On their way back home and before my platform afternoon class, we had a short time (and I mean short) to go out to the desert to capture some family shots.  Next year, I want to set aside a whole afternoon to shoot them at Red Rock Canyon.  Until then, enjoy the pictures below.

This is my beautiful niece, Elle!

With her Daddy

I love this one.  You can see Elle’s smiling face behind their kiss.

Elle:  Ummm…why was I put inside this tire?  Is that a scorpion I see?

Okay, break out the flash and see if we can do something dramatic.

Sad to say but at this point Elle wasn’t cooperating anymore so Mommy and daughter went off to explore while Edgar played the eager model.

This cool DJ/sound engineer has no problem posing for me.  Ha ha ha!

Edgar had his own idea for the next couple images

Edgar: Don’t mess with me!

It was time to go but not before I got a shot of my beautiful sis.  Love you, Fern!

Coming up…my thoughts on my experience as a volunteer for WPPI’s Print Judging Competition.

As a bonus, I got to share a ride with my friend, Mike Colón.  I’ve learned so much from Mike about wedding photography from both the technical and business standpoints.  But on this day, Mike shared with us the funny and lighthearted moments of shooting weddings.  It was fun listening to his stories.  And writing about Mike on this post has also taught me a valuable lesson: how to type an accent mark over the “o”: ó…see?!?  Ha ha ha!

As you will see below, I decided to post my images in black and white.  I wanted to view the images from a different perspective.  Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the images!

And I must not forget to give a big shout out  to the following people for their contribution to this great shoot:

Just look at the amazing landscape for our shoot!!

This guy kept getting in my shot and directing like he’s a $20k photographer

Our beautiful couple for the shoot, Brittanie and Tomas Cruz.

And thank you, Kate, for being our gorgeous High Fashion model!  Kate is also an exceptional photographer.

Coming up: Desert shoot with my sister and her family….

At this year’s Wedding and Portrait Photographers International (WPPI), I was given a chance to give a short 5 minute presentation during the closing program of the convention.  Together with 19 other presenters, the first ever Photographers Ignite was a smashing  success! If you want to find out more about Ignite presentations and what they are, please click here.  Kevin Kubota is the man behind Photographers Ignite and I’m thankful to him and his staff for giving me a chance to share about the country I love: Japan!  My talk focuses on Japanese customer service.  Please watch the video below to hear more about the best customer service in the world!  After the talk, please feel free to download the PDF to stories of Japanese customer service I provided on a recent blog post here.  Please watch the other presenters as they rocked the stage with their talks.  I’m watching now as I write this post

Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger’s quote encapsulates what I will be doing in the upcoming week in Las Vegas.  The Wedding and Portrait Photographers International (WPPI) will be  holding its 30th annual Convention and Trade Show from March 4 – 11.  It will be my second WPPI and I am looking forward to the teaching, meeting old friends, and making new ones.  Photographers who are attending WPPI for the first time have bombarded Facebook, Twitter, and forums with variations of this same question:  How can I make the most of my WPPI experience?

“The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.”  -Stephen Covey

I would like to challenge and encourage you to not be overwhelmed by the amount of classes and information that you will inevitably encounter.  Make a mental exercise of the immediate needs of your business (do this without looking at the list of classes; it will only sidetrack you) and ask yourself fundamental questions about the state of your business.  Reason with yourself (perhaps seek input from those you trust) and evaluate the path that led you to this point.  Where are you lacking?  Where are you struggling?  Where are you stuck?  Struggle with these types of questions, attempt to answer them, and in doing so, you will begin to see areas in your business that are more important than others.  In other words, what are the priorities of your business at this very moment?  When you can get a little bit of a handle on this, then you can look at the list of classes/vendors and choose the ones that will help you with your priorities.  You will no longer be tempted to attend a platform class because it’s the popular one nor be tempted by classes that look interesting.  Don’t focus on what looks interesting.  Focus on the classes/vendors/people that will address your priorities.

I realize this is not an easy exercise!  You’re like, “Riz, that’s too much of a headache.  I’ll just go with the flow once I get there.”  You most certainly can do that but imagine just how much more you will be able to maximize your experience and more importantly push your company in the direction it needs to go in order for you to be successful if you took the time to identify your priorities.  Isn’t success what you want for your business after all?  I’m all about having a great time (you’ll see me at parties too) but let me end with this quote from Jack Canfield which emphasizes the the need for thoughtful reflection:

“If you are not moving closer to what you want in sales (or in life), you probably aren’t doing enough asking.”

WPPI is going to be awesome.  May WPPI 2010 be a great, fun time for all  but more importantly, a truly meaningful experience.  See you real soon!

]]> http://rizcrescini.com/blog/2010/03/wppi-2010/feed/ 3