Summerfest is a premier educational event for photographers who want to elevate their craft while enjoying a laid-back social setting for families.

The new Summerfest brings back the social and networking experience we all enjoyed with the former Summerfest while providing the outstanding education you have come to expect from TPPA.

Enjoy the relaxing social and networking experience along with the outstanding education you have come to expect from TPPA.

Two Outstanding Programs
Our featured speaker is Julie Savage from Madison, Alabama. Her program is brought to you by Bay Photo. We are thrilled to have her presenting Creating Personal Art on Saturday. Julie will guide you through the process of finding inspiration for your photography and art in your own life and surroundings.

On Sunday, Tim Babiak will be sharing advanced concepts to apply to your photography business to elevate your success and long-term performance in his program, Competitive Business Strategies.

The Summerfest Schedule

Friday, June 23

7:00pm – TPPA Poolside
9:00pm – President’s Hospitality Open

Saturday, June 24

8:30am – Registration Desk Opens
9:00am – Creating Personal Art – Presented by Julie Savage – Sponsored by Bay Photo

This Is An Interactive Class
Julie Savage will guide you through how to find inspiration for your photography and art in your own life and surroundings. She’ll talk about where and how she has found inspiration for her own art, how to inject something personal into every single image, and improve the impact and storytelling in your images. Do some homework before class and think about who your favorite artist inspirations are…you may have a chance to share that artist and how they inspire your work.

Bring your cameras, a small OCF light if you have it (no biggie if you don’t), and your laptop with Photoshop and a raw editor if you have it. It isn’t a big deal if you don’t have or don’t want to bring these items because you can follow along and still be part of this interactive class. This will not be a class where you sit and listen all day. This will be a class where you listen and process some and then we will get up and collaborate together in teams to create art pieces together based on a guided concept. You will have the opportunity to model, shoot, and edit or stand aside and help with creative direction or just watch and learn.

This class will have energy and laughter along with some personal digging and technical nuggets. You will leave this class with the opportunity to create something that you haven’t created before. You’ll have the opportunity to even model and star in an image. You’ll learn some editing techniques. You’ll evaluate your processes for creating (versus client work). Hopefully you will walk away bursting with ideas about what you need to create next.

Meet Julie Savage
Julie Savage is a quirky fine art photographer in Madison, Alabama. She started her photography business on Kwajalein in the Republic of the Marshall Islands in 2013 creating lasting portraits for families, seniors, dancers, maternity, children, and pets. In 2018, after moving to the U.S. she focused on digital art creating images that tell stories from her personal life with a feminist perspective. Julie is a Certified Professional Photographer (CPP), PPA councilor for the state of Alabama, PPA juror, with her Master Artist, Master of Photography and Photographic Craftsman degrees through the Professional Photographers of America. She teaches workshops on art inspiration, photoshop, and photography and enjoys collaborating on creative images with fellow artists. She is an active member of the Professional Photographers of Hawaii and Professional Photographers of Huntsville, Alabama. Awards include 2016 PPA Platinum Photographer, 2017 PPA Bronze Artist, 2018 Silver Artist, 2018 Bronze Photographer, and 2022 Gold Photographer.

REGISTER NOW https://tppa.wildapricot.org/event-5234432

10:15 – Break
10:30 – Program Resumes
Noon – Lunch
1:30pm – Creating Personal Art – continues
2:45pm – Break
3:00pm – Program resumes
4:30pm – Program ends
Dinner on Your Own
7:00pm – TPPA Poolside
8:00pm – Night Skies Program with Alison Carlino (First 20 to register)
9:00pm – President’s Hospitality Open

Sunday, June 25

7:30am – Past Presidents Breakfast
9:00am – Competitive Business Strategy – Presented by Tim Babiak

Enjoy the relaxing social and networking experience along with the outstanding education you have come to expect from TPPA.

Not Your Ordinary Business Class

For working photographers, today’s business climate is more competitive than ever. Numerous low-cost players set market expectations (“can I just get all the digitals?” and “looking for an affordable photographer who doesn’t cost an arm and a leg”) and there is virtually no barrier to entry.

To succeed in this climate, we’ve all been given a wealth of advice such as:

Raise your prices
Perform in-person sales (IPS)
Sell prints
Make it about the client experience
Use payment plans
Use language associated with higher prices such as “luxury”, “portrait artist”, branding session”, “wall art” and more.
Know your ideal client
Focus on a specialty – be different!
Some photographers adopt these pieces of wisdom and do well while other photographers continue to struggle. And some successful photographers see their businesses plummet without understanding the underlying causes.

For many photographers, there’s a key missing piece – business strategy.
Business strategy originates from an understanding of the market and the competition. While many photographers develop business plans, few deliberately formulate a business strategy. Despite the absence of a deliberate business strategy, every business has a strategy – whether they know it or not! Photographers without a business strategy can be successful but most would be better served with this key overreaching approach to success.

In this program, you’ll learn advanced concepts to apply to your photography business to elevate your success and long-term performance.

Concepts covered include:

The five fundamental business strategies and their value
The distinction between strategy, tactics, and execution
Developing a business strategy based on market conditions
Aligning sub-strategies with the main strategy
Aligning tactics with business strategy
Understanding well-known businesses’ strategies (you might be surprised)
Participants will then work in small groups to start the process of developing their own business strategies to share with the overall group.

Prepare to learn new, elevated, actionable concepts that you can apply to your business today to position for long-term success.

Meet Tim Babiak
Tim Babiak is a full-time photographer in Austin, TX. Tim is a PPA Master Photographer, Photographic Craftsman and Certified Professional Photographer. Tim has served on the Board of Directors of the Austin Professional Photographers Association for over a decade and is a two-time recipient of the Photographer of the Year award from the Austin Professional Photographers Association. Tim is also a two-time Bronze Medalist in PPA’s International Print Competition.
Register Now https://tppa.wildapricot.org/event-5234432

10:15 – Break
10:30 – Competitive Business Strategy – continues
Noon – Program Ends – Have a safe trip home!

Bring Your Family To Kerrville
If you are new to TPPA, Summerfest is a family-friendly* weekend where photographers take in outstanding programs while the family enjoys time in the beautiful Texas Hill Country.

There is so much to see and do in Kerrville including river rafting, wine tasting, the James Avery Foundry, Enchanted Rock, horseback riding, golf and the Kerrville-Schreiner Park. There is even a vintage Gibson’s store that is a must see! Perhaps the most popular option is to simply hang out at the beautiful pool at the Inn of the Hills.

*While this is a family-friendly event, this scaled-back version we will not offer the Kids Kamp as we did in years past.

Date: June 24-25, 2023

Venue:
The Inn of The Hills Hotel
1001 Junction Highway
Kerrville, TX 78028.

To register https://tppa.wildapricot.org/event-5234432.

For more details https://tppa.org/schedule/.