Wootness | the blog of christine walsh-newton – master photographer | photographic craftsman

IPC2017 – Competition as Trauma Therapy

Trigger warning: This post contains photographs that some may find disturbing

For the last year and a half I’ve removed myself to the fringes of the photographic & print competition communities. Over time, my voice has gone quiet in a number of ways. I stepped down from most of my volunteer roles. I stopped teaching, speaking, judging, mentoring…and writing.

The short and not-so-sweet of it is that over the past few years, I’ve experienced a number of traumas. Each one occurred before I’d gotten a handle on the previous one, and when it was all said and done, traumas from my past resurrected and joined in, too.

It was one big hot mess.

When you take a hot mess and add just one more trauma… well, for this girl… it was too much.

I finally made the decision to seek help. (That sounds way stronger than it was – I had no choice – it was one of those rock-bottom situations). After an evaluation, I was placed with a trauma counselor named Jen.

Quite simply, Jen saved my life.

That was a year ago.

It’s taken this long to work through things and get my head and heart in a better place. I’m happy now, and that hasn’t been the case for a very long time.

I did OK working through things – except for one.

I still couldn’t write.

Trauma severely impeded my ability to create. I finally gave up on the writing thing and figured maybe that was just a part of my life that was over. I let it go.

And then I picked up the camera.

I’ve watched other people pour stuff out of their heart right onto photographic paper. I don’t know how they do it and when it was suggested that I try to do the same – well – that wasn’t an idea that remotely appealed. I’m a portrait photographer – I don’t do that artsy-feely stuff.

But again, I had no choice. I had to do SOMEthing.

I got personal with my camera, for the first time, ever. And the results of this wound up in competition during the 2016/2017 season.

I forced myself to do comp. No matter how much I let things go in my life and my business (yes, sadly, it suffered) – it was against the very fiber of my being to not at least TRY to compete. For two IPCs in a row, I struggled. I didn’t go 4/4, either time, but at that point it didn’t matter. The fact that I even got full cases prepped was a small miracle, so just completing the task of entering was an accomplishment.

I wasn’t thrilled with using the camera as a therapy or creative outlet. Once I began, the pain was immense. One particular image took seven sessions to capture the final image. It still didn’t completely work out and I pulled it out of my case before IPC2017, intending to re-shoot it for IPC2018. But now, I don’t think I need to. Those seven sessions and the tears they wrung from me dissolved most of the “feels” that were keeping me from healing. So maybe that’s an image I no longer need to create.

In all, six images were created and judged at various points, but only three made it clear to the end. Those three are the beginning of a new collection of work – I intend on addressing the topic of “trauma” until I have enough images for a gallery show. In addition to creating my own images, I’m now creating images to tell others’ stories of trauma, as well.

At some point I’d like to hang the collection publicly in partnership with some Mental Health/Mental Illness/Counseling-themed event/fundraiser. They say you should put your goals out there – so I am – if you can help with this part or have ideas for me – I’m all ears.

Once again, competition, for me, provided an opportunity, provided inspiration, provided a kick in the butt – whatever you want to call it – competition was the ONLY thing that kept my hands on my camera during what I consider to be the worst two years of my life.

That’s probably enough story-telling for now. I’d like to share three of my images with you. One has a story, two do not. Thankfully, competition has taught me how to title my images well, so I believe you will be able to infer the stories that are too painful to tell.

If you’ve read this far – thanks. It’s been awhile & I’m a little rusty.

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HUMPTY DUMPTY
2017 General Collection – Showcase Book

Last September, in the middle of the night, I received the news that all mothers fear. My child, my 31 year-old son, Jon, was in a terrible motorcycle accident. He was rushed to a trauma center, life-flighted to another trauma center and 2AM found us speeding across the state of Ohio to his side.

Just three weeks before I had done a session with him for the first time in a few years. And in the bleakness of a hospital waiting room, I consoled myself that I had this image…

…what very well might be his last image…

Things were very grim.

My boy was gone and in his place was a broken and battered body, hooked up to tubes and machines that made him breathe.

For days and days, this was my view.

I sat and watched and listened. I cried, I prayed and I hoped that the doctors could put my boy back together, again. Somewhere in my head I remembered Humpty Dumpty and laughed a little cynically…

Long story short – he’s ok. He’s very ok.

This was the event that put the nail in my trauma coffin…while the crisis was going on, I was superMom. But once he was fine and able to live on his own, again…superMom became a superMess.

It happens. That’s what they told me, anyway.

In the post-incident period of time, I looked closer at a set of DVDs we’d been carrying around from doctor to doctor. They contained sets of full body x-rays as well as individual areas of injury from the first trauma unit he was taken to.

The black and white x-rays reminded me very much of the type of base images I used to create graphic designs in some previous competition entries. I tried cleaning up the x-rays, but eventually resorted to purchasing a better set through a stock image company.

Those of you familiar with my work will recognize the actual pattern on the egg as typical of some past creations. The balance of the image was created from scratch in Photoshop CS5. It’s not rocket science, I looked up how to draw an egg, how to make a gradient background and how to make an object looked curved and followed a couple of tutorials I found. The image scored in the 85-89 range solidly throughout the year, I made a few improvements over the course of a couple of competitions and eventually it scored a 90 at IPC2017 and was placed in the showcase book.

It was my first entry, ever, into the Artist competition.

