

2008-09
June 8, 2010
Capturing the Dramatic Moment with Tyler Stableford
Award-winning adventure photographer Tyler Stableford presented a multimedia show of captivating imagery on Tuesday, June 8. Tyler took the audience behind the scenes of his assignments, from exploring rare ice caves to documenting the dangerous lives of underground coal miners. A teacher at heart, Tyler revealed his secrets to capturing the elusive “dramatic moment,” and to earning a living in the freelance world of editorial, commercial and stock photography. He also shared stories from his latest assignments, flying with F-16 fighter pilots, and filming the trials and tribulations of an Iraq veteran turned Paralympic skier. Men’s Journal named Tyler one of the seven “World’s Greatest Adventure Photographers,” and he is one of Canon’s distinguished Explorers of Light. Tyler has won numerous awards from PDN, American Photo, the International Photography Awards, Communication Arts and National Geographic Traveler. He shoots for Getty Images, and clients include Disney, Patagonia, The New York Times and Sports Illustrated, among others.
"Should I Be Thinking About Video?" with Gail Mooney
Gail Mooney is a veteran photographer who has 30 years of experience in still photography, shooting for international magazines, major corporations and advertising agencies. Gail sees many opportunities for still shooters to expand into video and multimedia, and she feels that this is just the beginning of how technology will transform how we, as visual communicators, will deliver our message in the future. In her program, Gail discussed the increased demand for video and how to identify potential opportunities for still photographers. She provided an overview of what the necessary video tools are, and how the business models and workflows for the two mediums differ. She also discussed the various markets for video; tips for shooting motion and capturing good audio; how to shoot great interviews; different types of camera equipment, editing hardware and software; the business of video production; and common mistakes photographers make, and how to avoid them.
Elevating Your Creative Voice with Parish Kohanim
In this presentation renowned commercial photographer Parish Kohanim shared his life-long experiences, philosophy and transcendence through the art of photography. He addressed how to stay ahead in this competitive and changing economy. Parish gives inspiration and challenges each person to do their best and continue to grow in their art. Parish Kohanim has worked commercially for many leading international companies--IBM, Coca-Cola, and De Beers, to name a few--and his work has appeared on the pages of Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Forbes, Time, and Newsweek. Having an insatiable desire to explore and expand his artistic horizons, he still remains true to his approach to simplicity and to the visual dialogue that is intuitive and innate.
Ian Summers: A Creative Workshop
The program began with an evening of Ian Summers' Heartstorming. He developed this concept to help photographers and other creators manifest what they love and what matters to them. Ian lead some participatory exercises designed to help each person define or re-define who they are and what they stand for as a photographer. The next day Ian lead a photo walk in the morning and conducted portfolio reviews in the afternoon. The photo walk provides photographers and other creators with an opportunity to get back in touch with what made them choose to be a photographer in the first place. It's about making pictures without an attachment to how it will be used or perceived. Ian's portfolio reviews are done in an open forum and in front of all participants, believing that everyone benefits from hearing anyone else’s review.
Shooting Sports: Catch the Fever!
Veteran sports photographers Damian Strohmeyer and Robert Seale shared their work and the secrets to capturing heart-stopping sports action and beautifully crafted portraits of famous sports personalities. In addition to presenting their stunning photographs, Strohmeyer and Seale discussed what it takes to secure and keep premiere clients such as Sports Illustrated, ESPN The Magazine, Reebok, and Under Armour. Damian Strohmeyer has been affiliated with Sports Illustrated magazine for twenty years and has covered The World Series, World Cup, Stanley Cup, Indianapolis 500, several Olympics and 23 Super Bowls. Robert Seale, a Houston-based photographer specializing in dynamic editorial portraiture, has produced portraits of many of the finest athletes of our time, and has shot over 200 covers for the Sporting News. Image © Damian Strohmeyer.
Adventures in Lightroom with Katrin Eismann
The Photoshop Diva, Katrin Eismann, put on a full day workshop which explored the creative potential of Photoshop Lightroom 2.0 and previewed the new features available in Lightroom 3.0. Topics included applying false color temperatures, creating compelling black and white conversions, adding selective enhancements, and experimenting with multiple processing of images. Katrin addressed how to work with Lightroom and Photoshop efficiently and how to use the new X-Rite ColorChecker Passport to build and use DNG camera profiles in real time shooting situations to save you time and improve color quality. Katrin also demonstrated her favorite multishot techniques to increase camera resolution, dynamic range, reduce noise, and increase depth of field with Photoshop CS4 Extended.
An Evening with Eugene Richards
Eugene Richards is a photographer, writer, and documentary filmmaker who is best known for his books and photographic essays on such diverse topics as breast cancer, drug addiction, poverty, AIDS, and emergency medicine. In his talk, Eugene Richards discussed the many book projects he’s undertaken since becoming a photographer nearly forty years ago, as well as his forays into filmmaking and advertising work. Richards' latest publications, A Procession of Them and The Blue Room, were both published in Fall 2008.
