Throwback Thursday - Summer Photography in 2011

​In 2009 I resigned as president of Rangefinder Publishing and WPPI to head out and start my own business. One of my first projects was getting Skip's Summer School off the ground. The program went for the next five summers until it just became too labor intensive, but in 2011 at the Mirage in Las Vegas 350+ people showed up for the mini-boutique conference.

Instructors/speakers that year included Vincent Laforet, Scott Bourne, Tony Corbell, Jerry Ghionis, Michele Celentano, Matthew Jordan Smith, Bambi Cantrell, Bob Davis, Doug Gordon, Jules and Joy Bianchi, Roberto Valenzuela, Bobbi Lane, Kevin Kubota, Tamara Lackey, Clay Blackmore and yours truly. It was a program loaded with content, and many of the photographers who attended those early programs have stayed in touch over the years.

In searching for an image for Throwback Thursday, I came across Amber Fox's post which included the shot above together with a full explanation of the activities from that program. Just click on the image to link to her blog post from 2011.

Just a suggestion for those of you who'd like to share throwbacks or anything else from somebody else's blog or website - ALWAYS ask! I probably didn't need to ask, since Amber had originally shared it in public, but it's still a great habit to get into. It shows respect for the originator too. Plus, it was fun to catch up to her in a text or two and get her permission as opposed to just sharing it.

I look back on those summer programs with a great deal of respect and appreciation for so many people who helped make them memorable. Getting this program off the ground, I remember the static a few of my speakers got from the staff at one of the major annual conventions. They were told that being involved with my program would jeopardize their future to speak at the other convention! Sound familiar to some of the present day politics going on right now?

Well, Skip's Summer School kicked off with me being told it would never make it, along with several other projects I've worked on over the years. This is why the quote below became my mantra, and is so important:

"I do it because I can; I can because I want to; I want to because you said I couldn't!"
Author Unknown

Wishing everybody a Throwback Thursday loaded with as many memories and smiles as Amber's post gives me!