Corey McDonald

Epic Senior Athletes: Speed edits of four high school senior athletes with commentary. We'll learn the techniques used to really make our subjects pop.

About Corey: Corey McDonald, M.Photog.,M.Artist.,CPP, is a photographic artist from the backwoods of lower Alabama, in the small town of Monroeville, the backdrop of To Kill a Mockingbird. Corey has worked as a professional photographer since 2014. In the past few years he’s enjoyed many new titles and has added a tremendous amount of hardware from the Senior and Youth National Conference, including Best of Show, multiple First Place trophies, and the coveted 2021 and 2022 Photographer of the Year. Corey’s studio specializes in High School Seniors, Families, and Children.

Jen Rutledge

Creating Couture - Elevate Your Senior Experience With Fine Art Portraiture: Let’s make fine art fashionable! Creating Couture is an opportunity to offer stunning, one of a kind, portraits your clients will want on their walls. Not only will they love your final product, but the session itself will be unique, memorable, and fun. I will demonstrate how to create unique looks using minimal sewing skills and supplies. Watch me, in real time, as I design a couture wardrobe for a high school senior model. Then I’ll show you how I  add an extra kick of art in post to create a beautiful portrait fit for royalty. This style of shoot can easily translate to other genres, giving you endless opportunities to elevate your client experience.

About Jen: Jen Rutledge is a portrait photographer based in the Pacific Northwest. In her 17 years as a full-time shooter, she’s photographed everything from Shotguns to Senators. These days High School Seniors and Personal Branding take up most days.

Jen brings a tenacity for finding the unique “sparkle” that is within all of us. She loves sharing her knowledge of photography, and sometimes gets more satisfaction out of helping another get their shot, than in getting her own. It's so cool to literally see it click for them!

Sean Brown

Marketing Like a BOSS!: 

About Sean: Sean Brown is a high school senior photographer and educator located in Portland, OR and has been specializing in high school seniors for nearly a decade. His goal is to help other high school senior photographers build the thriving business of their dreams so that they can have more time, freedom and flexibility to do what they truly want to do. He has been named as one of the top 100 high school senior photographers in the nation five years running by Senior Style Guide Magazine and has been spoken and taught across the nation including conferences like the Senior Style Guide PUSH Conference, SYNC, PPA state affiliates as well as various other online events.

Latrice Murphy

Set it Up!: 

About Latrice: I’m a portrait photographer specializing in Senior portraits, sports, headshots and branding photography. You can find me based in Aurora, IL. Just a little more than 30 minutes outside of Chicago. I am  Professional Photographer of America (PPA). Finding my passion took kind of a wonky path. It wasn’t as straight forward as others. I have a degree in Architecture and design and I also have a Masters Degree of Elementary Education. I love tattoos and coffee. 

I’m a pretty open book. I share Photography education, family fun and travel on my Youtube channel, dance occasionally on TikTok and share my health and fitness journey along with my work on Instagram. I have nothing to hide, but a lot to share.

Thanks to my better half (husband George) and the motivation from my kids I am able to capture emotions, happy times, sad times and everything in between.

Mark Bryant

Hyper-Reality Portraits (Conceptual Composite Portraits) - In Hyper-Reality portraits, you will learn the nuance of light, posing, expression, and composition in composite portraits.

About Mark: Mark and Sandra Bryant, operate a studio in Missoula, Montana. Their work has graced the pages of such national magazines as “Town and Country”,”Fly Fisherman”,Good Housekeeping”,Wall Street Journal”,”Log Home Living”,etc. A recipient of “Kodak Gallery awards:,”Fuji Masterpiece awards, Mark has numerous International Loan Collection prints.At the International Print Competition 2012 he was the third photographer ever to achieve 8 out of 8 in the Loan Collection,the prestigious Double Diamond,2013 Diamond of the year photographer and 2014 repeated the Double Diamond. Multiple Photographer of the Year awards in the Rocky Mountain region and state of Montana. Graduated from Ohio Institute of Photography in Dayton, Ohio.

A unique style and passion has given them the opportunity to travel the U.S. photographing commercial and architectural assignments as well as teaching photographers at workshops and other venues. Capturing the inner and outer beauty of people and awakening the heart and mind of the viewer, has renewed their passion and commitment to the art of portrait photography, their first love.

Carl Caylor

Post Process for Print: Carl will bring his Custom darkroom techniques from his lab days into the digital ages.  He will show how to get the best of your RAW file.  You will learn tricks with burning and dodging and see the world of difference custom enhancements can make.

