Every year, PhotoPlus Expo is the photo industry’s can’t-miss-event! These are my picks for Best of the Best can’t-miss talks at PhotoPlus Expo 2013.
Thursday, October 24, 2013 – 8:45 AM to 10:45 AM
The State of Editorial Photography
Speakers: Art Streiber, Jody Quon, John Toolan, Karen Frank, Lisa Berman
Track: Creating for Clients
Celebrity portrait photographer Art Streiber will show behind-the-scenes imagery from photo shoots for each of the magazine editors on the panel and will then lead the panel through a Q&A covering everything from getting your work in front of today’s magazine photo editors to budgeting and handing over your final files. This roundtable will be dynamic, interesting, revealing and insightful. This is the first time that so many working directors of photography have converged in one place to discuss the state of their industry. Audience members will also be able to ask questions of the panelists. REGISTER HERE!
Thursday, October 24, 2013 – 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.
KEYNOTE: Donald Pettit – An Astronaut’s Guide to Photography in Space
Astronaut Donald Pettit has had a window seat with a striking view of Earth and its inky surroundings. Because of this unique vantage point, the casual act of pointing a camera and snapping a few shots will produce images that can wow an audience for hours. However, to create great photographic works requires the same attention to detail that producing them on Earth does. This presentation will delve into the Earth-known details of focus, exposure, and composition as warped to suit the extraordinary range of brightness and color in space and the cramped zero gravity environment of the cupola. Like in so many other art forms, once the basic rules are mastered it is OK to selectively break them. REGISTER HERE!
Thursday, October 24, 2013 – 1:30 PM to 3:30 PM
Building the Right Audience Online
Speakers: Andrew Fingerman & Allen Murabayashi
Track: Better Business
Let’s face it-everywhere you spend time on the Web today, you’ll find millions of people screaming “Hey, look at me!” The battle for attention rages on, and unfortunately, photographers who want to build an audience and generate more work need to get in the game. However, it doesn’t have to be so noisy, and we don’t have to feel like we’re selling our souls for the sake of gathering more eyeballs. Andrew Fingerman, CEO of PhotoShelter, will discuss how to find the best recipe for using the Web to attract and engage the right audience and turn them into loyal clients. This talk will include tips such as: The “smell test”, brand hints your site is secretly screaming for; the “search engine lottery” and attracting new traffic to your Web site; the “stop doing list” or how to make smart decisions with your time; how to build a monster list of potential clients and what to do next; what’s working (and not) with social media marketing; what’s an “online footprint” and why big ones are better; and “the boomerang” or getting old clients to care about your latest work. Fingerman and Murabayashi will also discuss the smartest online photo marketers they know. This session is intended to share insights with photographers already marketing themselves online, as well as those who need to figure out a new strategy today. REGISTER HERE!
Thursday, October 24, 2013 – 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM
Speaker: Matt Kloskowski – Photoshop Compositing Secrets
Sponsor: Kelby Traning
Track: Step by Step
Compositing is one of the hottest trends in Photoshop and photography today for portrait photographers, designers of all walks of life, and even retouchers. Everywhere you look, from group photos, to school graduation or sports portraits, to magazines, movie posters, and DVD covers, chances are, you’ve seen compositing. In Photoshop Compositing Secrets, Matt Kloskowski takes you through the entire process behind creating convincing, well-executed, and captivating composites. You’ll see how to create images that run the gamut from real-world portraits for corporate, graduation, or group photos to sports portraits, templates, and collages, and even the surreal, dramatic composites that clients clamor for. You’ll learn one of the most important secrets to compositing: how to master selections in Photoshop (yes, even wispy hair). You’ll find out what background color is best to photograph people on and even what lighting setups work best. Finally, you’ll see how to move a subject from one background to another, and the Photoshop lighting and shadowing techniques to make it look real. No matter if you’re a professional, an aspiring professional, or a hobbyist, Photoshop Compositing Secrets will sharpen your skills and open up a whole new avenue of photographic expression in an easy-to-understand way that will have you creating your own composites in no time. REGISTER HERE!
Friday, October 25, 2013 – 8:45 AM to 11:45 AM
Speaker: Gregory Heisler – The Evocative Portrait
Track: Better Business
Photographing people with a sense of intention, deliberateness and purpose. This is what separates the casual or candid portrait from the evocative portrait. In this stimulating presentation, Gregory Heisler will inspire you to change gears: to think more about “why” than “how” as you create your images. He will explain his philosophy and methodology of photographing people, balancing a conscious process of decision-making with the intuitive, unpredictable shifts that inevitably occur during the making of a portrait. But his choices are always in response to specific subjects, circumstances and clients. Employing an incredibly broad array of photographic skills, he has always sought fresh and innovative approaches to his portrait assignments and commissions. He’s worked with the latest 35mm digital cameras, yet he still loves his vintage Graflexes and Deardorffs. He has enjoyed working with formats from half-frame 35mm all the way to the 20×24-inch Polaroid, and optics ranging from 19th- century portrait lenses all the way to the latest multicoated glass optimized for digital photography, and every type of light available: sophisticated strobe setups, myriad combinations of tungsten, fluorescent, LED and HmI sources, gear from Home Depot… even the headlights of his car! While portraiture is a collaboration, the power rests with the photographer. Learn to use this power to create your best work; it’s what you owe your client, your subject and yourself. It’s empowering, gratifying and fun. REGISTER HERE!
