Here’s a cute picture of puppies for you to look at. copyright 2012 christine walsh-newton
So, in the last article, I mentioned (!) that I was waiting on a comp print and was pretttttttty nervous about it.
UPS arrived with the print, FINALLY, at 6:30 PM last night. What the heck is up with that? Those dudes work SO late sometimes!
Anyway. The print arrived. Everything in my life stopped for one heartbreath of a second and in slow motion I retrieved the box and carried it to the dining room table, slit the various layers of packing away, one by one and flipped the print over…
SIDEBAR: Every single time I open a comp print, it is upside down, is that some sort of a sign?
… and I hated it.
Wait wait! No, I can’t hate it! Plus, it’s still in the plastic. OK… take that off…
It’s SO DARK!! Deep breath, ya dummy, you know the lab adjusts the density for print competition images. OK, this has to look good under the lights, I must see it under the lights, how can I put it under the lights?? I need lights!!!
Oh.Em.Gee! Now I know why all those crazy print competition people have their own spot set-up!!
Lights, lights….. suddenly the track lights above the kitchen counter catch my eye and I run to get my light meter. Carefully, I meter…. ISO 100…… 1 second….. at f/11.8….. yeah baby, just a smidgen of can light adjustment at we are in business at f/16!!!
Carefully, I place the image under the light….. and … I like it. Oh, man, I like it. I look. And look some more. I’m exceptionally liking how the detail in the blacks are nice and clear. Wow. I like this. I really like it. I know better than to love it, so really liking an image is pretty good.
Big sigh of relief.
Bill, (if I wore a hat, I’d take it off) you are the man, the print maker… dude, you just know your stuff and I am exceptionally happy with my first competition print through you. Hang tight, you’re going to be seeing my work come your way again. And again.
I like your work and I like your style and degree of customer service. Thank you, and as Mr. Wootness would say “You are a gentleman and a thoroughly good egg!”
High Wootness Five to Bill at Buckeye Professional Imaging.
PS – If anyone knows Bill, please make sure you mention this article to him. I’d tell you his last name, but I don’t know it. <<–I know, I need to find that out, huh?
“Lonesome Soul” 2010 PPA Loan Collection by Christine Walsh-Newton
I’m sick. I’m “oh.em.gee. I just dropped my $3500 body on the cement floor and watched it smash to pieces!” ready to hurl.
I’m waiting on a comp print to arrive from the lab. I ran some tests, I ordered 8x10s and different finishes until I thought I’d made the correct choice for how to treat my B&W work for competition. I was going with a new lab for the first time for competition prints and I wanted to do everything perfectly. I recently decided to “step it up” with print competition by going back to entering physical prints, only. So I’m waiting, anxiously on the printed version of an image that I just did quite well with in a digital format, recently. But how is it going to look as a print?
Now, it’s not like I have an incredibly vast length of experience in print competition, heck no, that’s kind of laughable. My first comp was in the Fall of 2009. It was a digital competition. I think I entered 6 images, probably because that’s how many lines were on the entry form, but the rules do allow as many entries as you wish to send. Anyway – my home state is Ohio and we were home to the Mid East Regionals in 2010 and the Northeast District in 2012, so I’ve only recently completed my second state-only competition. Anyways – 2 State Level, 3 Districts and 3 IPCs plus 4 fall digital state level competitions is the extent of my competition experience. Plus those couple of times I entered Kentucky/Photo Expo online judging just for extra input on some things. OK, I’m done now.
I don’t belong to a local affiliate, (and I hear those have multiple print competitions per year), so my print competition experience is fairly limited. However, I live, breathe, eat and sleep print competition when I am in that groove (prepping for comps or at a convention), plus I’m a little on the OCD side, so I have researched a lot (some say excessively so) on the topic. Anything being taught or written about print competition, I’ve found it. It’s a sickness, I tell ya.
