A photographer's guide to learning, networking, experimenting, and actually using what you paid to learn.

Before We Get Started...

If we haven't met before, hi! I'm Brook.

I'm a portrait photographer in Northern Utah who will happily pack my camera bag and travel wherever someone wants to create an amazing session. I'm also a wife, mom, grandma, lifelong learner, lover of travel and the outdoors, and professional-level goofball when I'm hanging out with my favorite people.

I've been in the photography business for more than a decade, and I attend several photography conferences and workshops every year.

Why?

Because I have absolutely no desire to become the photographer who says, "Well, this is how I've always done it."

That sounds boring.

I love learning. I love trying new things. I love meeting photographers who see the world differently than I do. And I especially love coming home from a conference with my brain buzzing with ideas and thinking, "Okay...what can I actually DO with all of this?"

So after just getting home from another photography conference, I thought I'd share some of the things I've learned about making the most of these experiences.

And yes, some of these tips apply to photographers.

But honestly? I think they apply to just about anyone who invests time and money into learning something new.

Because here's the thing...

You don't go to a conference just to collect information. You go to be challenged, inspired, curious, connected, and maybe just a little bit uncomfortable.

And that's where the good stuff usually starts.

I just got home from another photography conference with three full days of learning, photographing, networking, laughing, trying new things, filling approximately 47 pages of notes, and putting my brain through the equivalent of a CrossFit workout.

And I loved every minute of it.

I've been doing this photography thing for a while now, and one thing I've learned is that conferences aren't valuable simply because you sit in a room with someone smarter than you and frantically write down everything they say.

In fact, if you try to implement every single thing you learn at a conference...

Good luck.

You'll need a second brain.

And possibly a nap.

The real value comes from learning how to step away from your business, open your mind to new ideas, and figure out which pieces are actually worth bringing home with you.

So if you're heading to a photography conference, workshop, convention, retreat, or any other learning experience, here are a few things I've learned that can make the experience so much more valuable.

1. Give Yourself Permission to Actually Check Out

I can already see your brain exploding at the thought of not answering emails, texts, and calls for a few days. "But Brook! What if my business FALLS APART?" I promise, your inbox will still be there when you get back.

This one is HARD for photographers.

We own businesses. We have clients. We have emails. We have editing. We have invoices. We have social media. We have approximately 900 things that could probably be done "really quickly."

And then we wonder why we're sitting in a class while secretly answering client messages.

Don't.

If at all possible, let your clients know you'll be away and give yourself permission to step away from the day-to-day for a few days.

Your business will survive.

Your clients will survive.

And you might actually learn something if you're not simultaneously wondering whether you remembered to send that gallery link.

Being fully present is a gift you give yourself and ultimately, your business.

2. Go Meet People

I see you rolling your eyes right now. "But I don't just walk up to random people and start talking!" I get it. Neither do most of us. Do it anyway. Your new photography bestie, referral partner, mentor, or future collaborator might be sitting three chairs away waiting for someone to say hello.

One of the best things about photography conferences isn't always the person standing at the front of the room.

Sometimes it's the person sitting next to you.

Photographers are an interesting bunch.

We're competitors in one sense, but we're also colleagues, problem-solvers, cheerleaders, second shooters, sounding boards, educators, and occasionally the people who understand exactly why you just spent three hours trying to fix something that should have taken ten minutes.

Talk to people.

Introduce yourself.

Ask what they photograph.

Ask what they're working on.

Ask what they've learned.

Tell them what you're working on.

And don't limit yourself to people who photograph exactly like you.

Sometimes the photographer whose work looks nothing like yours will teach you something that completely changes the way you see your own work.

3. Take Notes... But Don't Try to Capture Everything

Your hand is not a court stenographer. You do not have to write down every word that comes out of the speaker's mouth. Trust me, your hand will thank you later.

I'm a note taker.

I want to write down ALL THE THINGS.

The quote.

The idea.

The lighting setup.

The marketing strategy.

The posing technique.

The software recommendation.

The thing someone said during lunch that somehow gave me a brilliant business idea.

But here's the trap:

You can leave a conference with pages and pages of notes and still have no idea what you're actually going to do differently.

So take notes.

But don't just record information.

Record what makes you think.

Write things down like:

"I want to try this."

"This could solve a problem I've been having."

"This isn't for me, but here's why."

"I need to think about this."

Those little notes are often more valuable than a page of someone's presentation slides.

4. Spend a Few Minutes Each Night Putting Your Brain Back Together

By 10 p.m., your brain may resemble a browser with 100 tabs open and music playing somewhere that you cannot find. Give it 10 minutes to close a few tabs.

This might be my favorite conference habit.

At the end of the day, before you collapse into bed, take 10–15 minutes and ask yourself:

What did I learn today?

What surprised me?

What excited me?

What challenged me?

What do I want to remember?

What do I want to try?

And perhaps most importantly...

What actually matters to ME?

Because conferences are information overload.

Your brain is going to collect a thousand shiny objects.

Give yourself a few quiet minutes to separate the shiny objects from the things that actually resonate.

Otherwise, you'll get home, unpack your suitcase, look at your notes three weeks later and think...

"Who wrote this?"

Oh.

Me.

Apparently I thought this was important.

5. Try Something New

This is the part where I lovingly tell you to get over yourself. You might look awkward. You might mess it up. You might hate it. Congratulations! You experimented. That's how we learn.

If you're going to spend the time and money to attend a conference, don't spend the entire time doing exactly what you already know you're good at.

Try something.

Different lighting.

