Some Very Big Honors!

Where oh where is that slow season I'm supposed to be experiencing right now??  I'm feeling just as busy as ever!  Since this is the time of year most photographers seem to find a little extra time down time in their schedule, there are many photography conventions and seminars going on and I have had the priviledge of speaking and teaching at quite a few of them lately. 

Last fall I taught a class in Idaho, in and around Yellowstone (yes, that was just a little bit of fun!) and then flew back just in time to teach another class at the Wisconsin Professional Photographers Convention.


One of the scenes that I captured one morning during the class I was teaching in Idaho



An image I shot while teaching at the Wisconsin Professional Photographers Convention 

Then this January I was honored to be a main stage speaker at Imaging USA in Atlanta, Georgia where over 10,000 photographers from all over the world came to learn and see the trade show.  During the convention they also hold an awards ceremony where my image titled "A Wild Ride" took 1st place in the Illustrative category.  At that ceremony I was also priviledged to stand on stage with some amazing photography icons and be named (for the second year in a row) one of 8 PPA International Diamond Photographers of the Year.

- That's me 2nd from the left!

 And to top off the excitement at the convention, I also recieved my Masters of Photography degree!  But unfortunately, I wasn't able to make it to that ceremony because I had to catch a flight for a trip to Mexico for another photography job!  Did I mention that it has been a busy year for me?

A view from my room one evening in Mexico!

After Mexico I spent four very long days and nights at the studio preparing some images for regional competition.  I finished them just in time to send them to print before I flew down to Florida to spend four days at SYNC (Senior and Youth National Convention) where I did some speaking on up and coming trends and techniques for seniors.

An instagram image of my computer as I went over my notes before my presentation. - not a bad office!

I flew back Tuesday and was able to spend a few days at home with the family before I had to leave for the Iowa Professional Photographers Convention - which hosted the regional print competition (10 states plus parts of Canada).  Print competition consists of
the best professional photographers in each state submitting 4 prints that are judged by a national panel according to the 12 elements of a merit image.  The thing I love most about regional print competition is that you actually get to sit in on the judging and listen to what the judges have to say about your images (they don't know who created it when they judge it). 

This year because I had received my Masters of Photography degree I was up against even greater competition but I an honored to say that I was named Top Master Photographer for Iowa.  My portraits took first place in the Masters wedding category, second place in the Masters Women Category, and both first and second place in possibly one of the most challenging categories - Illustrative.  My first place illustrative print scored a perfect 100 (which is very rare).  That image also received  the ASP State Elite Award and the Kodak Gallery Award!

Unfortunately I can't share any of my images yet because they now get sent on to international competition
but once the final judging is over I will certainly post them!

Now here's the part where I get all mushy...  Not one of these accomplishments would have been possible without the help of others.  A huge THANK YOU to all of my amazing clients- past & present - who have given me the experience necessary to perfect my techniques.  I also am greatfully appreciative for the great guidance and assistance that I have received through the years from some great photographer friends.  And last but not least - to my super smart (and very hot) perfectionist wife who always seems to know what's best... thank you for driving me to take things to the next level - even if I don't feel like listening to it at the time ;)

You are probably familiar with the quote  - surround yourself with great people and great things will happen.  Well somehow I've been lucky to have quite a few amazing people in my life that have helped me to get to where I am at and I can't even begin to tell you how thankful I am that I am able to call those people friends - or should I say my photography family.  Thank you all!

Illustrative work

Besides entering some prints into competition I also  entered some of my digital art into the PPA Digital Artist Category.  It is judged a little differently than normal prints and other factors are taken into consideration besides just the final result.  Judges look at the artistic vision and the original elements the maker used to create the art piece.  Three of my four prints merited with one of those prints being accepted into the Loan collection.    Below are the images I entered.

Titled - Final Drive - created for a senior football player

Titled - Persephone's Solace  The entire landscape for this piece was created from a single bush...

Titled- A Sound In The Wood.   The forest in this art piece was drawn entirely in photoshop.  I originally created this background while teaching a class in Cincinnati with the amazing fashion photographer Lindsay Adler

 

This robot was created entirely from images I captured of metal working machines in New Orleans. The building I photographed the machines in was also used in the movie the Expendables - it was their home base in the movie. The background behind the robot was from an abandoned factory in Cincinnati.

International Diamond Photographer of the Year 2012!

