"Paradise for Photo Fans" Blog Review by MC & DJ, Carl Mindling

Mr. Carl Mindling posted a story and review of Aperture Academy on his blog, reachcarl.blogspot.com, the blog for his website, iMCevents.com. This was an unsolicited review, and we want to thank Mr. Mindling for sharing his opinion of Aperture Academy and our intrepid leader, Stephen Oachs. (Carl, we are very glad you enjoyed your time with us, and we look forward to seeing you again!)

Following is an excerpt from Carl's blog post; please visit his blog to read the full article and learn more about Carl and iMCevents.com...

It was one of their recent events that got me to make the trip from Santa Cruz. Stephen held a holiday party for many of this students, family, friends and associates. I had been to Aperture Academy once this summer for an industry event and walked away raving about the facility. It's like the motto there is "Go Big or Go Home." Every inch of their 4,000 square feet leaves a positive impression. Their new Mac workstations, brochures, furnishings, their website and every tiniest detail is a lesson in image and branding. You just can't help but feel like you're dealing with experts here. [Read the full article here]

There was a party going on...and it was a great success!

Wow - what an event! We had over 500 people attend the grand open house celebration of the Aperture Academy.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words and we have over 200 photos from the event to share. FYI, in the gallery, we are offering 10% off prints and 15% off classes through the end of 2009...and we now have gift certificates! (Call 408-369-8585 to learn more.)

Take a look through the party photos (taken by our official event photographer, Steven Davis).

[To see the Old Crystal Mill larger, click here]
[Read about the party and see all the photos here]

The party was a great way for us to show the public what we're all about. Our in-field instructors, Brian Rueb and Jim Patterson, were available to talk to the public, answer questions about workshops, and share stories from their photographic experiences. Classroom instructors, Jeanette Smith and Scott Donschikowski, were there as well, offering some tips and tutorials on Photoshop and Lightroom. Stephen Oachs, the gallery founder and the gala's host, answered questions regarding his photographs and gave away over $5000 worth of prints and certificates as prizes in the raffle.

We sincerely wish to thank everyone who was able to attend; for those of you far away, thank you for all your kind wishes. Have a safe holiday and a new year!