A few months ago, I was at home in León, Guanajuato, Mexico, checking Instagram when I saw a post promoting the annual WPPI conference and trade show in Las Vegas. I had never heard of WPPI before, but I immediately went to the #wppi hashtag in the caption below the image (of the Vegas strip taken from a hotel window) and was intrigued by what it said: “Hey, wedding and portrait photographers, are you ready for WPPI 2019, the largest industry show there is out there?” All I could think was, what is this about and why don’t I know about it? So I decided to find out. 

For the next hour, I did my research and looked up countless reviews to unearth helpful feedback about the event. After visiting the official show site, I immediately called my older sister and begged her to accompany me to Vegas. “This is just the kind of inspiration and networking experience I’ve been looking for in my business,” I remember telling her. 

I wanted to learn more, share more and rub shoulders with some of the biggest names in the industry. She couldn’t make it, but I couldn’t resist the urge to follow my dream, and the best way for me to do that was by expanding my universe and my network. Despite my family’s warnings, I bought a one-way ticket to Vegas—which would turn out to be the beginning of one of my most favorite life adventures.

I’ve been working in photography professionally for about three years now. Five years ago, I began documenting special moments of friends and people close to me, including birth and maternity sessions, and engagements and weddings in a more photojournalistic and lifestyle way.

I am still somewhat of an emerging photographer who is trying to figure out all of the basic building blocks of growing a business. For the past couple of years, my favorite way to find my clients has been through word-of-mouth referrals from friends and friends of friends. People who knew me knew I always enjoyed to photograph weddings and family subjects, so over time they started trusting me with their special moments. Eventually, new potential clients began reaching out through Instagram, my website and my Facebook page. Once in a while, I would also get published in a local magazine featuring specific social events (like a high-society wedding or family event). 

Once I arrived at the conference, I made fast friends and tried to attend as many seminars and photo walks as I could. I attended the Rangefinder Rise + Shine program over the course of three days and really learned a lot from the 30 Rising Stars mentors and speakers who were on hand (like Laura and Tim Sullivan’s “Money Matters,” especially because they go abroad a lot). They offered up several different scenarios and examples of the type of clients who hire them, and they stressed the importance of first providing a quality service and getting that skill down and then worrying about the money later. That’s always been my way of working, too; I would never offer my clients anything that I wouldn’t buy myself. “Keep things simple but effective” was the much-appreciated takeaway from the Sullivans’ talk.

Another class I loved was “Lighting on the Fly: How to Rock your Flash FAST in 5 of the Trickiest Parts of the Wedding Day” by Justin and Mary Marantz because besides sharing their tricks and secrets and basic one-light setup, I found their stories especially inspiring. I really identified with them.

One new friend I made at the show urged me to attend Peter Hurley’s “Headshot Career Startup” because he is such a dynamic and fun educator who is more than happy to share his posing secrets, especially his “sandwich posing techniques.”

I was definitely like a kid let loose in a candy store, being presented with new types of equipment, posing techniques and  alternatives to avoiding the wrong clients instead of being stressed out trying to make everyone happy. I also connected with great people at the show who allowed me to compare and test lenses, lights and all kind of things that you cannot really get access to very often in the same place at the same time (not in my country, anyway). 

Overall, I networked like crazy, made new friends, discovered I do like Vegas and learned to not obsess over my competition but rather look inward, continue to do what makes me happy and expand my universe. And yes, I’m already planning my trip to WPPI 2020!  

María Fernanda Villalobos is a Mexico-based wedding, lifestyle and portrait photographer who earned a Bachelor of Foreign Trade and Customs at a local university. She loves dogs, being Mexican, learning new things and embarking on new adventures. She is a firm believer in the old saying that “a picture is worth a thousand words.” 

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