February newsletter 2015 by Alice Park

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B Y NA P C P

INSIDE

Behind the scenes photos of how the Retreat came together!

DETAILS

Retreat Highlights including a full recap of our amazing week in Whistler, BC!

N AT I O N A L A S S O C I AT I O N O F P R O F E S S I O N A L C H I L D P H O T O G R A P H E R S

Hello friends!

After a beautiful and memorable winter retreat, we’ve all returned home to our

own cozy corners of the world by now. We’ve been so pleased to hear from many of you that this was the best NAPCP retreat yet! Bridging old friendships with new, discussing our craft and sharing ideas, skiing some of Canada’s most pristine slopes – what an incredible and meaningful adventure! Many thanks to each of you who made this journey with us.

From our enlightening entourage of guest speakers who encouraged and

challenged each of us to try new practices to our in-depth and personal discussions with peers, Whistler opened our hearts and minds as both artists and business owners. Of course, none of this would have been possible without the generosity of our many retreat sponsors – your loyalty and dedication are appreciated by all.

Thank you to all who submitted your images to the January 2015 Image

Competition. The competition closed on Thursday, February 12th at midnight, and now judges have begun the scoring process. Winners will be announced in April and our 2015 Photographer of the Year will be announced soon after.

Other happenings in our world include the launch of our newly designed NAPCP

website. We invite you to click, explore and let us know what you think!

As we reflect on this time with friends and colleagues, we feel extremely fortunate

to have shared the NAPCP 2015 retreat with so many inspiring individuals. We wish everyone a happy February – may it be filled with all the people, places and things you love most!

Sincerely

The NAPCP Team

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TAB L E O F CON TE N TS Pg. 2 ............................Image Competition Update Pg. 4 ....................POY: Photographer of The Year

Pg. 5..................NAPCP 2015 Retreat: Whistler, BC

Pg. 31 ..............NAPCP Launches New Site Design Pg. 33............................................Video Resources Pg. 34................................. Apply For Membership NAPCP

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COMPETITION UPDATE

Our January 2015 International Image Competition is now closed and our judges are very excited to get to work on these fantastic submissions. The purpose of NAPCPâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Image Competitions is to recognize the accomplishments and creative excellence of our members, rewarding their talent with medallions, priority listing on our directory, vendor endorsements, member points, titles and professional recognition.

Thank you for submitting! 01 | NAPCP

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I m a g e s c o n t r i b u t e d b y A l i c e Pa r k , M a n d y Jo h n s o n , Me a g a n B a k e r, E l i z a b e t h S m i t h , L i s a

NAPCP RETREAT WHISTLER, BC JAN 1 8 - 2 1 , 2 01 5

P h i l l i p s o n a n d Jo n - M i c h a e l S u l l i v a n .

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Nestled amongst the snowy, majestic mountains of Canada, it felt like a fairy-tale excursion as our members gathered for an intimate retreat that delivered big learning and community in a smallgroup setting. Conde Nast Traveler named Whistler Mountain's Nita Lake Lodge as one of the world's best winter resorts and it did not disappoint. It provided us a cozy venue to help spoil our attendees during their stay. Inside this issue, we peak at some of our favorite memories of our 4th annual Retreat. We hosted a phenomenal group of mentors, and each of our attendees left with a renewed sense of inspiration to start off 2015. Our team could not have been pleased MORE pleased with how it all turned out.

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MENTORS

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We are so grateful to our esteemed panel of mentors for this retreat. We call them mentors (rather than speakers) because, as you will see from the pictures, they spent almost all of their time in small groups, coaching and empowering our attendees. Christine Pobke, from Australia, opened Monday morning by speaking about her strategies for social media success. A confessed "over-sharer," she helped us to see how being genuine and open can build relationships in more ways than business. She also spent her time by the fire sharing how to achieve a worklife balance in this fast-paced world, while remembering why we started in this industry in the first place. Her ability to connect across the globe in such a personal way is so inspiring!

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Jon-Michael Sullivan was our resident lighting expert on hand. He expertly led several intimate groups (from beginners to intermediate) in the step by step process of on and off-camera lighting. Afterwards, Jon-Michael bravely led us out into the snow to show us his master lighting skills in action. Clad in boots, with cameras and notepads in hand, we watched him capture a lovely couple (John & Sarah Lane) using the natural reflection of the snow, along with off-camera lighting, for a stunning final product! And because we all know there is always more to learn when it comes to workflow and editing, enter Mandy Blake. She has a fabulous way of making an ordinary topic humorous and fun. She shared some workflow techniques to help us all improve our speed and efficiency, while answering lots of questions about the ever-evasive perfect skin tones. During her small group discussions, Mandy spent her time diving in to actions and presets, and how to make them work for each individual by customizing them each step of the way. And did we mention her awesome MAGIC HOT KEY cheat sheet? Amazing! 11 | NAPCP