So anyway… back to this print thing…
The first year of competition, 2010, I entered prints at all levels of competition where it was an option and the final result was 4 merits at IPC (I think I had 2 seals going into IPC that year). My entries were printed by a combination of Bay Photo and Millers. The printing process I went through was hilarious. I ordered some prints in both Fuji and Kodak metallics, because at some point there was a special award for just metallic and I, silly little rookie, actually thought I might have a chance at it. 🙂 I finally decided to stay with Miller’s after hearing so many compliments about them and having a fellow PPO member report that all their merit prints had been printed by Millers. Plus, Bay Photo is clear out in California and the overnight and rush fees are too high. Yes, at some point in time I got stuck for time and re-printed something at the last minute and had to pay extra. Unfortunately, I haven’t entirely learned that lesson and still find myself pressed for time and sending images into the lab later than I should.
So, year one, all prints, all merits.
In 2011, I entered all digital. Don’t really remember why. I’m a scrooge, so it very well may have been a money issue. Entering digitally and not paying extra for all of those prints, plus the case shipping fee was a pretty good deal. Plus there was the added convenience on being able to work on my entries right up until the last minute. Yep, I generally seem to enter on the last day. I really need to stop doing that.
And the results were that all 4 sealed at the District level and I just happily forwarded them without changes to IPC, where two images went loan and one image went Showcase. Knock me over with a feather. Still, I’m not going to give the credit to the fact that these were digital entries. I was a better photographer the 2nd year, that’s it. I started competing very early in my studio photography career, so I’m still improving – I haven’t leveled out by a long shot – and that’s not bragging – I am still on the learning curve for a lot of things. I have a LONG way to go.
Then in 2012 I did all prints for District, sealed 2,used those and added 2 digital files to the case for IPC. One of the prints went loan. One of the digitals merited, one didn’t. And it was just a bad image. Ouch. I entered it at a state level competition later and it didn’t do well at all. Oh well.
So – yeah, a grand total of 3 or so years. Some experience, but not the ultimate authority by a long shot.
But, I’ve recently had a revelation and decided to go to prints only for future competitions. Because that’s how I want to do it. And I thought I had it all figured out; the paper, the mounting, the finish, the lamination. And I pushed the “send now” button in ROES and breathed a sigh of relief.
And about an hour later, the phone rang, it was Bill. From the lab. He wanted to double check that I meant to indicate the leather laminate for my competition print. Well, truthfully, I *did* wrestle with that choice. I had tested everything with a different competition image, but this order was for an image I had just recently added to my print competition entries and hadn’t had time to test anything with. Assuming, since it was B&W as well, that the same lamination would work for it.
Never assume.
I know now that I should run the same tests with each individual competition print. Woah, Nellie, the dollars start adding up here, don’t they?
Back to Bill. I talked at length with Bill. About my experience with print competition (so he could tailor his input to my knowledge level) and mostly, about the print itself. Hello?? When is the last time your lab called and talked to you about your competition print? I was astounded and almost missed part of what he was saying because I was so amazed that he called. In the past, I sent my image to the lab, click the little “competition print” box that lets them know to adjust the density and then sent the order. A few days later, I get my print. End of story, Easy Peasey.
So, what is with this Bill dude calling me? Well, he was concerned that the leather laminate may prevent the judges from seeing the detail in the print. He suggested not using laminate and switching to a high gloss paper. Which made total sense.
Until he mentioned the paper was Fuji Pearl. Woah. That’s metallic. I dunno about that. I guess it’s considered “high gloss” but everyone I know calls it “Fuji’s version of metallic.” And I’ve seen the metallic competition prints that should not have been printed on metallic. I own some. I completely ruined getting a merit score once because I didn’t know that metallic blew out whites easily. And the only thing white in my image was the subject’s eyes. Groan.
So, I tend to keep away from metallic. Because I haven’t yet learned when it’s okay to use it. All I know is that it was extremely over-used in the past and I don’t want to make a major mistake with a print that scored a 90 digitally a few short weeks ago. The last thing I want to do is kill an excellent image with a lousy presentation.