About Carl: Carl is a down-to-earth, portrait photographer and photographic instructor. He has been involved with professional photography for over 30 years. He started his photographic career in the darkroom as a custom printer and technician and now covers a gamut of photographic assignments including portrait, wedding, commercial, environmental and photojournalism.  Carl is one of 129 photographers to earn an ASP-Fellowship. He has won numerous national awards for his photography, including 29 PPA Loan Collections and several Kodak Gallery, Fuji Masterpiece and Lexjet Awards. 

Carl is the author of the book “Portraiture Unplugged” a guide to natural light portraits and is one of the most sought-after instructors in the country because of his "hands-on" coaching approach. Don't plan on simply watching in his workshop class—Carl will challenge you to become a better photographer than you already are. His photographic skills are just part of what will help each student. His greatest strength is his ability to see what skills others already possess and then break things down in simple terms to help enhance those skills to reach a new level.

Carl prides himself on working hard to be prepared. He stays current on new concepts but is not afraid to look back to the old. He diligently studies photography and art to give his guests and his students the best service he can.

Mario Masitti

Styling & Directing Influencer-Inspired Senior Shoots:

About Mario: Mario has been photographing portraits for over 15 years, and consulting other photographers over the last ten years. His primary focus is helping photographers and studios build and curate high end brand experiences for their clients.

Shannon Atchley

Studio lighting to make your images POP!: Learn how to shoot three easy constant light set-ups with Shannon Atchley of Atchley Photography! Featuring a popular Barbie set, a disco set (involving prisms & twinkle lights!) and a beautiful Christmas set, these constant light set-ups are perfect for all photographers.

About Shannon: Shannon Atchley is a professional photographer in Bryant, Alabama. Her studio has been serving her community for 16 years. She shoots families and babies but specializes in high school seniors.     

Isaac Coffy - From Reflectors to 5 Light Setups: Simple & Creative Lighting

About Isaac: Self-proclaimed coffee connoisseur and lover of all things The Office-related. When I'm not in the studio writing cringy bios, you'll find me at home tearing up the living room with tractors and legos with my two boys, Oliver and Henry. With over 10 years in the senior portrait business, I definitely don't know it all, but I know what sells and I can't wait to show you how to create images that kids will love and parents will buy.

Jena Golden

Are You Charging Enough For Your Model Team?: Tired of your model team not being as profitable as you'd like?  Not even sure where to start?  By the end of this program, you will know EXACTLY how much to charge for your model team, even if numbers aren't your thing!

About Jena: Jena has been a custom senior photographer for 17 years in Georgia. Through family moves and brief pauses to raise babies she's rebuilt her business multiple times by cultivating strong local followings. Jena is also a business coach and the founder of Senior Studio Success where she loves to inspire photographers to be action takers and build profitable, productive and purposeful studios using the systems & strategies she's learned over the years in her own studio.

Jaimy Ellis

Ins and Outs of IG Reels: In this program I will give some tips on how to jump in to creating short form video content primarily for IG reels. You can watch as I create three different styles of reels in various editing apps while I explain the process in real time. 

About Jaimy: I would describe myself as a down-to-earth creative who isn't afraid to be honest. I like to have fun and act like a weird-o sometimes. I strongly believe that having killer photos of yourself, no matter who you are, can work wonders on your confidence and I love being able to create that imagery for teens as they begin the journey of stepping out on their own in this crazy world.

Believe it or not I’m a country girl at heart and learned of my love for photography through 4H. I started a full service portrait studio in 2006 after graduating from Hawkeye Comm. College with a degree in Professional Photography. It grew quick and I soon realized that my favorite subjects were seniors. When I started my current biz in 2014 I was bound and determined to build a brand solely focusing on teen photography. I continue furthering my skills through conferences, workshops and competitions and became a Master of Photography through Professional Photographers of America in 2017 with nationally award winning images and albums. I am also passionate about uplifting and educating other photographers in the industry and became a Photographic Craftsman this year! I will never stop learning how to better my craft and I’m so excited to be able to teach other photographers how to create amazing experiences for their clients as well.

Here’s a virtual high-five until we meet in person!

David Beckham

Using Senior Models To Market: We'll start with shooting a live group shoot then David will take you thru the steps of creating videos and photos. Then he'll show you how he markets with them using Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, print and his website.

About David: After pursuing two other careers and enjoying them tremendously, I decided it was time to follow a life-long passion of portrait photography. I started relearning in the late nineties and began David Beckham Photography and set up a basement studio. My goal was to be just like the pioneers of senior photography, Kent Smith and Larry Peters, but cheaper. I had visions of growing to tremendous proportions. Well that dream never happened. As soon as I developed my own fashion-based style, my own Senior Model Program, and my own way of using OCF did I make an impact. I opened my full-time studio in 2009 and have seen 15-25% growth every year since. In 2012 I changed to only offering Senior and Fashion photography and continue to have my best sales ever.

