Have you registered for the Mid-America Photography Symposium? (wwwmapsym.org)This MAPSym 2019 has expanded to include even more events and famed instructors from around the nation. As always you can learn more about MAPSym and register at www.mapsym.org however, here are a few of the great things happening this year in Eureka Springs, from May 17 through May 19.

You may want to arrive early for MAPSym 2019! May 17, the day prior to the official start of the symposium, is now packed with fun photographic opportunities! Start the day with a casual photowalk though downtown Eureka Springs, and follow that with a photographer’s tour of Dogwood Canyon Missouri, or a sunset boat tour featuring the mud nests of a cliff swallow colony and other interesting sites of Beaver Lake. Then wrap up the evening with a fun night on the town beginning with a meet and greet in downtown Eureka Springs.

Saturday, May 18 features one of the best opportunities MAPSym has to offer! Hands-on workshops with some of the best photographers in the nation. How often do you get the chance to work closely and learn from published photographers such as nature photographer Don Hamilton, portrait photographer Jen Rozenbaum, or macro photographer David Fitzsimmons? Pre-symposium workshops alone are well worth a trip to Eureka Springs!

All that happens before we ever come together for the opening session of MAPSym! Yes, a full schedule of top photographers here in Northwest Arkansas leading breakout sessions and photo sessions! You can learn more about the great lineup of other speakers at www.mapsym.org/expo-speakers

With all this going on it is easy to forget that MAPSym includes other fun events as well such as a late-night full-moon reflections shoot by Lake Leatherwood, a model by the street lights session, a sunrise shoot at Black Bass Lake, haute couture fashion session in historic Eureka Springs, and a lunch time session with classic cars, and be sure to enter the Ozark Photographers Challenge by April 26. Attendees at MAPSym will vote on their favorite images at the symposium with the top three champions splitting prize packages valued at over $3000! You can find more details about the Ozark Photographers Challenge at www.ozarkphotochallenge.org.

Don’t forget the vendor EXPO. This year the expanded vendor exposition will include great deals, and the opportunity to try before you buy as vendors provide you with the opportunity to checkout equipment to use during MAPSym!

Members of PSNWA can attend MAPSym 2019 and receive a $25 discount towards the symposium when using the PSNWA Member Discount Code during registration! You can find the code at www.psnwa.org/ns/mapsym-discount-code/ . When coupled with the MAPSym $25 picture rebate program you can attend one of the best weekends of photo-centric fun and education in our region starting at only $100. That price even includes two lunches and a breakfast while attending MAPSym!

Go to www.mapsym.org for full details!

Take your star gazing to the next level! Join us for a night of sky gazing and dark sky photography with Sugar Creek Astronomical Society and the Photographic Society of Northwest Arkansas. The focus of this event is to appreciate our dark skies and to learn about the techniques and equipment needed to capture your own images of the starry night!

Tim Johnson of the Photographic Society of NWA, will start the night with a presentation on night sky photography. Kent Marts from Sugar Creek Astronomical Society, will follow with a presentation on Light Pollution and what we can do to help preserve our dark skies. After the lectures are complete, we will head outside to the parking lot where, weather permitting, we will do some observing through binoculars and telescopes and we will also attempt to take some night sky photographs!

Come with your camera and tripod for an opportunity to practice in the visitor center parking lot after the lectures. You will want a camera with the ability to adjust the aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. You will also need to be able to manually focus your camera. A cable release is optional but can be helpful.

You’re also encouraged to bring:
– Flashlight (covered with a red cloth or red balloon)
– Binoculars and/or telescope (if you have)
– Folding chair – one per person
– Star chart (if you have one)

The is free and open to the public.

What to Bring if you can:
– Binoculars (if you have)
– Folding chair – one per person
– Star chart (if you have one)
– Flashlight (covered with a red cloth or red balloon)

Where & When:
– Hobbs State Park Visitor Center
– Located on Hwy 12 just east of the Hwy 12/War Eagle Road intersection.
– Saturday April 6th, 2019
– 6:30 pm Lecture, 8:00 for Star Party
– Cost: Free

Sugar Creek Astronomical Society’s Facebook Page is: https://www.facebook.com/pg/SugarCreekAstro/

The NWA Photographic Society’s Facebook Page is: https://www.facebook.com/PSNWA/

Come and volunteer to be a greeter, hair and make-up artist, editor or photographer.  We plan to have up to 20 senior portrait sittings during the day.  Your help is needed!