But Bill’s the pro. I prepared the image to the best of my ability and now I’m turning it over to the printing professional, so he can do what he does, to the best of his abilities. I told him I was going to trust him on this because he was the pro and he said he really wanted me to see the print on this paper. He had conviction, so I had faith.
But, oh man, I’m sick. The faith is wavering. [Bill, if you happen to be reading this: No pressure. 😉 ]And I’m waiting for the image, which probably has a few days yet to get here. Meanwhile, I have 3 more images to print. And there will be NO time to reprint those if I don’t like them, and the only other option will be to send them in digitally to the Northeast District. Against my pledge to switch to prints. Gah!!
But…
I got Bill on my side. A man who has been working on competition prints for many years and was personally recommended by the owner of the business as a person who I could ask for help. Again, Bill, no pressure.
Anyone else go through this? I know of a good number of photographers who print their own competition images. I don’t think I’d go to those lengths, but the idea of having the resources to print art prints for clients, makes it tempting, but it’s also against my religion to purchase a piece of photography equipment that cost more than my car, so I’m at a standstill on this one…
Stay tuned for the end to this story and other amusing tales from a print competition junkie.
All hail, another article about Print Competition! Hear ye! Hear ye!
Recently, I taught a Print Competition 101 class. I was allotted 90 minutes. In reality, I spoke 120 minutes and still wasn’t done. I could have talked an extra hour. And that’s sad. It seems we’ve created a barrier to print competition with the rules. Not so much the spoken and written ones, Lord knows there are plenty of those, but with the unwritten ones. And the fact that I can find things to talk about for 3 hours regarding print competition should be a major clue that perhaps we’ve placed competition out of the reaches of the typical professional photographer.
I can talk about the 12 Elements of a Merit Print until I’m blue in the face, and sadly, there are still those folks that just don’t “get” it.
Perhaps they don’t want to get it. Perhaps the green merits from clients are quite rewarding enough. Perhaps they perceive that the judges want something different than clients. I hear this all the time. And sometimes the preliminary critiques I hear when choosing competition images is that a certain image may be great for clients, but not great for competition.
Stop. Now think about that, only backwards. Competition prints will ALWAYS be good for clients.
What it boils down to is that the judges are looking for superior images, processed and printed in a superior manner. Only top notch retouching is rewarded, only excellent posing skills past muster, and lighting…only perfect lighting achieves the highest honors.
What’s so hard about that? Those of you who complain that judges want something different than what you offer your clients might want to think about that a little bit longer. Perhaps competition has raised the bar. Perhaps your client images should be receiving the same amount of attention to detail as your competition prints.
If you never win an award or score an 80, you will still learn more in photographic competition than you ever imagined. The time and effort expended in making an image the best it can possibly be will begin to pay you back almost as soon as each lesson is learned. Gradually, you will learn how to select the best backgrounds for your clients, how to pose them in manners that are flattering to them. How to light them to minimize flaws. How to retouch them appropriately.
If all of the rules and guidelines seem overwhelming, just remember one thing, the judges want to see your best work. Enlarge it, mount it and send it in. Then sit back and watch the judging. it doesn’t do anyone any good if you get your score and don’t know why it scored like it did. Let go of the story that you know about the image and let others interpret the story as they see it. Letting other people tell you about your work is a lesson in learning.
Find someone you trust and ask them to walk you through one print competition entry. It’s not that hard. And once you do it the first time, it will get easier as you go.
I’ve suddenly realized that I joined a fraternity that I didn’t even know existed. Some folks call it “family” but I think it goes more along the lines of “fraternity” than anything else.
Deep down inside, you’ve recognized it. You’ve been traveling around and you spy someone else with a camera around their neck, you sneak a peek, yep, full frame, another peek, nope, no kit lens. Several small indicators lead you to believe you are looking at a pro. “PPA?” you ask…”yeah” leads to a handshake, an introduction and instantly you have a bond. The photography talk flows and your spouses rolls their eyes, because they know it’s gonna be like trying to drag frat boys away from a keg to get you two apart.
