Even if you don't have a studio, you can shoot anywhere. 

In this session, portrait and commercial photographer Nick Fancher will discuss how you can use minimal, affordable gear to take professional images, as detailed in his book Studio Anywhere.

His upcoming book, Chroma, explores the various ways you can infuse colored gels into your photography. Let Nick Fancher be your guide as he demonstrates his tips and tricks live on stage.

Tanya will share key insights, strategies, and tools she used to develop her projects and her unique path through photography.

In this session, she will share new work previously unseen by the public, tackling issues from Palestine, Israel, and Syrian refugee diaspora in unexpected ways.

She will explore the ways you can move beyond a linear narrative and create a "felt experience" for your audience. Tanya attempts to dig deeper into the politics of the place as she blends competing narratives, overturning and playing with them, through the use of evidentiary and metaphorical approaches.

Join Tanya as she explores the politics of place, encouraging photographers to transcend what has been strictly documentary into a new terrain of documentary photography by incorporating the humane, personal, and collaborative into the unexpected.

Destination wedding photographer Tasneem Alsultan shares how she captures the stories of different cultures around the world. She will let us in on her journey into the unique intersection of storytelling, wedding photography, and socio-cultural commentary that defines her work.

Tasneem will touch on the emotive and artistic foundation of her creative process, as well as the more technical aspects of her workflow. Finally, she will reveal a few tips and tricks on how to make the most out of every opportunity while travelling to shoot a wedding.

Tasneem has been published in National Geographic, British Journal of Photography, TIME Lightbox and Lens Blog by The New York Times.

Light can be bright and beautiful; it can be youthful; it can also be dark, moody, or sinister. Join world-renowned photographer Zack Arias as he walks you through various lighting scenarios to show how you can quickly modify light to create different moods.

This session will include a discussion about exposure, directing models, and picking the right light modifier for the job at hand.

Do you want to establish your own photography style? Kevin Mullins will talk about how he has matured as a wedding, family and street photographer over the years and how his style has become more identifiable since he began shooting with mirrorless cameras.

During this session, Kevin will show you some of his very early work and talk through the lessons he specifically learned as a wedding photographer over the last seven years. He will help you understand the relationship between Light, Composition, and Moment and how you can take your own photography forward.

Let Kevin Mullins use his experience to help you elevate your shots.

Unearth the secrets behind Hugh's eye-catching, quirky, and whimsical creations and discover the many ways you can compose your own fantastical world with Hugh Kretschmer. 

Hugh will walk you through the tools he used to craft his singular vision and photographic thought process, which he developed throughout his 22-year career.

Learn how Hugh balances art and commerce and how you can do the same by attending this session.

Experiment fearlessly while keeping the technical aspects of photography in mind to express yourself through your work. Sara Lando will talk about how she structures her assignments and will guide you through your personal projects. She will also present you with several assignments that you can work on at your own pace.

This session will serve as a controlled and constructive environment where Sara will urge you to experiment with photography until your photos fall apart, you learn that pixels don’t feel pain, and that you will learn a lot in the process.

Make your projects even better by understanding the power of post-processing software! Join RC Concepcion as he shares how Photoshop and Lightroom can help you grow as a photographer.

In this 90-minute talk, discover how these computer programs will make your artistic life faster, more organized, and complete. From simple solutions to photographic problems and pushing the edge of creativity, you'll get proven tips you can apply to your projects .

This panel discussion will bring together Tasneem Alsultan, Shannon Ghannam, and Kevin Mullins to discuss the state of contemporary photography regionally and internationally in light of the social media revolution.

Topics to be addressed include:

• How social media is affecting the artistic practice of photographers around the world.
• The over-saturation of the market (and how to stay relevant).
• The evolution of the medium both in how work is created (DSLR vs iPhone) and how it is distributed (agency vs self-publication).
• The need for social media fasts and taking time away from the internet to spark creativity.
• How to create quality over quantity in a field where the number of “likes” you receive may not correlate to the artistry behind the work you’re creating.
• The impact of social media on photojournalism and the concept of “fake news”.
• How to stay true to your creative practice.

"The Secret Garden is where I am free and wild. Here I am the maiden standing on the hilltop, the wind blowing through my hair as I wait for the ships bearing treasures to roll in on the waves. I am the wild horse running across open plains that extend without borders. I am the eagle flying over the land of my ancestors, my wings spread full as I float high on the wind. This is where my animalistic wild creative spirit resides and where I am the happiest at this important pivotal  point in my creative life."

In this session, Maggie Steber will discuss the concept behind her project, "The Secret Garden of Lily LaPalma", where she discovered her own dark side, her own fears, and how she has let her imagination run free. This project has been supported by the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation.

What do Richard Branson, Bill Gates, Donald Trump, burlesque dancers, and nudist golfers have in common? They’ve all been photographed by Miami celebrity portrait photographer Brian Smith.

In this session, listen to Pulitzer Prize winner Brian Smith as he shares the stories behind his photos of the rich and famous and the lessons learned in 30 years of photographing people of all walks of life, particularly celebrities. He’ll talk about the many ways he connects with his subjects to get the winning shot, convincing them to do what he wants and that it was their idea to do so.