We're Back!

What an amazing and exhausting time we had at this years WPPI. We learned so much and are processing all of the brochures, training and products we saw.

We had the chance to speak with several of the best photographers in the industry. We ate lunch with our friends at LaCour, went to Becker's PACKED out party at THEHotel. We ran into and got to talk with Jerry Ghionis, Yervant, Joe Bussink, Dennis Reggie, and so many others. It is so interesting to talk with other photographers who are so good at what they do and find out how each of them views their photography. We made some great new friendships and reconnected with some of our older friends.

This year at Delaney Holliman Photogaphers is going to be even better than last year and it's so exciting to think about everything we've learned and how we're going to use it to bring better products and services to our clients here.

We're at the WPPI!

We completed our first day at the WPPI and it was intense. I'm back in my hotel room and just wanted to post a quick entry and let you all know how it's going. Today we heard from several of the best in the industry about how to connect with customers, and also from the president of one of the album vendors on how to maximize the back office efficiency.

Best of all, our friends at LaCour spoke. They were all amazing and we got to hang out with them a while after their presentation. They talked a lot about branding and how to make sure you find the needs and wants of your clients and fulfill them with excellence. It was so cool seeing our friends present in front of hundreds of photographers.

I can't wait to get back and implement some of the things we learned today. Tomorrow is more technical things and then the tradeshow begins on Monday along with more classes.

While walking to dinner, we had the pleasure of running into Joe Buissink. He is one of the most gifted photographer I know. He was really open and friendly and we talked with him for a while. He said he had to fly back to L.A. to do another celebrity wedding and then was going to fly back here tomorrow to present. We're really looking forward to his class.

We also ran into some more new friends of ours from Columbus - Joseph & Erica and Joe and Kathy. Joseph & Erica have only been married for two weeks and they are here at the WPPI. That's wedding photographers for ya! Bambi Cantrel shot their wedding and is a good friend of their family.

I'm kind of tired after concentrating all day and getting so much great information. There are over 6000 photographers here from over 32 different countries. It's been so great here, but I'm really looking forward to coming home too.

See you guys back in Georgia real soon!

It’s Vegas Baby!

The staff of Delaney Holliman Photography is going to the WPPI convention in Las Vegas. The WPPI convention is held every year in Las Vegas where over 6,000 photographers and 200 vendors get together to learn, share, have a great time together, and elevate their craft.

We went last year and learned so much and it really took our studio to the next level. We’ve got a lot planned starting around 8:30 every morning and going to 10:30 or 11:00 every night. There are classes all day long and the WPPI vendor tradeshow is held in the afternoons.

Some of the most amazing photographers in the world are going to be there. Mike Colon, Bambi Cantrell, and the amazing Joe Bussink are all presenting. Our friends Andrew and Rachel from LaCour are also presenting at the business institute. You know we’re all signed up for that one. We’re going to blow spit balls, raise our hands and ask really dumb questions. Haha ;-)

Our Canadian photographer friend, Brian Tao is going to look us up when we’re out there. And we’re thrilled to have been invited to the very exclusive [b] party that Becker throws every year. If any of our other friends are going to be out there, let us know and we’ll hook up!

We’ve going to learn a lot, make some new friends in the industry and come back with new techniques, products and workflows so that the images we produce here are world class. Every year I want our studio to be better than it was the year before. It is so important that we continually improve and always bring fresh ideas to our shoots.

We’re so stoked! We’re leaving Friday afternoon and will be back in the office next Thursday. I’ll have my cell phone with me the whole time so if you need anything, feel free to call.

Jennifer Huckaby and Dave Hanlan

Jennifer Huckabey and her fiancé Dave Hanlan were married at the Whitlock Inn in Marietta. We had an awesome time with these guys. They were so expressive and so into each other. I’m not sure at times they even knew we were there. Everything was so beautiful and they had the most perfect wedding. We were so blessed to spend the day with them!

I wanted to share a few photos of their wedding with you:

Canon VS Nikon

In photography, there are so many tools you can use to get amazing images and some of them seem to polarize photographers. For instance, some photographers like Nikon and Some Canon.

I’ve always thought that you should try to use the best tool for the job. So recently we’ve decided to dip our toes back into the Canon pool to explore some of their offerings too.

I started out years ago digitally with a Canon D30 and then purchased Nikon when they had introduced the D100. Later I purchased the Nikon D2x and then two Nikon D200s. Now, I just purchased the sweet Canon 5D.

The Canon 5D is a “full frame” camera that has incredible low light noise and warm saturated colors. I still love our Nikon cameras and nothing out there beats the Nikon D2x for fast focusing. To shoot kids in the park, I grab my Nikon D2x and the 70-200mm VR lens and no matter how fast the little guys run around, I’m always in focus. But, for a really dark wedding where everything is in candlelight, my Canon 5D shines.

Canon also just announced the Canon 1D Mark III that we’re strongly interested in. Unbelievably, it is supposed to have even more low light capability, 10 frames per second, and a 3” screen. It should start shipping next month. A friend of mine let me play with his Leica M8, and it’s also tempting.

We are really blessed to have the equipment we do. But they are just tools. To us, the most important part of photography is the person we are photographing.

Tammy and I talk all the time about how you can use a disposable camera and take better photos of someone you’ve got a great relationship with than you can the most expensive camera out there with someone who you carefully pose. Posed pictures, to me at least, look stale. People feeling and moving naturally look amazing.

Ashlee McCord and Bradford Wood

Ashlee McCord and Bradford Wood were married a few weeks ago at the Hay House and I wanted to share some of the images from their wedding with you. Ashlee was so beautiful and her dress was perfect for her. She looked like a princess from a romantic period of history and at the same time looked so glamorous and now. Bradford couldn’t take his eyes off her.

We had a great time sharing their day with them! They and their families were so awesome and so much fun!

Wow, those are some blue eyes!

I just had to share this image from a recent photo shoot! I loved how blue this little guys eyes were!

Lauren & Jay

We had the best time shooting their engagement session this week. These guys were just SO much fun. They were so into each other. We laughed and talked about the wedding plans and just had a great time together. I wanted to share some of their images with you.

The flowers are starting to bloom and spring has finally arrived here in Macon. The Cherry Blossum festival is just a few days away and there is so much more time in the evenings now for hanging out and shooting with people. :)

This is my favorite time of year!

Our Friends at LaCour

There are so many amazing wedding photographers that I have had the privilege to meet, learn from and become friends with, but at the top of the list are the two husband and wife teams of Andrew, Rachel, Mark and Erin who make up Lacour in Atlanta.

We were eating lunch together not too long ago with Andrew and Rachel at Ted’s Montana Grill and found out they were coming to Macon so we offered to assist them with the wedding.

They took us up on our offer and we had the best time with them. They are amazingly talented photographers and have awesome hearts.

Andrew and Rachel come from Newspaper and Magazine backgrounds. You can see it as they move to capture the decisive moments that make up a wedding day. They were everywhere at once and they were nowhere. It was an honor to work with them.

After the wedding we all went to Macon’s Tick Tock Room, the place that Little Richard was discovered, ate tapas, talked and laughed together.

It is so much fun to sit with friends and talk about the photography we all feel so passionate about.

We are so blessed to have the friends we do.