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ONE LAST SLAP
2017 General Collection

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JUST WAITING FOR MY FATHER TO GET HOME
2017 General Collection

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My IPC 2016 Challenge Entry: mandalas (a non-event album)

When I teach about photographic competition, I talk about utilizing it to challenge myself to learn a new skill, or improve upon a skill that I’m having trouble wrapping my head around. This year was no different. When I create a competition entry to specifically address a personal/skill weakness, I call it a “Challenge Entry”.

In 2015, I tackled my first album. I had never done one before and considered them beyond my capability, so it became a challenge entry. It was a simple black and white portrait album that earned a loan at IPC 2015 and went on to place 10th in the non-event album category at the Grand Imaging Awards at IUSA2016. It also placed as a top 10 Impact Award recipient from PPA Charities.

That was some pretty cool stuff for my first album – so I’ve kind of got a bug going on for the non-event album category, now. I think it’s a great challenge to assemble a consistent body of work into album form. I plan on doing at least one every year, and I’ve started encouraging my students to do the same if they’ve gotten their work up to a point where they’re exhibiting a consistent style and theme within their images.

So, of course, this year, I wanted to enter at least one album. I didn’t have any ideas about what that might be, so I sort of set that goal on the back burner until I came up with something brilliant (ie loan-worthy) and worked on some additional challenges.

I didn’t talk much about this next challenge because frankly, I wasn’t sure I could pull it off and I didn’t want to get too braggy about it, just in case. I dig down deep sometimes and get honest with myself about what I need to work on, and I kind of hated to admit the reasoning behind this one, but here goes…

Teaching a shooting class terrifies me.

If you are in a class of mine and I’m up front with a camera, lights and a model, you can lay a pretty hefty bet on the fact that my stomach is in turmoil. If I have a slideshow and images, it’s all good, but the moment I have to “perform” – ugh.

In my Murphy’s Law-filled world, these are the classes that have the most tendency to go haywire. There’s always some piece of equipment that doesn’t work like it’s supposed to, or I forget to bring something, or some other hiccup happens that threatens my ability to create an image in front of a class that I could easily do in private.

I get stage fright. Plain and simple.

But anyways…I like to teach. I like to teach a LOT. I want to be able to be a versatile teacher and when I’m asked to teach a lighting/posing/shooting class, I want to be able to confidently say “absolutely!”

I’ve taught a number of them, and they’ve all worked out fine – but I didn’t have a handle on *my* comfort level with them.

So…the challenge I gave myself was to teach a shooting class.

And within the images created during that class, utilize one for competition.

Yeah. Now you see why I didn’t mention this challenge…

I set these goals shortly after IPC 2015, so that I would have plenty of time to work on them. I already planned on doing something about the shooting class problem, so I had submitted a Super One Day class for October 2015 that included studio lighting, posing and post-processing techniques that I employ in competition.

I hired two models for the class, and for each technique I taught, I demonstrated the lighting setup we were after, and then turned the shooting area over to the students for them to capture a correct example, as well. (I hear the wheels turning – don’t worry – everyone gets the Wootnessy “I’d better not see these images in your portfolio” lecture first).

One of the techniques I taught was rim lighting and an accompanying Adobe Photoshop layer technique that I use to create graphic designs with rim-lit images. I’ve been using that technique in competition for a few years and have made it part of my signature style.

It took 4 tries to get the lighting where I wanted it:

And this is the example graphic that I created during our class to demonstrate the Photoshop technique:

Now, the above example is in no way, shape or form, anywhere close to what I would put in competition. It was a very quickly-worked, basic assembly demonstration, however, the base image, exposure number 21 was a perfect place to start a new project.

Later, after the class was over and the students had gone home, I sat down and created design after design incorporating the base image hundreds of times in various positions and angles. Hundreds and thousands of layers. Dozens of final designs. More designs than I’d ever created from one image before.

Enough for an album – to satisfy the album goal that I’d put on the back burner.

I like it when a plan comes together, don’t you?

I took this project just a little bit further in the “out there” department and added an element of geekiness to it via Carl Jung. I have an interest in psychology and find certain theories very interesting. I had a LOT of fun incorporating the psychology geekiness and the photography together for this project.

At one point, I felt it was finished. And then I put it in a competition. And then another. And another. I printed out hard copies of the spreads and hand-carried them to IUSA 2016 to get the opinion of someone from the mentor booth (Thank you, Cindy Behnke!). And after some revisions, I put it back in competition.

The last step before IPC was Northeast District where it earned a seal (and scored an 88!). I had ordered a critique, and although my reviewer pointed out some areas for consideration, I did not feel that the entry was weak enough in those areas to warrant breaking the seal. I had broken a seal on a different entry, so I wasn’t afraid to do it – it’s just that I felt that this album was finished and any additional tweaking would be messing with a good thing, you know?

So off it went to IPC, where it was selected for the Loan Collection for IUSA 2017.

That makes me really happy. Two black and white albums, two years in a row, two loans in a row.

I think I’m gonna feel a lot better about my next shooting class, don’t you?

I’d like to challenge *YOU*, person who is reading this – challenge yourself for IPC2017. Do one entry that takes you outside your comfort zone. Give yourself a goal and don’t let yourself off the hook. You just never know how it might turn out. 🙂

For your enjoyment, I present mandalas:

Countdown to IPC 2016; What’s in YOUR Case?