Rosh Sillars: Successful Marketing in the New Media World
New media marketing is about the conversation, becoming the expert, being engaged and attracting the attention of a world overloaded with information and resources. This program addressed the new rules in the continuously changing landscape of communication. New Internet tools and applications are developed almost daily to help individuals and organizations better tell their story through digital marketing and personal branding. Rosh Sillars is a veteran photographer and owner of the creative representation firm The Rosh Group, Inc. Click here to learn more about Rosh Sillars.
Dick Durrance: Creating Opportunities
In difficult times, creative vision is the key to economic survival. Dick Durrance, with stories and award winning images from photographing National Geographic assignments, combat in Vietnam, and global advertising campaigns, shows you how to focus your creative vision on the challenges you face. He ignites your passion for fresh ideas, reminding you that creative vision does not just come from seeing what is but from imagining what can be. He inspires you to harness your gifts, develop your skills, and build the teamwork you need to create fresh opportunities. He will help to not only survive but flourish, fulfilling your dreams for yourself, your family, and your community.
Assistant Workshop: The Assistant Survival Guide
This day-long workshop focused on the ins and outs of assisting, including discussions about professionalism, etiquette, and pay rates, as well as demonstrations of the most common photo shoot gear. The workshop concluded with a panel discussion and Q&A featuring real-life assistants and established area photographers, who dished the truth on what's happening in the assistant world. Thanks to the folks at E.P. Levine for offering their space and top-of-the-line equipment for this event.
Brian Smith: The Future of Editorial Photography
Editorial Photography is undergoing rapid change, yet the death of magazine photography has been greatly exaggerated. Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Brian Smith, President of Editorial Photographers, discussed how to maximize the creative and commercial rewards while avoiding bad contracts, stagnant rates and rights-gobbling appetites of multinational media corporations. Smith stressed the need to charge properly for the time and expense of digital capture and processing and why photographers and agencies may be to blame for unreasonably low caps that some magazines that some magazines have placed on digital fees.
Judy Herrmann: Taking Control of Your Career
Are you satisfied with the work you're creating? Do your clients appreciate what you bring to the table? Are you struggling to adapt to a changing marketplace and a down economy? Is your business taking you where you want to go? Judy Herrmann discussed real-world tactics for developing and implementing a plan that will take your career where you want it to go -- how to achieve your creative and financial goals, anticipate and adapt to business and technological change, and build a satisfying and stable photography business. Whether you're just starting out or have years of experience, the tools and techniques shown in this program will give you greater control over your future. Click here to learn more about Judy Herrmann.
Who? What? Where? Panel Discussion with Industry Creatives
This panel discussion with top industry creatives and moderated by Selina Maitreya, was indeed revealing as well as informative. In a time of economic uncertainties, where is our industry headed and how do photographers adjust to stay in business? We invited a diverse panel of six industry creatives ranging from large international ad agencies, to the boutique and niche, with a group that includes creative directors, art buyers and producers as well as a graphic designer, all of whom shared their insights and thoughts on our industry now.
Paula Lerner: The Art and Commerce of Multimedia
Adding sound to still images to create multimedia features can make for powerful storytelling. It also opens up new opportunities for still photographers who are willing to expand their skill set and embrace new media. In this presentation, award-winning photojournalist and commercial photographer Paula Lerner shared work and discussed making the transition from shooting stills alone to combining still images with audio to produce multimedia narratives. She spoke about the basics of multimedia as well as how this medium can be both a profitable business option and an outlet for personal projects.
Putting Your Business in Focus: A Strategic Approach to Marketing Photographers
Like many professionals, photographers are often expert at what they do, but find the prospect of marketing their business daunting. Taught by Beth Darman Stone of ClairStone Communications, this seminar focused on helping photographers develop a strategic approach to creating a marketing and communications plan that works for their businesses.
Steve Whittaker: Architectural Photography - It's an Art Form but It's Also a Business
The business of Architectural Photography is an aspect that constantly requires attention. One of the goals from this event was to empower photographers by gaining a better understanding of contractual issues and dealing with negative terms and conditions. Steve Whittaker covered estimating, licensing issues, contractual issues, copyright, project coordination, and practical experiences, both with lighting and assignment issues in general during more of his challenging assignments.
Kevin Ames: Photoshop CS4 & Lightroom 2
Kevin Ames is a commercial photographer, author, teacher, and columnist for Photoshop User Magazine. In this 2-day seminar, Kevin discussed tips and techniques spanning a wide variety of Photoshop and Lightroom topics, including digital archiving, working in RAW with Smart Objects, and high end retouching. Kevin also shed light on the new features in the latest versions of Adobe's Photoshop and Lightroom products.
Blake Discher: "I Stink at Negotiating!"
Do you panic when you have to discuss money with a client? Do you talk too fast, ramble or sound indignant? Do you give in too fast to a lower price or broad licensing terms? Blake Discher teaches the steps to become a top negotiator. This critical skill can change your business in the most profound way — more and better work! Blake discusses real world scenarios, shows how to listen and talk to prospects, turning them into loyal clients.