Back when I was a Chi Omega, many moons ago, I was given a Big Sister. Well, whoopdy do, right? For someone who never had a sister, let alone an older sibling, I wasn’t sure what this meant. Later I was to discover that this young lady was there to tutor me in areas of study that were dragging my grade point average down or would hook me up with a tutor who could help me. She was there to help me through the trials and tribulations of being a college freshman, away from home and friends, and sometimes just helpless and naive. She was both friend and mentor. One time she even loaned me the bucks to pay for our sorority formal dance tickets when I was between paydays.
The end result of sorority/fraternity life was that you had a kindred relationship with anyone else who had ever belonged to the same fraternity/sorority as you.
Proof in point – I was a Chi Omega in 1982. Thirty years later, in 2012, I ran into another Chi Omega at a hotel breakfast buffet and we sat and had breakfast together like old friends. We hadn’t met previously, I recognized her affiliation from her sweatshirt, but that was the opening to our conversation that we would would have never had, otherwise. Here’s Hannah, giving the Chi-O “sign.”
So back to the story… I believe that the PPA and other state organizations, and possibly even local affiliates offer some of that fraternal friendship. I know that anyone local to me that is a member of the PPA is welcome to call me in case of emergency and ask a favor. Double that for any of my PP of Ohio friends. And triple that if you’re a CPP. Your studio get flooded? You need to borrow lights until your insurance adjuster shows up and does a claim? I have some you can borrow. You lose your studio space and and need to access a studio to wrap up some appointments? Call me. We’ll deal. Need a second shooter for a wedding? If I’m free, I’ll help you out. Or at least suggest a few names of others that may be available.
Maybe this isn’t how it is across the board, but in my world view, when you pay your membership dues, you also gain a network of photography colleagues that are at least interested in trying to look professional. Meet them, network with them, plot, plan and scheme with them. Pick each others’ brains. Ya’ll are in the same club now, and there’s power in numbers.
For those of you on the shy side, reach out. Use your group’s membership list to find and reach out to just one person that you haven’t spent time talking to, or even met. Ditch the electronic social stuff and actually call them on the phone. Or drop them an email. Invite them to coffee or to meet you for a drink at the next get-together scheduled by your group. Some of my best friends are people that I’ve met because I chose the photography profession.
We’ve all done it. We’ve seen an ad for a speaker, we’ve gotten excited, gone to the gig, picked a good seat up front, and then gotten stuck there when the speaker started hyping their product line. With no graceful way to escape, we’re stuck in the 2nd row for several hours and walk away with slightly more information than we’d get from a Sham-Wow commercial.
Been there, done that, got the T-shirt. <—read here for my own experience.
I was a Girl Scout. For a really really long time. On my honor, I won’t do the same thing to you at any of my gigs. I think you can take my word on that, I sold a LOT of cookies and was pretty serious about the Girl Scout code. And I still eat tons of Thin Mints. That should count for something.
Here’s the deal. Some speakers lock up their studio and take their show on the road. The studio isn’t making any money while they’re on the road, so they must replace that income. And they usually do it by charging speaking fees and selling a product line. I get that. You just can’t drop everything and lecture for the love of photography. You’d be a poor businessperson if you left your studio and clients floundering while you went on tour.
But I ain’t them. My studio isn’t open every day. I can shuffle my days around and take some time off without too much trouble. I can speak within a 2-3 hour drive of my home without incurring too much more than gas expenses. So, if you feed me and hit me up with some gas money (PPA speaking merits are a BONUS!), I’m usually cool. Which works out really well, because I don’t have a damn thing to sell.
Yeah, I co-authored a book. But, I got paid to write it and don’t get royalties for sales. It’s a cool book, suitable for gifting to your photography enthusiast friends. If you have one with you, I’ll autograph it. For free. If I have a few copies with me, I’ll probably just give them away to audience members for answering a question I just gave them the answer to, but I can’t remember ever trying to sell a copy of the book.
