The 2016 Elevate the Standard Minnesota Photography Convention

The Minnesota Professional Photographers Association is proud to present the 2016 Elevate the Standard - Minnesota Photography Convention April 17th -19th at the Minneapolis Marriott West located at 9960 Wayzata Blvd., in Saint Louis Park.  

The 2016 Elevate the Standard Convention will feature the following photography speakers: Ken Sklute, Charleton Churchill, Brian DeMint, Lori Unruh, Jeff Poole, Inna Sumra and John Pyle.  

Each speaker will present a keynote presentation.  Sunday night's photography presentation by Canon Explorer of Light Ken Sklute is free and it will be open to the public.  Registration passes will be required for the rest of the convention programs.  If you are a professional photographer working in the state of Minnesota you need to be here.  

Convention Schedule of Events:

Sunday, April 17, 2016

1:00 pm - Registrations Opens

2:00 pm - Print Competition Begins & Club 79 Hospitality Room

7:30 pm - Ken Sklute presents "Capturing the Elusive Moment" (OPEN TO PUBLIC)

Monday, April 18, 2016

8:00 am - Brian DeMint presents "Foundations of Art"

10:30 am - Charleton Churchill presents "The New Adventure Wedding Facelift"

12:00 pm - Vendor Bazaar

2:00 pm - John Pyle presents "A Sought After Senior Experience"

4:30 pm - Charleton Churchill presents "Directing Couples Naturally" ~a demonstration class

4:30 pm - Inna Sumra presents "Color Harmony in Portraiture"

6:00 pm - MNPPA Past President's Dinner

8:00 pm - Jeff Poole and Lori Unruh present "Lightroom to Run Your Studio"

9:30 pm - Brian DeMint presents "The Eyeworks Way"  ~ a hands-on class

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

8:00 am - Jeff Poole and Lori Unruh present "Take Charge of Your Income"

10:15 am - MNPPA Awards Ceremony

12:30 pm - Brian DeMint presents "Creative Fashion on the Fly" ~ a demonstration class

12:30 pm - Charleton Churchill presents "Lighting Epic Photos" ~ a demonstration class

2:00 pm - Jeff Poole and Lori Unruh present "Fundamentals of Studio Lighting" ~ a demonstration class

2:00 pm - John Pyle presents "pending"

3:34 pm - Brian DeMint presents "The Creative Mind"

FEES/ADMISSION

Convention cost is $199*

MNPPA members: $159

One Day rate is $99

*discounts are available for MNPPA members, affiliate members 

(TCPPA, PPND, SDPPA, SMNPPA) Questions: please contact the MNPPA office. 

To register for the convention Click Here

For more information visit the MNPPA.com

Questions?  Please contact the MNPPA Office at 763-390-6272

Rooms at the Marriott are going fast please call (952) 544-4400 to book your room today.  Marriott is offering a special group rate of 99.00 USD per night.  Make sure to mention our group (Minnesota Professional Photographers Association when booking)

Click Here to book your room at the Marriott now!

  

The MNPPA Welcomes Photographers James & Stefani Hayes to St. Cloud This Month

The Minnesota Professional Photographers Association (MNPPA)is proud to present:

"Stick to Your Guns" (But Make Sure They're Loaded)

This MNPPA Seminar will be taught by professional photographer James Hayes and his wife Stefani on Monday February 22nd, 2016 in St. Cloud Minnesota.  MNPPA Members may use their fee pass or pay $45 to attend the class.  Non-MNPPA members may attend the class for $99.  This is a PPA continuing education class.  PPA members should bring their numbers to receive credit.

The event will take place from 10:00AM-6:00PM with registration at 9:45AM at The Tuscan Center (3333 W Division #116 - Room 116C, Saint Cloud, MN 56301)

To register please visit:   https://app.memberzone.com/directory/jsp/events/dlg/Public_AddReg.jsp?ccid=9150&eventid=32

JAMES & STEFANI HAYES BIO:

James is a portrait photographer in Sacramento, CA. He and his wife, Stefani, have built a successful boutique portrait studio over the past 12 years, winning numerous local and national awards for his artistic style. Both he and Stefani have been instructors at various photography education events around the country. They started their business in the basement of their home and in 2011 moved to their first studio location. They are a husband and wife team with James handling all the photography & post production and Stefani running the sales and studio management. James' is best known for his romantic and cinematic style and prefers to keep his images "just outside" of reality. A quintessential music fan, James wants his clients to hear a "soundtrack" to his images. 

Check out James' amazing photography at http://www.enchantedimageslife.com/

The MNPPA is proud to present Newborn Photographer Amanda Andrews on Monday June 8th, 2015

The Minnesota Professional Photographer's Association is proud to bring Professional Photographer Amanda Andrews to Minnesota on Monday June 8th, 2015.  During this in depth PPA merited seminar Amanda will share her newborn photography process step by step.  This class will include hands-on experience with infants.  

The seminar will take place at 912 West ST. Germain ST., St. Cloud, MN in the 3rd floor ballroom.  Public Parking is available on 1st ST South.

The seminar will run from 10:00am to 6:00pm.

This seminar is open to the public.  Non-member registration is $99.  MNPPA membership discount rate is $45.

To register please visit:   http://photographers.mnppa2.com/events/details/the-art-of-newborn-photography-with-amanda-andrews-7

 View more of Amanda's work at http://amandaandrewsphotography.com/index2.php#/home/

October 6th, 2014 MNPPA See the Light Seminar with Dave Johnson at The Crow River Winery

Calling all Minnesota photographers!