Friday, October 25, 2013 – 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM
KEYNOTE: Mark Seliger
In this two-part presentation, Celebrity portrait photographer Mark Seliger will discuss the evolution of his editorial assignments in portraiture and fashion, and how he extends these projects into self assignment. The second part of the presentation will illustrate his personal journey in songwriting and the intersection of music and image making. Prior to the event, we recommend attendees download Seliger’s free companion book from the iTunes Store. REGISTER HERE!
Friday, October 25, 2013 – 1:30 PM to 3:30 PM
Speaker: Brian Smith – Editorial Photography: From Pulitzer to Portraiture
Sponsor: Sony & APA
Track: Tips + Trends
APA Editorial Photographers’ Brian Smith shares insights from his past 30 years as an editorial photographer, as he has moved from covering sports to news to magazine portraiture. This talk will focus on both the art and commerce of editorial photography and what every artist needs to know about the business of photography to remain in business. In this session, Smith will speak about ways to grab and keep the attention of photo editors and art directors and how to keep your portfolio and vision fresher than next year’s winner of The X Factor. REGISTER HERE!
Friday, October 25, 2013 – 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM
Speaker: Chris Boot – Fine-Art & Publishing, What’s in it for Photographers?
Sponsor: Aperture Foundation
Track: Social Media + Marketing
Chris Boot, executive director of the Aperture Foundation, gives an illustrated talk about changes in photography publishing, addressing the role of the photobook and the magazine publisher in the digital age. He will explain how Aperture is responding to the changing publishing environment, how photographers can present work to Aperture’s editors and how the foundation is creating new opportunities for photographers to join its community. REGISTER HERE!
Friday, October 25, 2013 – 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM
PhotoPlus Expo 30th Anniversary Bash
Celebrating 30 years of innovation and growth, PhotoPlus Expo is throwing a party to remember! The event will include three hours of music, food, photo ops, and fun as PhotoPlus Expo celebrates their proud history and promising future.. This event is free to all registered attendees.
Saturday, October 26, 2013 – 8:45 AM to 11:45 AM
Speakers: Alex Buono – The Art of Visual Storytelling
Track: In Motion
The Art of Visual Storytelling delivers an intense educational overview of the artistic elements and core principles of cinematography. Taught by Oscar nominee Alex Buono, DP of the Saturday Night Live Film Unit, this session features training that will dramatically increase the impact of your films. Designed for both DSLR and Cine-style camera users, you will learn advanced techniques of visual storytelling, as Buono introduces concepts such as space, line, shape, tone, color, movement, and rhythm. Buono will show you how he uses these visual components in his own work, as well as discussing how the great filmmaking masters have used these elements. REGISTER HERE!
Saturday, October 26, 2013 – 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.
KEYNOTE: Rick Smolan – Alone Across the Outback: From the Cover of National Geographic to the Silver Screen
At the age of 28, National Geographic magazine gave photojournalist Rick Smolan the assignment of a lifetime: to document a mysterious young woman’s solitary 1,700 mile journey across Australia’s Gibson desert-a story that went on to become one of the most memorable in National Geographic’s 100-year history. TRACKS is the astounding story of a 27-year-old Australian woman who set off to cross the desolate outback, accompanied by only four camels and a dog. In his PDN PhotoPlus keynote, Smolan will share never before seen images from this trek and talk about the challenges of photographing someone who wanted to be left alone. REGISTER HERE!
Saturday, October 26, 2013 – 1:30 PM to 3:30 PM
Speaker: Andy Katz – The Do’s and Don’ts of Travel Photography
Sponsor: Sony
Track: Creating for Clients
In this engaging seminar, intrepid travel shooter Andy Katz will cover the dos and don’ts of travel photography. From where to find the best places to photograph to how to get the most out of every destination you visit, Katz will offer firsthand advice that is sure to impact your future image making. Also covered in Katz’s presentation will be how to approach the subjects you wish to photograph, how subject matter is influenced by lighting, how the sun can affect your shooting, and locations and subjects to avoid when doing travel work. Most importantly, Katz’s seminar will whet your appetite for the pleasure that travel photography has to offer, no matter where you end up. REGISTER HERE!
Saturday, October 26, 2013 – 1:30 PM to 3:30 PM
Speakers: Me Ra Koh – How to Capture Your Child in Pictures
Sponsor: Sony
Track: Shooting Memorable Moments
Inspired by her new book, me Ra Koh will dive into the five stages of childhood and how each of these developmental milestones determine how to best capture kids. She will share her best photo tips for each stage, as well as how she uses lighting to enhance the drama of a moment. Koh is a popular keynote speaker who inspires her audiences. She is a nationally recognized photo expert, host of the Disney Junior TV series Capture Your Story with me Ra Koh. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Oprah Winfrey Show, and Sesame Street, as well as several publications like Parenting and American Baby magazines. She is the best selling author of Your Baby in Pictures and is proud to be one of the SONY Artisans of Imagery. You can also find her smile at your local Target! Be the first to win a copy of her new book! And expect to be entertained by her stories, as Koh empowers you to photograph the best of kids! REGISTER HERE!
Saturday, October 26, 2013 – 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM
Speaker: Jeremy Cowart – Changing the Game: A Look at Inspiring New Artists, Technologies and Ideas
Track: Shooting Memorable Moments
In an industry full of photographers, apps, social networks and changing technology, many are starting to develop an attitude of “well, it’s all been done before. So maybe I am done.” But come watch as Jeremy Cowart flips the script to describe the endless new opportunities emerging from this era of change. There is hope, after all, for the power of invention. REGISTER HERE!
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