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    NAPCP Retreat 2011: Vail Recap!

    August 18, 2011 | Posted by Alice Park

    “Shooting that evening in the Colorado field, I felt my perspective shift. … Slowing down. Being deliberate. Enjoying the moment. … It wasn’t until the next day, during an amazing talk by Leah Zawadzki and Deb Schwedhelm that I was able to process what exactly happened that evening. … As an artist, my style is always evolving. Forever growing. I just need to be brave enough to push through the mediocre, trust my instincts, venture outside of my comfortable bubble, and wrestle it out until the fireworks go off.” Jane Johnson, Jane Johnson Photography & Branding Design, NAPCP Retreat: Vail attendee.


    This year’s NAPCP retreat was simply amazing. If you missed this one, well, we wish you wouldn’t have. You were with us in spirit and we hope you could feel the love.

    Our Beaver Creek sanctuary was spectacular. And while we certainly enjoyed the Westin’s rejuvenating spa, the infinity hot tubs along the Eagle River, and the class IV rapids on the Colorado River, the real magic was found in the sessions of learning and sharing. Karen Carey’s powerful presentation on capturing competition-caliber images; Kelley Ryden and Tracy Raver’s fantastic newborn posing demonstration; the incredible business mind of Liana Lehman Hall; the soulful Deb Rouse Schwedhelm and Leah Zawadzki helping us all discover our own styles.

    From the Yukon, London and loads of places in between, a talented community of professional child photographers gathered to learn how to improve their craft and take their business to the next level. Judging by all the hugs and tears during the goodbyes, we’d say a lot of beautiful connections were made.

    I had the most amazing time in Vail at the NAPCP retreat. The perfect mix of fun, learning & relaxation with an awesome group of friends and fellow photographers. Already looking forward to the next one!

    This week was beyond what I expected and I am so excited to get home and start using everything I gained at the retreat. You guys and your team are amazing!!!

    Loving the retreat! Every photographer needs to hear what Liana Hall has to say about pricing and profit. So many lightbulb moments.

    Just wanted to say thank you NAPCP for such an awesome retreat! It was my first one and I will definitely be back. Came home with so many ideas both personally and professionally, and met some wonderful people as well!

    Watching the incredible Tracy Raver and Kelley Ryden during our newborn posing workshop! What an uplifting, once in a lifetime experience for me! So much inspiration and positivity in ALL of the speakers! Thank you NAPCP for allowing us to be so blessed in this organization! Once again I have fallen in love with NAPCP and what it stands for! Can’t WAIT for next year!

    I’m loving every minute at the NAPCP retreat in Vail. Learning more than I could have ever imagined while meeting new friends.

    Deb and Leah’s exercise on journaling brought me to tears of reality in what I am missing in my photography world! I was so moved in these 15 minutes and have had one of the biggest ‘Aha’ moments of my life! Thank you so much for that gift! I will use it well!

    One word: Awesome!!!

    And we couldn’t have pulled it off completely without our marvelous & supportive sponsors. Thanks so much to The Organic Bloom, Jane Johnson Branding Design, Give Studio, White House Custom Colour, GNP Frame and Album Crafters, as well as so many others who helped fill our swag bags with treats and goodness. We’re talking about you Adorama, Artsy Courture, Trendy Ties, Shootsac, Posh Prints and Design, Kelly Moore Bags, Simply Edits, Asuka/Kubota, The Shoppe, Lilyblue, Pictage and Photographer Cafe.

    Thank you so much to all who attended! See you next year :)

    Alice ParkAlice Park

    Enter to WIN a free seat to the NAPCP Retreat in Vail!

    June 28, 2011 | Posted by Alice Park

    Design Aglow is hosting a huge GIVEAWAY for the NAPCP Retreat in Vail July 25th – 28th! To enter to win:

    1) Become a fan of both the NAPCP and Design Aglow page on Facebook
    2) Tell us why you deserve to win on your wall. Be sure to tag both NAPCP and Design Aglow on your post!
    3) Deadline: Friday, July 1st at 11:59 pm

    Don’t waste another minute…enter to win now!

