As a way to become friends with other photographers, build a tight knit networking community and also advance my own business and technical skills, I am part of an online forum of photographers around the world.

Last week there was a conference/seminar being held in Atlantic City, NJ. On Tuesday night, 11 brides and around 50 photographers gathered for a new trend called "Trash The Dress"

Some people are now thinking..."you do what to the dress!?"
The idea behind this type of shoot: To go out, after the wedding, and take some really cool looking images with out worrying if the dress will get a little dirty or not. Some photographers/brides take it to even more extremes by submerging themselves into water, mud, climbing up trees and all sorts. Also, you would be surprised what actually does wash out!
TTD may not be for eveyone. But for those that who want to get some very unique images, and don't want to just leave the dress in a box in the back of a closet, Thats who these are for.

The group I was placed with was working with Jessica, who's wedding was earlier this year. She was great to work with and super energetic through the whole shoot.

Jessica and us decided to end the session early after we got kicked out of the restuarant! So I met up with a few other photographers whom I've come to know, Mark G. and Stacie (I 2nd shot with her a few months back in a wedding at the Philadelphia Zoo!)
Their model was also great to work with and very accepting of another camera being pointed at her.

For those interested you can check out the official TTD site at Trashthedress.com.
...why trash the dress: (from the TTD site)

"Go ahead, you know you want to. Trash it. Get it dirty. Get it wet. Roll around in the mud. Drench it in the ocean. Totally trash it.

Why? … Why not? You’ve made a commitment to your husband. He’s your one and only true love, right? Then you’ll never need the dress again. And no, your daughter won’t wear it in 20-30 years. So you have two choices:

1) Suffocate it in plastic and throw it in a closet
2) Show your husband how committed you are by trashing the dress, and get some great fun pictures while you do it"<