I had one of the most rewarding weekends I've had in quite some time this past weekend. I rolled out last Thursday night to Skiatook, OK, to take part in the MPIX Oklahoma Hills Shootout. I was on the schedule for Saturday morning to lead a outdoor flash demonstration, and on Sunday I shot a bridal and engagement session for an upcoming video. I'll post more news on that when the time comes.
Anyway, on Friday I spent the day with Lowry from
Old South Images,
Cort Anderson,
Ken LeBleu, and
Greg Coury. We journeyed West of Tulsa down Route 66 and had a fantastic time. I don't get a chance to shoot much like that, so it was fun to hang with these fellas before all of the festivities and classes of the weekend began. It was my first time meeting Ken and Greg in person...and what a time we had. I'd have to say the highlight of the 66 trip for me was walking around with Ken in the old abandoned drive in theater. It was very surreal, almost like walking through an old graveyard of memories. Very cool.
Then we got back to Pat and Grant's magnificent home in Skiatook and I finally got to meet the man, Peter Tellone, of
Ground Up Photography. To me, he's Moose. Long story...not enough time. What a treat it was to get to hang with him the whole weekend. As inspiring as his photography is, and dangit...he's remarkable, he's an even more inspiring person.
All of my "old" friends were there too...Denise, Lynda, Michell, Regan, Trisha, Mike, Cort, Lowry, Bing, the whole gang. Plus, this year we had so many new faces that we could finally put with their names. LaDair came in from out West also, I've been speaking with him for quite some time but finally got to shake the man's hand. There's much more to come with him in the near future. We had a great night just hanging out.
Saturday was a blast. My outdoor lighting session was a hit, there were about 30 people who attended and it was great to just show them how I do what I do, and watch them run with it for about an hour and a half. LaDair, Cort, and Lowry all gave classes that afternoon.
John and Matt from Mpix rolled in to spend the afternoon with us also. What a treat it was to meet those two fellas. They really are top notch people working for a top notch company.
Saturday night we all just sat around the campfire and Ken played the guitar. We sang, shared stories, and enjoyed the evening like children at summer camp. Well....kind of. :)
I have to mention a few ladies that pitched in quite a bit of their time and effort to make a lot of this happen. Jenn, Amy, and Shelley...you made this thing roll like no one else could have. Thank you.
And finally...Pat and Grant...what a wonderful couple the two of you make. They graciously opened up their home to allow 70 of us to get together and share so much about this business, the lives we have, and what we can do to make those two things better in so many different ways. I'd have to say they're the mom and pop of the MPIX family, and I have to say a very special thank you to both of you for making all of this happen. I can't express how happy I am that I've had the chance to have both of you in my life, both in business and in friendship. Thank you.
Well...that's probably my longest blog entry ever...I'll be sharing some photos from the different sessions in the next day or so. Hopefully I'll be able to get my hands on some of the fun ones too!
