Simon Pollock of Think Tank Photo pays us a visit.

BorrowLenses had a great time at the Wedding and Portrait Photographers International Conference (WPPI) last week in Las Vegas! We spoke with hundreds of people and gave away nearly a thousand dollars’ worth of prizes over the three-day event. Thank you all for stopping by and thank you to those who could not make it but supported us on our Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus pages. For those who entered during the show, we will be raffling off our free lens rental prize very soon!

Guest Speakers

This is our first year hosting guest photographer speakers from our booth. We’d like to thank the following photographers who helped make this WPPI very special for us:

Peter Hurley at the BL booth with his new Medusa light system in the background.

Peter Hurley – Many know Hurley from his successful The Art Behind the Headshot DVD tutorial. He provided our audience with some additional tips on getting the best (and most natural) look out of their subjects. His maiden HurleyPro product, the Medusa lighting system, made a big splash at WPPI.

Syl Arena, who specializes in getting big results from small light sources.

Syl Arena – Arena’s small flash wizardry was of particular interest for our audience, who are often on-the-go and on a budget. He showed off some of the ways he’s been able to get great light out of small flash guns and also gave away a signed copy of his Speedliter’s Handbook.

Brooke Shaden gets assistance from the audience to create a flowing dress look in her demo shoot.

Brooke Shaden – Shaden’s sometimes dark/sometimes sensual self portraits are very popular the world over. Her elaborate costuming, well-planned concepts, and carefully created composites have allowed her to create a world of her own. She performed an inspiring demo shoot for our audience. Check out the before and after below:

Brooke demonstrates that a compelling portrait can be made in almost any environment.

Jeff Cable provides support for Olympian Jessica Steffens.

Jeff Cable – Cable is a three-time Olympics photographer and he brought our audience a big surprise: Olympic Gold Medalists Jessica Steffens. Together, they talked about participating in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London from two perspectives – being the athlete and being the photographer. Steffens also let us touch her gold medal so long as she got to touch our big lens!

Matthew Givot discusses time lapse and how it can boost your wedding photography portfolio.

Matthew Givot – Givot and his time lapse team are the artistic powerhouse behind the viral video
Mission 26 The Big Endeavour, which documented the space shuttle’s three-day journey from LAX to the California Science Center. Givot explained to our audience the importance of  portfolio variety and how to incorporate time lapse into normal wedding photography for maximum client satisfaction.

Jeff Lewis discusses his experience shooting the Super Bowl.

Jeff Lewis – Lewis is a longtime sports photographer who recently shot the Super Bowl XLVII. Despite being a 49ers fan, the Raven-won game is one of the highlights of his career so far and he shot much of it using our lenses! He shared his best shots, how he got them from a technical perspective, and some pro tips on shooting major sporting events.

Alexis Cuarezma gives a step-by-step description for how he lights a very large group.

Alexis Cuarezma – President of the Professional Photographers of the Greater Bay Area, Cuarezma gives back to the photographic community by coordinating with his peers to provide tutorials and demonstrations for new photographers.  He specializes in portrait photography of athletes for magazines, newspapers, and advertisement.

Next Trade Show

We’re off to the National Association of Broadcasters show in April! Register for free with expo pass code LV5334 and visit us in booth #C9550. In the meantime, enjoy our photos from WPPI below:

The HurleyPro crew test out the new Medusa lighting system.

The BL team get a shot in with Olympian Jessica Steffens.

RC Concepcion demonstrates how to handle the 600mm f/4.