We’ve listed our favorite parts of the Maui Photo Festival along with some things that can be improved.
THE GOOD
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- Location! Perfect for outdoor photo shoots and workshops. The beaches here are amazing and perfect for sunsets. you can’t ask for a better area to shoot at.
- Warm, Strong Community. This is different from any other photography convention we’ve been to. It’s not as huge as some of the mainland conventions, which brings people together more to meet and learn from each other. These things are fantastic for networking and learning from other professionals and enthusiasts. It’s a less intimidating environment allowing everyone time to speak to the pros and mingle.
Off-site Workshops. There are plenty of opportunities to shoot with the expert speakers away from the hotel. There’s a trip to Haleakala Crater for sunrise, doors-off helicopter rides, and much more.- Studio Lighting. For a few hours they set up studio lighting for anyone to use. They also had some models there to give everyone a chance to shoot.
- Contests and Prizes. Each year there are multiple contests for photos taken during the week of the festival. Awards are given on the last day and prizes are exceptional. Some prizes this year included: Wacom Tablets, CS5 Photoshop, camera backpacks, and many more. See some of last year’s best photos.
- Student Scholarships. We love that the Maui Photo Festival sponsors aspiring photographers from local high schools. These kids are truly gifted and have a bright future in photo.
- Magazine Staff. We liked that staff from popular magazines came and spoke to us about how to submit photos to their magazines and what they’re looking for. People from The Knot and from Maui No Ka Oi Magazine came and spoke.
- Live Models. Beautiful models are brought in to allow us opportunities to hone our craft. There was studio shoots, outdoor shoots, hula dancers, bikini models shoots, etc…
- Great Speakers and Experts from all Over. World renowned experts and local legends include:
Jim DiVitale – I’m in awe of this man. Unfortunately, most of the teachers I’ve had over the years for any technical matter offer too slow a pace. Jim, on the otherhand, moves at times too fast. He’s perpetually on a serious caffeine high and blows through material. He’s incredible. I’ve tried to go to all of his workshops the last 2 years, and I gain so much from each one. he is a Photoshop wizard.
Randy Jay Braun – Randy is a local artist that is gifted in bringing the culture of Hawaii to the masses through beautiful images. He’s proven to be one of the more successful photographer artists in Hawaii, and just happens to be one of the nicest guys you’ll meet.
Some of the Other Speakers include: Jim Tierney, Michael Sweet, Douglas Peebles, Judy Host, Stacy Pearsal, Andy Dunaway, Eddie Tap, Jack Reznicki, Randy Hufford, Lou Freeman, Lewis Carlyle, Rebecca Crumley, Frederick Van Johnson, and Mike Sidney.
Our Suggestions
- The Rooms are Too Cold. Air conditioning needs to be cut down a bit. This is an easy fix that I think they can have set up better next year. Bring a sweatshirt just in case though.
- Parking. Many times we’ve gotten lucky, but the Hyatt isn’t great for parking. If you get there too late, you’ll have to valet. It’s $18 to valet, but you can get it validated if you eat at one of the restaurants. Umalu is reasonable and good, but the new restaurant Japengo is outrageously expensive.
- Offer More Broad Classes, other than Photo: It would be nice if we could have some classes on business, marketing, branding, advertising, website design, networking, etc… I know that’s kind of a lot, but if there was time and an extra room, it’d be nice to offer some of these workshops.
- Mixers to Mingle. It would be great to have a different local restaurant/bar help sponsor a different night for every night of the fest. This would be a great way for our photographers to get to know eachother away from the classrooms and help build lasting relationships in an even more casual setting. Sponsor host restaurant/bars could offer 1 free drink to each paid attendee and all other drinks are cash bar. I’m sure plenty of locations would be interested in the exposure if Maui Photo Festival were to add some advertising for them.
- Breakout Sessions. We’d love to see a few hours each day dedicated to sign up sessions to have pros interact one on one with attendees. Photoshop or shooting, it’d be nice to have a few hours where our experts stick around a classroom and meet with each person to discuss their questions one on one. Not sure if this is possible, but it’d be cool.
