Susan Baraz was a founding member of Focus on AIDS, the largest global fine art photography benefit, which since 1987 has donated over 3 million dollars to AIDS organizations. She also serves as the Co-Chair of The Lucie Awards, and Head of Judges for the International Photography Awards, the most prestigious award honoring masters in photography. Baraz is an active panelist and portfolio reviewer for APA, ASMP, Palm Springs Photo Festival, Art Center College of Design, Academy of Art University, Otis Art Institute at Parsons School of Design, and Arles and Perpignan photography festivals. She has also served as an exhibition curator and book editor at The Museum of Tolerance Washington DC, Los Angeles Holocaust Museum, the International Photography Awards and various fine art galleries nationwide.
Louisa Curtis is a creative consultant based in New York City. After spending a number of years in the commercial photography industry, she formed Chatterbox Enterprises to offer photographers a variety of creative consulting services ranging from portfolio, web site, and image reviews to customized marketing packages. She now works to help photographers refine their vision, target their appropriate audience, and create and implement Internet-driven business plans. Her work experience includes Archive Magazine, The Black Book, photo representatives Watson & Spierman, PDN PhotoServe, IPNStock and ADBASE. Besides her creative and marketing consulting for photographers, Louisa also works as an event coordinator, panel moderator and seminar speaker. She has been involved with many events over the years for both APA and ASMP and will be moderating a panel of top industry creatives at this years PhotoPlus Expo, entitled, 'Creativity & Commerce.'
Carolyn Potts worked for over 20 years as a Chicago-based artists rep. Now as a creative consultant, she helps seasoned professionals create more marketable portfolios and sound marketing plans — plans that deliver them increased billings. Carolyn knows how buyers think and what they're looking for when they're ready to buy. She has successfully sold top talent working in all niches, to national and international ad agencies, designers and publishers.
Find out how to edit your portfolio or revise your web site to showcase your most marketable images and help you define and reach your target market. Learn about the new-media marketing techniques and how to reach buyers using the 21st-century strategies. With a working background in both fine art photography and graphic design, Carolyn understands the sensitivities of the artistic personality, and is committed to helping photographers succeed in today's drastically changed photo market.
Amanda Sosa Stone has a degree in photography from the Southeast Center for Photographic Studies. With the understanding that she did not want to become a photographer she moved to New York City, after graduation, to pursue a career in the industry. Amanda studied under Elyse Weissberg, an industry icon, who was a photographer's representative and creative consultant. With the knowledge that she gleaned from working with Elyse, Amanda went to work in the advertising industry as an art buyer.
Amanda worked as an art buyer for Foote, Cone & Belding in New York City. In January 2005, Amanda left FCB to pursue a freelance-consulting career, and now travels frequently to appear at seminars and consult with photographers nationwide. She is also the founder of an online resource guide called ShootinFlorida.com, and continually strives to raise the bar in our industry.
Ian Summers has been a lot of things, like an art director, creative director, painter, poet, investigative journalist, think tank operator, teacher, and publisher to name a few. Ian was Creative Director of The Creative Black Book, Leber Katz Partners, and Random House. He's won lots of awards in the advertising and publishing worlds including a Gold Medal from The Society of Illustrators. He synthesized all the things that worked in his career and created Ian Summers' Creativity Workshop. Since 1987, thousands of creators who wish to grow, do what they love and prosper have participated in individual and group workshops. He has taught at Fashion Institute of Technology, Parsons School of Design, and New School for Social Research, and has lectured on creativity at many colleges including Syracuse University, UCLA, and The Portfolio Center. In 1994, Summers developed Heartstorming Adventure Trainings to meet the ever changing needs and desires of creatives.
Allegra Wilde has more than 20 years of experience as a Branding and Creative Consultant to artists, photographers, and art-based businesses, as well as advertising, editorial and fine art marketplaces. She is also currently the Director of Talent and Agent Branding at The Workbook in NYC. In her association with Workbook, Allegra provides extensive consultation to photographers, illustrators and designers on creative and marketing issues such as creative direction, securing representation, portfolio development, editing, marketing, and image selection for promotion. She also consults with photography agents on branding, business development, building photographer talent and marketing. Allegra is a recognized photography industry authority on agent/artist relationships, marketing for artists, and image trend forecasting. For the past 4 years she has critiqued the final student projects (both General Studies and MFA Program) at the International Center of Photography and has been a guest speaker at the School of Visual Arts, NYU, and Parsons. As an independent consultant, Allegra also advises a wide range of businesses, political campaigns, and individuals on branding and visual strategies.