As a speaker, I speak. Sometimes non-stop. In the course of that, sometimes I tell you about things I like. Because I like them. Period. And only *IF* the company is in any way related to the subject matter at hand. If we’re talking competition prints, I will tell you about the lab that prints mine. If we’re talking about stage photography, I’ll tell you what tripods fit over theatre seats and where to get them.
In the past, (on this website) I have done reviews of photography items, books, workshops, labs, products, camera bags, etc … you wanna know how many of them asked for that review? None. You wanna know how many of them knew about that review in advance? Nada. I believe in really really free speech. And I believe if you’re being paid or compensated by a product manufacturer or organization, you may be inclined to say what they want to hear. And if you aren’t so inclined, those listening may assume you’ve been compensated, anyway.
So I have a rule. You don’t pay me and I say what I want. I think it works out really well.
Recently I was asked if a presentation of mine could be video-taped to show group members that speakers do not “plug” a certain company, thereby encouraging future attendance. I said “no”. Generally I say “yes” to just about everything, within reason, but I didn’t find this within reason. It really sucks that other speakers have messed up speaking gigs so bad that people would rather stay at home and watch a video than risk attending an educational lecture because they might get “sold to.” That really really sucks.
So, no. I want you to haul your butt into wherever I’m speaking, grab yourself a drink and some snacks and sit there and listen. Please.
I’m here to tell you this:
I *may* mention my book. I *may* give out copies. It won’t be for sale, but if you ask, I’ll tell you to get it from Amazon.com because it’s cheaper there than I can buy it from my publisher.
I probably *will* mention that I get my black and white competition prints from Buckeye Professional Imaging. They don’t sponsor me. I just like their B&W prints. And since I’m currently speaking about competition prints, it just makes sense to tell you where I get them done.
If you print at home, and we are talking about that subject, I will recommend that you use Red River Paper. I am a featured Pro on their website and and I usually wind up giving some sample packs away. I really really love their Polar White glossy 60# paper. Really. When I print at home, it’s what I use.
If you shoot Canon, I’ll make some lame joke about how Nikons are better.
I’ll definitely promote this website (www.wootness.net) – because I write it and I’d like you to read it. I might even have some Wootness t-shirts to give out.
I will definitely promote PPA membership and the Certified Professional Photographer program, as well as being involved in your state and local photography associations. Because I believe that each of these led me down the path of becoming the photographer I am today. But again, they don’t sponsor me, and other than a brief outline of how I am involved in each, that’s all you’ll hear. I don’t even bring membership forms.
If a there happens to be an overall sponsor for the speaking gig, I will thank them for hosting and say how cool they are for doing so. If it weren’t for them, you wouldn’t have a seat to be sitting in and I’d be at home, so I think we can take 15 seconds to acknowledge their generosity in providing the venue.
Other than that, I don’t mention any other manufacturer or organization unless I am specifically asked a question about an organization or product. I promise.
I remember way back, when I was a freshman in college, MTV debuted, and college students across the world skipped classes all day long. There are hundreds of thousands of us who watched “Video Killed the Radio Star” aired as the first video. Like a slap in the music industry’s face, there it was. We all knew, eyes locked on this new medium, that we were watching music change in a major way.
Too bad we didn’t get the warning with digital photography. Poor film, it has been gradually kicked to the curb and momma did take our Kodachrome away. And now the demise of the print has crept up and made itself known…
This past weekend I participated in an image competition. They used to be called “print competitions,” but with the changed rules allowing digital entries, we now call them “image competitions.”
Anyway.
I found myself involved in several mind-bending and -blowing conversations with a highly knowledgeable individual in the industry, and during the course of our conversations, he said that he felt the digital competition changed competition, that print-making used to be a vital part of the photographic process, and now, digital competition has excluded that very important step. {paraphrased}
Wow.
Oh. Em. Gee.
And then I came home and ran that concept by Mr. Wootness.
And he expanded by saying that digital has not only affected competition and the photographic process, it has affected what photographers will actually commit to digital memory. Things that twenty years ago, they never would have committed to film, let alone pay to get processed.
Again. Wow.
So now I am thinking. And rethinking.
