2007

Dallas 2007
Miami 2007
Minneapolis 2007
Raleigh 2007
Boston 2007
Los Angeles 2007
Philadelphia 2007
San Francisco 2007
Seattle 2007
White Plains 2007
Atlanta 2007
Chicago 2007
Paramus 2007

2006

Baltimore 2006
St. Louis 2006
Chicago 2006
Seattle 2006
San Francisco 2006
Philadelphia 2006
Denver 2006
San Diego 2006
New York 2006

Baltimore 2006 - Event Recap

Our participants were thrilled with the ambiance of the Radisson Plaza Lord Baltimore. The hotel's 1920's décor was complimented by music from the swing era emanating from the lobby and restaurant. Sessions on both days were held in the Baltimore Theatre Room -- a multi-tiered space with stadium seating that gave each and every participant the ideal vantage point. In addition to the regular curriculum a special guest speaker was present the second day for the grand finale. Kurt Muchler, an illustrations editor with National Geographic wowed the audience with breathtaking imagery from the pages of his publication -- recognized by all our participants as the finest photography magazine in the world.

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St. Louis 2006 - Event Recap

Our St Louis workshop took place at the Radisson Hotel & Suites St. Louis Downtown. Which is conveniently located within walking distance of one of the cities greatest marvels. The St Louis Gateway Arch designed by the architect Eero Saarinen stands 630 feet high and spans 630 wide. It resides in the beautiful Jefferson National Memorial Park, which was established on December 21, 1935, to commemorate the westward growth of the United States between 1803 and 1890. With all of this history in the background, our instructor Phil Mistry felt the need to incorporate it into the class somehow. Gracefully, he rose to the challenge. By situating the models in the foreground; he made it possible for the attendees to capture the Arch behind. One of the aspiring photographers who attended the workshop had this to say, "Phil Mistry – excellent, especially with the knowledge and experience in relating old and new".

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Chicago 2006 - Event Recap

Chicago's Digital Days took place in a quaint little suburb called Naperville at the Country Inn & Suites by Carlson. They provided us with a spacious banquet hall for our classroom and a perfect outdoor setting for the model shoot. The majority of shooting time on this beautiful summer day was spent outside in the brick courtyard, which was densely populated with lush evergreens and blooming flowers. Although we had brought backdrops for a planned indoor shoot, participants were overwhelmed with the beauty of the outdoors and spent very little time inside. Charles Kacin had this to say about his experience with us, "A great day, really motivated me and enriched my knowledge and drive to do photography. I'm going out of the country and can't wait to use my knowledge, Great two days. I want more."

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Seattle 2006 - Event Recap

The workshop returned to the Radisson Hotel Gateway Seattle Airport for the second year in a row. It was conveniently located within walking distance of the airport for those of us flying in. The staff where not the only ones who benefit from this, we had two dedicated attendees who made the long haul all the way from Alaska. Guest speakers for this workshop where Terry Eggers who taught the Photoshop Elements 4.0, his wife Julie Eggers covered Adobe Photoshop CS2 and Darrell Gulin who mesmerized the class with his incredible images of wildlife photography ranging from Arctic Polar Bears to Toucans in Peru. Both Terry and Darrell are accomplished nature photographers and have worked with us before as Mentors on Popular Photography and Imaging's Seattle Photo Trek.

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San Francisco 2006 - Event Recap

San Francisco Digital Day's, another great success! The Hotel Monaco was the perfect atmosphere for encouraging creativity. Photographers were found shooting not only on the "studio environment" but also in the downstairs lounge. The day started off with Phil Mistry setting everyone's digital fears to rest. Laughter came from inside the room all day. Mikkal Aaland, helped take the fear out of Elements and CS2 while Terrill Lloyds showed off how his career transforms daily from the 49er's team photographer to weddings shooter. As Jeff O'Bannon (a third time participant) said, there is always high energy!

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Philadelphia 2006 - Event Recap

Philadelphia's Digital Days seminars at the Radisson Valley Forge in King of Prussia were led by two expert faculty members from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Richard Decoyte, a Digital Photography professor at the University kicked off the digital photo editing sessions as the Photoshop Elements guest speaker on Saturday. On Sunday, the sessions were more in-depth as Harris Fogel led a seminar on Photoshop CS2. Fogel is the former Chairman of the Media Arts department and currently Associate Professor of Photography at the University of the Arts. He is also the Executive Producer of Mac Edition Radio (maceditionradio.com). Taking digital photography one step further than the camera, these sessions help to lay the groundwork for becoming a digital expert.