***NOT SAFE for IPC 2016 JUDGES!!!!***

***I repeat, if you are an IPC 2016 Juror, you need to turn back now!!!***

Well, howdy there! How have you been? If your life is anything like mine – you’ve been so busy you haven’t been able to take a breath. Or get your IPC entries done. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it, anyway, it doesn’t have a thing to do with procrastination, no matter what my personal organizer tells you…

So, I’m still on that “oh my goodness I got it done!” high that’s been going strong for about the last hour. I’m pretty sure I’ve never waited this long to enter, and I really don’t know why I did. I had the files mostly prepped about a week after I got my critiques from Northeast District, several months ago.

I guess I thought… ok, I *know* I thought this… but it’s kind of embarrassing…. I thought I could pull out some extra awesome shots/entries that I could use to replace every “not so strong” entry in my case. I figured with the right attitude and energy expenditure I could pull out all the stops and “go Diamond”…

Yeah, right…

Basically, this year’s case is what it is. I had some stuff going on and didn’t give competition the time and attention that I normally do. It’s all good, though. I gave priority to the things that needed it and let those that didn’t hang out on the back burner.

I did that thing I advise against doing – I waited until the last day to enter my case for IPC. I had three seals going in. One for a non-event digital album, and two for printed portraits. I let the album and one print alone and dealt with the remaining two entries.

One of the portraits had the most embarrassing retouching error in it. Even though it scored in the merit zone at districts, I knew it probably wouldn’t go loan at IPC. There’s no rules or anything that would let me know for sure, but I know *I* would think the error that was in place would keep me from voting it a “loan” image, so I’m going off that.

Here’s the before and after images – look at the string hanging off the officer’s camera left sleeve:

That was a pretty easy fix that I took care of back in March, so all I had to do was break the seal and replace the file.

I saw this screen for the very first time… I have to admit, it was a little scary to push that button…

But, I did it, and now I’ll just wait to see if the IPC judges think he’s worth a merit.

Or two. 😉

The real difficulty lay in my choice for entry #4. I’ve been working on a series of illustrative images for the last several months that I wanted to use, but none of them worked out the way I wanted. I was stressing myself out, trying to shoot something new. Every single year, I’ve shot an image fairly close to the day of the deadline. Last year, I yanked an entry and created a brand new album on the day of the Northeast District deadline… which eventually went loan and placed #10 in the Grand Imaging Awards non-event album category… so… I thought it would be no issue to pull some kind of miracle out of my rear-end once again.

::pause for laughter::

Again…yeah, right. That was *SO* not happening…..

It boiled down to this… I had my previous entry #4 from districts. A portrait that scored an 80 and then was pulled back when some technical issues were noticed as it was spinning away… an image that re-scored at a 78.

So much OUCH.

Normally, I consider these “dead in the water” and I just yank them and don’t mess with them again. I prefer images that score higher and do not straddle that 78-81 zone.

But sometimes, you deal with what you have. And I had a 78.

So….

I brought out the print. I brought up the digital file and did a self critique on it (much like I do for my mentoring students) and then I pulled up my district critique from Randy McNeilly. I re-calibrated both monitors and I immersed myself in the image. I did everything I could to bring it up to snuff. I fixed the background retouching issue that was noted in my critique. I checked my levels to make sure my blacks weren’t blocked up. In the actual judging, the judges said that the print had a greenish cast (it did – & that seemed to be a lab issue) – but that wasn’t something that needed fixed in the digital file, so that input, I ignored.

With some concentrated effort, I made the corrections in short order and submitted my case.

*whew*

I know, right?

There’s still a tiny window of time before entries officially close, but after today, we’re just waiting for the official start of IPC 2016 judging, which begins on August 1, 2016.

I wish all of my fellow competitors the best luck in the world. I hope that 4/4 pins need an extra production run and that everyone that needs those last merits for their Master’s of Photography Degrees is successful in that quest.

Peace, love and merits,

A Little Bit Broken

I rescued these daffodils the other night when I heard that snow was headed our way. Even though they were at the end of their blooming, I knew that saving them from the bad weather would extend their life by a few more days. Although a bit frail and faded, they still possess a quiet beauty.

I chose the vase based on nothing more than personal preference. It is from Ireland and was made by Belleek. At one point in time, it belonged to my great Aunt Kathryn.

Time and time again, the vase and I become one with a tube of glue and attempt the best temporary repair we can. Over and over, I claim success, only to be faced with yet another repair failure. I can’t bring myself to discard the vase, it’s one of the few family heirlooms I have and the only thing from that particular relative.

Today, this image reminds me of me; a little bit past my prime, a little bit faded, a little bit broken.

I hope to carry it off with quiet grace.

Be more brave – Photographic competition and personal work

It’s been awhile. You and I. It’s almost like we’re having an affair, with how little we meet these days. I can give you all kinds of blah blah, but the honest truth is that I’ve been afraid.

I’ve come to recognize that my hands are an extension of my heart when they’re poised over a keyboard.

My writing is art.

My art.

My personal work.

And sometimes the words and feelings and thoughts flow in a way that cause me pain, or perhaps reveals a part of myself to you that I’m just not sure I want you to know.

Yet.

If ever.

Completely.

So here I am, after much of an absence because I’ve been dealing with some personal stuff that leaves me in a position of being afraid to write.