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Dana Pugh, sponsored by ProDPI, reminded us of the unique creative eye that we each have. She shared the stories of her personal work and how it has helped her grow both personally and professionally - in ways she could never have imagined. During her fireside chats Dana gave live critiques of work submitted by our attendees to help them become more thoughtful in their own work. She also led us out into the snow for an intimate sunset family portrait session. The connection she creates between her camera and her subject is so thoughtful and fun, and she doesn't mind getting snow thrown at her either! As if that weren't enough, Dana also took part in amazing open business discussion alongside Mandy Johnson with Q&A from our attendees and real, honest answers to all of our nagging business concerns. Sponsored by Vanguard, ProDPI, and Pixieset, Michelle Moore shared about all things Senior related (we're talking about the teenage kind, not the older crowd). She started us off with the important task of curating our online presence so we can find the clients we truly desire. During the intimate group setting, she shared more of her secrets for successfully managing NAPCP

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a senior rep program -- all the way down to the little gifts she gives to each of her clients. newfound fellowship with like-minded professionals. Prepare to collaborate and re-imagine your photography business while enjoying the natural beauty and amenities of Whistler Mountain’s Nita Lake Lodge – one of the world’s best winter resorts according to Condé Nast Traveler. Mandy Johnson, sponsored by WHCC, Musea, Pixieset and Preveal, discussed with her group keys to successful sales utilizing in-person ordering. She shared her process, from the initial telephone conversation to strategically pricing her collections, and was an open book to everything. Mandy showed us live demo of Preveal, a revolutionary way of showing clients visuals of her photographs in their space. Attendees kept the dialogue going by contributing ways they were successful in their sales process. Mandy also shared intimate details with our attendees about her business process during the live Q&A discussion with Dana Pugh. Stephanie Robin brought all of her secrets to share as it pertains to newborns and safety. Understanding all of the subtle messages from our littlest subjects is invaluable in this niche. With many years (and awards) in the industry, it was great to hear directly from an expert about posing, as well as the timeless beauty of lifestyle focused imagery for newborns. We even got to watch as Stephanie worked her magic with a live subject for an on-site newborn shoot! Sarah Lane, sponsored by ProDPI and Millers Lab, led a powerful group discussion on Giving Back. Sarah challenged each of us to think of ways, no matter how big or small, to impact an individual or community using our gifts. The group discussion began as participants looked to the individual sitting next to them and paid them a compliment on whatever came to mind. By the end of the discussion, the new hashtag #napcpgenerosity transpired. Thank you again to our incredible 2015 Retreat Mentors!

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SPONSORS

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The 2015 NAPCP Retreat could not have been possible without the support of our sponsors.

Hand-selected by our mentors, we were delighted to host giveaways,

latest product samples and fabulous swag from our generous sponsors.

A very

special thank you to The Organic Bloom, Minted, ProDPI, WHCC, Miller's, Maycomb Mercantile, Vanguard, ShootQ, Pixel 2 Canvas, Preveal, Simply Color Lab and Musea.

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CELEBRATE

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On our last evening, we hosted an intimate Farewell Soiree, complete with a hot chocolate bar and delectable Canadian desserts. Everyone came dressed down in casual pajama wear, and sat near the blazing fire as we wrapped up our biggest takeaways from the Retreat and said our goodbyes. One of our primary objectives in hosting our Retreats is to celebrate our members and this incredible community of child photographers. During the course of our time there, our attendees celebrated one another's accomplishments and encouraged one another to take their businesses to the next level. We could not be more proud to be part of such an amazing community. newfound fellowship with like-minded professionals. Prepare to collaborate and re-imagine

your

photography

business

while enjoying the natural beauty and amenities of Whistler Mountain’s Nita Lake Lodge – one of the world’s best winter resorts according to Condé Nast Traveler.

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BEHIND

We decided to feature some of our favorite behind the scenes Instagram photos from

SCENES

2015 NAPCP RETREAT

our week in Whistler, BC! Here's a look at what made our 2015 NAPCP Retreat so special!

THE NAPC P SI T E HA S A NE W LO OK!

We could not be more excited to launch our brand new NAPCP site! The new site still has two main sections: one for parents and one for photographers. 1

Use the tabs at the top to navigate between the two sides.

Browse through images from the most recent International Image Competition in our award winning gallery

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Use the Learn section to navigate to our PR Media Toolkit as well as Video Resources and much more!

Under the Shop tab you will find links to the NAPCP store, where members can use their store credit!

At the top right you will find the "My Napcp" section which links to your profile and account to allow changes, upgrades, etc. NAPCP

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WORK SH O PS Start Submitting Now! NAPCP’s July 2012 International Image Competition opened on Monday! The purpose of NAPCP’s Image Competitions is to recognize the accomplishments and creative excellence of our members, rewarding their talent with medallions, priority listing on our directory, vendor endorsements, member points, titles and professional recognition. Members each receive a total of 2 Competition Credits per Competition with their Membership. Details are online! They say a picture is worth a thousand words … and yours February be featured in our next press release. For the past two International Image Competitions, the winners announcement highlighted the names of the competition winners and received great exposure – collecting thousands of views, postings to other websites, and search index hits. Wouldn’t you like to see your name and photo sent over the wire too? Members, you can start submitting your best images here!

Membership