    See you in July!

    The NAPCP Team

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    UPDATE!

    On behalf of Design Aglow and NAPCP (National Association of Professional Child Photographers) we are thrilled to announce the winner of the FREE seat at this year’s NAPCP Retreat in Vail! A big congratulations to Lindsay Silsby of Pied Piper Photography, who will be joining us this July!!! Thank you so much to everyone who entered. For those still interested in attending, there are still a few spots open! Make sure to register now to reserve your spot today! http://www.napcpretreat.com/

    Alice ParkAlice Park

    Wondering why some photographs are moving, sentimental masterpieces in the eyes of clients, but prove to be underwhelming low scorers in image competitions? Eager to master the art of creating beautiful images that will also score well in competition?

    Then join us at NAPCP Retreat 2011: Vail, where nationally-acclaimed photographer Karen Carey will unlock the mystery of image competition judging and explore the essential elements of a winning image. For maximum educational impact, retreat participants will have the opportunity for their own image submissions to be critiqued and participate in an interactive discussion with Karen.

    Recognized as American Society of Media Photographers Best of 2006, Karen is known for her soulful and artistic fine art black and white portraits of children and families. Her distinctive style combines an eye for strong yet simple composition with exquisite mastering of light, yielding powerful portraits that honor her passion for artistic excellence.

    Don’t miss a chance to go behind the competition scene with Karen. There are still a few remaining spots available for this year’s intimate retreat. Sign up today and join us in Vail July 25th – 28th! Register here to reserve your spot now!

    Hope to see you in July!

    The NAPCP Team

    Alice ParkAlice Park

    NAPCP Retreat 2010: A Full Recap

    July 7, 2010 | Posted by Alice Park

    On June 20th – 23rd, 2010, NAPCP members gathered together to for our first annual Retreat in Napa. We emerged with a renewed commitment to our craft and forged lifelong friendships with the individuals who attended. This was an experience that celebrated who we are. We laughed, cried, shared, and opened our hearts…

    The retreat is still very much a haze to us. We are so humbled by the 50 attendees who flew cross country to join us in Napa. Our speakers were phenomenal, the wine and atmosphere – perfection, and the late night bonding with new & old friends was priceless.

    One of our members, Tanya Alexis, writes:

    I have never been to any sort of photographer retreat/expo/convention, and I had no idea what to expect. I knew I was looking forward to meeting some faces who had been a large part of helping me shape my business during my first year, but other than that I was curious to see how things would end up. The retreat exceeding my expectations above any beyond anything I could have ever imagined. It was the perfect combination of fun and information. I have already starting implementing information that I learned during my days in Napa. Alice & Kyu are amazing. They put their heart and soul into this retreat, and it showed in spades! The attention to detail and to those at the retreat was above and beyond anything you would expect.

    I know that I have forged life long friendships with people that I only met in person for a couple of days. I cannot think of another situation where you would be able to get so close to people in such a short period of time. A huge thank you to everyone who helped make this retreat possible. I am very proud to have been apart of the first NAPCP Retreat :)

    Thank you, Tanya…. :)

    On our first night, Whitney, Sara, Tanya and I stayed up until 2 am or so putting together our member swag bags.  Swag stands for “Stuff We All Get.” Every time you attend a workshop, convention or event, Swag is usually given as a thank you at the end. For our first retreat, we wanted to make the entire experience extremely memorable – starting with our gift bags.

