Shutterfest 2024 Recap

I have said it a million times, but I absolutely love learning. I am obsessed with learning new photography skills and editing tips and tricks. Last January, I took a workshop with The Newborn Nerds, and they had mentioned Shutterfest. Shutterfest is a huge 3-4 day photography conference in St. Louis. From the way Amy and Lindsay described it--I knew I wanted to go!

My photog bestie, Mollie, and I carpooled together to downtown St. Louis. When we arrived at our hotel, tornado sirens were blaring. It's fine....everything is fine. We met up with another photographer friend, Katelyn and explored the area. Over the course of three days, we went to 8-9 different workshops that focused on lighting, photography, editing, posing, marketing, etc. We even had the opportunity to attend the Shutterfest Meta Gala to celebrate Shutterfest's 10th conference. We had so much fun getting dressed up and dancing.

Tuesday morning Katelyn and I attended Bethany Ellen's 'Barebones to Badass' course. During the course we learned when things don't go as planned, we have to PIVOT and switch gears quickly. We were divided into groups based on our camera, so I was in the Sony group and Katelyn moved to the Canon shooters. As a group, we had ten minutes to plan a shoot with our model. Our model, Tabitha, was amazing to work with! Our group opted to dress her in a yellow high/low gown and use the pink orchids. We experimented with shooting into the mirror to capture her reflection. We also had twenty minutes to edit and upload our images after only shooting for twenty minutes. Remember, the aim of the game was to move quickly.

Another very memorable class was Tabitha Schroeder's posing class. We learned how to prompt our clients vs being too posed. Giving them some tips and suggestions on interactions to capture the real connections.

I loved photographing Justin and Cyn. They were easily mistaken as a couple, but they were just two models that had great chemistry together. I loved the images I captured of Cyn by herself also.

Throughout the week, different companies brought in different models for their sets. Intuition Backdrops created some gorgeous sets for models to pose in between classes. Cheyanne's images are some of my favorites that I took during Shutterfest. The colors in these images along with her gorgeous red hair are breathtaking. This has inspired me to go red this fall and wear all the green.

Throughout the week we learned about using strobes vs available/continuous light. Becca and Avery's images show the movement of dancers. The lighting in Avery's images are continuous and are more flat compared to Cyn's images above. Both are lovely, just a very different vibe.

One of the most beneficial classes I took was an outdoor lighting class taught by lighting expert, Clay Souza. Although it was absolutely freezing outside during our 10 AM session and the lighting conditions were rapidly changing, we learned how to account for natural light and strobes to create the effect we wanted in camera. It was amazing to learn what camera settings we needed to use to achieve a look to mimic twilight during midday. I'd love to give our model, Grace, some serious applauds for this session. I didn't get as many shots as I wanted, but my priority was ensuring Grace was kept warm in between shoots. I wrapped her up in two blankets and just hugged her. I did promise the Iowa Native that I was not a creeper, although I don't know if she 100% believed me.

I had an amazing time at Shutterfest and made so many great connections with other creatives. I am excited to implement some of the strategies back home in my own studio work and on location. I was even able to get an updated headshot of myself.