©Cris j Duncan
“Becoming the Photographer your want to Be”
Empower yourself! Break free from the mundane and reignite the passion that called you into this photography profession. Cris and Deanna will be your guides, sharing practical, pertinent and positive ideas to help you propel your business forward, including the following:
Simple (and complex) lighting tips and tricks that will expand your skills and allow your work to shine (literally!)
A series of five-minute “kick-starts” that will reinvigorate your business
Simple strategies that will skyrocket your sales
Remember that success isn’t a simple formula. Rather, it’s a journey of expanding your knowledge and skills and learning to shape your thoughts. And Cris and Deanna’s class is a great start! They will help you define or redefine your view of yourself and your work as you become the photographer you want to be.

As a husband-and-wife team, Cris and Deanna Duncan operate a studio in Lubbock, Texas, and offer high-end commercial, portrait and wedding photography. It may sound cliché, yet they truly love what they do. Their greatest joy comes when they receive “thank you” notes from their clients.
Sometimes called the “MacGyver of Light,” Cris creates his signature style by redefining traditional and non-traditional lighting techniques.He is a Master Craftsman Photographer as well as a certified professional Photographer. Since turning pro in 2002, he has photographed presidents, vice presidents, dignitaries and countless others. Cris has also worked for such companies as Frito-Lay and Bayer CropScience and has been honored to photograph numerous weddings, portraits and commercial assignments for great people all over this land. He is the recipient of several awards and honors, including “The Carpenter’s Masterpiece,” which was awarded a perfect 100 as well as Album of the Year. Cris is also the Past President of the SPPPA and founder of “Find your Focus” photographic education.

Heather Michelle Bjoershol was born with a paintbrush in hand. From early on she would paint anything with any medium within reach.
In 2004 at her first PPA competition Heather’s work won her top honors in her PPA state convention and a Loan Collection print later that Summer. Having worked in
high end studios for several years in production, marketing, and sales, Heather decided to create her own business, HeatherThePainter.com where she offered top of the line digital artistry wholesale to photographers and labs worldwide. In Decemeber, 2005, two of her Portraits, “Little Miss“ and “Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman,“ were chosen for Ballistic Publishing’s “Painter“ book. Among thousands of entrants only a 135 artists were chosen to represent the world’s most talented
digital painters. In 2006 Corel has used Heather’s image “Little Miss” in their photography magazine ads in North America and Europe. In February of 2007,
Corel named Heather as one of their Painter Masters and has included several of Heather’s paintings in their advertising for Painter X and XI. Her painting, “Blue”
was featured on the back of the Painter X packaging and can be seen in various magazines as their ad image all around the world. Several of her paintings are featured in Painter XI’s advertising and within the program’s revolving gallery.
Heather has been interviewed and featured in various magazines such as After Capture, The Official Corel Painter Magazine, French Photography, and Digital Photo Pro UK. Many paintings of Heather’s are featured in PPA Loan Collection books over the last 6 years. In 2011 she taught an all day seminar at Imaging USA in San Antonio, TX on how to utilize Painter to create Impressions of John Singer
Sargent. Heather has been teaching Corel Painter at workshops and PPA affiliate schools for the last five years. In 2011, she completed her Masters Degree in Electronic Imaging. Her thorough and easy-to-follow Corel Painter tutorial DVDs series “Breaking Out of the Box” have received rave reviews. In 2012 Heather will receive her Master’s degree in Electronic Imaging from the PPA.

“Heather is a wonderful teacher. Any time you have a chance to either study with or purchase one of her videos, I highly recommend doing so. You will learn a lot.”
-William Branson III

Andre Amyot, known world-wide as the PhotoCoach, has had a 45 year career as a professional photographer. He served his first 10 years as photographer in the Air Force before opening his own studio in 1974. After early struggles, his studio grew at a rapid pace, generating revenues nearing $ 2 million annually, making his studio one of the most successful in North America. In 1999, Andre sold his photography studio and began his new career as a speaker, coach and author, focusing on both personal and business performance issues for the professional photographer.
Some of his major speaking engagements have included: the 2000 & 2008 PPA Conventions- WPPI 2008 Business school, the PPOC Conventions in Toronto, Victoria, Ottawa and Calgary – and repeated engagements at the Texas School of Professional Photography and Florida School of Photography. Over the years in Europe, Andre delivered numerous technical photography seminars in France, and Luxembourg for several associations. He has been back in Europe more recently, starting in 2006 where he is now delivering his business programs with amazing success. Since 2009, Andre has delivered 6 – 3 day programs through the GNPP (National association in France) to more than 150 photographers. In January 2011, Andre delivered two programs at the SWPP convention in London, England.
The PhotoCoach System has been taught to over 750 photographers over the years and continues to evolve each time it is delivered due to constant research and experience. Even if Andre no longer owns a practicing studio, he is totally connected with the reality of the challenges facing photographers today. He takes his knowledge inside and outside the industry to bring fresh ideas to help photographers stand out from the increasing number of people entering the market.
Andre has quickly developed a strong reputation as a business performance coach. His services focus primarily on profit-building, cost-effective, high impact marketing strategies, and personal motivation – the key ingredients to optimum studio success. His ability to deliver outstanding results is becoming renowned, recently achieving a 360% profit growth for one of his clients.
Andre has written the book “From Passion to Profits – 7 sure fire ways to success”, in which he delivers his vision of what a successful studio is like. His first book, “The Art & Techniques of Business Portrait Photography” released and published by Amherst Media Inc. covers both the technical and marketing aspects of “business portraiture.” The 128 page book, including more than 100 full-color photos is currently available directly from Amherst Media (Amherst Media.com), and from major book retailers including Amazon.com. (ISBN: 1-58428-107-3). Andre has also written several articles, among them: “Adventures in Executive Portraiture” published in Professional Photographer magazine.
Andre served as president of the Professional Photographers of Canada (PPOC), among other positions held in various associations over the years; he is a fervent believer in the power of associations. He is also a nationally accredited juror for photography exhibitions and served as Chairman of the National Exhibition Committee for the PPOC from 2003 to 2005. Andre still dabbles in photography with his own personal projects – but his current mission is to help professional photographers achieve both personal and professional success.

Named as one of Nashville, Tennessee’s top wedding photographers in 2009, Zach and Jody Gray are a dynamic duo who have quickly and steadily gained local and national recognition for their work in the wedding photography industry. Over the past two years they have hosted numerous highly successful photography workshops in the states and overseas, and taught MasterClasses at WPPI and SWPP in the UK. Their images have appeared in various publications including People, Southern Bride, and PPA Magazine. This award-winning couple has also been named by Westcott as one of their Top Endorsed Pros and are a part of the exclusive SanDisk Extreme Team.

Zach and Jody specialize in weddings, bringing a blend of advanced off-camera lighting & photojournalism into their work giving their imagery a unique edge. They are recognized nationally for producing their distinct look entirely in-camera with minor post-processing.

Even more than just taking fantastic images, Zach and Jody have worked to build a successful photography business using innovative marketing techniques built around word-of-mouth and word-of mouse marketing.

Behind the heart of their business is the desire to see others succeed: clients in their marriages and photographers in their work. This has proven to be a foundational key to their work in the industry, and will continue to drive them in everything they do