Industry Leaders Educational Presentations
Accelerating Buzz by Mark Adams of LaCour Photography
Schedule: Thursday, October 18th 10:30 - 11:30am
Description: Learn LaCour's top 5 tips for accelerating buzz. Mark Adams will share these key tips that helped LaCour developed a focused marketing plan which helped build buzz and allowed LaCour to go from charging $2,000 a wedding to $20,000 a wedding in 4 short years.
Bio: Mark Adams is co-owner of LaCour, an international wedding photography studio based in Atlanta. Mark has been active in educating photographers about studio workflow, business practices and the evolution of multimedia design. Previously, he worked as a photojournalist for publications such as the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, St. Petersburg Times, Commercial Appeal (Memphis) and The Sun News (Myrtle Beach, SC).
Mark has photographed extensively throughout the world, including Europe, Haiti, Indonesia, Mexico, South Africa and Zimbabwe. He has photographed icons such as Nelson Mandela and covered events such as Alaska's Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, as well as the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
Mark is also a co-creator and co-owner of ShootQ.com, a studio management solution for photographers.
The Fast Track Photographer — Leveraging Technology to Brand Your Business by Dane Sanders
Schedule: Thursday, October 18th 12:30 - 1:30pm
Description: Dane's workshop will give you everything you need to go from photo enthusiast to professional wedding photographer with remarkablespeed. Critical topics addressed will include leveraging our digital-flat world, avoiding the "photography as commodity" trap, intelligent outsourcing and finding your custom roadmap for life altering success.
Bio: Dane Sanders has been shooting weddings professionally for four years and in that time has become universally known for his abilities behind and in front of the camera. Dane has produced over 75 weekly "Photo Minute" video podcasts where he has been equipping and entertaining photographers around the globe. He was also one of the founding members of David Jay's OpenSourcePhoto Forum. Dane's latest project is called Fast Track Photographer, a website dedicated to empowering those new to the industry to find their way from amateur to professional as proficiently as possible. Dane's efforts have recently been recognized in such noteworthy publications as Professional Photographer and Rangefinder Magazines. He was also recently selected to be one of a handful of photographers highlighted in Lou Jacob's upcoming book on Modern Wedding Photography.
The Creative Portrait: Creating the New Photojournalism in Portrait Photography by Garrett Nudd
Schedule: Thursday, October 18th 1:30 - 2:30pm
Description: The wedding photography industry has moved in the direction of photojournalism — capturing the moment Garrett and Joy Nudd talk about how they are extending this trend into their creative portrait sessions converting them into capturing the moment too. Drawing inspiration from fashion magazines, mainstream media, MTV/VH1, etc., they pull that into the portrait session to create fun, fresh, fashionable portraits that are unique to each couple and reveal a true representation of who they are.
How I am Creating my Dream Career by Lyle Owerko
Schedule: Thursday, October 18th 2:30 - 3:30pm
Description: In the last year Lyle has made the switch from being mostly an advertising and editorial photographer to using his talents in ways more in harmony with his values as a human rights photographer for NGOs in Africa. In this talk Lyle will share his insights and strategies for making a photographic career change, the value of doing work that you feel truly matters, and how he has discovered new revenue streams in the process.
Bio: Lyle Owerko is a filmmaker and photographer whose diverse roster of clients has ranged from The Sundance Channel to TIME Magazine to MTV. Recently Lyle's portraits of African warriors and farmers have been used for various development projects, including those sponsored by the UN. His most famous photo to date may be the TIME magazine cover shot on September 11th, 2001 (now remembered as one of the 40 most important magazine covers in the last 40 years). The Calgary native travels extensively worldwide but calls New York City his home, where he lives in TriBeca with his girlfriend Shaundra and their dog Luna.
There is Room at the Top: Tips on Getting There by Ian Summers
Schedule: Thursday, October 18th 3:30 - 4:30pm
Description: What are the characteristics of photographers at the top of the “Creative Mountain”? How can you become a better mountain climber? How will you know when you get there? Find out why it is vital for you to aspire to become a creative visionary. Do you have the right stuff? This talk will demonstrate where creative energy comes from and will show you how to turn your creativity inside/out.
