As much as I enjoy photographing events, this particular event might be my favorite of the year. In addition to photographing the event, I am also a member of The Church Without Walls so it’s a plus when you’re familiar with the setting and know a few faces in the crowd.
I asked was asked by a photographer friend of mine to assist him in coverage of the Amazing Women Weekend. The event is held annually by First Lady Sheretta West and the Mosaic Women’s Ministry. This year’s panel of speakers were Mia Wright, Yolanda Adams, Debra Morton, Deborah Duncan, Jill Waggoner, Connie Jackson, and featured speaker Michele Thornton. These women and several other leading women in ministry hosted workshops and sessions covering a wide range of issues that women face.
My duties were to go room by room and capture a portion of the individual breakout sessions between the speaker and the ladies who signed up for the courses. Although I was in each session briefly, the speakers offered some great words of encouragement to follow up with some of the stories these women shared with one another.
After the breakout sessions, everyone gathered into the gymnasium to hear the guest speaker for the day, Michele Thornton. I had never heard of Michele Thornton before but I’m glad I got to hear her speak. She spoke about having a strategy for your life and sticking to the strategy to change your life or to create one if you’ve never had one. This topic hit home with me because a friend and I had a similar conversation to changing our mindset to strategize our next move.
I thoroughly enjoyed getting shots of her speaking to the crowd and getting advice along the way. There were times I would rest my camera so I wouldn’t have an overload of shots and just listen to her words. I moved around the gym to get different angles but I was always listening to what was being said. There can be times at events where you tune out the dialogue of the day and focus on getting shots, but definitely not at the event.
During the speech, Michele would reference a book she was holding and had key highlights posted on the projector screen for the audience to take notes. The book she was referencing is one that she’s the author of entitled, Stratechic. I made sure to grab my own copy before the day was over since I was there to cover the event. After Michele spoke, each of the ladies I listed above were invited on stage to have a panel discussion covering questions women had previously sent in to have answered.
I learned so much and got some good advice to take with me in the future as well as some great engaging photos. If you are interested in purchasing or checking out Michele Thornton’s book Stratechic, here is the link. I finished reading the book in 2 days and it’s opened my eyes to some things I need to work on to advance my life. Stratechic comes highly recommended by me if you’re serious about taking the next step and feel that you’re in your own way.
Huge thank you to First Lady Sheretta West, the Mosaic Women’s Ministry, and everyone involved in making the event a success.
