Highlights

2016 Highlights

In 2016 we built on the immense success of the 2015 Gathering

In 2016 we built on the immense success of the 2015 Gathering by responding to the feedback we received and introducing mini-masterclasses in addition to the mainstage presentations, bringing more of the worlds best photographers to London to share their knowledge and inspire.

It was another roaring success with plenty of fun, laughter and hugs as well as people leaving with full heads and full hearts after our presenters poured their souls out on the mainstage and in the mini-masterclass zone!

  • Davina + Daniel Kudish
  • Candice C. Cusic
  • Emma Case
  • Ross Harvey
  • Ed Peers
  • Jeff Newsom
  • Mauricio Arias
  • Anna Hardy
  • Alan Law

NineDots co-founders and hosts Adam, Rahul, Andy and Mick opened by reminding everyone what it means to ‘create your own awesome’ – the NineDots mantra.

Davina and Daniel kicked things off on the mainstage with their talk all about their obsession for light and composition and how they use natural and artificial light, as well as compositional attention-to-detail to achieve their world class images. They talked about really using the light and working with it when posing or working with your couples to achieve really striking wedding photography. Listen to our podcast interview with Daniel.

Next up was Ross Harvey, back for a second year by popular demand and with a brand new talk entitled “Know Thyself” and how this was the true path to making photography that is truly original and that you can be proud of – not just wedding photography as Ross is also one of the most respected street photographers around. He also shared how using your failures for growth is the key to continual improvement. Listen to our podcast interview with Ross Harvey.

Andrew “Fundy” Funderburg gave a short talk about the power of print and why printing images is not only doing your clients images the justice they deserve, but can also add significantly to your business bottom line.

We had a trio of brand new mini-masterclasses on the first day of the 2016 Gathering. These were designed to be shorter, more practical sessions to complement the mainstage presentations and were optional sessions during the breaks. Well they were fully attended and we were so happy for that!

Ross Harvey, Andy Gaines and Adam Johnson live-critiqued images entered for the NineDots Print Competition.

Alan Law talked about how he makes his award winning documentary images by getting “up-close and personal” using mainly the 24mm lens to really get under the skin of his weddings and tell the stories he sees by being so involved in the action.

Anna Hardy brought a fresh message to the Gathering talking about her transition from successful wedding photographer to successful family photographer with her own style and voice and passion for shooting the reality of family life. And not just how she made that transition but why.

Mauricio Arias closed out the first day with a mainstage presentation about how he achieves his ultra-creative images and how he finds inspiration constantly in the surroundings, in his equipment, in literature, in movies and ultimately within himself. He had everyone speechless as he unloaded the contents of his crazy mind!

After the end of a super-inspirational first day we held another ping-pong doubles tournament, hotly contested and eventually won by Christiaan de Groot and Peter van der Lingen from Holland!

Candice C Cusic opened up the mainstage on the second day with a frank and honest talk about what photojournalism really is and what we should all be focusing on in our storytelling. Her approach centres on hands and faces and how if you can’t see one the other one needs to be doing something to grab your attention – especially the hands. Candice loves hands! She also challenged us to get out there on the streets and ask to take stranger’s photos!

Anna Hardy brought a fresh message to the Gathering talking about her transition from successful wedding photographer to successful family photographer with her own style and voice and passion for shooting the reality of family life. And not just how she made that transition but why.

Mauricio Arias closed out the first day with a mainstage presentation about how he achieves his ultra-creative images and how he finds inspiration constantly in the surroundings, in his equipment, in literature, in movies and ultimately within himself. He had everyone speechless as he unloaded the contents of his crazy mind!

After a mini-masterclass on image editing from Davina + Daniel, Emma Case brought her unique ‘welcome home’ message to the mainstage and quite frankly had the whole audience weeping as she reminded us all what truly matters – people matter, love matters, life matters. And her husband Pete contributed equally with his own unique views on life and how that shapes their photography – and their love for each other and the world.

Ed Peers carried on where Emma left off really and talked about the art of storytelling and how rapport with your couples is everything. He talked about his passion for travel, for family, for natural images with honesty that really capture people’s hearts. Cue more tears for one of the most genuine people in the industry. Ed also ran a mini-masterclass on destination weddings and how he works as an almost constantly travelling photographer.

Jeff Newsom provided the final bit of mainstage inspiration for the 2016 Gathering with his talk on “honesty, deception and perspective” and it was really interesting to hear from probably the most respected ‘creative’ wedding photographer in the world how it’s the altogether more honest, real moments that really get him going.

Of course it all finished with the now legendary NineDots Gathering after party. Another absolutely insane night of music, dancing, drinking and – we feel – really cementing the community that underpins everything we do in NineDots.

There’s no better way of making a new lifelong friend than dancing with them like a maniac for 5 hours straight. A massive thank you to the insane talent of Martin2Smoove for taking control of the decks again and keeping everyone on a high for the whole night. The perfect send off to another crazy NineDots Gathering, creating inspiration hangovers since 2015!

Thank you to all the presenters who took the stage in London this year – Davina, Daniel, Ross, Anna, Alan, Mauricio, Candice, Emma, Pete, Ed and Jeff… Thank you for laying it all out there and inspiring us all with your talents.

Thanks to Adam Riley for capturing the images on this page – you can view his full slideshow here. Adam worked tirelessly for two full days and through the whole after party and we can’t thank him enough.

Thanks to Thompson Granger Films for capturing the movie at the top of this page and for just being brilliant people to have as part of the NineDots family.

  • So from Andy, Adam, Mick and Rahul for another year – we love you all! We are (all) NineDots!

Thanks to our friends from Loxley Colour, Shootproof, Fundy Software, JPEGmini, Wooden Banana, Image Salon, Togwire and Jonathan Ford & Co for your support for the 2016 NineDots Gathering!