Cliff Mautner’s career in photography spans 29 years. After 15 years and 6000 assignments as a photojournalist with the Philadelphia Inquirer, Cliff launched his wedding photography career. After 750 weddings, he hasn’t looked back. Cliff was named one of the top ten wedding photographers in the world by American PHOTO magazine, won the 2009 WPPI Grand Award for photojournalism, and he’s the global wedding photography spokesperson for Nikon and Nikkor.

Got Light? Cliff Mautner, founder of the Lighting and Skillset Bootcamp, will take you through various stages of the wedding day and demonstrate various techniques to utilize light to incorporate texture, dimension, and mood into your images. From his utilization of window light for the beginning stages of the wedding day, to his off camera flash techniques during a reception, Cliff will share his approach and philosophy as he shares his mindset and his imagery for each facet of the day. The seminar is designed to help photographers develop and enhance their own vision and style. From understanding our gear, to understanding our clients, the goal is to empower photographers with the skills to evolve.

Reinventing Group Photography. Transforming a classic shot into a priceless photographs that will outlive you. A photograph isn’t alive until those in the photo are connected to it’s meaning. Michael Greenberg, multiple WPPI award winning photographer, explores the reinvention of group photography. A behind the scenes look will demonstrate how today’s modern tools are now able to transform the traditional group photograph into panoramic group shots. This financially rewarding genera of photography creates meaningful and eternal images for your clients.

These families demonstrate the true meaning of love, health and eternal happiness, and their group photograph will be passed through the generations for years to come.

It’s got nothing to do with pretty pictures!  Angela Carson started out as a wedding photographer and now 25 years later she is one of the highest paid portrait photographers in the country.  So how did she do it?  Angela created a method of getting qualified clients in her door and keeping them clients for life.  She will share with you many of the concepts behind her proven studio techniques.  Angela will teach you how you can build value for your photography.  How do get your clients not to worry about price and get excited about you and what you can create for them. This program is for photographers both new and old.  Regardless of your photographic specialty this presentation for anyone interested in improving what they do.  It’s not easy change what you do and Angela asks you to be prepared for her presentation by having an open mind.  If you are not interested in breaking out of your rut, reaching your full potential as business person and artist, have your clients respect you and being truly inspired; please don’t come.  You will be encouraged, educated, motivated and amused as you spend an incredible morning with Angela Carson.

Taking your client relations and business to where you need to be, not necessarily  ”the next level”.  Understanding you and your work and how you fit into the market space. A seminar for help with understanding. Understanding you, your work, your clients and where you want to be in your business. Shooting billion dollar weddings isn’t for everyone. Finding out and understanding where you need to be is key. John will discuss techniques and ideas for starting to understand and learn who you are as a business person and artist. Relating that to your market and how they fit together within your brand, helping you target the clients that are right for you.” John will discuss techniques and ideas for starting to understand and learn who you are as a business person and artist. Relating that to your market and how they fit together within your brand, helping you target the clients that are right for you.

Sean and Mel decided several years back that there would be no excuses. No excuses for not being able to succeed, for not being able to get the clients they wanted, and for not being able to deliver above and beyond in every situation.

Failure is not an option.  It may just be one day of less-than-exceptional photos for you but those photos will be with your client for the rest of their lives. We all know what it’s like to not be feeling your best, to be handed a schedule with no time for photography, or to find yourself in less than desirable locations; but not being on top of your game for a couple’s wedding day just doesn’t cut it.  Please join us for real content, practical tips, and advice that will prove applicable no matter where you find your business!

Thousands of photos and so little time. Richard has been running his office and production workflow on his own for 7 years. He had to come up with ways to go from multiple cameras cameras, through production, to clients and vendors as efficiently as he could. Richard will show you high speed culling and editing with Photomechanic, Lightroom, and Photoshop. He’ll will show you how to make the software work for you instead of you having to work the software. Imagine exporting your high resolution files, versions for online proofing, and fully branded blog and Facebook images in one click.

Shooting a timeless image, a timeless wedding.  Call me old school but the most important, fun and challenging shot of the day is the family formal. I love it. I want to tell you why this is so important to me. I also will talk about my image-making and keeping images looking timeless. The last thing I want a brides grandkids to say is “look at these photos, they were so turn of the century.” Other than the style of hair and dress the imaged should not be able to be dated when shooting a wedding. If the technique is the first thing noticed in an image, is it a good image? Weird wide angles of people and over-texturizing and dramatizing an image for no reason other than it is what is in style now. I think that is doing a disservice to the couple.  One of the things I am hired for is getting a “real look” form a couple rather than a blank stare. Showing absolute personalities in family and friends. It just takes a little personality on the photographers part and lends to a very real, timeless image

Posing:
It’s time to step up and boldly pursue your dream of a financially and personally satisfying career in the field of wedding and portrait photography. It’s time to bring the posing back. Doug Gordon has developed patterns of success for over 20 years. The systematic approach that Doug has created will allow you to discover and implement change using the same tools, techniques and methodologies that have enabled Doug’s studio to become one of the most successful in the world.

