Picture Yourself on Maui at the 2009 Maui Photo Festival and Workshops

Digital photography has changed everything. The instant feedback in the camera and the creative flexibility of the digital darkroom have spawned a medium with limitless educational potential. Thousands of digital photographers -- novice to pro -- share a passion and a desire to take their skills to the next level. The 2009 Maui Photo Festival and Workshops will take them there.

The Maui Photo Festival and Workshops will bring world-class pro photographers to one of the world's most photogenic destinations: Maui. This event is scheduled for September 16-20, 2009, at the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort and Spa on Kaanapali Beach. The event presents a blend of classroom sessions, location shoots, real-world assignments and hands-on photo excursions led by professional photographers. Organizers plan a series of event-long photo competitions for both amateurs and pros. Each evening at the MPF&W's Paradise Cinema (an outdoor big-screen theater on Kaanapali Beach), attendees will view the images and hear the stories of presenting photographers; learn the latest digital darkroom techniques from the sponsors; and check out the images shot that day and entered into competition. Complete details (and online registration) are available at the Maui Photo Festival website.

Presenters for this Maui Photo Festival & Workshops include Canon Explorers of Light Jack Reznicki, Rick Sammon and Eddie Tapp; former aerial combat photographers Stacy Pearsall and Andy Dunaway; award-winning portrait photographer Judy Host; Senior Creative Director at Adobe Systems Incorporated Russell Preston Brown and Adobe Senior Digital Imaging Evangelist Julianne Kost; international fine art photographer and founder of the Pacific Center of Photography, Michael Gilbert; Maui's own fine art photographer Randy Jay Braun; advertising, fashion and architectural photographer Lou Freeman; commercial, editorial and fine art photographer Tony Novak-Clifford; celebrity portrait photographer David Rose; Waimea Bay shorebreak surfing pioneer and photographer Clark Little; international underwater photographer David Fleetham of Hawaii; and more to come. The most up-to-date listing of presenters can be found at the Maui Photo Festival Website.

This sort of festival could happen anywhere. That's why the organizers intend to have Maui be just as big a star as the presenting pros. Each day will start with optional golden-hour excursions to some of the most beautiful landscapes and seascapes in the world -- including a trip to the top of a volcano -- to shoot some of the most spectacular sunrises.

The morning keynote presentations, in the Monarchy Ballroom, are meant to inspire. Then we'll break out into three tracks -- Digital Photography Basic Training, Prosumer to Pro, and The Digital Darkroom -- for a series of three one-hour morning classroom sessions.

Extended afternoon sessions will allow time for demonstrations and hands-on opportunities as well as optional excursions: Underwater photographers will take attendees to explore Maui's reefs; local ocean-going catamarans will pick attendees up from the beach to shoot Maui from the sea; or for the fearless, hop aboard a helicopter with a former aerial combat photographer and get a doors-off island photo tour -- including a rooftop landing at the Hyatt -- for the ultimate photo adventure.

But organizers warn that for this first festival, attendance is limited to 350 photographer attendees. The four-day festival registration fee of $695 includes an opening reception with pupu (appetizers) and no-host cocktails; three full days of morning keynotes, classroom sessions, and extended afternoon sessions; three more evenings in our outdoor Paradise Cinema on Kaanapali Beach, and a special Sunday wrap-up session. (Check the website for early registration discounts.) Registered attendees will also be able to choose from a list of optional golden-hour and afternoon excursions.

2009 Event Sponsors include: Adobe Systems Incorporated, Canon, Epson, Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa, Graphic Authority, Hawaii Tourism Authority, and the County of Maui.

For complete information, including a list of presenting professionals, go to the Maui Photo Festival Website. The Hyatt Regency Maui is offering special Maui Photo Festival room rate (that is too low to publish). Sign up for the email newsletter on the Maui Photo Festival & Workshops website to find out the attendee room rate at the Hyatt, special discounts, and when new presenters or excursions are added. For more information call (808) 283-8438.