Speaking & Education
Education Your Audience will Actually Use (and Remember)
I teach photographers the parts of running a photography business that don't always come with the camera.
Marketing. Client communication. AI. Workflows. Image competition. Equine photography. Leadership. And all the other things you somehow end up needing to know once photography becomes a business.
My goal isn't to pack a presentation with as much information as humanly possible and hope something sticks.
I want your audience to leave understanding what they learned, why it matters, and what they can actually do with it when they get home.
Sometimes that's a conference program.
Sometimes it's a workshop.
Sometimes it's online education.
Either way, I want people leaving with fewer question marks and something useful they can put to work.
Speaking & Education
The Things I Actually Teach
I don't teach theory just to teach theory.
My programs come from things I've actually done, taught, tested, screwed up, fixed, and learned while running photography businesses, working in marketing, judging images, leading photography organizations, and photographing a whole lot of horses.
Programs can be tailored to your audience and your event. Here are some of the topics I teach.
"I don't know how to describe it. Betsy is simultaneously professional and your new best friend. It's weird. People just gravitate to her."
- Elissah M.
Equine & Equestrian Photography
Photographing horses and their people comes with its own set of challenges, from posing a 1,200-pound animal who has absolutely no interest in your creative vision to working with riders who are often far more comfortable in the saddle than they are in front of a camera.
I teach posing for horses and riders, working safely and confidently around horses, session planning, creating variety, and making photographs that are both technically strong and appealing to the clients who are actually buying them.
Programs can focus on the photography itself, the business of specializing in equine photography, or combine lecture, demonstration, and hands-on experience so photographers can see the concepts in action and then actually try them.
Photography Business & Marketing
Running a photography business requires a whole different set of skills than creating great photographs. I teach marketing, client experience, communication, workflows, sales, and the business decisions that determine whether being busy actually turns into being profitable.
Programs are practical and bult around the things photographers are dealing with in their businesses every day, not business theory that sounds great on a Powerpoint slide and gets forgotten before everyone makes it home.
Image Competition & Critiques
I teach the 12 Elements, preparing images for competition, understanding what judges are looking for, learning from critiques, titles and presentation, and using image competition to become a stronger photographer.
I also teach photography organizations how to use PrintCompetition.com to run their own image competitions, including the behind-the-scenes side of setting up and managing a competition rather than simply entering one.
Leadership & Photography Organizations
Professional photography organizations work best when the local, state, and national levels aren't competing with each other, but helping photographers move through different parts of their professional journey. I teach how the pieces of the PPA ecosystem fit together, what local, state, and national organizations each offer, and why belonging to PPA doesn't mean you've outgrown what your state or local affiliate can do for you.
Programs can also explore how affiliates can work together instead of operating in their own little bubbles, how leaders can communicate the value of each level to photographers, and how we create a stronger path from someone's first local meeting through education, competition, leadership, service, and involvement at the state and national level.
The question isn't which organization a photographer needs. It's how each one can give them something different along the way.
AI for Photographers
AI can be incredibly useful for photographers, but you don't need to become an AI expert or chase every new tool that shows up this week. I teach practical ways photographers can use AI behind the scenes for marketing, writing, research, planning, brainstorming, organization, and running their businesses.
The focus is on figuring out where AI can actually help, how to get better results from it, and how to use it without handing your voice, judgement, or entire brain over to a bot.
Programs that fit your event
From 90 Minutes to Multiple Days
Not every organization needs the same kind of education. Sometimes you need a 90-minute program for a monthly meeting or conference. Sometimes you want a half-day or full-day workshop where we can dig considerably deeper.
And sometimes the subject deserves multiple days, especially when you want photographers to have time to learn something, see it demonstrated, and then actually do it themselves.
My programs can include lecture-style, demonstration, and hands-on learning. Select programs can be taught online via Zoom.
If you already know exactly what you need, great. If you don't, tell me about your audience and your event, and we'll figure out what makes sense.
"Betsy has a unique toolbox of experiences that can speak to a wide variety of individuals."
- Summer R.
What I want Your Audience To Leave With
Useful on Monday Morning
I don't want people leaving one of my programs thinking, Well, that was interesting, and then never doing anything with it. I want them leaving with something they can actually use.
A different way to approach a problem.
Something they can change in their business.
A technique they can try at their next session.
A better understanding of something that finally makes sense.
Or even just the confidence to stop overthinking something they've been making considerably harder than it needs to be.
That doesn't mean cramming every possible thing I know about a subject into one presentation.
It means teaching the things that matter, explaining why they matter, and giving people enough practical information to actually do something with what they've learned.
Because the best education isn't the stuff that fills the most notebook pages. It's the stuff you actually use when you get home.
Why Me?
I Teach from Both Sides of the Business
I've spent a lot of years doing the things I teach.
I run an equine photography business. Before photography became my career, I worked in marketing and business development. I've served in leadership on the board of directors at the local and state level for many years.
I represent photographers as a PPA Councilor, judged and worked behind the scenes in image competition, and spent a whole lot of time teaching and mentoring other photographers.
I'm a Master Photographer, Photographic Craftsman, and Certified Professional Photographer, and I've earned my Tennessee Photographic Master, Educational Fellow, and Service Degrees.
I'm also the co-author of Equine & Equestrian Photography: Poses That Sell and co-host of The Business Animal Podcast, where we talk about what it actually takes to run a creative animal-based business.
All of that means I'm not teaching something I read about last week and turned into a PowerPoint. I'm teaching from experience. From things I've tried. Things that worked. Things that absolutely did not work. Things I've watched other photographers struggle with. And quite a few things I learned the hard way so your audience doesn't necessarily have to.
I know photography. I know business. And I know the photography organizations that help connect the two.
from people who've been in the room
But Don't Just Take My Word for It...
I've told you what I teach and what I want people to get from it. Here's what photographers and organizations who've actually had me teach have to say.
Past Speaking / Appearances
Planning a Photography Program or Image Competition?
Whether you're looking for someone to teach a 90-minute program, lead a multi-day workshop, or help you with your image competition, I'd love to hear what you are planning.
I work with photography organizations on education, workshops, and image competition, including judging and helping organizations under the process of running their own competitions.
Tell me a little about your event, your audience, and what you need. We'll go from there.
Rein in the Chaos. Grow Unbridled.
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