In addition to these how-to sessions, on Sunday participants were treated to a real-life account of a job in photography by Ross Whitaker, a New York based photographer specializing in creating images for advertising. Whitaker's lifestyle images of children and adults, appears in numerous catalogs, books and publications. To close our successful weekend in Philadelphia, his eye-catching and sometimes poignant images were shown though a presentation of his work for a look inside the world of commercial photography.

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Denver 2006 - Event Recap

Digital Days rolled into the Mile High City on September 23rd and 24th ready to present Photoshop Elements 4 plus the brand new version 5. Our guide at this first look at Adobe's newest version of the program was Jan Kabili. Kabili, author of seven books on Photoshop, holds a Masters of Fine Art in Computer Art. She has taught at all the major training companies including Linda.com and Total Training, and has even taken her informative and fun presentations to the Caribbean seas with Geek Cruises. Kabili carried her photo editing lesson over to Day 2, helping us unlock some of the more exciting features of Adobe Photoshop CS2. Our special guest for the final portion of the weekend seminar was Nature Photographer Mike Crabtree. Crabtree has lived in Colorado since the early 70s and showed impressive body of work. His images highlighting some of the most breathtaking views of the American countryside left everyone wanting more.

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San Diego 2006 - Event Recap

Thankfully, our Digital Days Tour flew west for the winter on October 7th and 8th. Ok maybe not for the whole winter but it is starting to get chilly and lucky for us; we were off to sunny San Diego, California for the weekend. "What does it matter where the class takes place since it is held indoors?" you might ask. The class was held indoors at the beautiful Hyatt Regency La Jolla, but lunch was out by the pool on a warm Sunday afternoon. Not something I would recommend anywhere else this time of year. We had the usual group of photography and Photoshop superstars including, local digital art and design instructor Stephen Burns. Burns led the class on a tour of the most recent edition of Photoshop Elements 5.0 as well as the older versions for those who haven't yet had an opportunity to pick up the newest release. Then on day two, students graduated to the intermediate level and were treated to an introduction to Photoshop CS2 by Jack Davis after shooting our bevy of beautiful models and still life sets.

Finally we like to end the weekend with a bang by bringing in an accomplished photographer to share his work and insights on making a career out of taking pictures. It was our great pleasure to have Michael Grecco for the day. Grecco has been a mainstay of the California photography scene for many years and really impressed our audience.

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New York 2006 - Event Recap

2006 New York City Digital Days was an exciting weekend full of photo knowledge! Once again, Phil Mistry educated and entertained from morning til night. We would like to add a special thanks to Parson's for welcoming us into their spacious Swayduck Auditorium. The university setting always helps stimulate the mind.

After stuffing ourselves on the spread provided by Foodworks Catering, we walked around the corner to the newly renovated Theresa Lang Community and Student Center where the model shoot took place. Loraine Kweskin said," The live model shoot and still photography was a double plus." Attendee Keith Sills requested that we add another day entirely dedicated to the model shoot and Photoshop.

The weekend concluded with special guest photographer, James Porto. James has collaborated with various artists in both advertising and editorial projects including Annie Leibovitz for Vanity Fair and Joanne Gair, make-up artist on the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.

James is an artist of immeasurable talent; his unique vision and immense technical skill have placed him in the vanguard of contemporary photography. His specialty was producing multiple image effect photography for advertising and editorial clients by using elaborate darkroom and in-camera techniques before pioneering digital imaging technologies.

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Los Angeles 2007 - Event Recap

Our Digital Days Tour started off 2007 with a bang in LA at the Beverly Garland's Holiday Inn in the center of Tinsel Town. The hotel décor, the location and the owner, a true star in her day, all added to the excitement of being in the city where movie magic is made. We even had 93 year old Hollywood Bob on hand on Sunday, one of our many eclectic models. We arranged three model stations with different backdrops and professional lighting. In addition, two still life sets were arranged with an especially Hollywood feel to them.

