In case you missed my first post about Click Away, you can find it here. This post will take you through my first day of the conference and share with you some of the amazing things I learned, both about photography and life.

 

The first two days of the conference both started with a keynote speaker and for the first day it was Elizabeth Gilbert, a well known author who wrote the book Eat, Pray, Love. I am going to be completely honest here and tell you that I considered skipping this keynote for three reasons:

1. I was tired and 8:30am (7:30am Texas time) came really early, so sleeping in an extra hour was tempting

2. I had tried reading Eat, Pray, Love and didn’t like it…the movie wasn’t my favorite either

3. I was here to learn about photography, so what was a writer going to give me that would help with that? I figured she was just here to promote her new book.

In the end I decided to go and I am SO glad that I did! She is an amazing speaker and so easy to listen to. She talked about things that all women can relate to, especially those of us that are in a business based on creativity and personal taste. Here are a few of the inspirational quotes that I took away from her keynote:

“Bravery: I will do this thing even if it is scary!”

“Argue for your limitations and you get to keep them”

” Creativity can ONLY coexist alongside Fear. I decide every day that I love Creativity enough to accept that Fear will always come along with it. I talk to Fear all the time, speaking to it with respect, saying to it: “I understand that you are Fear, and that your job is to be afraid. And you do your job really well! But I need you to understand that I will always choose Creativity’s ideas over yours. You may join us on this journey — and I know that you will — but you do not get to choose the direction in which we will walk, and you will not stop me and Creativity from making plans and decisions together.””

“Fear gets a voice but not a vote”

” And then there’s that evil voice. The voice that says ‘who do you think you are?!’ to which I approach like a hostage negotiator. And I say, my name is Elizabeth, and I understand you have doubts. But I am a child of God. Born of creation, and will practice creation. Now let the girl go. ”

“Perfectionism is fear high-end clothes.”

“Perfect is a myth and a trap” 

I could go on and on about the awesomeness that was her keynote speech, but I won’t  🙂

After the keynote, it was time to head to the first of many sessions I had scheduled that day. I had a mix of everything from posing ideas to editing techniques to business tips on the agenda and it was jam packed from 10am-4pm! I had left just enough time to grab a quick lunch between sessions. I ended my day with a Meet the Speaker session with Sue Bryce. We sat around on couches in The Hub (the gathering place at the convention center) and listened to her talk about her life, her business and her friendships. It was amazing to see someone that I admired be so down to earth and real about being a woman and being in the photography business.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I worn out by then end of my classes for the day, but we still had the cocktail reception to attend. I considered skipping it and getting some rest but I had bought a dress just for this event so I decided to go – and for the free drink. I just stayed for a little while before heading back to the hotel to end the day. I still had so much more ahead of me!

 

Join me next time as I share my experience of shooting at Saltair on the great Salt Lake. See you then!