Afraid to let my stuff influence my art.

Afraid to let my stuff influence my art.

One more time for those of you that aren’t getting it.

Christine.

Afraid to let my stuff influence my art.

Those of you still with me, thanks for sticking it out.

I’ve been admiring an artist friend of mine, a talented photographer, who has been pouring her energy into creating competition images.

So what?

The thing is, that energy is being fueled by some personal issues in her life. I don’t know exactly what they are, and it’s none of my business, but I’ve got to admire her guts. Her ability to be all “yeah, things are sucking, this is some art I made about how I’m feeling about that” and then she shows what she created and I’m blown away.

Seriously. Blown away.

Because it’s good. Very good, in fact.

I get it. I feel it.

My heart says

Oh yes!

But more… because she’s just putting it out there. She’s already got a hot mess going on and she’s packaging it all up real pretty for a panel of judges take a gander at.

And others.

Thousands of others.

Strangers.

Here’s my heart.

I want to do that. I want to be like that. I want to rise above this pain that’s silenced me. I want to wrestle and wrangle it into submission and two dimensions.

But, I’ve been afraid.

I tried, several months back, to create an image as an outlet of some stuff. It didn’t work out so hot, technically, and still needs some refinement. But it was also tough to do, and I might have been using that technical refinement issue as an excuse to keep from finishing it.

It was that uncomfortable.

And then there’s the whole “will they get it?” part…

And then I question whether I’m creating for me or for my audience.

Of course, what I create will be as technically perfect as I can get it because that’s just how I am.

But how experimental and touchy-feely and true to myself am I willing to get with my work, knowing it might not fly in competition?

Knowing the judges might not get it?

Knowing that others will see a piece of me that’s vulnerable?

I’m going to try and change things up. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about this kind of thing, lately, and I think I’m going to try to fill that last slot in my case with something intensely personal.

And hopefully, intensely well-done.

I’m going to stop being afraid to let my stuff influence my art.

Peace, love and merit scores,

So, I applied to be a PPA Juror…

I had a couple of goals on my list for 2015 and there were a number of them that I didn’t hit. One of them was to complete my minimum requirements to become a PPA affilated juror.

Which I did.

But having those requirements considered adequate was another story.

To bring you up to speed, the requirements were:

18 exhibition merits
Judges’ Workshop
Four State judgings (PPA approved with Affiliated juror(s) present)
Six reviews from affiliated jurors at those state judgings
Four recorded critiques
Ten image portfolio submission

I took the judges workshop in August 2013 (read about that HERE). I judged my first state judging in February 2014 with South Carolina, and also did West Virginia, Montana and New Jersey in the process that generated seven reviews by affiliated jurors.

I put together a portfolio of competition level 8x10s and recorded 4 critiques inside a 24 hour window to show my skill level (or lack there-of) on critiques.

Everything was due September 4 and then we played the waiting game…

Somewhere my seven evaluations were pulled out and reviewed, my critiques were listened to, my images perused, meetings were had, discussions were held, and in the end, I didn’t make the cut.

I’ll forever remember my phone call from Tim Mathieson, letting me down as easy as he could. I thanked him for his phone call when I saw him a few weeks ago at IUSA. The poor guy probably dreaded making those calls, so I figured I’d let him know I was cool with his call.

Why?

Because if someone thinks that I’m not ready to sit in a juror chair, then I don’t want to sit in a juror chair.

It’s as simple as that.

I WANT the bar to be high. I WANT it to be a goal worthy of achieving. I WANT to be 100% ready for the task at hand.

Personally, I feel like the states/ reviews requirement was less than I needed to go through myself, so we were all pretty much on the same page, anyway.

Yes, I cried a little bit when I was alone with my husband and he expressed regret on my behalf. I was disappointed.

But very temporarily. And only a little.

Because that day, I was being reminded of greater things…

It was Thursday, October 8th, 2016. I was in Florida, visiting the home of our son/daughter-in-law and holding our newest grandchild, Tristan. He was three weeks old and I was doing that softly rocking/half walking thing that grandmas do. We were out by the pool. Throw in some colorful blooms, warm sunshine and the smell of barbecue in the air, and you’ve pretty much set the scene.

It was 12:10 pm

At 12:11 pm, grandchild #4, Audrey, was born back home in Dover, Ohio
AT 12:11:28 pm Tim Mathieson called
At 12:12 pm, grandchild #5, Bane (twin to Audrey) was born

In the midst of overwhelming joy, a tiny nugget of sadness swiftly traveled through. In a flurry of phone calls and texts, only one was not filled with something positive…

I’ve got this thing about Karma and things working out the way they’re supposed to. I can’t imagine a nicer way to find out I didn’t make the cut on something – blanketed on all sides by baby joy.

That’s Wootness right there.

Note to Tim:

I’m reapplying this spring. No one in my family is pregnant.

Just saying.

UPDATED! IPC 2016: Changes to the Photographic Competition Judging Process

***** Update Notes are italicized (thanks Dan & Francie for clarification help).*****

As I write about photographic competition topics, I will put them under a header of IPC with whatever “competition year” we are in. That means that this topic pertains to anything that is going on from approximately September 1 through August 31, depending on the IPC dates. This does not mean that the topic pertains ONLY to the IPC competition. I apologize for any confusion, but that’s the way I’ve always done it here at Wootness.