Jeff O'Bannon, now a familiar face, was with us for his fourth time and promised to see us again in San Francisco later on this year. I think I'm going to nominate him for president of the Digital Days Fan Club. How about it Jeff? What do you say? Another happy attendee Richard Parmelee, had this to say, "Even though I've been shooting professionally for 30 years, I found the beginning class to be informative. And I'm looking forward to the intermediate class."

Our Photoshop presentation was hosted by Photoshop guru Vincent Versace, who wowed the audience with his endless knowledge and expertise in the world of digital photo management. We had to leave our attendees with just a little more, so we invited photographer Jeff Dunas. As our guest speaker, Jeff taught us how to find our inner eye. And he gave us all a sense of what a lucrative career in photography is really like.

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Boston 2007 - Event Recap

On the weekend of February 24th & 25th Digital Days rolled into Milford, MA for our Boston area workshop. The venue was the Sheraton Milford Hotel. After lunch by the pool, students were given a chance to test their new skills in a professional setting with four model stations and the usual locally-inspired still life arrangements. Everywhere you turned there was something to shoot.

Here are just a few comments from attendees:

"The course was a great over all review and helpful in my transition from 35mm to a DSLR."
- Sandra White.

"The live model shoot was a ton of fun!"
- Eric Patel

"The model shoot was fantastic since after 40 years plus of photography I finally got a chance to feel like a commercial photographer. Thanks!"
- Harvey John Beth

Toward the end of each day we break from the camera end of photography and enter into the realm of photo manipulation. Students are treated to a crash course in leading image editing software programs by Adobe. Executive Director of NAPP (National Association of Photoshop Professionals) Larry Becker traveled from sunny Florida to guide our students through the most recent Photoshop Elements program, Elements 5.

For our intermediate session on day two, local digital photographer Bruce Myren instructed the students on some of the finer points of Photoshop CS2. Bruce has been a digital mentor for American Photo Magazine's Mentor Series and is currently an adjunct faculty member with the new digital photography program at The New England Institute of Art in Brookline Massachusetts. In 1999 he started his own freelance company, BeeDigital, and continues today to help photographers, art directors, and publishing houses navigate the digital world.

Fine Art Photographer Henry Horenstein concluded our weekend with slides and a discussion about his work. Henry has worked as a photographer, teacher, and author since the early 1970s. He is author of over 30 books, including the monographs HONKY TONK, HUMANS, CREATURES, AQUATICS, CANINE, RACING DAYS.

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Raleigh 2007 - Event Recap

This past March 24th & 25th we set up shop in Raleigh, NC, also knows as the City of Oaks. Raleigh is named this because of the areas many Oak trees. Another bit of fun trivia I discovered about Raleigh is their motto, "You can see the whole state from here". I don't know if I saw the whole state but I liked what I saw.

We were very fortunate at this workshop to have Photographer Gregory Georges explain to us how Adobe's Lightroom and Photoshop CS3 could help us with our organizing and editing of photographs. Greg was a perfect candidate for the task because he has been in the software industry since 1969 when he took his first computer programming course. Greg is also an author of several how to books which include:

Digital Photography: Visual Quick tips
50 Fast Digital Photo Projects
50 Fast Photoshop CS Techniques
Digital Photography Top 100 Simplified Tips & Tricks 2nd Edition
50 Fast Digital Photo Techniques with Elements 3
50 Fast Photoshop 7 Techniques
50 Fast Digital Camera Techniques
Digital Photography Top 100 Simplified Tips & Tricks
50 Fast Digital Photo Techniques
Digital Camera Solutions

But the fun and excitement didn't stop there. Local photographer Vinny Colucci joined us for the Grand Finale which featured slideshows of his work and insight into photography as a career. Vinny lives in Eastern North Carolina and has been a working professional since 1995 and active in photography since1979. He has photographed North Carolina from the mountains to the coast, the Everglades to Arizona. Vinny is an avid outdoorsman and a member of Nikon's Professional Service Team and Wimberley Professional Services.

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Minneapolis 2007 - Event Recap

Having never been to Minneapolis, my only experience with the state and its indigenous people was from the Coen brother's movie, "Fargo". I expected a lot of "Yah sure you betcha's" and an occasional "Don'cha know". The movie was a bit of an exaggeration I expect but I did detect a hint of Fargo in some of the accents.