Each year the Professional Photographers of America (PPA) hold an international print competition in which photographers from all over the world send in their best images to be judged. PPA’s International Judging and Annual Exhibition of Professional Photography is known worldwide for setting the standard by which photographic imaging is judged for both artistic and commercial appeal. The very best of the best images are accepted into the Loan Collection.

I'm pretty excited to announce that for the second year in a row all four of my entries were accepted into the Loan collection! Only 7  other photographers in the world had all four of their entries accepted! It's a pretty amazing accomplishment to say the least and an even bigger accomplishment to be named International Diamond Photographer of the Year for the second year in a row!

The awards ceremony is held each year at Imaging USA, one of the photographic industry’s largest annual tradeshows and educational events. Last year an estimated 10,000 photographers attended the event. Last year was my first year ever attending and I was almost overwhelmed at the amount of photographers and things to learn. This year I was asked to be a main stage speaker! It's kind of crazy to me that I will be standing up in front of all those people talking about my photography (I try not to think about it too much).

Titled:  A Wild Ride

Titled:  Take Me Away  (This was created in a ghost town outside of Las Vegas)

Titled:  Wash Away My Fears  (this was created for an engagement couple)

Titled:  My North Star.  Created in the desert outside of Tucson at 3:00AM.  It was a 30 second exposure to bring out the detail in the stars. I had assistants shine flashlights on the cliffs behind her in a technique called "painting with light". This helped bring out the details in the cliffs. Andrea was lit with a 580 flash to freeze her in place.)

Some big news

So things have been busier than I ever imagined they could get and I have been horrible at keeping up on blogging.  Facebooking is so much more fun.  I'm taking a few moments while lightroom processes some images to mention that I received the 2011 International Diamond Photographer of the Year award from PPA (the largest non-profit professional photographers organization in the world) http://www.ppa.com

 This award is one of the most prestigious awards that photography offers.  Only 11 other photographers out of thousands received this award this year.  I'm humbled an honored to have my work receive such accolades.  Below is part of the spread that appeared in PPA Magazine this month.

this is not my image but what the article says about award is pretty cool

Awards

This past weekend the Professional Photographers of Iowa (PPI) convention was held in Des Moines. Last year was my first year attending and it was an amazing time with lots of great speakers. They were impressed with my work enough last year that this year I was honored to be asked to be a speaker and teach a class on my popular composite work that I do. I was very nervous for my class but it went very smooth and I actually had a great time doing it.

At the state convention there is also a print competition that is held every year. Over 400 prints were entered, and one of my favorite parts is seeing the culmination of everyone's very best work from the past year.  To give a brief explanation of the process, you can enter 4 prints into the competition to be judged by a panel of judges and awarded points on a scale from 0-100. In the competition there are two main categories of photographers, master and non-master.  Photographers achieve the designation of master by earning service, speaking, & exhibition merits - in other words they have had high scoring prints in numerous contests and have spoken and assisted at many events. Since last year was my first year, I am still in the non-master category. 

An awards banquet was held on the final night.  I was honored when they announced at the awards banquet that my prints had outscored all but one other photographer - master photographer Micheal Cerizo.  I was named Iowa's 2011 Top Photographer of the Year in my category and brought home a bunch of awards.   

 The following print was named Desolate Determination and scored an 88.  It was awarded a ribbon for judge's choice and 1st place in women outdoor.

In the illustrative category, I took 2nd to the very talented Dan McClanahan.  This is the image I entered - titled Return To Me.  It scored a 96! It is stitched together from a bunch of panoramic shots.  I created it as a 20x80 inch print and it is really amazing up close.

Quick story- The McClanahan's are very close friends, and earlier in the year when we were hanging out Dan & I had made a pact that we were both going to make the top 10 photographers in Iowa this year (despite the fact that last year was both of our 1st time even  entering the competition!).  Our pact ended up working out well for us with me earning top photographer and Dan taking a close second.

This is another image I entered titled Desolation.  It scored an 84 which is still a very very good score.

The final portrait in my print case.  I really liked this one because of the gritty emotion it portrayed.

The following print was entered for score only, just to see how good it was. (It doesn't count as part of your final score, but the judges don't know which prints are for score only so that they judge everything the same.)  This wedding image would have scored a 91 if I had entered it into the competition!

Finally, I swept the digital competition for the 2nd year in a row with 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. The images below each poster are some of the original elements I used to create the poster.