Convention Info:

John Gregor

 John Gregor owns and operates ColdSnap Photography a unique photographic studio that teaches photographic workshops and specializes in Garden, Natural History, and Architecture Photography. John’s work has been published in numerous national and regional publications including, Minnesota Monthly, Midwest Home and Garden, The Minnesota Conservation Volunteer, Minneapolis/St. Paul Magazine, Better Homes and Gardens, Canoe and Kayak, Outdoor Photographer, and many others. He has photographed several books including “Northland Wildflowers” and “Growing Home, Stories of Ethnic Gardening.” John recently completed photographing “Northern Treasure, The Story of the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum and Horticultural Research Center” a 100 year commemorative book for the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.

In August 2002 John moved to Two Harbors on the Minnesota North Shore of Lake Superior where he lives with his daughters Erin and Megan. For the last five years he has enjoyed exploring and photographing the rugged natural areas along the lake shore.

John will be a featured speaker on Friday at the Arboretum. Come hear his talk on "A Practical Approach to Garden Photography", tips from a professional garden photographer to make your images anything but "garden variety." This is a public event and the public will be charged to attend. Convention Attendees will not be charged. Should you be driving yourself to the Arboretum, be sure to notify the Registration Committee that you will need a ticket to this lecture if you did not indicate that on the registration form. Send an email to n4c2008@gmail.com.

For more info, see http://www.coldsnap.com/


Nevada Wier

Nevada Wier is an award-winning photographer specializing in the remote corners of the globe and the cultures that inhabit them. Nevada's journeys have taken her throughout Southeast Asia, India, China, Nepal, Africa, New Zealand, Central Asia, Mongolia, South America and other obscure regions of the world.

Nevada has been published in numerous national and international publications, including: NG Adventure, Geo, Islands, National Geographic, Outdoor Photographer, Outside, and Smithsonian. She is a Fellow of The Explorer's Club, a member of the Society of Woman Geographers and was featured in a Northwest Airlines international television and print ad campaign. She was recently featured in the May 2008 issue of “Rangefinder” magazine.

Nevada's books are The Land of Nine Dragons - Vietnam Today (Abbeville Press, 1992),photography from contemporary Vietnam, winner of the Lowell Thomas Best Travel Book of 1992 award, and Adventure Travel Photography (Amphoto, 1993). She was a participating photographer in A Day in the Life of Thailand (Collins, 1995),Planet Vegas (Collins, 1995), and Mother Earth (Sierra Club Editions 2002). She is currently working on a new book A Nomadic Vision (publication TBA).

Nevada was featured in a National Geographic Explorer television episode on her travels down the Blue Nile River in Ethiopia on assignment with National Geographic magazine and was one of the photographers in THROUGH THE LENS for the National Geographic Channels. She was a frequent photographer on Canon Photo Safaris (OLN & ESPN). She is also a regular guest on The Travel Channel. Nevada is a lecturer for seminars and professional panels, and a featured speaker for banquets and conferences. She was recently on a nation-wide tour with LIVE …from National Geographic.

Nevada has guided the gamut of outdoor programs in the mountains, deserts and rivers of the world. This includes 20 years as a Course Director/Instructor for Outward Bound, a boatman for AZRA on the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River and a professional ski patroller in New Hampshire. She has traveled and trekked extensively on expeditions and private explorations in search of unusual places and photographs.

For more info, see http://www.nevadawier.com

Nevada is the keynote speaker at the Saturday night banquet. Her title is "A Nomadic Vision." Nevada Wier presents a lively and entertaining talk on the evolution of herself as a traveler and a photographer. In her talk combining audio-visual presentations, images and video, she will talk about early expeditions, photo assignments, and an expedition down the Blue Nile River in Ethiopia for National Geographic magazine. As we wind our way through her varied photographic career around the globe, she will end with her current work as a fine-art artist and a peek at her current personal projects.


