:

Wednesday morning I participated in a Nigerian Bridal Shoot.  You can see photos from that shoot HERE!  I also attended a shoot at Matt Roberts studio that was close to the hotel.

I also played with a little daytime OCF with my new buddy Joel Llcar with Candice and Sabrina modeling for me and later that day Candice and I traded natural light photos around the hotel property.

Tips:

Team Up: If you are considering attending United next year, I offer this advice from my perspective only: Go with a friend, so that you will have someone to hang out with until you start to meet other people.  If you choose to go with a group of friends, keep yourself open to meeting people outside of your group, if that makes sense!  There are so many talented and friendly photographers there that you could miss connecting with people if you stay in your safe zone!

Be Open:  Some of my best conversations happened when I was just sitting in the lobby or at the Starbucks.  I met Sabrina Nohling and she was an awesome and encouraging person!  I also sat and talked to Amy and Jordan and their leap of faith is an amazing story.  2014 will be a huge year for them, I can already see it happening! And Justin Marantz stopped to chat one day and this guy is a wealth of knowledge and friendly!

Get Creative: This year, several of the planned shoots sold out (they were actually free) within the first minute of registration and some people were frustrated.  I presume that next year many more shoots were planned.  Instead of complaining, photographers started creating shoots for themselves and for others to join.  If the same thing happens next year, just suck it up and plan your own shoot!  I guarantee you people will come if you invite them!