  

Come camera in hand to Master Photographer Dave Johnson's 

Off Camera Flash – How to Use it to Create Distinctive Images Seminar

Monday October 6th, 2014 at The Crow River Winery 

It is all about light. How much, it’s direction, color, and more. As we are in an age of new technology with higher ISO settings on cameras, high speed sync settings we need to understand the opportunities and features of these technologies. We also need to understand their limitations. We will be discussing those in depth so you can apply them in your imaging arsenal.

In this seminar we will learn how to effectively use off camera flashes to enhance our images using the wireless systems that are available with Canon and Nikon Flash systems. We will also explore the different options of wireless control both TTL and manual settings of these flash systems. This will include different light modifiers, colored gels, power options, and more.

This class will be hands on, so bring your camera. We will have one multi-flash setup for Canon and Nikon so everyone will have an opportunity to go through the settings of the camera and flash.

Dave's presentation will take place from 2:00 to 4:00.  

Hands on photography will began after his presentation.

The Crow River Winery is located at

14848 Highway 7 East, Hutchinson, MN 55350

This MNPPA event is free for members and non-members.  

To register please visit http://photographers.mnppa2.com/events/details/off-camera-flash-13

Dave Johnson M.Photog., Cr., CPP, AFS-MNPPA has been involved in photography since 1970 when he started shooting sports images for his old high School while in college.  After finishing school at Macalester College in St Paul, Minnesota Dave started working at Brown Photo and nurtured his professional shooting. His area of expertise has been technical, especially darkroom and exposure. In 1976 he took a position with DCS as the Ilford Tech Representative for Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, North and South Dakota. He returned to Brown Photo in 1977 and was transferred to Fargo, North Dakota in 1979 to open up Brown Photo’s first out of state store. In 1985, Dave accepted Affiliate Coordinator position at Brown Photo servicing studios in towns that offered Brown Photo Services. In 1987, Dave joined Monarch Photo in Fargo as the Customer Service Manager and Retail Sales Manager. He returned to Minneapolis in 1988 to join National Camera Exchange. His current position is the Department Manager of the Wedding and Portrait Division.

Dave has a passion for teaching. He has been giving seminars since 1973 and has taught at North Dakota State University, Moorhead Area Vocational Center, Osseo School District and current teaches at Minneapolis Community Technical College. He has spoken at PPA National Conventions, After Dark, The Wisconsin Professional Photography School at Treehaven, and other state and local PPA Affiliations.

His studio, Silver Images, started in 1973 capturing weddings, and commercial photography. Through out the years Silver Images has changed many times. Custom slides and multi-projector slide shows, custom black and white and color printing, weddings, families, events, and over the past few years, and now include building custom computers for imaging, workflow consulting, website design, retouching, and Photoshop Training along with his photography which takes him around the county.

Realizing that most photographers need production assistance, Dave now concentrates on Custom Workflow Solutions. Utilizing Photoshop Actions and Scripts, he automates image preparation, retouching, templates and more.

Dave started using Photoshop 2.5 in 1992 for graphic design and prepress applications.  He did retouching and collages in Photoshop for clients. He also creates custom workflow solutions for customers utilizing Photoshop Actions and Scripts He has learned every version of Photoshop since.

Dave is a member of PPA and serves as a council member, Minnesota PPA (MNPPA), where he serves on their council for about 18 years, and is a past president of The Twin Cities Professional Photographers Association and served on their board and was their Newsletter Editor and Webmaster.  For eight years Dave was responsible for creating the PPA’s Top Ten Wedding Event Albums Program. He has received a Masterpiece Award, Minnesota’s Addie Award (MPPA’s highest service award), the Silver Service Award and PPA’s National Award. He has his Masters and Craftsman Degree and is Certified Professional Photographer. He holds his accredited, Fellowship and Service Degrees from Minnesota Professional Photographers Association.

Minnesota Professional Photographers Association (MNPPA) Shoot-Out at the Glensheen Mansion in Duluth Minnesota

This summer the Minnesota Professional Photographers Association (MNPPA) traveled to Duluth for their annual summer shoot-out.  The beautiful summer day was packed with education and portfolio building with models.  The MNPPA arranged for the seminar to take place at the historic Gleensheen Mansion where professional photography is no longer allowed except for booked on-site weddings.  The above image was captured lakeside by MNPPA member Todd Myra of Todd Myra Photography out of St. Cloud Minnesota using off camera flash.

  The day began with a short round table discussion on the benefits and drawbacks of running a home based studio.  Minnesota Professional photographer Mark Fitzgibbons of Fitz Photo in Duluth led the discussion.   After lunch Mark switched gears as he led the group through various lighting scenarios with models.  Mark made clear to the group that his business is built around his knowledge and skill of creating multiple lighting set-ups with natural and additive light to give his clients unique art pieces.  In the above photo the group practices the use of reflectors and scrims to control natural light to create images.  Mark also gave demos with off camera flash and various light modifiers.  He encouraged every member of the group to try each method themselves.  After several demos Mark set the group free with their cameras, models and gear for some portfolio building in a manor similar to an After Dark event.

The MNPPA will be hosting two hands-on photography events on October 6th, 2014.  Both events are open to members and non-members.  They are a great way to learn more about the MNPPA and to meet fellow photographers in and outside of your area.  To sign-up or learn more about the events, please visit our MNPPA event sign-up page.

Above is one of the images that I, Stacy Milburn, of Phodot Photography captured during the free for all part of the day.  To view more of my work please visit my Phodot Blog.  To view more of Todd Myra's work from the Shoot-Out please visit the Todd Myra Photography Blog.  To learn more about Mark Fitzgibbons please visit Fitzphoto.com.