    Each contained hundreds of dollars in gifts from our sponsors. Sponsors included:  Album Crafters, Custom Photography Blogs, Easy as Pie Pricing, Big Folio, J Lee Albums, Bay Photo

    A special thanks to our contributors who provided goodness to our Swag Bags and over $5,000 in raffle prizes for our attendees:  Simply Canvas, Adorama, Design Aglow, Kubota Action Tools, Asuka Books, Skye Hardwick’s Workshop Workbook, Pocket full of Poses, Kelly Moore Bags, Brand Camp, Totally Rad Actions, Studio Cloud, Luxcetera, BorrowLenses, Photographer Cafe, Loktah, Jolie Wraps, Buckeye Photo, Designer’s Concept, Photographers Kick Start & Simply Edits

    

    And one of our top sponsors, my good friend Zida of Studio-Z, created the most gorgeous letterpressed programs, table cards, stationary, and business cards we’ve ever seen. The below photos honestly do not do the pieces justice. You really need to hold them to appreciate them….

    My absolute favorite part of the experience = the connections that were made.  Online friends who were able to meet for the first time, share a glass of wine, and really bond….

    Our keynote speaker, Tamara Lackey, discussed the importance of Photographer-Life Balance. This is a constant struggle for many working child photographers.  How do we balance work, family, and living our own lives to its fullest?

    Along with being an incredibly gifted speaker, photographer, all-around awesome person, Tamara is also a pretty brilliant group therapist.  Lots of digging deep inside, prioritizing and, real & practical tips for balancing it all.

    We also welcomed Dane Sanders to the floor – the celebrated author of Fast Track Photographer, a new and innovative approach that allows photographers to get clear on the gifts and talents “you” have as an individual.  Dane shares with the group:  “Start with your most powerful resource: You.”

    We were so blessed to have such phenomenal speakers at our first Retreat.  Dane absolutely mesmerized the group.  Fans lined up for their autographed copy of Fast Track Photographer.

    We also were able to get the inside scoop of his newly announced Fast track workshops! This workshop is a collaborative experiment aimed to do nothing short of transforming photographer’s businesses into exactly what they were made to do as a creative.  It promises to be intense, challenging, rich and relational.

    Fellow attendees stepped up to lead group discussions:

    Lisa Thomas: “What is Community?”
    Jane Johnson: “Photoshop Tips & Workflow
    Brandy Anderson: “Fusion Videos”
    Andrea Halsey: “The Client Experience”

    They all did an amazing, amazing job….

    Afterwards, the group ventured outside at the Resort’s private vineyard and joined 15 child models from San Francisco for our Shooting Clinic.

    Armed with our gear :)

    Dane is providing the group fill light with his 17″ macbook pro. Awesome.

    The shooting clinic was a huge success! The challenge: finding beautiful light, connecting with our subjects in such short amounts of time, and producing stunning images.

    All without any instruction….

    Those that remained til the very end. sunset after our shooting clinic… What a great group.

    The next day, we set out for our wine tasting experience! So fun singing “Hey Soul Sister” on the bus with everyone.

    Merryvale had a lovely spread prepared for our first wine tasting experience… The wine-cheese pairing was amazing.

    At Judd’s Hill, we were fortunate to have been able to sit in on Dane’s askdane.com with Tamara as his guest.  Tamara recapped her presentation discussing Life and Work Balance.  She shared some great tips with Dane and his viewers on being able to single-task (not multi-task) and structure your day to get more accomplished.  Their podcast is available online here.


    In the end, we all left with 45 new friends, a lot of inspiration, and a better sense of who we are… (not to mention some good sun and some good wine)  We are so thankful to be part of such a warm and soulful community of child photographers.  Crystal James writes, “I left the retreat with renewed enthusiasm in my business and personal life, as well as a long list of trusted advisers and friends.”

    Thank you, from the bottom of NAPCP’s hearts, to all who attended.  We can’t wait until next year!!




    Alice ParkAlice Park

    NAPCP Retreat 2010: Napa Valley

    June 25, 2010 | Posted by Alice Park

    And, we’re back from Napa!  What an exhilarating week it’s been.  Full of inspiring talks, serious girl bonding, and lots of fun!

    We’ll be doing a full recap next week on the NAPCP blog.  For now, here is a photo of our fabulous group (minus a few who were still wine tasting!) at our first Retreat.  I am still recovering from such an amazing week…  Love the 50 new friends I made these past few days!


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