08/30/2026
11 years ago, I bought a ticket to the very first AIBP Retreat, 6 years before I acquired and became the President of AIBP.
At the time, I thought I was simply signing up for another photography event. I had absolutely no idea where that decision would eventually lead me. Looking back now, I can wholeheartedly say that attending that first Retreat was one of the most influential decisions I’ve made in my photography career.
I learned from incredible photographers and educators, but just as importantly, I met people who would become lifelong friends. Attendees and instructors who became part of my photography family and, in many ways, helped shape the artist and business owner I am today.
That has always been what makes the AIBP Retreat different.
It’s intentionally intimate. Unlike larger conventions where you might sit in a room with hundreds of people, listen to an instructor for an hour, and never have the opportunity to actually speak with them, the Retreat gives you ACCESS.
Year after year, we stack the lineup with some of the industry’s leading photographers, educators, artists, and business minds. But you don’t simply sit in a chair and listen to them teach.
You spend the weekend with them, have conversations, ask questions, pick their brains, share meals. You talk photography, business, creativity, successes, failures, and everything in between. The education doesn’t end when the class ends.
That intimacy creates something incredibly difficult to replicate at a traditional photography convention. You leave with new knowledge, new ideas, new inspiration, and very often, new friendships that continue long after everyone goes home.
I attended that very first Retreat and every one that followed, with the exception of ONE because apparently getting hit by a car the week before was enough to finally break my streak.
Through all those Retreats, I grew. I became a better photographer, artist, business owner, and educator.
Eventually, my relationship with AIBP changed completely.
The impact this association, its community, and especially the Retreat had on my own career was one of the major reasons I ultimately acquired AIBP. I wanted other photographers to have access to the same kind of education and community that I was fortunate enough to experience long before I ever imagined I would be leading the association.
Today, I get to experience the Retreat through an entirely different lens. Instead of simply showing up excited about what I’m going to learn and who I’m going to meet, I now have the privilege of helping create that experience for someone else.
Someone may buy their ticket to the next AIBP Retreat thinking they’re simply signing up for a weekend of photography education. Just like I did 11 years ago. And they may have absolutely no idea where that one decision will lead them.
I certainly didn’t.
Grab one of the few remaining seats to this year's Retreat:
https://aibphotog.com/retreat/