In 2020 I earned the Masters of Photography from the PPA and I am the President of the Professional Photographers of Ohio. I was honored with the PPA National Award in 2020. My work has been published in many national magazines including the Cover of PPA Magazine. I write two or three articles a year for Shutter Magazine. A Photo of mine was awarded the Grand Imaging award for Best Senior Photo in 2019 and I had a TOP 10 photo in the 2016. Senior Style Guide has chosen my work six years in a row for their coveted Hot 100 list. I was honored to be a platform teacher at Imaging USA in 2022 and they asked me back to do it again in 2023! I speak and teach at multiple PPA events, SYNC in 2018, 2019, and 2020, Shutterfest 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22 and 23. I also lead “Everything Senior Workshops” from my studio and on location 4-6 times a year. I host and educational Facebook Group called ASKDavid.

Jenn Lewis
No Excuses, More Money: You probably have a lot of reasons that you don't think in person sales will work for you, right? After all, you're not a good salesperson. It feels slimy to push products on clients. You don't deserve to make the big bucks, you're just a photographer. Everyone should be able to have nice photos. I mean, are they really supposed to choose what they want to print and spend hundreds or thousands of dollars within an hour after first seeing their photos? Let's talk about all of these obstacles you're facing with in person sales and how to overcome them. Then we'll talk about some ways to greatly increase your sales average. Whether you're new to in person sales or if you've been doing it a while and want to make more money, this class is for you!

About Jenn: Jenn is an award-winning portrait photographer (and CPP, Craftsman Photographer, blah blah blah) based in Clemmons, North Carolina who concentrates on seniors and headshots. She began her photography business over 15 years ago as a “mom with a camera”. With a determined work ethic and tenacious personality, she grew her part-time business from her living room to her full-time 1600 square foot studio while multiplying her sales average by 10. She is an army of one, but her ADHD helps her to multitask like a BOSS. 

Jenn loves this relationship-based business. She lives to attend conferences where she has learned great business practices like combining good sales techniques and a great experience all while taking killer photos, and she has now developed her own models for success in this industry. 

Jenn is easily recognized by her crazy curly hair, which has been rumored to give her superpowers in her sales room. She enjoys road trips, long walks on the beach, and pink Starbursts. Jenn can usually be found at the bar. 

Annie Marie

Painterly studio portraits with natural light - (styling, lighting & posing): Learn the tips and techniques to creating more artful images just using natural light. I want to show that you don't need a big space and fancy equipment to elevate your portraits. I go through lighting, styling and posing. Then watch me edit the final image to take it to the next level.

About Annie: Annie Marie began her love for photography as a child following her photographer dad around with a camera. She got a Graphic Design degree in college but eventually, after a couple detours, settled into photography over 28 years ago. She is an award winning Minneapolis based photographer specializing in modern and fine art portraits of women, seniors & children. She currently holds the MN Photographer of the Year for the third year as well as 2020 SYNC Photographer of the Year. In 2021 she earned her Fellow Accreditation through The Portrait Masters. 

Annie Marie also creates logos and design templates for photographers on her design site as well as mentors photographers as a way to give back to her peers. She hosted her first LUXE Workshop this past spring at her studio and looking forward to hosting many more.

Kristie Bradley

Marketing Beyond Social Media: 5 Tips for Connecting with Your Community/Client outside of social media.

About Kristie: Kristie Bradley Photography has been working exclusively with high school seniors for more than 10 years. Setting down roots in her small town in Virginia, she opened her brick and mortar studio in 2016.  In addition to photographing her seniors, she is known for her senior ambassador program which focuses on bringing positivity and compassion to her community. The most recent KBP Ambassador event was a charity fashion show that raised more than $1500 for The Cameron K. Gallagher Foundation. The show not only featured her high school senior ambassadors, but showcased many local businesses.

Kristie works with photographers from all over the country to provide coaching and business mentoring to help others thrive in the photography industry. She loves speaking at events and conferences to inspire others to live their dreams and is currently developing  photography and business courses coming Fall of 2022!

Josh Hanna 

The Power of Color Grading: Color grading doesn't have to be difficult, but it can dramatically impact the final presentation of your images.  No special plug-ins or extensions needed...we're going to look at a few basic techniques built directly into Photoshop for building color grading effects into our images!

About Josh: Christian. Husband. Father. Artist. Photographer. Photoshopper. Teacher. SciFi Geek. Wannabe Musician.

Marnie Clagett

Pricing Strategies that Actually Work: We're going to look at various pricing strategies and talk about what makes them work (and what their drawbacks are) so you can figure out exactly which strategy is right for you and your clients. 

