Last week I gave myself the week off to attend the One Life Zero Regrets photography conference at Backlot Studios in Melbourne. It was the first photography conference of its kind to hit Australia and with an amazing line up of international and Australian speakers, I decided I had to be there.
To start the conference, two of the mornings we headed out for an early morning photo walk to get the body and mind moving for the day ahead of learning and sitting on our arses for 8 hours.
Here are some of the photos I took.
A photography 101 tips is to look at your subject from different angles, by getting lower and shoot up as I did here or get high and shoot down and so on, just move around your subject for a more interesting perspective.
Using my exposure to darken down under the bridge for a creative photo of the light between the gap in the highway just to make it more interesting.
Some photos of the other Zero Regret’ers and what they were shooting 😉
Oooh that golden glow of the morning light streaming down the Melbourne street.
I was leaning up against the wall hoping a random person would walk by, but when no one was coming along, Todd jumped in the shot to be my random person. Thanks Todd.
I got to meet a Sydney wedding photographer who’s work I admire, but I have to keep his identity a secret (no just kidding) … he was the only one who thought it was cold enough to put on some gloves.
I dont know why but some of us photographers are drawn to out-of-focus photos – they call that artistic or something .. haha
Snooze in the car before work … or maybe he slept there overnight after a night on the town … oooh!
Playing with reflections … kind of fun but frustrating at the same time as I don’t feel I got any decent shots.
Moving on …
Time to hit the conference to learn something.
Below Im pictured with Lanny & Erika from Two Mann Studios representing Canada, one of the international heavyweights taking the stage at the conference. They were a huge hit with their informative and hilarious presentation as you would expect from two of the top wedding photographers in the world. Mind you I did see their presentation a few weeks earlier in Las Vegas at WPPI and it was just as impressive as the first time around. I also managed to catch up with them for lunch in Brisbane a few weeks ago with their two kids. When invited to speak at Zero Regrets they decided to make the most of their trip to Australia and came for a few months road trip. The two of them are multiple award winners and the top 2 Fearless wedding photographers in the world, but they are two of the most down to earth fun people. What I learnt from Erika & Lanny is to get high, get low, go wide and go far. Check out their creative style of documentary wedding photography on their Two Mann Studios website
Below, this is Jaleel King a total rockstar, funny guy and most inspiring speaker of the conference. Jaleel is a Philadelphia photographer. I only had 3 days with this man at the conference but boy did he make a huge impact on me. Jaleel King has an amazing story, is a more amazing person and doesn’t let his disabilities stop him as a photographer. Jaleel was shot when he was 8 years old for being a bit of a naughty boy by someone in his community. The person was never convicted because the church intervened and the shooter happened to be the brother-in-law of the pastor. Jaleel should not have survived, however, he did because he is a fighter and there was a bigger purpose awaiting him. Jaleel is in a wheelchair, but he certainly is not handicapped. He refuses to let the wheelchair hold him back. From his chair, he is a portrait photographer, a wedding photographer, but most of all his street photography work tells great stories along with funny ones showing his wicked sense of humour. Big Ass Hugs for this guy. Read Jaleel’s inspiring story here
“Roller Door Barbie”
Here is Erika, one half of Two Mann Studios, in the gutter taking a photo using the reflections in the puddle. Mann oh Mann those photographers get down and dirty. haha
If you are a Facebook user and got married somewhere between 2014 and now you would have seen a video go viral of a flamboyant New Zealand wedding photographer running around the countryside doing spins and cartwheels while photographing a couple (watch the video here, and even if you’ve seen it before take another look ;), well that guy is Jonathan Suckling and he presented at the Zero Regrets Photography Conference. This is him bringing his flamboyant wonderfulness to Melbourne and crossing the road to do a handstand on the Mr Hive Kitchen & Bar sculpture … whatevs 🙂
I must admit I thought the video was a stunt making a mockery of photographers and didn’t think it was a real photographer. When there was a last minute change of speakers and I saw Jonathan Suckling’s name announced, I looked him up and discovered this little fact. I thought it must be a one off crazy stunt, but turns out Jonathan is a bit of a crazy New Zealander and does this stuff all the time. He even has a thing called a #sucklingspin that he breaks into during his wedding portrait sessions. His presentation involved a lot of wicked dance moves and had us all in stitches. As we wandered the streets on our photo walk, he was regularly breaking into dance moves. And he talks in hashtags …
So I can tell you first hand that his actions in the video aren’t an act, that’s how he was the entire conference and in real life.
My main man Jaleel King doin his thang …
When a bunch of photographers take over the sidewalk. It was funny watching the serious faces of the passing foot traffic, so in the spirit of the Zero Regrets workshop “One Life, Zero Regrets”, we thought we would attempt to make some people smile. This was the only person to walk under our Love Tunnel and not come out the other side smiling. Oh well you can only try.
Lanny Mann in his element …
