IPC 2013: I Broke My #1 Rule (part 2)

Part #2 in a series of how many ever parts it takes.

I fell in love with my case.

There it is, no beating around the bush, it’s out there. I broke the most important lesson I teach my students.

Do not enter family members or images of people you are very close to. You will be unable to be objective about the image and critiques will stab you in the heart, no matter how professionally they’re delivered.

I advise for new competitors not to enter family members for at least a couple of years, until they’re able to get their objectivity under control.

In my last article IPC 2013: Goodbye Cruel Case I introduced you to my four competition image subjects. I will delve into their stories later in the series, but for now, suffice it to say, that I love all of my 2013 subjects in some manner. One is my husband, one is my son, and two are very dear friends.

I taught a few classes about print competition earlier this year and I’ve been telling students that this year I’ve decided I was ready to enter loved ones. I could now be objective. I dunno, maybe this was the Master’s degree talking. I thought I was ready. I bragged about being ready. I told other people to give it about three years before they tried it. Because that’s how long I waited. And I was ready.

Bwa. Freaking. Ha.

I was not ready. I wasn’t near the emotional wreck I was in my first competition, when I unwittingly entered an image I had fallen far too in love with. But, to some degree, I feel a sense of… apprehension and uncertainty about these images. And the “why” of that is a rather long story in itself. That I’ll save for later. You’re welcome.

Fortunately, they all sealed at my district competition, but waiting to hear how they did with the loan panel is probably going to be a little painful.

to be continued…