Ken Sklute has been honored as one of  Canon’s Explorers of Light, a designation shared by only 60 top photographers worldwide. During his 35 year photographic career, Ken has been named Photographer of the Year a total of 27 times between Arizona, New York, and California. As photographers we all look at the world and see things uniquely. We often move to fast and miss what is right in front of us. Ken will share his perspective and help you to be more in touch with your creative vision and teach you to see. We routinely pass magnificent locations, without stopping because we are not really seeing what is there. Ken will explain how he goes about finding locations, subjects and photographic environments that yield award winning results. Together we will explore creative ways of composing. You will learn to see light that carves your subject with grace, depth and dimension. He will motivate and ignite your passion, enabling you to take your craft to a new level of excellence.

Driving Studio Profits Through Albums

Andrew “Fundy” Funderburg has been self-employed since the age of 25. He’s built three successful businesses and sold off two for a profit. In this completely hands on experience, he’ll share how to use albums to drive both profit in weddings and in portraits. Using tips and tricks he’s learned through his MBA, his own businesses, and his own extensive reading, he’ll show you how to price more effectively, how to sell without selling and how to manage your album workflow to stay profitable, whether you are outsourcing your designs or keeping them in house. Bring a pen and paper for notes, and your sense of humor, as things are going to get fun. Get ready to ramp up your profits for 2011.

What if the most important thing you learned from 500 weddings is how unimportant weddings truly are. I know, sacrilege, right? But what if we were able to divorce ourselves for a moment from the thing that earns us a living and re-evaluate it all: our photography, their day, and how we both fit within it. And what if that re-evaluation were to give us a better perspective and made our pictures count that much more? Matt has been a professional photographer for 25 years, shooting wars, weddings, celebrity portraits and professional sports. All the while, he never lost interest in shooting personal projects. He spent five years traveling the world with his brother, documenting their family’s Holocaust saga, a project that would result in an international bestseller. And a single comment from a make-up artist at a wedding led him to a remarkable young woman named Lindsay, a woman whose struggle makes every pissy bride story seem utterly ridiculous. Matt will also debut at Mystic 6 a brand new personal photo essay, one he’s confident will finally put his the yin and yang of his life, wedding and photojournalistic work, into true focus.

Todd, Virtually unknown in 2007, has quickly become a well compensated and in demand wedding photographer in just 3 short years, and with practically no marketing! Find out how Todd utilizes his blog to build a consistent pool of potential clients with a devoted following from both repeat and new visitors. The blog will also serve as a segue for his philosophy of repeatedly creating “WOW” images from each stage of the wedding day, at every single wedding he photographs. Climb inside Todd’s mind as he walks you through his thought process for creating specific photographs. He will also explain how he uses pre-visualization of the final image before it is taken, as a blue print for its creation. Utilizing “before and after” images, Todd will demonstrate the importance of finishing your photographs correctly through post processing, and how it can potentially make or break an image. Also learn how to achieve consistently good skin tones using Todd’s “by the numbers” approach in post production.

Let’s get this out of the way right now: yes, Davina and Daniel look young… that’s because they are! But their age has never held them back in the four years they have been photographing weddings. Together they have photographed over 150 weddings all over North America and abroad. They are award-winning members of the WPJA and Brides Magazine, and have been published in a number of Canadian and American Magazines and well-known blogs. Their own blog has given them much of their edge and being featured on others has been critical to their success. Join them for a discussion on the art of blogging and on how to have others blog about you. And of course, on how to be a young and hip photographer – whatever your age or wherever you are in your photography career!

“Photography is dependent on light, make your own.” – JVS

Over the past 20 years, JVS has mastered the art of Speedlite photography.

Since firing his first off-camera Speedlite in 1987, he’s developed a unique style that forces a point of entry into his images through the use of carefully placed Speedlites.

“I’m constantly thinking about new and innovative ways to light my subjects.  I keep a note pad on me at all times in case the perfect lighting diagram pops into my head…and this has happened just a few times during my career.” -JVS

JVS will present a retrospective which will clearly illustrate how point of entry (POE) can be achieved with skilled off-camera flash (OCF).

How to be a second photographer.  Walter will talk about what he thinks a second photographer should be doing at a wedding and what to photograph.

Host & Founder.  Mystic began as a way for New England, NY & NJ wedding photographers to network, share, learn, and have fun as an get together type with some programs tossed in.  Mystic has grown from its humble beginnings of 44 photographers to 300 photographers throughout the USA, Canada and Europe.  Mystic 6 is very excited to have its new location be the Mystic Marriott.  More room for class room style seating, lots of places to hang out and very nice staff.  I’m very much looking forward to Mystic 6 and to meet returning and new photographers.