Some of the rules below only affect competitions at a district level (specifically the INs/OUTs change, the lowest score alternate change and the Majority Automatic Challenge addition) as there is scoring on the district level only. The remaining change affects both IPC and District levels.

These rules are not required to be duplicated on any other level, so check your state or local guild rules for the specific rules that govern their competitions.

Greetings and salutations! I haven’t been around much lately, after IPC last August, the fall passed in a blur and then it was the holidays and then IUSA 2016 and now here we are, mere weeks from the first PPA District deadline – ack! How did that happen?

While at Imaging 2016, I had the opportunity to attend the Judges’ Refresher training. While there, we were all apprised of a few new judging guidelines that are going into effect this year. Normally, I like to back up my information with resources, and I anticipate that new Jury Chair and International Photographic Competition manuals will be uploaded to the PPA website before too long with the changes in place. Meanwhile, this information has been shared on several social media platforms and I have some fuzzy cell phone snaps of the slideshow from the judges’ training – so I think we can all go with the concept that I’m going to give you some real information here based on fact. As soon as the official documentation supports it, I will add that in. (meanwhile, see IPC Facebook page post dated 1/26/2016 HERE)

There are four changes that have been made. Every single one of these changes benefits the maker/image and gives every opportunity for a merit to be awarded. I think that most competitors will find these changes to be to their advantage.

1. In the past, images scoring 78-81 would be brought back for a review called INs and OUTs. This is no longer the case. The only images that will be brought back for review are those that initially scored a 78-79. This is a PPA District Competition change.

2. In the past, the computer would randomly select a juror for each image that was to be considered the alternate. The jurors are unaware as to which of them is the alternate and all jurors participate fully in the challenge discussions. The change will be that the lowest score will now be the alternate score and will not be figured into the final average score for the print. If, during the challenge process, the jurors change their score and a different juror now has the lowest score, that is the new alternate. This is a PPA District Competition change.

3. In the past, albums submitted to the event album category were judged by a panel that contained at least 3 approved wedding jurors. that requirement is now also in place for the wedding portrait subcategory within the portrait category. This is a PPA District and IPC change.

4. If a majority of the jurors on the panel give an image an 80+ score, but the image’s final average score is not an 80+, this is called a Majority Automatic Challenge and the image will be discussed and re-scored. For example, if you have a panel that scores an image 80, 80, 80, 80, 75, 75, the average score is a 79 (we have dropped one of the 75s as the lowest score). A majority of the jurors have given this a “merit score” however, the final average was not 80+. We now have an automatic challenge and this image will be discussed.

There’s also a flip side to how this rule works. If a majority of the jurors give a score of less than 80, but an average score of more than 80 is decrived, that is an automatic challenge. (Example scores: 85, 79,79,79,79,78. The 78 is dropped as the alternate/lowest score and the average is 80. Although the majority of the judges scored this image below an 80, it scored an 80, so it will be an automatic challenge and will be discussed and rescored).

This is a PPA District Competition change. (CWN note: merits and loans are determined at the IPC level by a majority thumbs up/thumbs down vote, so there is a comparable majority rule already in place at the IPC level)

So, there you have it, all the changes that are new and improved for your competition pleasure.

Peace, Love & Merit Scores,

My ASP Educational Associate Degree Process & Thesis

Just the other night, I received the incredible honor of being conferred the 42nd Educational Associate Degree of the American Society of Photographers. Ella Carlson and I were #41 and #42, and in true Hitchhiker fashion, I requested #42 as my very own. Thank you Rick Trummer for granting that crazy little request.

I’ve been Instagramming some of the process, mostly images of the thesis-writing portion and stacks of reference material strewn around my dining room. I took the table over for a number of weeks and then kept the stacks of books and publications close at hand just in case I didn’t pass and needed to re-write it.

The thesis in progress... — The thesis in progress…

But that’s about all I’ve really covered.

I received a number of requests for guidance in the process and I’ve delayed answering until after I knew I’d done it correctly, myself. So, now that I know I didn’t completely train-wreck, it, here’s some information…

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The Educational Associate Degree (EA-ASP) is one of three degrees available from the American Society of Photographers (not counting Honorary degrees, the other two are the Service and Fellowship degrees).

In order to apply for the EA-ASP there are a couple of prerequisites:

1. Eligibility to apply for the ASP Educational Associate requires that an individual hold the PPA Photographic Craftsman degree and have acquired 30 additional speaking, teaching or writing merits AFTER receiving their degree AND as a member in good standing of ASP.

I received my Craftsman Degree and became a member of the ASP at the same time, so counting the merits that were earned after these two events was easy to track.

2. The applicant must complete a minimum of three consecutive years membership in ASP prior to application and judging for the Educational Associate.

I became an ASP member in January of 2012, after having received my PPA Photographic Craftsman Degree. Three consecutive years took me to January of 2015. Educational Associate Degree applications are taken each October, so the first available opportunity for me to apply was October 2015.

3. The applicant must write a paper of at least 4000 words of individual research and thought that demonstrates the applicant’s mastery of the field and supports a position for a new idea, development or trend.

These three requirements are pretty well spelled out. Time-wise, I was eligible to apply in January 2015; merit-wise, I was eligible in February 2015. Once those two items were met, all that was left was the thesis and that was submitted in October 2015. Applications are only accepted once per year.

