Last week Brett and I were in Las Vegas for the mecca of photography conventions that happens every year called WPPI. This was our first time going because our kids were finally old enough that we felt ok leaving them for so long, and everything seemed to work out for going.  To be honest with you, I was a bit unsure of the overload of THOUSANDS of photographers, going to huge classes of people, in a city that doesn’t want to sleep. Being the introvert that I am I was nervous about draining myself quickly because frankly, my partying days are long done.  ;)

Getting on the plane to head home I thought back over the previous 5 days in somewhat disbelief. You see, I actually had a GREAT time at WPPI.

So why did we even go you may be asking? Well, for a few reasons. 1.) I wanted to see what the hype was about. 2.) I wanted to hear a few people speak (including our pals Bobbi + Mike) 3.) We wanted to have a session done for our upcoming rebrand– remember, photogs from around the world come to this, so it was ideal for having our photos taken! 4.) We wanted to visit some good friends that we rarely get to see that live in Vegas.

Before leaving for Vegas, I asked around for tips about the best way to handle WPPI.  Some answers were: wear comfortable shoes, keep a water and energy bar on you for all the long lines you will wait in, bring hand sanitizer for all the hand shaking (Ok, that was my add-on….). Most often I heard, “Plan on feeling very overwhelmed.” Well I took this very seriously, and prepped for it.  While there, I talked to people who were burned out by day 2 or 3, and I was still having a great time. Here are some things that I think helped our experience go well, and helped us not feel like we were LIVING at the MGM for 5 days:

-We began by renting a car…FREEDOM, but with long waits on parking.

-Brett’s brother came in from LA to hang with us the first 3 days and we had such a great time.  He reminded us (numerous times) that he must really like us, because he’s not a fan of Vegas. I just love our traveling trio….

-We hit up Trader Joe’s on the first day. Our room had a mini-fridge so we had cereal and milk, coffee and cream, salsa and chips, and loads of snacks. This was GREAT because Brett and I are not meal skippers. This allowed us to eat before our 8 am classes and avoid the huge Starbucks line.

– We visited some very good friends that live out there, and enjoyed “normal” life and great conversations on three separate occasions.

-On the second day we went out to Red Rock Canyon for our shoot, and we returned a few days later with our new and very refreshing friend Gabe for some exploring. I can’t say how invigorating it feels to just get away from the city and breathe a bit.

-We are foodies, so anytime we travel we make sure to escape to great restaurants in the area. In fact, because we stayed in the side towers of the MGM, we didn’t even walk around the main MGM through endless jingling/jangling slot machines until the 3rd or 4th day! Roaming the city and beyond made it feel more like a vacation.

-We saw our first Cirque show compliments of Jason- Brett and I loved it.  Thank you Jason!

-It was fun being able to break out of “Mom” mode for a couple days and play dress-up. ;)

-We enjoyed meeting people and making some new friends. Meeting Gabe of Perspectiveye was seriously one of our favorite parts of the whole trip. Brett and I  love being able to “invest” in a single friendship much more than hanging with groups of people….Gabe is a kindred spirit, so after hanging for the majority of a couple days, it was sad when we had to part ways! Seriously, so awesome to meet great people out there in this big world.  :)

*Here a few photos, most of which were taken with a point and shoot camera.

A long time ago….way back in a land called 1999, we had a baby girl.  I was painting at the time, and hoping to really further my art.  Brett and I decided to make a website so that I could throw some of my artwork on there, and more importantly, we could share photos and journal a bit about our new little family.  It was just the three of us.  We were the 3 Z’s.  This is how our name found us.  Six years and 2 kids later, we began a photography business….and guess what?  We already had a name!  It has been this way for nearly 5 years. As endearing as it has been to have a name that has been with us since becoming “a family,” I have to admit that I have always felt that our name just didn’t fit us on this particular adventure.

I will wait to explain the years, months, hours, time it took to get to our new name.  Let’s just say, it took a while….but it’s going to be good.  It’s going to “fit” just right.

Stay tuned.   :)