PPNC Convention 2010: VIVA PPNC!

PPNC (Professional Photographers of North Carolina) held their annual convention last week. Karen was in charge of the print competition this year. Friday we arrived and joined forces with the print committee to check in everyone's print cases. Each photographer is allowed to enter up to six images into the print judging.

Here we were showing off our white gloves (no one want fingerprints on their competition prints)...

Saturday after the judging was finished, we headed to the Saturday night party - VIVA PPNC! With a Vegas theme, we dressed up and decorated with lights, feathers, sequins and slot machines. 

Here is the IP crew with Ginger and Rachel from H&H Color Lab... 

Monday evening, the ladies of PPNC hosted a benefit dinner. They waited tables and all their tips were donations to the foundation. They raised about $3,100 in one dinner!!!! This was a memorial to the members of PPNC who passed in 2009.

Here are the ladies dressed to the hilt...

Then Tuesday night, the convention wrapped up with the awards banquet. Karen announced the awards as the photographers received everything from "3rd place" in each category to "best of show."

Karen received two merits for her competition prints this year, meaning she scored an 80 or above on each print. Take a look...

"Sassy Brass"

"These Boots"

To see more candids from the PPNC Convention, visit the PPNC album on our fan page.

We encourage all professional photographers to be members of PPNC. In addition to making great friends and connections with fellow photographers in your state, it's an educational opportunity you can't pass up. We attended classes throughout the convention and came home inspired to make changes and do different things. Inspiration is priceless. For more info about PPNC, go to http://www.ppofnc.com/.

ProShare Day

The day after Karen's Western Guild marketing class, we hosted ProShare Day. This is a day where PPNC members (Professional Photographers of North Carolina) can sign up to spend a day with Karen in our studio. We had 22 photographers attend and it was a full house!

Karen spent the morning talking about marketing and customer service after a tour of our studio. After lunch, she photographed Ashley's family and Hannah (one of our senior spokesModels). This was a chance for the photographers to see how Karen interacts with clients during a session and also take note of all the technical stuff.











We always look forward to ProShare Day! It gives us a chance to help other photographers and learn from them at the same time. If we could only convince Karen to teach seminars more often, the world would know what we've got going on at IP!

Western Guild

PPNC (Professional Photographers of North Carolina) holds four different seminars each year, one of which is Western Guild. This year, Western Guild was held in Asheville, NC. Karen was asked to share her marketing secrets with her fellow photographers in the state.

Karen's class was titled "Staying on Top in 2009." She gave ideas and shared techniques - that we use at IP - for going the extra mile for our clients.



In other words, us girls had an excuse to take a Road Trip! We packed up some samples, decorating ideas, and headed to Asheville.

You know we can't do anything average! We brought furniture, backgrounds, props, and samples of EVERYTHING. We turned that conference room into a boutique!



Karen spoke for three and a half hours, so we took a dance break in the middle to loosen up! Yes, you read it correctly. We danced! We wanted everyone to join in the Cupid Shuffle, but some people just won't dance!





At the end of the class, Karen was presented with her speaking merits, which go towards her PPA (Professional Photographers of America) credentials.



We make a pretty good team, huh?

Print Competition '09

Last week at convention, Karen won a few awards!!

This image is titled "Regal Rex." The Graeber family recently brought in their entire family (including dogs) for a family portrait. Karen happened to catch Rex at this perfect position and earned a merit off of this image!



Karen captured this next image during one of our Gold Hill location session earlier this year. We titled this print "Yesterday's Child," due to this old timey clothing.

Karen won 3rd place in the children division. This image was added into the Loan Collection for PPNC and will be displayed on their website.



We are so proud of her and all her accomplishments! And we thank all of our clients for being so loyal and supportive!

PPNC '09

This past week, IP attended the annual PPNC (Professional Photographers of North Carolina) convention in Raleigh, NC. We were "in-training" in the Print Salon. This is where all the competition prints are checked in, judged, displayed, awarded, etc. We are training for next year, when Karen is Print Salon Chairman.... and they're responsible for making sure everything goes smoothly. Needless to say... it's a little stressful.

We were so happy that H&H sent our favorite person, Ginger, to NC's convention! She is our customer service person at our color lab and she is a part of our IP family and we LOVE her!

Saturday is the day we always look forward to. The annual Saturday night party has a different theme each year. This year, the president chose "Tackling the Art of Photography." The past few years, IP has been responsible for the set and photography at the Saturday night party.

You know us! We settle for nothing less than OVER THE TOP! So, we found a truck bed, cut it in half, and brought it with us!

We had to test it out before the party began!

Renda was a little exhausted... but glad that her idea came together.

Tara was the most dedicated one of our bunch. She even wore football pants!

Here's Karen sporting her Redskins jersey! She refused to wear anything with the Panthers on it!

Renda was our entertainment for the night. Just kidding! But she was sure to hop on stage for at least one karaoke number. Not surprised, huh?

Here's Jessica and Ashley with our good friends, Gail and Tracey.

No party is complete without the Cupid Shuffle!

Here's Renda using her t-shirt that she caught as a microphone.

Karen was still working in the Print Salon... so Tara had to photograph the portraits at the party.

Tuesday evening, we attended the PPNC Banquet.

Here's two of our great friends, Anne and D-Lo.

Who are those fabulous ladies?!? :)

Here's Renda with two other photographers, Denise and Rhonda.

Jessica was responsible for the awards banquet slideshow, so here she is in the audio/video booth.

Karen recieved her 5th chevron (a gold bar to add to her PPNC medallion necklace). This symbolized 300 credits earned!

Here's Karen with the past president, Chuck Hardison... being silly.

Here's Karen with Sherry. She is now President-Elect this year.

Renda got this image of Karen being awarded Loan Collection, with her print "Yesterday's Child." You've probably seen it over our fireplace in our front room recently.

Here's Karen being sworn into her position as Vice President.

We always have so much fun at convention. It's a time for us to gather with other photographers. We attend seminars and get lots of great, new ideas, while having a blast!

Fun at Convention

Friday night, at dinner, Bentley from H&H gave us an idea for a small form of entertainment and a GREAT laugh. Check it out.