"The Boss" Pulled The Longest Straw...Again!

While poor Dan is out working hard in the first official heat wave of the summer 2013, and the rest of us are holding down the fort at the Studio...The Boss is spending his day hosting world renown photographers and instructors, Jerry and Melissa Ghionis at the Professional Photographers Association of Massachusetts (PPAM) June conference. Today is also the first PPAM seminar at which Randy is serving as the 2013 - 2014 PPAM President; a seminar, we might add, which has earned record breaking registration for the 30+ year  organization!

Melissa & Jerry Ghionis with Randy during their "Greatest Hits" Seminar today at PPAM

Jerry  is widely regarded as one of the top five best wedding photographers in the world. based in Melbourne, Australia and Beverly Hills, CA, he travels frequently on international photography assignments and speaking engagements. With the flair of a fashion designer and the ingenuity of an architect, his style can be described were vintage glamour meets contemporary fashion. Jerry was named in the first ever list of Top Ten Wedding Photographers in the World by American Photo Magazine. He won WPPI (Wedding & Portrait Photographers International) Wedding Album of the Year eight times in ten years and is included in WPOI's Top Ten Wedding Photographers int he world! Jerry was also named Australian Wedding Photographer of the Year by AIPP (Australian Institute of Photography), and has achieved Diamond Level Photographer of the Year four years in a row from the Professional Photographers of America (PPA). He was also named by PDN Magazine as one of the top photography workshop instructors in the world in 2011.

Melissa ran a successful, award winning studio in Boston, MA for over a decade and developed a reputation for her skills in creating and cultivating relationships and for her excellent customer service. Her experience in the US market managing a boutique studio is now also balanced with the experience of working in their high end studio in Melbourne, Australia and in Beverly Hills, CA. Their most recent passion is the creation of a non-profit charitable organization named The Soul Society (www.thesoulsociety.org) which Melissa and Jerry co-founded. The Soul Society was created with the specific purpose of caring for poor, homeless and orphaned children in third world countries, one soul at a time.

PPAM is affiliated with PPA, a worldwide association which exists to assist its members in achieving their professional, artistic and fraternal goals; promote public awareness of the profession; and to advance the making of images in all of its disciplines as an art, a science and a visual recorder of history. PPAM is comprised of more than 200 photographers, suppliers and image makers.