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If you’re looking to score new techniques, creative inspiration, and workflow optimizations for your school, sports, volume, and event photography, Imaging USA 2027 is the place to be! With a list of experiences specifically tailored to your business, you’ll discover new wins and valuable lessons that will take you to a new level.
Check out the opportunities designed for school, sports, and event photographers below and start drafting your game plan for the show.
Pre-Conference Classes on Saturday, January 30
For an extra fee, you can add any of these pre-conference classes and get a head start on all the learning that the conference has in store.
The Volume Blueprint: Booked. Shot. Sold. Building a Profitable Dance, Cheer & Gymnastics Business
Sheryl Bashore
Sponsored by: GotPhoto
Ready to turn your portrait skills into a profitable volume photography business? Whether you’re looking to break into dance, cheer, and gymnastics photography or grow the volume side of your business, this hands-on class will give you the blueprint to get started.
Learn from Sheryl Bashore how to book the clients you want to work with, create eye-catching imagery, and build a streamlined workflow that leads to higher sales. You’ll also see live shooting demonstrations that feature modern glamour headshots, dynamic individual poses, and compositing.
You’ll get detailed insights on:
- Setting up successful volume photo days
- Techniques for headshots, individual poses, and compositing
- Workflow tips for efficient shoots
- Streamlining your editing process
- Online sales strategies that increase profits
- Pricing for success
You will walk away inspired, equipped with practical tools, and ready to start building your own successful volume photography business.
Adding Volume to Your Portrait Studio (The Side Hustle That Supports Your Portrait Habit)
Brent Watkins
Sponsored by: GotPhoto
Most portrait photographers don’t suspect their pricing isn’t working. They know it. Some consider getting a part-time job as a supplement, and volume photography is the optimal choice.
Volume photography is the most consistent way to generate reliable income inside a portrait studio, and that consistency changes everything.
In this practical, step-by-step program, Brent Watkins teaches portrait photographers how to intentionally add the right kind of volume work to their business without diluting their brand. He breaks it into three clear moves:
- Define who you are as a portrait photographer.
- Choose volume that fits your market and expertise.
- Use that revenue to stabilize and strengthen your business.
The result? Predictable cash flow and less pressure in the sales room.
Platform Classes Begin on Sunday, January 31
Included in the All-Access pass, classes during the conference are an opportunity to learn firsthand from the experts you admire and practice new techniques and workflows.
The Portrait Photographer’s Guide to Social Event Photography for Year-Round Income
Steve Foisy
Sponsored by: Candid Color Systems
Portrait photographers often ride a seasonal revenue roller coaster—packed fall calendars, busy spring sessions, and slower winter months often filled with financial stress. What if you could add a reliable, repeatable income stream without sacrificing your brand or creativity?
In this session, you’ll learn from Steve Foisy how to expand into social event photography as a natural extension of your portrait business, covering events such as proms, galas, fundraisers, private school events, corporate celebrations, and more.
Foisy will break down:
- How social photography differs from traditional sessions
- What this type of photography really pays
- How to price for events profitably
- How to book clients that return year after year
You’ll walk away with a clear roadmap for adding 12–24 predictable events to your calendar—creating consistent income throughout the year. This class focuses on building stability, leveraging institutional clients, and creating a hybrid business model that works.
Redefining the Senior Portrait Studio: Editorial Imagery, Gen Z Clients, Real Profit
The portrait industry has changed, but most studios haven’t. What worked a few years ago no longer resonates with today’s clients, especially Gen Z.
In this session, Matthew Orbaugh teaches how to build a modern portrait business rooted in editorial imagery, intentional experience design, and a sales process that turns images into high-value artwork. Led by a Gen Z photographer who built a luxury, editorial studio at age 14, this class breaks down how visual identity, cultural relevance, and trust drive purchasing decisions.
Orbaugh explores:
- How to create imagery that feels aspirational and emotionally compelling
- How that imagery supports confident in-person sales
- Why selling artwork begins long before the ordering appointment
Attendees will walk away with a clear understanding of how to attract Gen Z clients, position themselves as a premium brand, and update their business models with systems that feel current and profitable.
Platform Classes on Monday, February 1
Lighting Athletes: Shaping Strength, Power, and Motion
Athletic and fitness photography is well known for capturing the action, but it actually goes deeper to communicate the subject’s strength, determination, and emotion.
