As a professional photographer, I’m constantly looking for ways educate myself and perfect my craft. There are TONS of conferences and workshops targeting professionals – and I’m always thinking, “Which do I pick?”!. Do I want to be inspired, pushed, challenged – hopefully I can get all three and more, but certain workshops attract certain photographers. Here are some questions to ask your self when looking at workshops and conferences:
Do you want an inspirational speaker who motivates you and gets you to actually take time for you?
Do you want a hands-on workshop where it’s all day, non-stop and you actually get to take time to shoot?
Do you want something intimate or something huge like a conference with hundreds of people?
First step is to find out WHAT you want to gain from a workshop or conference.
Next step – do your research. Some cater to small groups (and have a hefty price-tag) and others cater to hundreds and may be more in your budget.
Third step – make sure you have the money to pay for a workshop or conference. You can’t go in debt going to one of these events. Especially because there will be many vendors there trying to sell you products too.
What do you want to gain?
For me, I want to feel both inspired and want to learn as much as possible. For something like this, it’s best to find a medium sized, intimate workshop. That way you’re not just a number and you can get personal time in with the teacher. And it’s a great way to meet others who want the same thing as you.
Where do I research??
Join photography groups on Facebook, Google or use an events based site such as Eventbrite to search all the events, conferences and workshops around. Or maybe you want to travel to another country (yesssss!!) and really step outside your comfort zone!
I love Eventbrite because it’s a popular place for conference organizers to list their events and promote to the right audience. You can easily You can easily set parameters around the type of event you’re looking to attend and see a list of personalized results. You can check out their online registration page for more info too!
This costs money?
Yes – so if you’re thinking of attending a conference or workshop, start saving now. They can run anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. Save now so when the time comes to register, you won’t freak out about the cost.
Whichever conference or workshop you decide on, go in and give 100%. You only get what you give when attending an event such as this. And always, ALWAYS find ways to become better at what you do.