Bio: Ian Summers has been a lot of things, like an art director, creative director, painter, poet, investigative journalist, think tank operator, teacher, and publisher to name a few. Ian was Creative Director of The Creative Black Book, Leber Katz Partners, and Random House. He's won lots of awards in the advertising and publishing worlds including a Gold Medal from The Society of Illustrators. He synthesized all the things that worked in his career and created Ian Summers' Creativity Workshop. Since 1987, thousands of creators who wish to grow, do what they love and prosper have participated in individual and group workshops. He has taught at Fashion Institute of Technology, Parsons School of Design, and New School for Social Research, and has lectured on creativity at many colleges including Syracuse University, UCLA, and The Portfolio Center. In 1994, Summers developed Heartstorming Adventure Trainings to meet the ever changing needs and desires of creatives.
Get Paid What You are Worth by Rob Bacall
Schedule: Friday, October 19th 10:30 - 11:30am
Description: Robert has represented photographers for the last 15 years. In the last year he has seen many instances where photographers who are representing themselves take jobs for 25% less than the going rate! In this talk, Robert will tell you how to know what the job is worth, why it is bad for your career to sell yourself short, and how lowering the price for a job negatively affects the whole photo market.
Bio: In his 15 years as a photo rep in NYC, Robert Bacall has seen it all.
How I book Jobs Through My Website by Matthew Klein
Schedule: Friday, October 19th 11:30am - 12:30pm
Description: Matthew Klein launched his liveBooks site live two years ago. Since then, Matthew has booked about 60% of his jobs, including his two biggest, directly through his website without even having to send his print book to clients. Matthew will answer your questions while he discusses why his website works so well for his clients, how he markets his site, and all the time and money he saves by having a website that works while he is sleeping!
Bio: As a commercial and editorial photographer Matthew Klein has received numerous awards. His exhibitions include Graphics in the City, Triennale di Milano, Milan, Italy, 1988 (3612 photographs describing the depth and scope of urban graphic expression, with Milton Glaser); and Work/Life/Tools, a traveling exhibition of photographs sponsored by the Steelcase Design Partnership. He has photographed fifty-seven cookbooks, and written one, The Joy of Ice Cream. Recent work includespackaging for BirdsEye Foods, Hunt's and MedLine; in-store advertising for PathMark Supermarkets and Target Stores; advertising campaigns for Lehman Brothers, Trump Vodka, eDiets, Elizabeth Locke Jewels, Brooklyn Beer, and others.
How I Get the Work I Want by Ken Thurlbeck
Schedule: Saturday, October 20th 12:30 - 1:30pm
Description: Ken Thurlbeck, commercial photographer, commercial director, fine artist, and author of "Creating your Break-Through Portfolio", will share how he has benefited from developing a brand image for himself and his work. Ken will share why you should consider yourself (and market yourself) as a brand. You don't have to wait until you are a David LaChapelle, Terry Richardson, or Lauren Greenfield to benefit from developing a clear brand identity. Ken will outline the steps and tools to developing yourself as a brand.
Bio: Ken Thurlbeck is a photographer and director. He works internationally with major ad agencies, magazines as well as private clients. He has directed over 1000 commercials and several films including Rock on a Red Horse, which received a Sydney Film Festival Juror's Choice award. He has won dozens of awards including the Gold Clio, The Lion and numerous Art Director Club awards.
Ken has authored Creating The Breakthrough Portfolio, a book on developing and marketing a brand for creative businessmen and women. The book is now in its 2nd printing. His thought leadership is also included in The Digital Designer.
His photographs and films are published and collected, and his work appears in collections internationally, including The Museum of Modern Art and Metropolitan Museum in New York, The Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, The Walker in Minneapolis and many more.
Marketing for Fine Art and Reportage Photographers by Song Chong
Schedule: Friday, October 19th 1:30 - 2:30pm
Description: Increasingly, photographers are turning to advertising and commercial projects in order to supplement their income or raise funds to work on personal projects. How can non-commercial photographers segue into the commercial world? My talk will present basic information on effective marketing and self-promotion.
Bio: A native Angeleno, Song Chong has been a New Yorker for 10 years.
After an 8-year career representing and doing production for renowned fashion, beauty and lifestyle photographers, Song joined the prestigious Magnum Photos cooperative as a photographer's agent and doing special projects such as the Magnum Festival. She is currently working on her dissertation on photojournalism in the Visual Culture doctoral program at NYU.