I’ve decided to return to prints for competition entries. The dude is correct. That theory is “right” in my photography world view. Committing my work to paper *IS* a vital step in the process. And I intend to do it with the same level of excellence I apply to the image capture and retouching process.
Prints shall also play a bigger role in my studio gallery line. I already offer a wall print with every package, but a new art line will soon make an appearance. Digital file availability will be less prominent, and, in fact, may disappear altogether.
And finally, prints will also play a larger role in my personal life. I can’t even remember the last time I committed a personal image to paper. That’s also going to change. My children are doomed to sift through decades of photographs upon my demise. Sorry kids!
I’ve watched labs go under, reduce staff, reduce offerings and just plain old lower prices across the board. It’s happening. First it happened to photographers and now it’s happening to labs. The last step in the demise of photography would be for the print to die. I don’t think we can fight the digital file issue, but for crying out loud, let’s not let the print die.
Ahhh Facebook, the land of “one cannot unsee what one has seen.”
All of you photographers who enter print competition are familiar (or you should be) with the fact that if you share your images with a judge, they are no longer allowed to judge your images and must disqualify themselves during the judging process. That includes accidentally seeing your images on Facebook.
Well, how much fun is that? I always like to put mine on Facebook so that the clients in the images can see what I’ve done with their image AND they like to follow along and find out the results so that they can tell all of their friends.
Never fear, Wootness to the rescue! Here’s how to share your images, but eliminate the risk of judges seeing them. These directions only work on albums on your personal page. Albums on business pages cannot be controlled this way.
Facebook allows you to create a custom list of friends. These lists can be used to modify who CAN and CANNOT see certain things. So, the easiest way to keep judges from seeing your images on Facebook is to create a custom list of competition judges that you are friends with and then make your competition image album viewable by everyone EXCEPT this list.
Here’s how to to it:
FIRST, create your custom list. HERE IS THE LINK to do that.This is what you should see:
Choose “Create List.” I named mine Print Comp Judge.
Then ADD everyone of your friends who is an affiliated judge to this list. To view the current list of affiliated judges on the PPA website CLICK HERE and then choose the link titled “Approved Juror List.”
Do not skimp on this part. Do not go from memory. If you are active in print competition and have a large friend list, you will be surprised how many judges you are friends with. There were SIXTY THREE judges on this list that were also my Facebook friend. OOPS!
After you have finalized your list, you may create your image photo album.
***************NEW INFO ADDED*********************
Facebook requires that you upload an image in order to create an album. Experience has proven to me that the amount of time during the upload of images to the album, when the album is NOT protected from viewing by your judges list, enough time lapses that a judge may actually see your images. It’s best to upload a dummy image when creating the album until you are able to restrict the viewing.
And a drop down menu will appear. Choose “Custom.” And then you will see this:
Make absolutely sure that your list of print judge friends are listed under the “DON’T SHARE THIS WITH” section.
There! All done, easy peasy!! Make sure that you update your list regularly against the current PPA list of judges.
Many thanks to Affiliated Judge, Darrell Moll for inspiring this article.
DISCLAIMER: The PPA or any other body that is involved with print competition has not sanctioned this as official advice. This is my own personal way of making sure that judges do not see my images on Facebook.
Oh hello! Yes, the truth is out, I’m addicted to Print Competition. I write about it, I talk about it, I design speaking gigs about it and I schedule my vacations around it. If you consider annual convention print room setup days as “vacation,” like me, I’m here to tell you you’re addicted, too.
When I was born a photographer, I immediately began to notice that those photographer guru gods wore cool necklaces. Kind of like Jerry beads, only you don’t have to bare any anatomy to get them. That I’m aware of.
After awhile, I learned that these were medallions and signified the completion of certain requirements, one of which is the Master of Photography Degree medallion and is earned by participating in print competition (among other requirements).
Competition. What a word. A word I’m familiar with, a word that inspires me. A word that says “hey you, here’s a goal, I dare you to try!”
