Instructors:

Chris Dickinson: It wouldn't be uncommon to find this premier western photographer propped on his elbows in the mud, boots covered in manure, facing a rearing horse, all for the sake of the perfect shot. He's a man who does whatever it takes to achieve greatness. Early in life, Chris was inspired by looking through magazines like National Geographic and LIFE as his mom would take him to the local library. Today he is always on the lookout for a different angle, a new way to push himself while exploring a much deeper and soulful creativeness beyond the technical limitations of his image creating tools. Fundamental to his creativeness is the trust he's gained over the years with those he follows allowing him unprecedented access and acceptance creating his iconic images.

Erik Kuna: Erik is the Vice President of Operations for KelbyOne, and a passionate rocket launch photographer. His goal is to create images that help educate people about the space industry, and inspire them to learn more about the beauty of space exploration. His passion was ignited in 2015 by seeing the SpaceX Falcon 9 booster land successfully. He felt like from that moment, he had to be part of documenting and capturing the beauty and inspiration of spaceflight and has never looked back. He has recently pushed his work farther by working with Plotaverse to heighten his images with motion. Erik is a two-time Keynote presenter at the Black Hills Photo Shootout; and will be back this year to lead some sessions.

Rebecca DeWitt. Rebecca DeWitt (Zvejnieks) is a born & raised Black Hills local and has been doing photography & videography professionally for 6 years. Rebecca is the owner of both R. DeWitt Photography & Zsomething Films and loves to photograph family, senior, and couple portraits as well as landscape & architecture photos on all her travels. For video, weddings are the primary aspect of the business, but event, travel and commercial videos are also a big part of the business. Rebecca is also a past Black Hills Photo Shootout participant.

 Haley Rezac.  Haley is based out of Anoka, MN, and has been building her freelance photography business since 2023. From seniors to pets to families, Haley has built quite the portfolio, but photographing weddings and couples is absolutely my passion. To be able to translate the love between two people into timeless images is such an honor for Haley. For fun, she dabbles in landscape photography; and enjoys traveling, singing, and cooking. To see more of Haley's work, visit: herphotocreations.com; Facebook: HER Photo Creations; Instagram: @herphotocreations. This is Haley's first time instructing at the Black Hills Photo Shootout.