Where does the festival take place?

The Festival is based at the Palm Springs Hyatt Hotel in Palm Springs, California. Our Workshop Program is based at the fabulous Moroccan-inspired Korakia Pensione. Our Sponsor’s Headquarters area, Seminars, Portfolio Review Program and Registration are based at the Hyatt throughout each day. Our Symposiums and Evening Presentations and parties are held at the Palm Springs Art Museum. Korakia Pensione, The Palm Springs Art Museum and the Hyatt are all within three short blocks of each other.

Can you recommend a hotel close to the Festival?

The Official Attendee Headquarters is our partner venue, the PALM SPRINGS HYATT hotel.
Special Festival rates are available to attendees. To reserve an affordable suite at the Hyatt, click HERE. 

Additional hotels and inns can be found at this page:  http://2018.palmspringsphotofestival.com/travel-hotels/

Do I need to pay a Daily Registration Fee to attend the festival?

An $95 daily registration fee is required for each day of Festival attendance except Friday which is reduced to $45. This entitles the attendee to free admittance to our Open Portfolio Review, Opening Reception, many of our Seminars, our daily Symposium, Evening Presentation and parties as well as unlimited access to the Sponsor Headquarters, Canon CPS and special Canon and other sponsor educational offerings. Workshops, Portfolio Reviews and some of our Seminars may be added at additional charge.

What is your Cancellation Policy if I have to cancel my registration?

Refund requests may be submitted at any time until April 6th at 11:59pm. Early cancellation of a registration results in a small $35.00 administrative fee. For those canceling a workshop, the administrative fee is $100. After April 6th, all fees are non-refundable except in case of any course cancellation by the festival, in which case we’ll use our best efforts to move you into another workshop of your choice.

To cancel your registration, simply log back into our registration website, and use your email address and password to log back into your registration record and click on “Cancel Registration,” call us at 1-800 928-8314 or email us at [team at palmspringsphotofestival.com]

I see Sunday is free from Daily Registration fees. Why does the Open Portfolio Review cost $95?

Sunday, May 6th is free of daily registration fees. All registered (minimum one day) attendees are invited to visit the Open Portfolio Review between 2:00pm and 5:00pm at no charge. In order to participate in the Open Portfolio Review, if you are signed up for Portfolio Reviews, the cost is $40. If you haven’t, you can still participate on a space-available basis in the Open Portfolio Review for a fee of $80.

If I attend a Workshop, do I still need to pay a registration fee?

Yes, however, Workshop attendees will receive a 7.5% discount from the daily registration fee for each day of their workshop when they complete their registration.

If I put my name on a workshop wait-list, what is the procedure?

In order to be on a wait-list for a workshop, you must register for the days of the class and pay the daily registration for those days. Should we receive a cancellation from an attendee holding a place in the class, we will contact those on the wait-list, starting with the first one to register. We will then take payment for the class. If we are not able to place you in the class, no workshop fees will be charged. Should you decide not to attend the festival at all if a seat doesn’t become available, we will refund 100% of your registration fees up to the 1st of May.

Is a Registration Fee required for Sunday if I want to attend the Open Portfolio Review and the Opening Reception?

No, both are free to registered attendees attending at least one other day during the festival. There is no charge to attend Sunday.

Do I need to bring cameras or can I depend on borrowing them each day in the sponsor’s loan programs?

Most if not all of our camera manufacturer sponsors will conduct loans of camera gear during the festival. If you’re a workshop attendee, you will be able to borrow gear Monday – Thursday between 7:00 and 9:00 at Korakia Pensione. If you’re not a workshop attendee, most will also be loaning gear from their booths in our Sponsor Headquarters in the Hyatt. Consult each individual sponsor’s page on our website for complete information: http://2018.palmspringsphotofestival.com/sponsor-pages/ We recommend having your own gear with you in case the day’s full allotment of loan gear has been borrowed.

Where do I send my slide show for your Slide Show Contest and what is the deadline?

You can upload your show(s) to us by using any file transfer service (Hightail, WeTransfer, etc.) or Dropbox. Our email address for uploading the zip file is contest AT palmspringsphotofestival.com. You can also send it to Palm Springs Photo Festival, P.O. Box 69405, Los Angeles, California 90069. For further information on our free Slide Show Contest, click here. The DEADLINE is APRIL 13th, 2018.

If I submit a slide show, do I need to use Royalty Free music?

A Word about music copyrights: If your slide show is accepted as a finalist, to be shown in our Evening Presentation, you should obtain the synchronization rights from the music publisher and the master-use rights from the recording company (record label). These are not difficult to obtain and the cost is minimal. We cannot be held responsible for doing so. Another option is to use royalty-free music, which is easy to obtain by searching royalty-free music on Google. A wide range of music is available to choose from. Please indicate on your submission if you’ve used royalty-free music.

Do I need to have music for my slide show or can it be something different – ?

It can be any audio track you wish to incorporate in your slide show. It doesn’t have to be music specifically.

If I’m registered for a workshop, how can I still participate in the Portfolio Review program?

There is no conflict for you on Thursday of the festival week because your workshop will conclude with an optional Thursday morning wrap-up. We will schedule a large number of reviewers on Thursday, May 10th for this reason.

How does the Portfolio Review Program work?

All those pre-registered for Portfolio Reviews before Friday, April 20th will receive several emails from us enabling them to submit their top reviewer choices online. We will be able to grant at least 60% of these requests in nearly all cases! The remaining portfolio reviews will be available to all others once the pre-registered attendee’s requests have been assigned. Of course attendees will be able to sign up for reviews at any time up to and including the festival days – but the largest possible choices will be reserved for those registered before the April 20th deadline (or when the program is full, whichever occurs first). Reviews are by appointment only. You are guaranteed five 20-minute portfolio reviews. Price is $400. Additional series of five reviews or more may be purchased up to a limit of 20 reviews. Discounts apply to 15 or more reviews until April 20th. You should be present in our waiting area at least 15 minutes before your review. We reserve the option to allow others to take the review if you’re not there at least 3 minutes before the review is scheduled to begin. 

Complete information is available on this webpage:  http://2018.palmspringsphotofestival.com/portfolio-reviews/how-it-works/

Your 800 Phone Number doesn’t work from Canada. How can I contact you from here?

You can call us at 310.289.5030

Where can we get lunch?

We’ve made arrangements with the Palm Springs Hyatt to provide nutritious lunches poolside at very affordable prices to our attendees. Shooting workshop students receive a free boxed lunch for each full day of their workshop.

Do models provide releases to classes?

Models will not be obliged to sign releases for workshop students and photographs made in the context of the workshop may not be published commercially without the express written consent of the model. Photographers can discuss the subject directly with the models and make arrangements of mutual benefit to both after the conclusion of the workshop program, but the model fee included in your registration fee does not include obtaining releases.