A testomonial from New Life Photographics.

I wanted to let you know about a lunch that has been going for nearly a year and a half and it’s been so successful….
It began as a casual get together between a couple of photographer friends and has now grown to over 70 photographers on the list with a regular attendance of approx 25- 40 ppl.

The lunch is held on the first Monday of every month at ‘The Norman’ in Wooloongabba….. The lunch group is now officially called “Brisbane Wedding photographers” or BWP for short. Many photographers who attend are masters and leaders in the industry and have been a wealth of knowledge to the newer shooters…

Essentially it is a social and casual networking lunch with Topic discussion time however occasionally we have the pleasure of a guest speaker. We even had an awesome surprise a few months ago with a secret guest speaker who no one knew the identity of and guess who walked in the door… none other than YERVANT… YES!!!! The regular 30 or 40 ppl who attended that day got to spend an awesome time with one of our greatest Heros…

Pls see the special BWP Blog for photos…. You may see a few familiar faces!


This lunch has grown to what it is today with the driving force of a wonderful and inspirational woman – Paula Gray from ‘That’s Me Photography’, joined with one of the greatest photographers I’ve ever met and my personal mentor – Peter Williams from ‘Turning Heads Photography’.

I have found this lunch to be one of the most powerful tools to my business growth. Since I’ve been going to the lunch from it’s beginning, I’ve grown in confidence, learnt essential strategies and techniques both for the business and camera or photoshop usage and most of all I have met some wonderfully talented photographers who not only continue to inspire me and keep me on track with my vision and excitement, but who have become some of my closest friends. Regardless of our experience or ability everyone sees each other as an equal. We all have something to give and share and we can equally impact each others lives in a positive and exciting way!

Please try to come. I know its last minute notice for you however once you attend, you won’t want to miss one ever and it will become an automatic inclusion in your business schedule. After all, we do deserve a break once in a while and what a great way to do it!

REMEMBER TO RSVP

September Lunch notes

Another great turnout , 27 in total, it was great to see everyone again, a welcome back to
Lesley and Glen returning from Holidays and Jan from eye on Photography, and a big welcome to Tina Metcalf from Fivestar Photography,
topics of discussion were whats happening in your business, Contracts , corrupted images,

Definately we'll be discussing these issues again, Alan Khan flew up from Sydney to be with us,
and shared some of his latest weddings , later on that night Turning Heads Photography ( Pete & Jenny Williams) Thats Me Photography & Video ( Leigh and Paula Gray) took Alan out to our favorite Indian Restaurant in Toowong,

Next Months Lunch is October 6th , we may have a special guest this time, I have to say that this is not a given each month, I really don't want to reflect away from the real reason why the Lunch is what is it, all about helping and uniting Photographers.

Christmas is coming up quick, so we are in the process of organising the Christmas Lunch, the lunch has been going now for 17 months amazing,
if anyone has ideas please give them to me at the next Lunch, Yohti mentioned a huge party with all the photographers in Brisbane attending, that could be great, this year has gone so fast,
anyway looking forward to catching up with everyone again, those who couldn't make it this time we hope to see you in October,

cheers
Paula

Testomonial from a member of our Lunch group

Hi Paula
I’ve just had 4 wedding interviews last week and booked all four of them. I’m so happy. I’ve been getting 100% hit rate for my interviews this year. It’s awesome. (two from bridal shows and one from online search and one from Weddings weddings weddings magazine)….

I did two bridal shows within 4 weeks and had a few enquiries from each straight away before I’d even done my mail out and got the bookings for those straight away as well. I’m stoked.!

I also had a dear old friend of mine who I haven’t seen for 14 yrs who found me again on facebook, come and stay with me on Friday night. She lives in Coffs harbour and wants to be a photographer. She has done a few weddings and other shoots and is doing quite well for the little experience she has. Anyway I spent many hours teaching her things on photoshop and also giving her business advice some of which I’ve learnt myself over the years and some of which I’ve learnt from you and Peter. I felt so thrilled to be able to “Pay it forward”…. It felt wonderful to have someone admire me and look up to me and to be able to pass on such valuable information the same as has already been done to me by you guys. It’s a rewarding feeling. I’ve come so far and I can see where she is now, is where I use to be 5 yrs ago and I can see how much I’ve grown and I hope I can help her get to where I am now in a much quicker time than it took me. And now I look to others more experienced than me and look into the future of where I will be too, a few yrs from now and it’s soooo exciting!

I love you Paula for all you’ve helped me with. You’ve helped me to believe in myself and that’s one of the most important things of all!!!!
Love YO xxx

The Lunch group is all about uniting Photographers , we also have Videographers , who compliment each other, since starting The Lunch as its known now over 12 months ago it has grown to be very popular, I guess I put that down to the momentum that gets created with the different dynamics in the group, we all share idea's and discuss the Business, lots of lives have been changed for the better, with much better support and encouragment to those of us who are'nt a part of any organisation , there is no requirement to be part of the group , only that you are a professional Photographer who wants to improve the industry and unite with other photographers . There is more than enough work for everybody, we need to get away from the old way of thinking, instead of worrying about our competitors , Unite together , we really have friends in the business, because if you don't have friends in business , your not sucessful .


Since the group started our driving force behind it is , leave your ego out the door come in and share your knowledge , We want to bring photographers up to charging what they are worth, not undercutting each other , educating the photographer is really where it all starts, and then the client, I stand behind this because of my own life experiences , We have people in our group like Peter Williams who is a master with photography and Photoshop , gives all his time to members of the group who need help, also alot of other prominant people who believe in what we are doing, attend our lunch every month and freely offer advice, I too offer my help to anyone who puts their hand up and asks,

Every now and again we have a special guest who wants to attend the lunch, recently we have been so blessed to have my idol attend YERVANT, and his wife Anie, it was amazing, I'll never forget it. And just at our last lunch, David Oliver, Tero Sade, Andrew Kopp , Richard Muldoon.
wow, yes so its great to be a part of something which I think is a stepping stone between photographers and the AIPP, you don't have to be a member of any organisation to be invited to the lunch, at this moment our group has 79 members and counting, alot of photographers have been contacting me wanting to come to the lunch, which is free to attend, however if we do manage a special guest , a gold coin is greatly appreciated, just to cover there lunch .

I am really interested to hear what you think of this lunch, as has it changed your life in any way, I will put up the posts as soon as I get them in,
Thanks guys
cheers
Paula Gray

More Yervant

This is the shot of the day.

John Reyment and Paula Gray

Andrew Porfryi and Paula Gray

Stephen Walker and Paula Gray

Yervant and Claire Sophia

Yervant and Chie

Kris Singleton and Yervant

Normy from Divine studios and Yervant

Some of the lunch group

Yervant , Stephen Walker, Andrew Fallon

Yohti and Yervant







Leslie Downie and Glen Knoblauch

Yervant , Paula , Anie

Some of our lunch group

Catherine Lowe , Yohti, Andrew Fallon

Lunch Date

July 7th is the next lunch, which is held at the Norman Hotel which is on Ipswich Road Woolloongabba, RSVPs to info@thatsmephotography.com.au.

David Oliver , Tero Sade, Andrew Kopp

Straight after the PMA we had the fox special for the AIPP, it was there I ran into David Oliver, Tero Sade, and Andrew Kopp, which was good timing because the Lunch was the next day, so I cornered them all ( its amazing what you can get if you go after it) and got them to attend the lunch, just so happens most of the group was hung over from the weekend and the night before, we only had 15 attend, it was an amazing day with these guys, we had our very own private lesson with David Oliver, and a quick marketing chat with Tero, and Andrew shared some of his experiences with us, here are a few pics