Personal Highlights from the I Heart Faces Photography Conference for Women

I spent all last week letting my I Heart Faces Photography Conference experience soak in.   What an amazing weekend!  I loved that I Heart Faces expanded the conference from one day into a whole weekend.  And even then, I was sad when it was done and wished we could have a little more time learn and chat.

I have actually written this post and then re-written this trying to articulate all the high points.  I get finished and think of another one.  But at some point you just have to hit the “Publish” button, you know?

I Heart Faces Creative Team:

If I must narrow it down, there were a few highlights for me, the first one being that the entire I Heart Faces Creative Team was present this year.  These women are so warm and generous with their knowledge of photography, wanting everyone there to grow in skill and their ability to gracefully balance a career with home life.  So inspiring!  I’ve known some of them for a long time via the internet, and having the chance to finally meet them in person was just downright terrific. (Does anyone say “downright” any more?)

Friendships:

Secondly, I loved reconnecting with past helpers/attendees who have become wonderful friends.  (How ironic is this: that at a photography conference we failed to get very many photos of ourselves together???  Dana and Amandalynn and Becky–that must be written down somewhere on our schedules next year so we don’t forget!)  My sweet friend Amy was able to come this year.  Angie (IHF Co-founder) pointed for me to look over my shoulder at dinner, and I think I may have squealed when I turned around and there she was!   It’s been three years since we saw one another last.  Too long!

I did manage to get a photo of  my friend Heather’s cute shoes:

I knew I shouldn’t have started a numeric list of highlights.  So back up there where it says “few”, just imagine it says “many”.  😉

Becky Adams:

This woman is a bundle of energy and non-stop encouragement.  I have “known” Becky since 2008, I think, from her blog “Life with Kaishon” in which she celebrates her son, photography, and life in general.   You simply have to check out her blog and get to know her, too.  I was so excited to meet her, and I love that I can now hear her voice whenever I’m reading her blog or comments on someone else’s page.   I think she just might be the sweetest person on the planet!

The Photo Walk:

One of my “jobs” was to lead a group for the photo walk on Sunday afternoon.  Besides getting a little lost once, we had a great time.  (And I think I was really the only one that felt flustered about that.)  I enjoyed watching everyone interact with the models and the instructors.  We rotated around five locations with different types of sessions being modeled–all beautiful and fun.

Family Photo Session:

And finally, and most significantly, was our photo session with Susan Keller Photography.  Oh, let me back up.   In my last post, I didn’t mention that my kids were coming along for one day so that our family could model for the Beautiful Lifestyle workshop.  Honestly, it was the one thing I was most looking forward to and yet, the most nervous about.  Better not to say anything ahead of time and then if it was a complete flop, you would be none the wiser.  And I wasn’t nervous that the pictures wouldn’t turn out or something because Susan is truly an amazing photographer.  But this was a little different than your normal family photo shoot.

You see, we haven’t had a family photo session done since 2009.  And we are now one less in number.   (But just because we’re getting new photos done doesn’t mean I have to take down the old ones, right?)  And I worried that my kids would be grumpy and maybe bicker as siblings sometimes do.  And yes, this was to be a lifestyle session–capturing our true selves and all, but the best true selves, right?  (These are probably the same things you all wonder about before a session, too!)  I wondered how it would turn out to have the session at a hotel rather than at home.  I worried a little bit that the kids would withdraw in the face of all those cameras because this was a workshop.  All the attendees would have cameras, too, not just Susan.

And then, yesterday, Susan posted the video and stills from our session.  And I was stunned.  It is so obvious that even though Jeff wasn’t here for this round of family photos, he is still very much here with us.  In their music, in their expressions, in our hearts.

And well, I just couldn’t be more grateful.