A different lens.

A different posing approach.

A new editing technique.

A different way of communicating with your clients.

A marketing idea that makes you slightly uncomfortable.

A genre of photography you normally wouldn't touch with a ten-foot tripod.

Why?

Because growth usually lives just outside the comfortable stuff.

And here's the beautiful part:

Trying something doesn't mean you have to keep it.

You can experiment with something and decide, "Nope. Not my thing."

That's still valuable.

Now you know.

6. Not Everything You Learn Needs to Become Part of Your Business

Please do not come home from a conference and immediately decide you need to completely reinvent your business because one person gave a really convincing presentation. Breathe. You don't need to become them. You need to become a better version of YOU.

This is a big one.

You are going to hear ideas at conferences that are brilliant...

for someone else.

Maybe a photographer teaches a business model that would be fantastic for their studio but completely wrong for yours.

Maybe you learn a lighting technique that looks incredible but doesn't fit your style.

Maybe someone has a marketing strategy that makes perfect sense for their ideal client but would feel completely unnatural for yours.

That's okay.

You don't need to implement everything.

You don't even need to agree with everything.

Think of everything you learn as a toolbox.

You don't carry every tool around in your hand all day.

You choose the right one when you need it.

Sometimes learning what you DON'T want to do is just as valuable as learning what you do.

And when you stop feeling like you have to implement everything, your brain has a lot more room to recognize the things that really do speak to you.

7. Pick THREE Things

Three. Not 33. Not "I'm going to completely overhaul my website, pricing, marketing, workflow, editing style and entire existence by Tuesday." Pick three things you can and will actually do.

This is where the magic happens.

At the end of the conference, look at everything you've learned and choose three things you want to implement.

Not twelve.

Not twenty-seven.

Three.

And make them specific.

Not:

"I want to improve my client experience."

Try:

"I'm going to create a better session preparation guide."

Not:

"I need to post more."

Try:

"I'm going to create one educational reel every Thursday."

Not:

"I want to improve my lighting."

Try:

"I'm going to spend two hours next Tuesday experimenting with the lighting technique I learned."

And here's the important part:

Do it within a week of getting home.

Because motivation has a shelf life.

The conference energy is fresh.

Your brain is excited.

Use it.

8. Give Yourself Permission to Be a Beginner Again

This one can hurt a little. It's humbling to be the person in the room who doesn't know what they're doing. Do it anyway. You survived high school. You can survive being bad at something for 20 minutes.

This might be the hardest part.

When you've been doing something for years, it's easy to become really comfortable with what you know.

You know what works.

You know what doesn't.

You know how you like to photograph.

You know your systems.

You know your clients.

And that's wonderful.

But sometimes we need to intentionally put ourselves in situations where we don't know exactly what we're doing.

That's where curiosity comes back.

That's where experimentation happens.

That's where you remember what it feels like to be excited about figuring something out instead of simply knowing how to do it.

And yes...

Sometimes you will look ridiculous.

Do it anyway.

Nobody becomes better at anything by only doing the things they're already good at.

9. Don't Forget to Have Fun

You're allowed to enjoy yourself. In fact, I highly recommend it. Eat the good food. Stay up too late talking. Take the ridiculous picture. Go explore. You paid to be there, not to spend three days sitting in a conference room looking like you're waiting for jury duty.

This one seems obvious, but it's easy to forget, especially if you spend every free minute returning calls, emails, and texts...

You're there to learn.

But you're also there to experience something.

Go somewhere you've never been.

Eat something delicious.

Stay up too late talking to another photographer.

Laugh until your stomach hurts.

Take the ridiculous group photo.

Go photograph something just because it's beautiful.

Enjoy being around people who get excited about the same weird things you do.

Some of my favorite conference memories have absolutely nothing to do with the classes I attended.

They happened in parking lots.

At dinner.

During a random conversation.

While trying to figure out where the heck we were supposed to meet.

Those moments matter too.

10. Come Home Different

And no, I don't mean come home with a completely new business model, 14 new lenses and a sudden desire to photograph underwater weddings in Iceland. Take what makes sense. Leave what doesn't. Just don't let all that inspiration live permanently inside your notebook.

Not completely different.

Not a brand-new photographer with a brand-new business and seventeen new services.

Please don't do that.

But come home with something.

A new idea.

A new skill.

A new connection.

A renewed sense of excitement.

A reminder of why you started.

A better understanding of what you DON'T want.

Or maybe just one little idea that makes you think...

"Oh. I want to try that."

That's enough.

Because the goal of attending a conference isn't to become someone else.

It's to become a little more of yourself.

To take what resonates.

Leave what doesn't.

Try something new.

Stretch your brain.

Stretch your creativity.

And then bring the best pieces home with you.

And those three things?

Write them down.

Put them on your calendar.

Tell someone about them.

Get an accountability partner from one of your new friends.

Then go do them.

Because a conference isn't really an investment in your business until something you learned actually makes its way into the way you work.

And if you're lucky, you'll come home with more than a notebook full of ideas.

You'll come home with a little more confidence, a little more curiosity, a few new friends, and a whole lot more excitement about what's possible.

And honestly?

That's one heck of a good reason to pack your camera bag and go learn something new.

Learning isn't about collecting more information; it's about becoming more curious. Your job isn't to become the photographer you met at the conference. Your job is to come home and figure out what the conference taught you about the photographer you want to become.

Brook Lyons Photography - we love telling your story through incredible images!
Ogden, Utah | brooklyons.com
[email protected] | 385-458-4455