About Marnie: Marnie Clagett is a hot mess. She’s more than a little scatterbrained, is a complete geek, and her greatest nemesis is her google calendar. In 2009, she started what was meant to be a part-time photography business. One year later, she was worn out and struggling, running a full-time studio with hundreds of clients, a ridiculous schedule, and only $10,000 in the bank to show for it.

So she made big scary changes, took control of her business, and today runs a studio which not only supports her family of four, but also allows her to give back to her home town and her photography community in ways she never dreamed possible. She believes with every bit of her dorky little heart that if this hot mess can find success of all kinds in her studio, anyone can, and loves to prove that by helping other photographers achieve their own goals for improving their businesses and their lives.

Scott Detweiler
Composite Basics: 

About Scott: I have been an artist and painter since I was quite young when I worked with pen & ink, marker, and acrylics. Initially, I became interested in Photoshop when it still came on floppy disks. My motivation to focus on photography began when I realized that no matter how I modified an image, it was never truly mine, mentally or legally. I could paint or manipulate the image for hours or days and never actually own it.

As a Physics major, I enjoy the technical aspects of photography. I like to know my camera settings, angles, focus depth, fall-off, as well as other elements of the scene that directly affect the result.

My latest passion in the last few years has been body painting. I have taken my artistic visions and applied them to the subject of some of my creative works. I do quite a few commissioned paints each year and it has become an unexpected niche for my market.

Teaching others is something I also enjoy doing via workshops, speaking engagements, or traveling to shoots as often as possible. I also do themed shoots, seminars on lighting, posing, and post-production seminars that are open to the public at my studio.

I love passing on my knowledge to those who are now facing similar frustrations with the technical aspects of this excellent artistic outlet.

Curtiss Bryant

Creating a Destination Portrait Experience: This presentation will provide you with information on creating a destination portrait experience for your clients. We will talk about how to schedule the trips, how to find cheap travel and how to create an amazing experience for our client. 

About CJ: Curtiss graduated from college with a marketing degree and started his photography journey in 2005. He has since been published numerous times in national and international publications and has won numerous industry awards. He has built a thriving studio that focuses primarily on seniors and weddings. He specializes in destination portraits and travels the world with his clients to provide them with unique images and amazing experiences.

Tammy Howell

Using Lightroom's New Masking Feature for Portrait Photography: 

About Tammy: Tammy started her photography business in 2006 and has specialized almost exclusively in senior portraits since 2017. She has a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Louisville Speed Scientific School where she graduated summa cum laude. She worked as a design engineer and computer applications manager at GE Appliances before starting her photography business.

Tammy is known for her love of gadgets, spreadsheets, and cats. As a former art school student, Tammy's creative and technical background is the perfect blend for photography. Tammy is a member of the MoLight Pro Team and enjoys helping other photographers learn to use lighting gear and programs like Lightroom and Photoshop.

In her free time, she enjoys gardening and watching DIY videos that she will never get around to doing.

Tammy's senior portrait work is known for being crisp and vibrant as a result her mastery of lighting techniques, and often is chosen by athletes to capture unique sports images. 

Ryan Sims

10 Tips to Becoming a Better Composite Photographer: In this presentaton, viewers will learn some of the tips, techniques, & best practices I use on a daily basis to create photoshop composites.

About Ryan: Ryan Sims is a photographer/digital artist in Nashville, TN. He has a bachelor's degree in Digital Entertainment/Game Design & specializes in Adobe Photoshop. He is primarily self-taught when it comes to Photoshop & has over 10 years of photography experience. He specializes in composite photography, whether it's movie posters, cosplay photography, or album covers.

Ryan also loves to teach. He has a series on YouTube called "From RAW to REAL" where he has several photoshop tutorials & other behind-the-scenes content from photoshoots. Ryan is a BUFF Ambassador, a published photographer with the PPA & Shutter Magazine, has been featured with Canon, FStoppers & PRO EDU, & was a speaker at Imaging USA 2021 for Long Exposure Portrait Photography & SYNC 2022 for Photoshop Compositing. 

Lisa Jones

1 LIGHT - 5 LOOKS: How to create a variety of studio style looks with a single light and minimum equipment

About Lisa: Lisa Jones is an award-winning, certified professional portrait and headshot photographer in Cullman, Alabama. A recipient of her Masters accreditation from PPA and Portrait Masters, she recently competed in the Creator Series. A reality competition series sponsored by Canon, currently being streamed on YouTube.  Lisa specializes in studio portraiture with a goal of recreating a love of printed portraits and wall art among her clients.