your 2021 AIM Speaker Team

Lisa Asp, owner of Tangerine House of Design in Edina, MN will share with you how to cash in on pet portraits with proven marketing techniques she has used to expand this very profitable area of her pet photography business. This seminar will cover the details of Lisa's successful "Pin-Up Pets"  Fundraiser and the marketing techniques used to make this (and any portrait charity event) a successful one.  She has been doing this particular fundraiser for 15 years - first in CT for seven years and now in MN for the last eight years. In these eight years, she has raised approximately $82,000 for area rescues while bringing in business revenue in the slow months of the year. 

We will kick off AIM getting your creative juices flowing with the help of professional illustrator Nancy Carlson. Nancy will share her journey as an author and illustrator of picture books which began with Harriet, a sweet and loveable golden retriever.  A graduate of the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Nancy has spent her career of over 40 years of making art. Starting with illustrating picture books, to continuing her early practice of doing fine art in which she often uses animals in her imagery. 

Nancy will also share the journey of her husband’s horrible form of dementia, called FTD, which she turned into a blog called Putting One Foot in Front of The Other. During this time, she began doing a daily doodle which she drew and posted for over 10 years! 

Nancy loves to teach kids and adults to draw so grab a pencil and paper and you can follow along at the end of her presentation. You will be left with inspiration and the knowledge of the importance your artwork has for you and others in your life.

In this program you will learn tips and techniques to be more efficient in Lightroom. Everything from Import through Export. You will learn the best method for faster importing, using Keywords and Collections for hyper organizing, efficient culling, editing with Photoshop and other plugins and how to properly export your images and last but not least, proper backup techniques so you never lose your images.

Get a behind-the-scenes look into Arica Dorff’s transition from owning a luxury retail studio to traveling across the country in her campervan doing pet photography road trips.  Arica will discuss her business model, pricing structure, the challenges and benefits of a mobile business, location scouting the day of portrait sessions, selling large wall portraits through remote ordering sessions, and growing her clientele nationwide.  Leave this class inspired and motivated to base your business model on the lifestyle you want to live - whether you have a retail studio, home studio or mobile business.    

Imagine you’ve shown up for a photo shoot. You have your camera, lenses, props all ready to go… but no natural light or lighting equipment. Disaster!

Trying to run a sustainable, prosperous business without a solid pricing strategy has the same result.  Just like a well-executed photograph, numbers have a story to tell. This session will help you hear the story and offers solutions you can implement today.

You will learn:

• A simple, easy and powerful approach to quickly price your products and services

• To identify the 3 most common pricing mistakes (and how to avoid them)

• How to transform your pricing from a roadblock into a compelling sales tool

All wrapped up in a fun and engaging delivery. You’ll laugh or I’ll eat my pocket

protector!

Create pet portraits in the studio year-round that clients will cherish for years to come.  Using simple lighting and a few props, you will learn how to capture the unique personality of each pet that enters your studio. Lisa will share how she prepares her client and addresses their concerns before the session. You will learn how the pet is acclimated to the studio upon arrival. Lisa will also cover the poses, props, products, and themed sessions that she creates for her clients. Following a review of lighting patterns and lighting setups that she uses, you will watch Lisa as she photographs a dog and works through some of the challenges that can occur during a session.

If you are tired of:

• Inquiries ghosting you after they see your pricing
• Having to respond to inquiries manually
• Feeling like you have to defend your prices

In this workshop Nate will walk you through building a simple automation that will:

• Turn more visitors on your website into leads.
• Automatically nurture your leads.
• Ensure you are making a professional, polished, & personal first impression that lasts.
• Help you better teach your clients about the products you sell, earlier in the process, helping to increase your average sale.

Photography can be very fun and exciting for humans, but what about for our four-legged friends? Are our dogs and cats having fun with these photo shoots? How can we tell which have “had enough?” Come learn the signs of fear, anxiety, and stress in dogs and cats with veterinary behaviorist Dr. Helen Jurchisin. By the end of the program, you’ll be able to recognize early signs of fear and stress and be able to tell which pets truly enjoy photos. 

Back by popular demand, Dr. Jurchisin will help you learn how to recognize early signs of fear, anxiety and stress in your canine clients to keep you and your staff safe.  Due to the importance of safety and the raving reviews Dr. Jurchisin has previously had, we decided to bring her back to give her program again.

"Our pets are a part of our families and I want to help take your pet portraits to the next level. I will share how I create images that bring pets & their people together in a more storytelling and impactful image.  I will discuss my process on planning the session, working with the client, styling the session and we'll do a live photoshoot to bring it all together."

Annie Marie has earned the title of Minnesota Photographer of the Year in 2019 and 2020 as well as Minnesota Pet Photographer of the Year in 2020.

Though we can't be in physically together for an epic opening party, we can still have fun!  Join the hilarity of comic Wendy Maybury as she performs her comedy show celebrating the photography of pets, wild animals, and the people who love them!  

If you love to photograph small pets, you've probably wondered if you might also love to photograph horses. How different can it be? Well, it's actually a LOT different!

Shelley Paulson, a full-time Equestrian Photographer, will help you get started photographing horses by sharing the knowledge she's gained in over 16 years of experience including understanding horse behavior, working safely around horses, best lenses to use, preparing horse and rider for the session, getting ears up, posing, and capturing the bond people share with their horses.

While technical execution of wildlife photography can be challenging, making evocative and artistic wildlife images is the ultimate goal of all wildlife photographers. In this presentation, world-renowned professional photographer Ian Plant will share some of his favorite techniques for creating artistic wildlife images. Ian will share his wildlife photos taken around the world, and discuss the core lighting and composition techniques he uses in the field. 

The constantly changing world of advertising makes it difficult to understand and efficiently utilize for small businesses.  Aaron Vovk will help take the mystery out of it by walking us through the steps of creating a successful advertising plan using Facebook and Google ads, and how these should work with your website for the best use of your advertising dollars.