Josh Meltzer

Josh was the 2006 POY winner for the NPPA Best of Photojournalism while at The Roanoke Times. Received a Fullbright grant to live and work in Guadalajara, Mexico documenting the migration of indigenous families from rural to urban regions in Mexico. He’s now a professor-in-residence at Western Kentucky University.

Jon Lowenstein

He has been a professional photographer for more than ten years. He specializes in long-term, in-depth projects that confront the realms of power, poverty, and violence.  As a documentary photographer, he strives for unsparing clarity, and believes images make a critical contribution by revealing the subjects of history that lack voice. At the core of the work, and by his own admission, is alighted love of people. He attended the University of Iowa and graduated with a degree in English in 1993. Jon has been documenting the South Side Chicago community where he lives for the past ten years.

Kent Kobersteen

He is a former newspaper photographer, editor and Director of Photography at National Geographic magazine.  He currently conducts photographic workshops and lectures internationally on the philosophy, ethics and business of photojournalism.  He also serves as a consultant to publications on photographic contracts and rights issues.

Judy Griesedieck

She is currently a freelance photojournalist in Minneapolis, MN was most recently a staff photographer for the Star Tribune from 1998-2004. She has worked on staff at the  San Jose Mercury News and The Hartford Courant. Her freelance work has included assignments for clients such as Time, Newsweek, Business Week, Smithsonian, People, The New York Times, and USA Today.

Allen Brisson-Smith

He is a freelance photographer based in Minneapolis specializing in images of people for editorial and corporate clients. Allen began his career at the Star Tribune wher he was a staff photographer from 1996-2000. Hs work has appeared in Time, Newsweek, Gourmet and many major metropolitan daily newspapers. He is a regular contributor to the New York Times. While primarily a location photographer, Allen works out of his 2,000 square foot studio in the Minneapolis warehouse district.

Ben Garvin

He is a staff photojournalist (stills, video, audio) for the Pioneer Press in St. Paul, Minnesota. His work has appeared in Time, Newsweek, The New York Times, The Washington Post, among others. He was named 2007 Minnesota Photographer of the Year and has received first place awards from the Associated Press, the National Press Photographers Association, and the Society for Newspaper Design for his still and video photography.

Convention Schedule 2010

Friday April 16^th 2010

4:00pm CPOY Judging

Saturday April 17^th 2010

9:00 am POY Judging  (All day)

9:00 am Steve Niedorf : The Business of  Freelancing

Steve will talk about copyright, negotiating fair contracts and other issues that are essential to surviving post newspaper life. After years of experience being self employed in this market, Steve will share his knowledge with us.

10:30 am Brian Peterson:  Turning 5d Mark II into a video camera

Brian will walk us through the additions he has made to his camera in order to make it a good video camera. He’ll talk about some of the drawbacks and the benefits of the 5d Mark II.

12:00 pm Lunch

1:00 pm  John Noltner:  Personal Projects: Following Your Passion

John will talk about his A Peace of My Mind project and working on longer personal projects.

2:30pm Chris Welsch: Being a One Band Man

Chris will talk about doing it all for CNN and what it means to be responsible for all parts of the story.

4:00pm  Heidi Hesse and Mark Falstad:  Collecting good audio

Heidi and Mark will talk about collecting quality audio and working as an audio/visual team to tell stories.

Sunday April 18^th 2010

Speakers

9:00 am Kent Kobersteen

He is a former newspaper photographer, editor and Director of Photography at National Geographic magazine.  He currently conducts photographic workshops and lectures internationally on the philosophy, ethics and business of photojournalism.  He also serves as a consultant to publications on photographic contracts and rights issues.

10:30 am Josh Meltzer

Josh was the 2006 POY winner for the NPPA Best of Photojournalism while at The Roanoke Times. Received a Fullbright grant to live and work in Guadalajara, Mexico documenting the migration of indigenous families from rural to urban regions in Mexico. He’s now a professor-in-residence at Western Kentucky University.

12:00 pm Lunch

1:00 pm Jon Lowenstein

He has been a professional photographer for more than ten years. He specializes in long-term, in-depth projects that confront the realms of power, poverty, and violence.  As a documentary photographer, he strives for unsparing clarity, and believes images make a critical contribution by revealing the subjects of history that lack voice. At the core of the work, and by his own admission, is alighted love of people. He attended the University of Iowa and graduated with a degree in English in 1993. Jon has been documenting the South Side Chicago community where he lives for the past ten years.

2:30pm John Malat, of  Kare11, Jim Gehrz, of the Star Tribune and Sasha Aslanian, of MPR: Panel discussion on storytelling

Each will share work and discuss the art of storytelling within their own medium. Then the floor will be open to discussion.

The WNPA will have their judging on Friday and speakers and workshops on Saturday. Looks like it will be worth the drive. For more information, check out their website.      http://www.wnpaonline.com/