Eric Baker

Executive Chef Eric Baker’s many awards affirm the fact that the Minneapolis St. Paul Airport Hilton has gained considerable reputation for a very pleasurable and enjoyable dining experience.

Eric’s father inspired his interest in photography at an early age which provided a great way to spend more time with nature. Eric has photographed many different areas of the country; however, Minnesota has captured his heart. The wildlife and natural beauty in this area continues to inspire him. It is his hope that through nature photography, wildlife and habitats will be preserved. You will enjoy Eric’s photography throughout the hotel. Many of his photographs were taken of species found in the neighboring MN Valley National Wildlife Refuge across the street from the hotel.

Chef Eric will be our featured speaker at Saturday’s lunch in the Riverside Room on the first floor. Our lunch will feature seasonal foods. The title of his talk is “Photograph through the eyes of Chef Eric.”

For more information, see http://www.hilton.com/en/hi/hotels/hotelpromo.jhtml?ctyhocn=MSPAHHF&promo=chef&cid=OH,HH,mspah,ChefF

Mariann Cyr


 Mariann has been a member of several Twin Cities camera clubs (3M Camera Club, Minnesota Nature Photography Club, Minneapolis Photographic Society) for a number of years.  She has served as president for the 3M Club Camera Club and the Minnesota Nature Photography Club. She has been active in the TCACCC (Twin Cities Area Council of Camera Clubs) by serving as club representative and secretary in the past and Council's web master going forward.

For many years Mariann has organized the Minnesota Botany International, a PSA (Photographic Society of America) competition, with entrants from around the world.  This is the only PSA competition limited to botanical subject matter.  Past catalogs and the 2008 entry form can be found on the Minnesota Nature website ( http://www.minnesotanature.org ). Mariann routinely judges area club competitions and gives programs.  She also has served as a judge for a number of PSA international competitions and is listed in the PSA "Who's Who" list for nature images. Mariann has had a number of images published including in several Minnesota Weatherguide calendars and the Minnesota Monthly Magazine.

Saturday’s program is titled “Essentials of Botanical Photography.” The equipment and techniques needed to capture natural light images of the plant kingdom, whether found in your garden or in the wild will be explained and illustrated. Lens selection, field of view, depth of field, and lighting will be covered. Learn to create botanical images from landscapes to portraits to abstracts.



Jeff Morgan


 Jeff is a native of Wales who has lived in the United States for over 15 years. Jeff’s interest in photography dates back over 30 years when he learned the basics of photography through books, photographic societies and by practicing with his first SLR, a Canon FTb-n. Landscapes, cityscapes, nature and scenics were among his favorite subjects, especially in dynamic light. Over the course of the next few years he became very active in the Royal Photographic Society, passed his GCE A level in photography and went on to teach community education classes to British photographers in black and white photography and processing. He enjoyed many years processing his black and white, infra-red, color films and prints in his own darkroom before the digital darkroom replaced all the chemicals.

Jeff has been studying and practicing digital photography since well before he was able to purchase Adobe Photoshop version 2 for PCs. At first using a flatbed scanner and the original IBM PC before buying a digital camera in the early 1990’s, he is now on the umpteenth generation of digital technology and is working hard to keep up to date with the latest equipment, software and technical understanding. Over the years Jeff has been actively teaching photography, presenting digital seminars, and judging for photographic societies and international salons.

Jeff not only enjoys practicing his craft, but also finds it important to share and encourage others in the pursuit of the photographic arts. He seems to have an ability to explain complex technical concepts clearly and his students grasp them easily. Now he is often found teaching weekend retreats and workshops or speaking at national or international conventions.

Jeff is an accomplished professional who combines technical understanding, problem-solving abilities, training effectiveness and relationship-building to help clients understand, apply and use digital photographic techniques and tools to create high-impact images that communicate effectively.

Jeff's Talk will be Exercises, procedures, tips and ideas to have fun and improve your photography.

