There are “Vegas People,” and there are “Not-So-Vegas People.” I’ve never experienced Vegas, but have always considered myself to be the latter. I’m not a big gambler (too much of a wimp) and since large quantities of liquor and prostitutes haven’t been my thing since college (y’all know that’s a joke, right?) I’ve never really felt a strong desire to go. However, I’ve always felt like Vegas would be a really cool place to experience ONCE. I wanted to see all the gorgeous architecture and design of the casinos, watch the fountain display at the Bellagio, take in a Cirque du Soleil show, take some rockstar photos in the Neon Graveyard, and maybe ride the roller coaster on top of the Stratosphere. Maybe catch a celebrity sighting of Wayne Newton or Donnie Osmond (I’ve had a mega-crush on Donnie since I was a kid.)  Yes, I suppose Vegas would be a fun place to visit once.  So…

When I found out that the annual WPPI (Wedding & Portrait Photographers International) Convention was being held in Vegas, I was in!  Since I knew I wouldn’t have much fun spending an entire week alone in Sin City (can you imagine how much trouble I could get myself into?!?) I made Hubs come with.  He was a little hesitant at first (when given the choice between spending money on travel, or something tangible (new 50inch flat-panel TV, anyone?) he would always rather spend it on some fun gadget) but at the end of the trip he was so glad he went.  We had a great time!

We got a bit of a rocky start, when our flight out of Richmond was delayed by 6 hours (yes, 6 HOURS!!!)  Apparently our plane’s computer thought it was on fire, even though it wasn’t, so it wouldn’t move.  Crazy, huh?  The JetBlue folks were so incredibly nice and hospitable though, they bought us all pizzas and we had a mini party right there in the terminal.  The bad news is that we missed our connecting flight in NY, so by the time we got up there around 1:30am, JetBlue put us up in a hotel for the night but we had to be back at JFK by 4am.  We got less than 2 hours of sleep, and really weren’t able to sleep on the plane at all.  It was a little rough, but thankfully our buddies at JetBlue were so thankful for Chris’ and my kindness about the whole delay-debacle (most people were being real jerks about it…as if they could do anything about it) that they upgraded us.  Silver lining, folks!  We hailed a cab at the Vegas airport to take us to our Hotel.  I knew the MGM Grand was basically a stones throw from the airport, and I had read online to not let them take you “through the tunnel,” so when “Cabbie Mike” asked me when the last time we had been in Vegas was, I lied and responded “about a year and a half, I think.”  Sometimes I scare myself with well I can lie when the rare occasion permits it.  I didn’t want him to think he could scam us by taking us the long way.  Well…sure enough…he took us through the tunnel.  Our ride cost twice what it should have.  Thankfully I kept the receipt so I can report him to the Nevada Taxi Cab Authority.  Crook…

Going on a total of about 6 hours sleep for the past 3 days, we were a little delirious once we got to the hotel, but we got some lunch, a shower, and a nap, and felt fairly restored.  We toured several casinos, which was fun, and went that night to see Kevin James do standup comedy.  Seriously, you all, if you ever have an opportunity to see Kevin do standup you MUST go!  It was surprisingly clean (especially for Vegas) and absolutely hilarious.  The only part of the evening that was a little “meh” was the copious amounts of breasts.  Let me explain…

Since prostitution is legal in Vegas, but they are not allowed to solicit on The Strip, the way they get around that is by hiring these creepy little guys to stand on the strip (at least 4-8 of them along every block) wearing shirts that say “Girls to you in less than 15 minutes, call xxx-xxxx” and they hand out these little “business cards” to everyone walking by.  You have to keep your hands tucked because they will actually force them into your hands as you walk by.  These business cards usually feature a phone number, and a full-frontal nude photo of a hooker.  I suppose many people either grab the card unknowingly or take it just to get a cheap glance, but then just toss them on the ground because everywhere you look, all you see are naked women all over the ground.  On the south end of the strip there isn’t a single square inch that isn’t plastered with those cards.  I swear, I have never seen so many boobs in my life.  At one point Hubs tripped off a curb for the third time, and I asked him if there was something wrong with his shoes and he said “No, I’m trying to keep my head up and not look down out of respect for you!”  Hahaha…poor guy.  Poor sweet amazing guy.

Aside from the excessive boobage, and the awful churning I kept getting in my stomach thinking about the fact that those poor girls were someone’s daughter, and how dehumanizing it must be to be in their position (Call me a prude if you want, but I couldn’t shake that thought all night), I really enjoyed touring the strip with my man.  We played a few slot machines at the Bellagio and I found out why they call it “the one armed bandit.”  I was hooked!  I only blew about 5 dollars total (I was actually quite good, so I made my money last for a while), and then Hubs decided that if he left Vegas without playing “with the big boys,” he would feel like he missed out, so we played a little Craps.  We actually did really well at that, doubling our money at one point.  Of course, the whole thing stressed the heck out of me and I kept saying “Look, we’re up to $70, let’s cash in!”  Hubs would just laugh at me and say “relax, we’re not doing this to make money, remember, we’re doing this for entertainment and with the full expectation of losing this money.”  He’s so cool.  We did end up losing all but $5-10, but it was worth it.  We played for a good couple of hours and had a great time.

Of course, the conference was by far the best part of our trip.  I spent the better part of four days taking numerous classes that were taught by the incredible leaders of our industry.  I got to meet several of them, shake their hands, and have stayed in touch with a few.  I know that most of my (non-photog) friends and clients have never heard of most of these people, but they are like the Brad Pitts, Tom Cruises, Jennifer Anistons and Lady Gaga’s of the photography world.  If you are a photographer who was unable to make it to WPPI this year, please feel free to contact me and I’d be happy to take you out for tea and give you some of the highlights.  It was absolutely outstanding, and I left there with so much hope and excitement for what the next year will hold for my business.  I have so many incredible ideas that I plan to implement in my business as soon as I get a chance to catch my breath.  I also met some of the kindest people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting there, and they inspired me to make my business about helping others.  One quote I’ve always loved from David Jay’s father is “If you make your business about helping others, you’ll never be out of business.”  LOVE that!

Here is my favorite photo from the trip.  Hubs left one day earlier than I did, so while I was packing my bags, I checked the safe to make sure Chris didn’t leave anything in there.  We had all kinds of expensive camera equipment in the room, some jewelry, laptops, etc, but THIS is what Hubs put in the safe!!!  He was obviously quite concerned that the cleaning crew was willing to lose their nice MGM Grand jobs in order to steal our 83cents.  Oh geez…

Hugs,

~Jewels