The right lighting can transform an ordinary portrait into a powerful visual statement. In this live stage demonstration, commercial photographer Jeff Carpenter breaks down the lighting techniques used to create dynamic portraits of active subjects.
Through real-time demonstrations, you’ll learn how to:
- Light athletes and fitness subjects for maximum impact
- Create depth, shape, and muscle definition with light
- Optimize lighting techniques for dynamic poses
- Determine when to use hard light versus soft light
- Build simple and effective multi-light setups
- Freeze motion with strobes and flash duration
- Create dramatic commercial-style athletic portraits
By adapting these techniques for fitness, sports, dance, and branding clients, you’ll leave with a deeper understanding of how to use light intentionally to create stronger, more compelling images that stand out in today’s competitive market.
Inside School Photography: Systems, Strategy, Scale
Rodney Getz and Shiloh Getz
Sponsored by: Candid Color Systems
Ready to break into school photography, or take your current operation to the next level?
This session pulls back the curtain on what it really takes to build a profitable, scalable school photography division. Rodney and Shiloh Getz cover the strategic decisions that win school contracts and the operational workflows that allow you to scale sustainably.
From staffing and scheduling to marketing, pricing models, and technology, you’ll learn how to build a repeatable framework that supports growth. You’ll discover how to:
- Streamline picture day logistics
- Improve the parent experience
- Reduce errors
- Create consistent revenue year after year
Whether you’re transitioning from sports or portrait work or refining an existing school program, this class provides actionable insights you can implement immediately.
Combining Traditional to Trending – Team Sports & Media Day
Alison Carlino
Sponsored by: Miller’s Professional Imaging
Coaches love when you can maximize a session’s content in one booking, but how do you manage capture and workflow across team sports days and media days?
Organization, workflow, skill, assistants, quality graphics, trending lab products, and a true enjoyment of the process with the athletes are just a few of the factors in your success.
Alison Carlino will walk you through:
- The pre-session, post-session, and on-site workflow systems
- A marketing plan that works year-round
- Trending volume packages and Media Day collections
Carlino will finish the class with a live session that demonstrates athlete-driven lighting and posing techniques in real time. If you are ready to move into the sports world or scale up your existing team bookings, don’t miss this class!
Meet Fellow All-Stars at the Stadium Club
Don’t miss the ultimate huddle-up of sports, school, events, and volume photographers at the Stadium Club. This year, the Stadium Club will be located in one of Imaging USA’s most exciting new additions—the Hub! More exciting information is coming, but be sure to add this destination to your show calendar.
Grow Your Network and Portfolio at Networking Avenue
The Stadium Club space will be open during Networking Avenue, where you’ll find even more opportunities to make new connections and grow your action-packed portfolio.
It’s easy to find your people at this event—in addition to the Stadium Club space, there are marked areas for school, sports, event, and volume photographers to gather. You’ll have dedicated time and space to talk shop with the pros who share your niche and get more time with our expert speakers.
You can also start practicing the skills you’re learning in the classes with the live demo bay specifically designed for the action-driven style of school, sports, events, and volume.
Discover New Gear Designed for Your Workflow
At the Expo, you’ll meet the brands that design gear and services with your photography in mind. In addition to exhibitors like Canon, Capture One, and Fujifilm, the Expo features vendors specifically focused on the images you’re passionate about creating and the workflows behind them. Here are just a few:
- APS Lab
- Entourage Yearbooks
- GotPhoto
- Spider Camera Holster
Since the Expo floor gives you the chance to test and demo the latest photography innovations before investing, you’re guaranteed to find the tools perfectly suited for your business and creative process.
Register Early and Save Big
Don’t miss your chance to join all the action! PPA members can register by October 31, 2026, to save $100 on the All-Access pass with Early Bird pricing! Or, bring a friend with the Buddy Pass for only $199 each to save even more.
Whether you hold an All-Access pass or a free Expo Plus pass, you’ll find opportunities to explore what’s new in your niche. The All-Access pass grants you access to the full list of classes during the show, in addition to photo walks that offer more opportunities for dynamic hands-on learning. Attendees with the free Expo Plus pass won’t have access to these opportunities, but will get to fully experience the Expo, Hub, Stadium Club, Networking Avenue, and more.
No matter how you customize your Imaging USA experience, there are innovative and immersive opportunities for all school, sports, events, and volume photographers who attend.
