If you follow us at all, you already know that we at The Red M Studio are dedicated to improving our craft to deliver art to our customers that is truly world class. Our goal is to deliver the best wedding photography, the best family photography, and the best glamour portraiture in New Orleans.

For the third year now The Red M Studio had the wonderful experience of participating in Shutterfest!  What is that, you ask?  Well in simple terms, it is a photography conference where we learn about techniques, industry trends and best business practices.  In realistic terms, Shutterfest is unlike any other conference we have ever attended.  To try to put it into words is near impossible  . . .  Shutterfest is a community of passionate, dedicated artists who are willing to reach out and embrace the art of photography and to share that passion with other like-minded individuals in a supportive, giving atmosphere that is virtually non-existent anywhere else in the field of photography.  Shutterfest is the brain-child of Sal Cincotta and Sal and his team work tirelessly and to the point of exhaustion to make this event happen.  The event has come a long way from the first year with 500 participants to now over 2,000 participants who take over Union Station for two days and totally immerse themselves in everything photography.  The knowledge flows freely, the comradeship is abundant, the willingness to reach out and help a newbie feel welcome is ever present.  I’ve heard stories of grown men literally breaking down in tears because they were so moved by the outpouring of support and the sharing of knowledge.

This year I concentrated mainly on business classes and shot very little … but I did have the opportunity to briefly shoot alongside two incredible industry favorites and just love the result.  The first was Michael Corsentino who taught location lighting skills and was just amazing.  It was so helpful to see how he accomplishes his beautiful, signature look.  The next was Bambi Cantrell, who might just be my new favorite girl crush photographer.  Not only do I love her creativity and ability to make a dress out of just about anything, but she’s just about as nice and genuine as a human being can be!

True to the Shutterfest tagline of Shoot . Learn . Party … we shot a little, we learned a lot and we partied quite a bit!

Shoot

Learn

Oh yes, we learned … we spent much our time sitting in chairs listening to industry leaders teach!  Sal and all of the speakers were so giving of themselves in sharing their knowledge and so many of the speakers went above and beyond, like Melanie Anderson who taught a class that went into overtime … for 8 hours!!  We are pumped to implement some new things in our business … our heads are just buzzing with so much new information!

Party

Oh yes, and did I say yet that we partied?  The first night was a blast as we rocked it out with a 1980’s party.  Steve and I dug in the closet and found our authentic clothes from the 1980’s … his party pirate shirt, my den mom uniform … we really were in different places in the 80’s!

We returned home exhausted (because if you get caught sleeping a photo of you will be posted to the internets with the hashtag #slumberfest) and excited and so full of gratitude for Sal, his entire team and every one of the instructors.  It only makes me sad that it only lasts 3 days and that we didn’t have time to take every class.  Buuuut … we are already signed up for next year.  Shutterfest 2017 … here we come!!!!