OSP South hits Chattanooga

The OSP Crowd gathered for a group portrait (which photographers love!) after LaCour's presentation


Nathan Holritz demonstrates Photographer's Office


A simulated e-session with Nate and Amanda from Turtle Pond There was about 25 photographers and volunteered to be models and wish we had a group picture :(


90 photographers visit the new gn studio


Photographers vote for the students' work at Southern Adventist University


Garrett introduces the LaCour team


The LaCour team fields questions from the audience following their presentation


Austen Holritz, Amy Nave, Nathan and Amber and Joy and Garrett pause in relief after OSP has finally concluded


Chattanooga photographers were proud to host OSP South II last week as nearly 100 photographers from around the country descended upon the Scenic City for three days of fun, fellowship and knowledge sharing.

The primary meeting place was the Sheraton Read House, which proved to be the prefect spot for the group. On Monday, our good friend Nathan Holritz addressed the group, delivering a presentation that centered on how to operate an efficient and effective home-based business. Nathan provided some great insight and lots of good ideas that people in any type of business could benefit from.

For lunch, a large group of us headed to one of our local favorites, Tony’s Pasta, on the Bluff. Everyone who was visiting quickly fell in love with Chattanooga and it’s artsy, eclectic downtown.

On Monday afternoon the contingent split into groups and we did photo-shoots around the downtown area. Then we headed over to Sushi Nabe at Coolidge Park for dinner.

Following dinner, everyone migrated up the hill to our new studio. Joy and I were relieved after a couple months of work, to finally have everything ready for visitors. About 90 photographers crowded in the studio and we enjoyed great desserts from Rembrandts on the Bluff. We were also very thankful to Katie and Chris Torres, Catherine and Mike Warren, and Rich and Heather Smith, for bringing delicious goodies to eat! Special thanks to my brother Tabor, and his wife Heather, and also our good friends Jennie and Michelle for coming by early and setting out all the food and getting things ready for the group.

On Tuesday morning, I had the honor to speak to the group. The focus of our presentation was on being different and we touched on some of the concepts that we will be exploring at our elevate seminar in January. In a market that’s saturated with good photographers, what makes you different and what makes you stand out? What separates you from everyone else and how will the client remember you when they have a future opportunity to hire you or refer you to someone else?

On Tuesday afternoon we left downtown and headed to my Intro to Photography class at Southern Adventist University in Collegedale. The students displayed their assignments and the visiting pro photographers voted on them. Robbie Burnham’s “lines of composition” print won the competition.

Then we were treated to an afternoon with LaCour. Andrew Nieson addressed the group, which included the OSP crowd, the my photography students, and several additional students and faculty/staff from the university. Andrew spoke about telling stories through photographs. LaCour’s experience is rooted in their background in journalism, so their presentation was a perfect fit for the photography students in the class. It was a wonderful presentation and we were honored that they were able to fit us into their schedule. They have a killer workshop taking place in a few months…you can read more about it at www.lacourphoto.net.

Tuesday evening we had dinner at the new Riverside Foodworks and then we headed over to Nathan and Amber’s house for more fun. It was so nice of them to open their home/studio for everyone.

The get-together officially concluded on Tuesday evening, but several people stayed by so we could hang out on Wednesday. It was great to spend more time with the crew from LaCour and many of the others that stayed by. Davina Fear spent the afternoon with us at our studio, which was really exciting because Davina continues to inspire us with what she’s doing with her work and business and balancing that with her responsibilities as a mom.

After dropping Davina at the airport on Wednesday night, Joy and Graycen and I piled in the car with our favorite passenger, Timco, and headed to Orlando for a double-wedding weekend, which you’ll read more about later.

It’s hard to believe that OSP South is over, but we look back with such fond memories. Special thanks to Nathan and Amber and many others from Chattanooga and elsewhere (Matt Dunmore, Regina Holder, Greg Beasley, Liz and Terry Power, Jeff Breedlove, Kaitlin, and all the models)for all the effort that was spent in hosting this great convention. We’re already looking forward to next year.