So, we’re down to requirement #3, the thesis. And this is where most of the questions are concerned when I talk to folks thinking about attempting this.

I think the most important part of the thesis requirement (besides the 4000 word part) is “supports a position for a new idea, development or trend.”

For me, it was a given that I would write about image competition. It’s what I do, it’s who I am, it’s what I teach. One of the things I do when discussing image competition is tie it in to a psychological theory called “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.”

Yes, I heard you yawn from here.

If you’ve been in my classes – this is the part of the program where I talk about “Christine’s Triangle of Wootness.”

Without going into a rewriting of my thesis here, I basically felt that Maslow’s theory and the motivating factors of image competition paralleled each other and my thesis outlined those parallels. I switched into college paper-writing mode and took all of the material I used in developing that portion of my image competition classes and rewrote the material on a more cerebral level.

That’s a flowery word for dry.

The applications were due October 1, 2015 and there were a number of supporting documents that needed to go along with the application. A PPA merit report was the biggie – but it’s pretty easy to download a PDF of that from PPA’s website. I also had to include a head shot and bio. There is an $85 application fee, as well.

The judging process takes a few weeks and involves five judges. Four of the judges are previous EA-ASP degree holders and one is an English instructor at a high school or college level. There are a certain amount of points (out of 100) allocated for content, style, form and grammar and the thesis must receive a passing score of 85 from three or more judges.

Fortunately, I received a notification that my scores were 82, 85, 90, 90 and 91. I passed. Yay. I received a document that contained a score breakdown and comments from each of the five judges. Some of them were positive, some of them were critical. All of them were just.

Part of me felt a little bit like rewriting the thesis to address the notes for improvement and I imagine that at some point in time I will make that effort.

I will more than likely drop the scholarly tone and revert back to my current Wootnessy writing style as I have to admit that was the facet I had the most difficulty with during this project. The article you are currently reading is in excess of 1100 words and has taken slightly over an hour to write, but the 4000 word thesis was several weeks in final edit mode. I have a feeling, the Wootness version won’t take as long.

I have a few pointers and comments that you might find interesting/helpful:

1. The judging criteria spells out a specific version of the MLA handbook for a reason. Make sure that you get the correct edition – there are specific reference formatting and footnote usage rules that change between editions and utilizing the wrong one may cost you some valuable points.

2. My personal two cents – this is not a group project. Write it yourself.

Get someone to proofread for you, if necessary, but at this point, you should be at an exceptional level as an instructor and should be fully capable of documenting your own ideas. Although that’s not spelled out in the rules, I think the spirit of intent is evident. At least it is, to me.

After the thesis passed…

My notification was received in mid-November and I was informed that the degree would be conferred at the ASP gala in January 2016 at Imaging USA. Until then, I was not permitted to add the degree to my degree string, but now I will be adding “EA-ASP” to the end of it.

I find it amusing that both my name and degree string are hyphenated, now.

At the gala, the degree recipients are honored, their bios are read, the medallion is placed over their heads, their hands are shaken and their picture is taken. At some point a certificate is delivered and it’s all official.

For further research:

Make sure you check out further instructions regarding the thesis formatting & content here: http://asofp.com/images/uploads/EA_Judging_Criteria_2014.pdf as well as the official application form here: http://asofp.com/images/uploads/EA_Application.pdf.

If you’re really geeky and just have to read it, you may obtain a PDF copy of my thesis here (please respect copyright – only share the document in full form and only quote with credit):

A Maslovian Approach to PPA District and International Photographic Competition

by Christine Walsh-Newton, M. Photog. Cr., CPP, EA-ASP

🙂

– – – – –

Article Reference Source: http://asofp.com/awards/educational-associate

IUSA 2016: Please put the ceremonies on your schedule

*of note; go ahead and take this article with a huge grain of salt, if you wish. I am being honored several times myself and have a vested interest in the topic. However, since personal experience is the basis for most of what I write, it is what it is.

Something that I’ve noticed about IUSA and it’s numbers – not all that many people attend the Awards & Degrees Ceremony or the Grand Imaging Awards.

I’d like that to change.

Whether or not you know any of the honorees, watching the incredible pride in craftsmanship, work ethic and a job well done within our industry can truly be inspiring.

I know that I, personally, am inspired by the Diamond Photographers of the Year (honored at the Grand Imaging Awards). To me, that means that they have achieved perfection within image competition. Yes, perhaps only for that one moment in time, but wow – that’s impressive.

You might not have a clue what I just said, and maybe that’s why you’re not interested. I’m going to explain it in English and very simply – please bear with me for a few paragraphs, k?

Monday, Jan 11, 2016 6:30-7:30 PM Grand Imaging Awards

First of all, it’s only an hour and PPA has this gig down to a science. They get’r’done pretty well and a boatload of people are honored in a fairly expedient, yet not rushed manner. It’s kind of impressive, especially after you see the lengths they go to audio-visually to keep us entertained with image slideshows while we are waiting for the event to start and informational and image slideshows during the ceremony.

In a nutshell, this is where the image competitors are honored. All year long, they work on their best four images (called a “case”) and they go into competition. It’s their absolute best work and many lengths and hours of time may be gone into the creating of them. When all is said and done, your image can either not pass, pass, or pass with extra credit. Your end ranking depends on whether or not all 4 of your images passed and how many of them got extra credit. We call those teachers’ pets that get extra credit for every darned thing “Diamond Photographers of the Year”. (Y’all know I love and respect you, I’m just being funny – see Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friends).