Are you stuck in a rut with your photography? Would you like to have some ideas on how to improve your image-making skills? We will look at some exercises you can practice that will expand your creativity and strengthen your repertoire of skills. We will look not just at the practice of photography but also at some Photoshop processing tips for your images. Learn some techniques and procedures that will enable you to quickly improve your pictures to impress the judges. Demonstrations of a few practical Photoshop techniques that will allow you to quickly perform what you first thought impossible!

For more information, see http://elmstudio.com/



Michael Prokosch


Mike is a research specialist in the surface analysis laboratory of the Corporate Research Analytical Laboratory of 3M. During his 31 years with 3M, Mike has been involved in molecular spectroscopy, electrochemistry, chromatography and polymer characterization with major applications in the pharmaceutics and pressure sensitive tape divisions of 3M.

For the past decade, Mike has been active in the photography community in the Twin Cities. He has provided advertising images for use by the New London to New Brighton Antique Car Run, the Star of the North Games and the Mora Vasaloppet. In addition, he has been active in the Photographic Society of America both as an award winning photographer and as a chairman of several international competitions. Since 2002 Mike has done digital photography in both the Arctic and Antarctic regions and many places between.

Mike has judged a variety of competitions: county fairs, Minnesota State High School Principals Photography Contest, PSA Internationals, PSA Print of the Month, 3M Club calendar photography contest, as well as Interclub and club competitions in Minnesota, California and Illinois. Mike has mentored high school students in nature photography and has given numerous seminars on photographic technique and slide show production.

Saturday’s program is entitled “A Portrait Approach to Nature Photography.” The presentation will focus on the selection of equipment and the application of such for the production of nature portraits, especially for bird portraits. Discussion of metering techniques, composition considerations, depth of field, and light control/modification will be presented. The discussion will be continued with the application of these same techniques to zoology subjects.

The educational segment of the talk will be followed by a digital image show that highlights images utilizing the techniques presented and is entitled: “Falkland Islands: Birding Paradise.”


Gary Eckhardt


Gary is a long time photographer and has always specialized in Black & White photography. He says he is color blind, but his judging skills are legendary.

He retired from Control Data back in the 70’s, when they went under new management. He then went to work for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency – Air Quality Division. He is a great environmental worker and enthusiast. He retired from the MPCA recently. He teaches Photoshop at a number of venues around the Twin Cities area.

He has been or is now a member of several camera clubs: St. Paul Camera Club, Crosstown Camera Club, Minneapolis Photographic Society, Twin City Digital and the Digital Photographic Society.

He has judged and instructed at most of the Camera Clubs in the area. He has also done a lot of work for PSA. Gary does a lot of mission work for his church in Haiti.

Saturday’s program is entitled “Black and White Photography in the Digital Age.” Specifically, he will be talking about the options for making black and white photographs using the many hardware and software options that are available today. Topics to be discussed include:

  • What makes a good black and white image
  • Shooting B & W in the camera – pros and cons
  • Shooting color in the camera and converting to B&W (or scanning color slides or negatives and converting to B&W)
  • JPEG versus RAW
  • RAW conversion
  • Photoshop CS3 options
  • Smart objects/filters in Photoshop
  • Output to Print


David Perez


David Perez is a freelance photographer who photographs nature, wildlife, events, and teaches a variety of photography and post-processing classes.  In the four years he has been shooting digitally he has won competitions at local clubs and art exhibitions. His work has been featured in calendars, and is currently on display at the Minnesota Zoo, in the 2009 Weatherguide Calendar, and will soon be displayed in a National Park.

Dave is our featured speaker Thursday night at the Flat Earth Brewery. The title of his talk is “Photography; It’s not Just for Daytime Anymore.”

  This talk will look at some tips and techniques to make your low-light photography more successful.

  Topics Include: Equipment, Camera Controls, Exposing, Movement, Special Effects. For more info, see http://dperezphoto.com/