A benefit for local photographers
Jan 25th & 26th, 2025 – Asheville, NC
This is an event to help several small businesses get back on their feet following Hurricane Helene.
Want to learn about a career in photography?
Come learn from professional photographers who will be sharing knowledge on how they became successful, full-time photographers. We have six speakers who will be sharing insight about landscape, architecture, real estate, portrait, and wedding photography.
2 days
6 speakers
36 seats
Event Schedule
Saturday
25th
Carol Spags
11.00am
Carol is a professional headshot photographer who has grown her business very quickly. She’ll be sharing insight into the realm of studio photography!
12.00pm LUNCH
Jared Kay
1.30pm
Jared runs a media business called Amplified Media which focuses on videography. Amplified Media works with some of the biggest names in Asheville including The Biltmore Estate.
J Smilanic
2.30pm – 5.00pm
J Smilanic is owner of WNC Photo Tours and a professional landscape photographer. J will be covering several subjects during his 3-hour speech, including website optimization, 1-on1 editing lessons, and more.
Sunday
26th
Steven Freedman
11.00am
Steven is a successful architecture / real estate photographer who has had his work published in Architectural Digest, Spain. He’ll be sharing some cool knowledge with us!
12.00pm LUNCH
Monica Leavell
1.30pm
Monica Leavell is a wedding and elopement photographer who specializes in capturing authentic love stories and creating meaningful art. With years of experience photographing couples in stunning landscapes, Monica’s work celebrates the beauty of connection and nature. She is excited to share insights into storytelling, composition, and connecting with clients to create impactful images.
Tommy White
2.30pm – 5.00pm
Tommy White is an award-winning landscape photographer, owner of Tommy White Photography, and founder of Mountains to Sea Workshops. Tommy will be sharing his secrets on the topic of: “Layers of Light: Mastering Depth and Dimension in Landscape Photography”
Helping Our Community
Many businesses lost a lot of income as a result of hurricane Helene including local photographers. By attending this event, you’ll be supporting six local photographers and our partners at Wrong Way Campground, who suffered flood damage. We’ll also be making a donation to ArtsAVL Emergency Relief Grant.
WIN A FULL-DAY LANDSCAPE WORKSHOP WITH TOMMY WHITE AND J SMILANIC JUST BY ATTENDING THE SUMMIT! DETAILS BELOW.
Summit Pass
$195
2 Days
6 Speakers
Charity Fundraiser
Location & Lodging
Wrong Way River Lodge & Cabins – The Eddy Event Space
9 Midnight Dr, Asheville NC 28806
The event will be held at Wrong Way’s event space called the Eddy. They are offering lodging to those who are traveling from out of town! You can book one of their awesome cabins for the weekend along with fellow photographers. How convenient! They were kind enough to give our attendees a 10% coupon code if you book one of their cabins that weekend. Use code AVLSUMMIT for your discount on a cabin.
In addition to lodging and an event space, Wrong Way features “The Canteen”, which is directly upstairs from the event venue, offering beers, coffee, snacks, and some lounging space. We’ll be conviening here after the last speaker for each day for some R&R!
WIN A FULL-DAY LANDSCAPE WORKSHOP WITH TOMMY WHITE AND J SMILANIC (OF WNC PHOTO TOURS)!
By simply attending the event you’ll automatically be entered into a raffle to win a trip with Tommy and J in the Blue Ridge Mountains in the spring of 2025! This will be a full-day outing with both Tommy and J. TWO lucky participants will be chosen at random for this workshop.
Big Thanks to our Sponsor
Craft Your Commerce w/ Mountain Bizworks
Craft Your Commerce is an entrepreneurial program designed to connect, elevate and advance creative and craft-centered companies through a series of business training workshops and classes designed by makers for makers. CYC envisions a growing, engaged, and sustainable creative community that is a major economic driver to the WNC region.
Register Today!
We are only selling 36 tickets to this event. This helps us create a more intimate experience for participants and allows some one-on-one opportunities with the speakers.
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Contact: hello@avlphotosummit.com