Anyway – anyone who had everything pass (if you pass, we call that a MERIT) gets to get up on stage and they’re in 5 different groupings, depending on how many of their images got extra credit (we call that a LOAN). So the groupings are Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum and Diamond. They’re all called Photographers of the Year and/or Medalists.

All in all, this is a pretty impressive feat. Folks work really hard on these images and getting to this level is fairly impressive. If you’re a new competitor, or interested in image competition at all, this would be a great event for you.

After those groups are honored, they Go on to the Grand Imaging Awards (GIA). The PPA takes those images that got the extra credit and has their judges vote on their top ten images in each category. After the top 10 are narrowed down, the judges vote again, ranking their 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place choices. (That is my understanding of the process, any judges reading, feel free to correct me if this is wrong).

Those top 10 images in each category are considered GIA Nominees/Finalists. There are actually 6 overall categories, but the Portrait category is subdivided further, so in total, there are 10 group announcements. The top 3 in each category get trophies, and the 1st place winner gets $500. Then all the first place winners are brought up (6 – there is an overall portrait 1st place – the subdivisions do not appear here) and the overall GIA winner is given another trophy and another $500. *sigh*

ok, and that’s pretty much it. There are a number of other awards afterwards, as organizations tend to do.

Oh – yes – I mustn’t forget – the World Cup…

The World Cup is kind of like the Olympics of photography. The very first USA Team was announced and revealed while I was in the audience at this event several years ago. The absolute top cream of the crop images are chosen from all the LOANS and that makes up Team USA, who then go head-to-head with teams across the world.

“We are watching history being made,” said the voice behind me in the audience. He was right, so very right. The USA has been a strong force to be reckoned with in the past, let’s see what you think when the new team is announced at the ceremony.

Tuesday, January 12, Award and Degree Ceremony 6:30-7:30 PM

Bonus! Another well put together event that only takes an hour, yet is jam-packed with stuff. Way cool audio visual effects last year, too!

The PPA confers degrees to people, again, who have done a boatload of work over the past number of years. These are your competitors, your speakers, your teachers, your organizational volunteers. Those who have shown a level of work and dedication above and beyond. The PPA acknowledges these accomplishments with a variety of Degrees (Master of Photography, Photographic Craftsman, Master Artist). There are also different medallions and levels of achievement beyond the degrees that are acknowledged as well. Each person receiving a degree will be announced and go on stage with the sponsor of their choice who will then place their medallion and ribbon around their neck and then there will be hugs, handshakes and hula dancing. Seriously. One of the delightful aspects is the little twists that folks put into this moment. I didn’t do anything, personally, but my friends thought that yelling “SQUIRREL!” would make the moment memorable. Yes, it’s on video. To those designing the twists – stay classy – I’ve seen it go borderline.

Anyway – those walking across that stage have devoted at least a few years to the process that led them to this evening. The new Master Photographers have amassed at least fifteen images in competition that passed, or if they were exceptionally talented, eight with extra credit (those get double merits). It’s some pretty heady stuff if you think about it.

I want you to experience the same inspiration I get from these ceremonies.

What would be really cool is if you all could go and seek out the folks from your home state that are up on stage at any point in the evening. They worked really hard to be up there, this event might be the thing that swayed them to come, and they very well might be there by themselves. Maybe that doesn’t sound like a big deal, but (stop reading, honey) I had to find a quiet area a few times the evening I got my Master’s Degree a few years back and regroup. It bothered me more than I realized that my husband wasn’t there. Fortunately, I had a group of very sweet friends who cheered me on (even though it wasn’t allowed) and met up with me at the party later – and that helped me, immensely.

Additionally – if you’re reading this far, I’ll let you in on a secret….. those folks that are GIA finalist/nominees have not been allowed to publicly announce the honor. The ceremony announcements need an element of surprise, and folks have been asked to be discreet. Of course, I’ve heard a number of little birdies tweeting here and there and a couple of not vauge-book enough posts to have a good idea of some of the names, but I can’t help from feeling a little sad that they’re not able to whip up some hooplah prior to the event. You know?

So, I’m betting there are some folks there that could use an extra pat on the back and congratulated.

Or maybe even a social event companion.

I know a number of my competitor friends that travel to these things alone; conjuring up a banquet escort can sometimes be an issue – fellows, you know any ladies there by themselves (or rooms of ladies) ? Not to be sexist – but it’s not necessarily comforting to be slogging around the streets of Atlanta hailing cabs, etc in gowns and high heels – ask your solo traveler friends to join your group if you can.

And if a friend with a purse needs to go onstage, offer to keep it safe while they do that, nobody wants to drag a purse up there.

OK, that’s all I have – peace, love and high heels,

Prepping for IUSA 2016

Are you ready? For some reason, it’s really crept up on me this year, how about you? I finally did the dreaded IUSA gown-shopping trip today and in the midst of all the dress-trying-on frenzy, I wound up getting excited. I don’t know what it is, but this year… maybe it’s because it’s so close to the holidays, but I was just not feeling the excitement very much before today.