Sidebar #1: Once upon a time I went to a Mary Kay cosmetic meeting where they tried to get me to invest $99 in a makeup kit and become a rep. I didn’t care about the makeup. I cared about the PRIZES they gave you for certain level of achievements. Let’s just say, if I cared one whit about makeup, I’d be driving a pink Cadillac to this day. Yet, I digress.
So, here we are, with the PPA white glove thrown solidly down. A goal. One that was going to be hard to accomplish, but I was a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed newbie squirrel and decided to do it.
Sidebar #2: In all of my newbie wisdom, I put “Master of Photography Degree” on my 5 year goal list. Go ahead, we’ll take a little Keurig break while you laugh… I not only put it on my goal list, I put it on an application for a photography scholarship. True story. I applied to the PP of Ohio for a scholarship and in the area where you are supposed to list your photography goals, I listed my 5 year goal of being a Master. To make this story more interesting (nice word for “ridiculous’), I had not yet entered ANY print competitions…
Woah, watch it there, hot coffee snorted through your nose is painful.
To make a long story short, I won the scholarship. And I earned the Master’s in THREE years. (Pause for applause. Bow.)
How? How in the heck did that happen? Let’s just say I ate, breathed and slept print competition for the entire three years. Every conference and convention that had a print competition found me either volunteering in the print room or with my butt solidly planted in a seat in the judging room. For hours and hours and hours. And hours. No lie.
And it was THE. BEST. EDUCATION.EVER.
I knew NOTHING about print competition. I read everything I could find and talked to as many people as I could. I soon learned to recognize the yellow ribbon that held the Master medallion around photographers’ necks and would beeline to talk to those who obviously had met the challenge I wanted so desperately to achieve. Aside from the process of earning the CPP (Certified Professional Photographer) designation, earning the Master’s Degree was the journey that made me the photographer I am today. I developed a style. I began to approach every client session as an opportunity to create a merit image. I began to demand perfection from myself and developed the ability to shake off the emotion I felt about an image and review it critically and objectively.
I picked my lab, based first on how quickly they could get the images back to me (yes, I am a huge procrastinator), and then later, by running tests on papers, finishes and laminations until I found a lab who enhanced my photography style.
Sidebar #3: Buckeye Professional Imaging is getting my black and white competition work. Their deep matte paper in black and white with leather lamination is TO.DIE.FOR. It works well with the kind of work that I specialize in and I’m not willing to trust that to just any old lab that does competition prints. I love that Bill at Buckeye has plenty of competition image printing experience and is available to make sure that my print is done according to my wishes.
And finally, I’m there. But it’s not over. The addiction is in full force and now I am luring others into its clutches.
True story. I have a new intern, named Amber (Hello Amber!) and she has joined my state organization and is attending her first convention next week. Unfortunately, she is attending on a day of judging, when no classes are being conducted. This works great as I have encouraged her to spend the day in the judging room. She hasn’t yet figured out that I’m her “dealer” and her day will consist of 9 hours of judging and two hurridly-grabbed meals. Welcome to print competition, Amber, bring a pillow. 😉
What are the signs of this affliction with no known cure?
In Wootness style, here we go:
If you’ve ever considered whether a print case would make a briefcase, you might be a print competition addict.
If you choose your lab based on whether they use Fuji or Kodak, you might be a print competition addict.
If your convention packing includes a pillow to sit on in the judging room, you might be a print competition addict.
If start referring to other photographers as “the maker,” you might be a print competition addict.
If you have a pixel width preference for a stroke, and know what this means, you might be a print competition addict.
If you spend the last 3 days before the entry deadline pulling all-nighters, you might be a print competition addict.
If you know your combined score of last year’s case without looking it up, you might be a print competition addict.
If you’ve entered digitally because you didn’t have time to have your images printed, you might be a print competition addict.
If you look at an image and say “it’s been done” and you’re at an art museum, you might be a print competition addict.
if last year’s vacations were allotted to your state and district conventions, you might be a print competition addict.
If the number “79” makes you cry, you might be a print competition addict.
