PTA National Convention, Ft Lauderdale

Right now I'm in Las Vegas shooting The National Veteran Small Business Conference for the second year; since I have a little downtime I figured it was a good time to update my blog with the event from a couple of weeks ago. Convention work is always fun and a great opportunity to shoot in a different style between weddings; the variety is a great way to keep things fresh.


This year was a huge deal because of the induction of the PTA's first-ever male president, Chuck Saylors (1st pic below.) He's from South Carolina and one of the nicest southern gentleman you could ever meet, plus he's hysterical.








This was my 4th year working with PTA since they came to Phoenix in 2006. Last year was San Diego, this year Ft Lauderdale. It rained heavily every day and we saw very little sun but I actually loved it. The convention always brings in entertainment from the local schools at every convention; that is often my favorite part. Here are shots from a local high school jazz band.










PTA has a couple of new ambassadors now, too. Dara Torres, olympic gold medalist for swimming was one; she was really funny and very down-to-earth.







My favorite, however, was R&B singer CeCe Peniston; she has an amazing voice. I got to talk to her and her husband Frank quite a bit and they were really cool people. Turns out they live in Glendale and wanted to know when I'll be performing at The Shout House so I'll probably see them again soon.










Next year we're going to Memphis! I'll bring Julie and Reagan again; Julie's birthday is the same as Elvis and she is a big fan.

Ft Lauderdale photo job/family vacation

We recently returned from a great gig in Florida where I was hired by the National PTA to cover their national convention. This was the 4th straight year I've worked with them and they are a really fun client. We went a few days early to have a little family vacation time since we had a timeshare to take advantage of. My mom and dad drove out from Mississippi and we had a great time despite the heavy rain every single day.









One day Julie and I went snorkeling. I didn't want to bring my camera and she asked if one of those disposable underwater cameras would be good. I've used them before and thought they were a total waste of money so I told her "you'll get better results if I just draw you a picture." So I did:



I don't want to brag but that is WAY better!


We also went on an airboat ride through the everglades; another occasion when I didn't want to bring my good camera gear since it was so rainy. I shot these with our little Canon.









Finally, these are my favorites, I really wanted a beach shot of Mom and Dad as well as a good family shot. I lugged my gear down to the beach along with an extra flash on a stand so I could have a nice two-light setup. It was hard keeping the sand off of everything.








Harley Bonham Photography
www.harleybonham.com

Reagan on July 4th weekend

Julie was working all weekend so I had some daddy-daughter time with Reagan. I took her to PV mall's play area and she loved running around. I took a few other shots of her around the house, too. She's a fun little angel!