A Website That Works For You By Ross Whitaker
Schedule: Friday, October 19th 2:30 - 3:30pm
Description: I will share ways that I have successfully used my website to get new clients, and to service clients during a production. I have had a portfolio website since 1995. Through multiple revisions I thought that my web presence was fresh. This year, I converted to a liveBooks site and discovered the power of keeping my content fresh and using the password protected area to offer my clients custom portfolios, castings and location scouting images.
Bio: Ross Whitaker is a New York-based photographer who specializes in shooting commissioned photos of children and lifestyle for advertising, catalogs, books, and editorial publications. Some of the folks that have kept him busy include American Girl, Cheerios, Kool-Aid, Quaker Oats, John Deere, Nabisco, Beechnut, Gerber, Enfamile, Dannon, Playtex, Oragel, Triaminic, Tylenol, Motrin, GE, Fisher Price, Stride Rite, Sesame Street, Samsung, Evenflo, Merck, The Discovery Channel, and Disney. Ross is also a regular contributor to: Family Circle, Prevention, Ladies Home Journal, Brides, Baby Talk, Mothering, and The Parenting Group.
The Art of Production by Ric Cohn
Schedule: Friday, October 19th 3:30 - 4:30pm
Description: The reality of commercial photography is that you often spend more time in the pre- and post-production process then you do making great photos. Ric will share how developing a creative passion for the art of production has enabled him to get more enjoyment out of his work, provide a better experience for his clients, and ultimately create better photographs. Ric will discuss how he finds creative fulfillment during a production, as well as his strategies for organizing his productions, and the key tools he uses to simplify what otherwise can be an overwhelmingly complex process.
Bio: Ric Cohn shoots in the studio and on location for a wide range of national and international clients. He likes to use light, composition, gesture and environment to let the subject tell a story about itself. Throughout his career Ric has worked hard to avoid being pigeon-holed into one type of photography, and he has brought his style to subjects ranging from close-ups of eyes and mascara to vacuum cleaners in room sets. Ric has shot for clients including Revlon, Almay, L'Oreal, Avon, Samsung, Sony, Sharp, Bulova, Bulgari, General Foods, General Mills, Waterford, Pepsi, Seagrams, Johnson & Johnson, Phizer, AT&T and Verizon. He has also directed TV commercials for a number of these same clients. Several years ago he transitioned to an all-digital workflow, which helped to free him from his studio. Ric now shoots and does retouching for his clients and continues to photograph a variety of subjects including cosmetics, beauty, electronics, jewelry, food, beverages, and people.
Trusting Yourself, Vision and All by Maki Kawakita
Schedule: Saturday, October 20th 10:30 - 11:30am
Description: Maki will speak about her experience as an editorial, advertising and fine art photographer who has always trusted her creative vision rather than trends as a way to achieve success. She will share the difficulties and rewards of following your own path, and offer strategies she has found helpful to find the balance between trusting her vision and collaborating with clients. If you have experienced difficulty trusting your creative vision, you will find this talk both informative on a practical level and inspiring to your creative mind.
Bio: Maki Kawakita covers as diverse a range of photographic work as the cultures — Japanese, American, and European — that have most influenced her. Fashion, editorial, advertising, portraiture, fine art and dance all provide areas for her expression and for her professional work. Kawakita has been featured in Time and Marie Claire, shot advertising campaigns for Coors Light, Olympus, Kodak, Canon, Levi Strauss & Co., and Smirnoff, and photographed celebrities such as Alicia Keys, Paris Hilton, Missy Elliott, Beyoncé, and Hilary Duff.
A 2002 graduate of the MFA program at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, Kawakita was recently selected in 2007 by Commercial Photography as one of the best 100 Photographers of Japan, was awarded the 2003 Advertising Photography Award, and was a selected photographer for American Photo in its April/May 2002 issue of Spot Light Photographer.
Creative Patience: The Big Picture by Gray Scott
Schedule: Saturday, October 20th 2:30 - 3:30pm
Description: Gray will speak about his experience of walking the fine line between maintaining his artistic integrity and meeting demands of the mass market, offering strategies that may help you meet the same challenge with success.
Bio: Gray Scott's cinematic perspective, darkly surrealist concepts, and keen eye for set design and lighting allow him to create powerful and harrowing stories. Within four months of entering the world of professional photography, he shot his first fashion editorials and a national beauty advertising campaign. He has since shot covers and stories for a number of leading magazines, including Surface, Soma, Avenue, and Fly Magazine, as well as done many more advertising campaigns. Also, Gray has photographed a number of celebrities, including Chloe Sevigny, Karina Gore, Oscar Delaurente, and Padma.