Our workshop took place in the not so small suburb of Minneapolis called Bloomington. Home of the massive Best Buy headquarters, hotels with waterslides looping in and out of them and an enormous rock climbing wall that looked like it was taken straight from cut from the side of a mountain and then encased in glass for all to see as they pass on the highway.

Once the locals were able to pry themselves away from the many remarkable distractions that Bloomington has to offer, they were introduced to a weekend of fun with digital photography. You might be rolling your eyes at this point but I can attest to the out bursts of laughter coming from the room. Phil Mistry (the instructor) is one funny guy.

In addition to Phil's antics we had a local speaker from Easel Training on the first day teaching us about the newly released Adobe photo managing software, Lightroom. On the second day, photographer Cory Shubert taught an hour long segment on some of the finer points of Adobe Photoshop CS3, also a new addition to the Adobe line up of software.

Eventually all of this fun had to come to an end but not before we sent everyone of with one last treat. Special guest photographer Layne Kennedy wrapped up the seminar. Specializing in magazine feature assignments, Layne's work has appeared in over a hundred different magazines world-wide. We just can't pack in anymore fun so the rest will have to wait a few weeks until we are in Miami, FL. Maybe I'll see you there.

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Miami 2007 - Event Recap

Digital Days flew down to the "Magic City" of Miami for this weekend workshop. The forecast for the weekend was HOT and we were all fired up for these exciting sessions. We came, we saw, we learned how to take better photographs.

Of course everyone would like to get the shot right the first time. But the fact of the matter is that sometimes we need to do a little adjusting when we get back to our computers. Whether it's something as simple as a crop or a drastic change in color, photo editing programs are a very useful today's digital photographer. With that in mind, our workshops offer photo correction and manipulation instruction on the latest Adobe software programs.

During our beginner class on Saturday, Larry Becker, Executive Director of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP), taught us some of the inner workings of Photoshop Elements 5.0. As attendees advanced to the intermediate class, we were able to delve more deeply into the world of digital.

A class on the brand new Adobe Photoshop CS3 was taught by Angie Okamoto. Angie is an Adobe Certified Expert and an Adobe Certified Instructor as well as the Director of Training at Tech Ed Solutions in Nebraska.

Local Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Brian Smith shared his work and stories from a long and successful career shooting pictures, giving attendees in Miami one last treat. Smith has been creating bold, graphic images of celebrities, athletes and titans of industry for over 25 years and his images have appeared in hundreds of magazines.

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Dallas 2007 - Event Recap

Digital Days "cowboyed up" this May, traveling down to the Lone Star State in the heart of the South; Dallas, Texas. It was difficult getting my 6 shooter and bandoleer through security but I eventually made it.

Before I tell you about this workshops guest speakers I though I'd let some of the attendees tell you what they thought. Frank Rembert said, "Very pleased overall. Phil was an excellent instructor. I enjoyed Bob Straus very much, he has fantastic photographs. Hope Phil returns to Dallas in the next few years". Native Austrian Wolf Beller had this to say; "Great session today, learned a lot and appreciated the presentation of J.W. Burkey and Bob Strauss. It was an excellent performance by Phil Mistry". And finally Elizabeth Isam had these kind words to share, "Very good main speaker. He was very helpful and full of hints and real experience".

Local photographer Les Wollam was our speaker for the Adobe Lightroom portion of the class on Saturday. Les is presently working out of Dallas, and specializes in corporate and magazine photography with a strong emphasis on executive portraiture and annual reports. He has shot for magazines such as Fortune, Business Week and Forbes.

J.W. Burkey has been an internationally-recognized photographer for over 20 years. A pioneer in photo illustration, J.W. can transform your most creative vision into seamless reality. This is why he was the perfect candidate to teach our Adobe Photoshop CS2 during the intermediate session on Sunday.

And finally, wrapping up the weekend was sports photographer Bob Strauss. Bob shared some of his work and philosophies with us. Here is one of his more memorable quotes about sports photography, "It's a little like wrestling a gorilla. You don't quit when you're tired... you quit when the gorilla is tired."

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Philadelphia 2007 - Event Recap

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San Francisco 2007 - Event Recap

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Seattle 2007 - Event Recap

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White Plains 2007 - Event Recap

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Atlanta 2007 - Event Recap

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Chicago 2007 - Event Recap

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Paramus 2007 - Event Recap

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