My friendship with Jason Groupp is a prime example of why everyone needs to attend conventions, trade shows and network, network, network.  I met Jason three years ago in the Graphistudio booth at PhotoPlus Expo.  Jason brought over one of his albums and it was the I ? NY project, which has pretty much become one of his personal trademarks.
 
During down times, he’d pull together a shoot to just “play” with one of his clients.  He loves New York, he loves being a photographer and he’s got a great rapport with his clients.  Put the three together and you’ve got a winning combination of creativity, great images and one of those words we all keep forgetting about, “FUN”!   Work is allowed to be fun, especially when you’re pushing the edges of the envelope of creativity, your environment and your skill set as a photographer.
 
I asked Jason to do a guest post and here he is!   Meet Jason Groupp and I ? NY.   As you read what he wrote and how he started the concept, think about doing it in any city on the planet!  The application is universal to any location – it doesn’t have to be New York City! 
 
For me, it’s all about “art”, and the pursuit of the perfect image. I’m always on the hunt for some new tool that will be the answer to my problems.   Honestly, I’ve got a closet full of “problem solvers” that include a plethora of camera brackets, filters, broken stands, and lighting modifiers I’ve discarded. I have a personal land of misfit camera gear. :)

When I was in college my professor would make us shoot 10 rolls of film a week. Didn’t matter what it was, just had to blow through 10 rolls.   His point was,  if you don’t shoot, how do you get better?  It was a tough task, but 22 years later, I still try to keep that same mindset. Think about it, how do pro athletes get better at what they do? They practice. Do you think Derek Jeter enjoys fielding ground balls for months down in Florida during spring training? Seriously, does he need to do that? You bet!

So why are we any different?

During my downtime I have always tried to schedule shoots to keep the “wheels turning”. I’d bring my assistant Lindsey (now an associate too!) along, and it helped me teach her my lighting, so it was familiar when we were on the job. Each time I’d try to challenge myself by doing something different, whether it was using a California Sunbounce   or a new ringflash.   She enjoyed getting out of the studio (me too!) and we both learned something. This way, on the wedding day, I could say to her, “Hey, let’s do that lighting we did for so&so’s shoot”. We’d work quicker and more efficiently, sort of like fielding a routine ground ball.

While doing these shoots I would always be thinking, “wouldn’t it be nice to do these kind of shoots and make money doing it?” That’s when I came up with the idea of IHNY sessions:

I ? NY: Combines my passion for photography, the city I love, and the people who love it as much as I do.

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My best idea to date!   Now I would have something to market to my wedding clients and be able to produce awesome creative shoots! Easy right? Well, not exactly…. Getting clients to pay 2-3 times more for an engagement shoot was not an easy task. That said, you put an awesome body of work in front of the right people…. and they will come!