Gray continues to be hugely successful and to cause a stir of interest in the fashion community. Almost overnight, he has become a highly recognizable name in the industry, and he continues to be sought after for a range of projects, including both photography and short films.
The Need for Speed: Wedding Photography in a More-Faster-Now World by Lynn Jasksa
Schedule: Thursday, October 18th 11:30am - 12:30pm
Description: Lynn Jaksa of CHRIS+LYNN PHOTOGAPHERS talks about the need to embrace speed in the fast-paced world of wedding photography. Using experiences from their studio, she shares shooting, processing, and marketing strategies to increase speed without increasing stress. And discusses how their mantra - slow down to speed up - has helped them get to their destination faster and without compromise.
Bio: Known for their bold imagery & fun-loving approach, Chris and Lynn bring their cinematic vision to all their work. Since abandoning careers in law & education, the couple has been fortunate to explore the world while on editorial assignment for national and international magazines. Their work has appeared in magazines and newspapers around the globe including British Columbia Magazine, Canadian Living, Explore, GEO Saison, Canadian Geographic, Sunset and The National Film Board of Canada. Today, they approach weddings and portraiture with the same artistic vision that has earned them three Western Magazine Awards, five Northern Lights Awards as well as an Emmy from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
Staying true to you: making your own career path by Emilie Sommer
Schedule: Saturday, October 20th 11:30am - 12:30pm
Description: Emilie worked as a photographer and photo editor for USA Today and the Washington Post fresh out of college. She was on the fast-track to success, but stunned her colleagues when she pulled out of newspapers, moved to Maine and started photographing weddings in her photojournalistic style. She now has a thriving wedding photography business and lives life on her terms. Come learn from Emilie how she did it, and get the inspiration to follow your heart and career path.
Bio: Emilie Sommer is an award-winning wedding photographer who got her start as a newspaper photographer. She is also the founder of Roots Workshop and News Wedding Photographers. She currently resides in Maine.
Making money with my websites by Brad Mangin
Schedule: Friday, October 19th 12:30 - 1:30pm
Description: To thrive in today's marketplace a photographer needs to use the internet to its full potential. I will share how I use liveBooks, PhotoShelter, and fotoQuote together, harnessing the power of the internet to sell my stock and get assignments. This will be especially interesting for those of you who, like me, do not understand technology very well and frankly are not very interested in it.
Bio: Brad Mangin is a freelance sports photographer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. His regular clients include Sports Illustrated and Major League Baseball Photos. After graduating from San Jose State University he worked for several newspapers, including The National Sports Daily, before starting to freelance in 1993. Mangin has covered several Super Bowls, World Series, NBA Finals games and the Olympics. He regularly covers spring training in Arizona for Sports Illustrated and the World Series for Major League Baseball. Mangin's website (http://www.manginphotography.com) contains many of his pictures and is the home of his searchable archive containing over 16,000 of his pictures. Mangin is also a founding partner of SportsShooter.com, the online resource for sports photography.
Creative Renewal: Working with amateur models by Brad Miller
Schedule: Saturday, October 20th 1:30 - 2:30pm
Description: Brad is a great example of an “old school” photographer who has discovered how to reinvent himself in the digital economy by leveraging the power of his website and “thinking outside the box”. After 30 years working with an 8 x 10 camera as a car and portrait photographer Brad will share about his latest project, called “New Models”, photographing beautiful women who have never posed before, and how he how he finds them through online resources. Weather you are a new photographer looking for ways to discover beautiful models, or an established photographer looking for a new way to revitalize your portfolio, you will enjoy what Brad has to say.
Bio: Brad Miller’s illustrious career as a commercial photographer started in Europe where he began photographing cars almost exclusively with an 8X10 camera. For nearly 30 years Miller captured the allure, passion and glamour of some of the world’s most prestigious cars, and established a natural light aesthetic still sought after by art directors to this day.
His work has appeared in almost every major publication in the world. In recent years, Miller has begun exploring fine art photography, covering a broad range of subjects. He is currently photographing for a book project. This will be an important coffee table book entitled "Natural Beauty" that captures the essence of women in various environments (many in and around water) au naturale. It is planned for publication next year.