Learn more at the Maui Photo Festival.
Nice overview of this fantastic event.
I totally agree with the parking, we parked down at whalers “beach access” parking spaces.
And not sure if you were at the festival in previous years, but in 09 and 10 there were classes about both social media, marketing and the business side of photography. Judy Host did one about the business side of portrait photography, complete with a q and a about prices, advertising and packages. And I forget who did the one about social media and business/copy right law but they were excellent key note classes. They were not offered this year, but hopefully they’ll offer some next year.
Thanks, Makena! We went that last 2 years, but for some reason I missed the Social Media talk. I think my wife went to Judy Host’s business one. I think these are all crucial for photographers, especially seeing that so many of the attendees were amateur photographers aspiring to make it a business.
Mahalo for your comment!
Aloha!
Great article! I was fortunate enough to attend last year, and this year…but was unable to make it to Sunday’s finale presentation. Is there any where I can go to see the images submitted, and the winning images?
I believe they’ll be posting winners shortly on their site: https://www.mauiinformationguide.com/maui-photo-festival.php But you’ll have to contact them. It’d be nice if they posted all the submitted images too in a slideshow form.
The best place to find out official information about the Maui Photo Festival & Workshops is at our Facebook page (facebook.com/mauiphotofestival) or the web sitehttps://www.mauiinformationguide.com/maui-photo-festival.php. We are taking some well deserved rest but will have the winning images up soon for a “Best of Festival” vote. The people’s choice will win the Epson R2000 printer. BTW, you won best Macro. Contact us directly for your prize information.
Parking has always been one of my worries in Kaanapali. We are able to get parking for our volunteers but attendee parking is a challenge and special event parking costs extra — something our event cannot support at this time. Valet parking at the Hyatt when you are attending an event there should be $5.00. We obviously need to better announce that feature.
Cold meeting rooms are something that comes with conventions. On Thursday evening, our presenter was hot up on the podium while the rest of us were cold, just two feet below. We train the volunteers to man the AC panel in the back of each room but the control will only vary the temp by four degrees. I always take a sweatshirt to my Vegas conventions.
We are considering all options for future MPF events, including more targeted workshops that focus on smaller, specific audiences. Our large, annual event, that provides material for all skill levels is often misunderstood: Pros think it is for amateurs; amateurs think it’s for pros; residents think it’s for visitors; and visitors think it’s for residents.
One test of our new ideas will happen in early 2012, when Jim DiVitale and Helene Glassman return for a special workshop. Jim is a wizard at Photoshop, color management and commercial photography. Helene is a portrait artist and studio lighting master. While they’re married, Helene maintains her studio operation in Santa Barbara, California while Jim keeps the Atlanta base of their businesses working. Both know what it is like to operate in this challenging economy and are willing to share their business experiences with Maui attendees. Helene also organizes the portfolio reviews for Photoshop World, a year-long task for her. We would like to incorporate more portfolio reviews into MPF, where attendees get one-on-one feedback on their work from industry professionals.
In 2009 and 2010, we started the evening programs at 7:30 p.m. with some time for “mixing,” but we often had folks skip the sessions altogether because the sunset shoots lasted so late and there was no time for dinner. That’s why we encouraged attendees to grab take-out food (from home or from Umalu) and hele on over to the evening sessions, which we started at 8PM. We would love to have food for purchase at the evening sessions, but guaranteeing the number of diners is still something of a challenge for us at this point and with our attendee base.
We believe in our concept of bringing the best training and trainers to Maui and we’ll continue to strive to do so. We just have to get the formula right so that everyone profits: Attendees, student scholars, presenters, sponsors, volunteers, organizers and our host hotel, the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa. Imua.
Fantastic! Thank you, Terrie, for replying. Great points all.
By the way, Terrie. You are AMAZING! This event wouldn’t be 1/2 what it is without you. You really need more praise. Thank you thank you thank you!!!
No need praise. Just hoping to make ends meet.