We don’t have meetings. Or coffee. Or candy. We don’t say the Serenity prayer every time we meet and we certainly aren’t trying to escape the addiction, although I’ve heard many pleas to God during judging and exclamations of despair over the time and money spent on competition (usually uttered by someone who didn’t score as well as they had hoped), but I’m betting that you won’t find anyone that tells you that being involved in print competition is a bad idea & you should quit.
Some interesting names get bandied about the photography world. There always seems to be wave after wave of “celebriity” names in the industry that are the flavor of the day. When I started, Sandy Puc was just starting with her Bellies to Babies tour. Newborn photographers were pretty popular across the board. Then, there was that young upstart, Joel Grimes and everybody went crazy on HDR and OCF (oooh words with big letters that need looked up!) Then came along Zack Arias who told everyone to get a grip while penning pretty excellent tutorials in his decisively witty way. Look around, there’s always going to be the newest, the latest, the touring-est……
But there’s also those names that occasionally we have to dust off and show off to the newer photographers. Those “fathers” of photography (and “mothers”, not trying to be sexist) sometimes get lost in the background noise. They’re not currently touring, heck, some of them aren’t even alive any more.
Photography, although considered an art, is really a science. Anyone who has gone the technical route I have will tell you that there’s more math and physics involved with photography than you might think and that it’s not all about just clicking the shutter when you see something beautiful.
Like science has Isaac Newton (yes, related by marriage), we have a long history of important figures in photography, and while some of these figures may not be who is popular or “in style” at the moment, their contributions to the craft are worth researching and learning.
One such person, and my personal photographic crush of all time, is Monte Zucker. The biggest compliment I ever received was from a student at a Super Monday who looked around my studio at my displays and said she could tell I was influenced by Monte Zucker. Seriously. All time favorite comment. I was humbled that someone saw his influence in my work. I didn’t know him, never took a class from him and I believe he passed away before I even became seriously interested in photography. But yet his knowledge and style continue to be held up as an example of fine photography. Technical excellence was woven into every portrait he created. It’s the goal for my work, and it should be woven into yours as well.
Since Monte was an incredible force in the industry, much has been said about him and I am not the person that can give him the introduction or overview that he deserves. However, I found this incredibly great resource on the web for FREE that will introduce you to Monte’s style. I urge you to download it, read it and keep it handy on your computer. Refer to it often. Make it one of your lighting bibles. Share the heck out of the link with your photography friends. OK?
You’re welcome.
DUE TO A POTENTIAL COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT, THE E BOOK LINK HAS BEEN REMOVED
My sincere apologies, apparently the “free ebook” at the link may be in violation of copyright. The book linked to is available at Amazon for purchase:
Oh for the love of all that is holy, let’s get this background thing straightened out once and for all.
I am of the old school thought process: “GET IT RIGHT IN CAMERA!”
More work now, means less work retouching. And since no one bothers with the retouching backgrounds, it seems, it’s VITAL to remove the wrinkles before the shoot.
If your background is wrinkled, iron or steam it.
If your background is wrinkled, reduce the depth of field so that it is not in focus.
If your background is wrinkled, pull the clients forward, so that they are further away from the background and the background is less in focus.
If you can’t seem to comprehend that wrinkles need removed from backgrounds, then switch to seamless paper.
Muslins are the biggest culprit – either spritz the background with hot water, using a garden sprayer or use a steamer. I personally, use a wallpaper steamer. No, I didn’t buy it for the studio, it’s what I had on hand. Steam is steam. Some folks spritz their backgrounds with fabric softener. I’ve not done this, but I hear it works well, too.
Seriously, people, having wrinkles in your backgrounds is the result of pure laziness. I love perusing images of my photographer friends, but I just wind up shaking my head because there are beautifully lit, posed and processed images out there that have backgrounds from hell in them. This does not seem to be an affliction that only new photographers suffer, seasoned pros do it, too. If you are going for the “heavily draped” background, then make sure there is more than one or two drapes in it – again – laziness – if it’s meant to be draped, then DRAPE it.
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