Thursday, October 23, 11:30am - 12:30pm
Friday, October 24, 12:30pm - 1:30pm
Saturday, October 25, 11:30am - 12:30pm

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is all the rage and there's plenty of mis-information around. John will not only de-mystify SEO for you, he will provide several highly effective examples of how you can get your current site to page 1 of the search engines for your chosen keywords. With a real-world (and on-going) case study, John demonstrates how he aided in the shift from "invisible" to position 1 on all three search engines for a young and aspiring photographer. You will walk away from this presentation with concrete steps to build your visibility and position.

Bio: John Harrington’s built a photography business that’s been successful, with income rising ten-fold, in part because of his focus on ensuring his website appears at or near the top of the search engines - something he's done since 1997. In May of 2007 John was honored at the United Nations with their 2007 Leadership Award. John continues his 18+ years on assignments in DC and worldwide, serving both editorial and commercial clients, John’s credits have included Rolling Stone, People, The New York Times, Washington Post, Time, Newsweek, The National Geographic Society, USA Today, and Life. Commercially, John has worked with over half the Fortune 50 companies, and even more of the Fortune 500. John has travelled nationally for the NPPA, ASMP, APA, and PPA on the subject of his book - Best Business Practices for Photographers.

Thursday, October 23, 3:30pm - 4:30pm

Bio: Ed Kashi is a photojournalist, filmmaker and educator dedicated to documenting the social and political issues that define our times. A sensitive eye and an intimate relationship to his subjects are the signatures of his work Kashi’s complex imagery has been recognized for its compelling rendering of the human condition.

Kashi’s images have been published and exhibited worldwide. His innovative approach to photography and filmmaking produced the Iraqi Kurdistan Flipbook which used stills in a moving image format. Also, an eight-year personal project completed in 2003, Aging in America: The Years Ahead, created a traveling exhibition, an award-winning documentary film, a website and a book.

Along with numerous awards, Kashi’s editorial assignments and personal projects have generated four books. In 2008, his latest books will be published; Curse of the Black Gold: 50 Years of Oil in the Niger Delta and Three.

In 2002, Kashi and his wife, writer / filmmaker Julie Winokur, founded Talking Eyes Media. The non-profit company has produced numerous short films and multimedia pieces that explore significant social issues. The first project resulted in a book and traveling exhibition on uninsured Americans called, Denied: The Crisis of America’s Uninsured. A one-hour documentary film pertaining to this crucial health care challenge is currently in production for release in mid-2008.

Thursday, October 23, 12:30pm - 1:30pm
Saturday, October 25, 12:30pm - 1:30pm

August Bradley presents a slideshow with commentary and discussion walking through the evolution of his stylized images. He will then present a series of images by other photographers and talk about how he sees style evolving across the industry, particularly in fashion and magazine portraiture.

Bio: August Bradley is a conceptual fashion, beauty, and portrait photographer creating distinctive images for clients ranging from designer labels to large consumer brands to lifestyle magazines. Prior to his current photography career, August developed marketing strategies for consumer brands including Gap, Banana Republic, J.Crew, Crate & Barrel, and others. He works both in his state-of-the-art studio in Los Angeles and on location worldwide.

August grew up in his mother’s photography studio, starting out as a lighting assistant shortly after learning to walk. He virtually lived in the darkroom throughout high school and college exploring photojournalism, travel photography, and outdoor adventure sports photography before ultimately specializing in fashion and stylized portraits.

Recent Recognition
Hasselblad Masters Award 2008
Graphis Gold Award 2009 & 2008
Graphis Photo Annual 2009 & 2008
IPA "Photographer of the Year Awards":
- 2nd Place Professional Beauty Category
- 3rd Place Professional Beauty Category
- 12 Honorable Mentions in Fashion, Portrait, and Beauty
APA Camera Works Photography Exhibition

August's work can be seen at www.AugustBradley.com.

Thursday, October 23, 2:30pm - 3:30pm

Bio: For over 25 year Phil Borges has been visiting and documenting indigenous and tribal cultures around the world. Photographs by Phil Borges have been collected and exhibited in museums and galleries worldwide. His award winning books have been published in four languages and in 1998 he was presented the Photo Media Magazine “Photo Person of the Year” award. In December, 2003 Phil was honored with a Lucie Humanitarian Award at the Annual International Photography Awards in Los Angeles. Phil teaches and lectures internationally and is co-founder of BLUE EARTH ALLIANCE, a non-profit organization that sponsors photographic projects focusing on endangered cultures and threatened environments.

Phil’s exhibit and award winning book, TIBETAN PORTRAIT: The Power of Compassion, focused on the people of Tibet, marginalized by the Chinese occupation of their homeland. In 1998 he joined Amnesty International to present ENDURING SPIRIT, an exhibit and book celebrating the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. His book THE GIFT documents the work of medical volunteers in the developing world. Phil’s current project, WOMEN EMPOWERED, focuses on the empowerment and changing role of women in cultures around the world.

Phil is Founder/President of Bridge to Understanding, an on-line classroom program connecting children from indigenous and tribal cultures with their contemporaries in North America through digital storytelling. The Bridges curriculum guides students as they examine their own culture and explore the lives of children with beliefs and customs very different from their own.

For more information about Phil Borges, please visit his website at www.philborges.com.

Saturday, October 25, 12:00pm - 2:00pm

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.

 

 

Thursday, October 23, 1:30pm - 2:30pm
Friday, October 24, 2:30pm - 3:30pm
Saturday, October 25, 1:30pm - 2:30pm

Blake Discher’s photography business continues to grow in these tough economic times, in part because of his high ranking in both the Google and Yahoo! search engines. In this no-nonsense, one hour talk, Blake will discuss the five most important things you need to do to your studio’s website to improve it’s ranking in Google or Yahoo! Blake keeps the techno-jargon to a minimum to help you understand exactly what search engines deem important on your site. And, perhaps more important, what type of content can actually hurt you. This hour presentation can help jump-start your business!

Bio: Detroit photographer Blake Discher specializes in people photography for leading editorial publications and Fortune 500 corporations for advertising and annual reports throughout the world.

He saw very early the growing importance the internet would play in marketing his photography services. As search engines such as Google and Yahoo! gained traction as a tool used by his potential clients, his attention turned to optimizing his own studio’s web site so that it would rank highly in the search results.

Besides his photography, Firefly Studios (www.fireflystudios.com), Blake’s other company, Go-SEO, (www.go-seo.com), consults small businesses in ways to improve their search rankings.