So, let’s go over some stuff:

GETTING IN AND STAYING THERE

By now you should have your registrations and hotel reservations at the bare minimum. If you want to register for a pre-convention class, you probably ought to get cracking on that, too. If you haven’t done any of that yet, put down the pop-tarts and head over to these links:

PRE-CONVENTION CLASSES & CONVENTION SCHEDULE

HOTELS

WHAT TO DO ONCE YOU’RE THERE

Those of you really organized types (ie people who are my very.dear.friends.) will want to make sure that you download the IUSA app onto your smart phone. The link for that is HERE.

It shows the entire schedule of the whole shebang and allows you to design your own custom schedule of classes you are interested in seeing. That part is pretty cool,

BUT (note to any PPA bigwigs who have a hand in the design of these things, the rest of you can skip to the next paragraph) PLEASE for the love of all that is holy allow the option to insert my own personal time slot into this app. There are a number of specialized PPA and IUSA-oriented events and meetings that I am supposed to be at that are not open to the general public, so they’re not on the public schedule… For example, the Judge’s Refresher Training, The CPP Liaison Meeting, My Mentor Booth Appointment, Degrees & Awards Ceremony Rehearsal, ASP Banquet, etc – you know what I mean? Make it easy on a lot of us and combine everything into one schedule, it’s driving me mad to have to cross check the IUSA schedule with my own personal calendar.

OK Rant over, sorry, not sorry.

So, anyway, some kind of schedule is going to help you out, I suggest a combination of the IUSA app and whatever calendar (smartphone, daytimer, etc) you usually utilize.

As a bare minimum, you’re probably set. It’s just fine to walk through the front doors and bounce from class to class like a Roomba, but you’re probably better off checking the schedule over thoroughly and at least following some kind of semblance of order. I prefer to stay on the “portrait” track, myself, but you’ll find me in other topics, depending on the instructor.

The first year I went to IUSA, I met some friends there and basically went to whatever class one of the other ones was going to that I thought sounded the most interesting. Believe it or not, I’m a little shy and was just not comfortable entering classrooms with so many people in them by myself. True story. I have trouble in crowds. Sometimes.

What I wound up with was a smattering of helpful things and only one speaker I truly enjoyed.

This is certainly an effective way to get a haphazard dose of education, but I suggest going it on your own if you have to, and save the socializing for the meal times and designated party times.

I set a very complex schedule up for myself last year with something in every single class time slot as well as every slot with a trade show speaker. I was busy from morning until night and for me, that’s the best way to utilize my time. I generally don’t get to attend classes at my state convention (because I’m usually on the team running it), so this is my way to get in as much education in as I can.

Hey, this trip costs a lot of money – I need to maximize my investment.

WHAT TO WEAR

I generally wait until the night before the trip to pack my bag, and then I just sort of fit as much of my closet in there as I can. Since I’m flying Southwest, I’m allowed to check two bags, but realistically, toting two bags on the MARTA is not going to be a pretty sight, so I’m trying to really plan well to minimize the extra clothes I wind up taking back home with me unworn, this time. Plus, I need to allow some extra room because, well… trade show.

One of the things that’s helpful is to check a 10-day weather forecast to help you pack. It looks like the first few days are going to be warmer than the last time I was in Atlanta for Imaging, so I’m not packing much in the “heavy outerwear” department. Those of you staying at the OMNI will be delighted to know that the convention center is attached to the hotel via a covered walkway of some sort – so carrying your coat around the trade show will not be on your pet-peeve list this year.

If you’re attending the ASP Banquet or being honored onstage at either the Grand Imaging Awards or the Awards and Degrees Ceremony, you’ll want to make arrangements for slightly dressier clothing than normal. No, I can’t help you with this – did you read the part about how I waited until 4 days before my flight to shop for a dress?

For the most part, I recommend that you be comfortable. Wear shoes that you’ve already worn a lot and wear layers, you never know if a place is going to be warm or cool and layers are your best bet for working around that. Yes, I know, I sound like my grandmother.

Another helping hint: a backpack. If you’re like me, slugging around bags and purchases and notebooks and purses and cameras causes me angst. The most convenient mode of dealing with all of that is a backpack. It’s pretty much a fanny pack on steroids.

Depending on what kind of student you are, you ought to throw a notebook in that backpack. I’m a note-taker and I have a specific notebook I bring to classes. If you forget, don’t worry, though, the last few years, PPA had some cool little information books at the registration desks that had pages in them for note-taking. They’re not ideal, if you take lots of notes, but they’re helpful in a pinch.

♦

So, that’s pretty much the basics. How are you doing with your prep? I did that dreadfully responsible thing and paid for my trip piece by piece months ago. Except for buying my gown in June*, the rest of the prepping in advance was a wise decision. Now I’m not going to get hit with a bunch of expenses in one fell swoop. All that’s left is to check the schedule for any recent additions and pack my suitcase.

If you’re still reading this far – I’d like to cordially invite you to join a group of my students and mentees on Sunday, January 10 at 12 noon in the PPA eatery by the Image Exhibit. We will hang out and have lunch together and then walk through the Image Exhibit afterwards. Last year was a great time, we ran into a number of judges and artists that I knew and they took the time to give our group several impromptu talks about image competition or their images. The link to the Facebook Event is HERE.

*It’s like Murphy’s Law; the minute you buy a dress for a future event, you gain just enough pounds to not fit into it any more.

Peace, Love & Pop-Tarts,