ISPWP contest results
The results are in from the International Society for Wedding Photographers (ISPWP) Fall 2010 photo contest and I’m giddy to announce two of my images placed in the international contest. In 2009, I was ranked among the top 5 in the world for the Fall contest, which I blogged about here. More recent contest results of my work posted here.
And the winners are…
3rd place in “The Bridal Party Portrait” category from Jen & Phil’s wedding in Breckenridge, Colorado in September. The image was taken shortly before the ceremony on a road near the church in Saint Mary’s church in Breckenridge. They were backlit by the sun and the exposure was metered manually by stopping 3 stops down to get shadow detail in the road. I shot the image on a Nikon D700 using at 14mm @ f2.8, 1/1500 sec, ISO 200 and processed using a my standard black and white conversion, then “Get Faded” (Winter) from the Totally Rad Actions 2 at about 15% opacity (which cools off the shadows and creates a custom split-toning effect). I rotated the image 180 degrees for presentation effect.
12th place in the “Family Love” category from Michelle & Joe’s wedding near Napa Valley in August. While watching the communion procession, I noticed the bride’s mother smile as she looked at the sleeping infant. I prepared my 70-200 to zoom at 200mm, and using Aperture priority I snapped this photo at f/2.8 for 1/125 sec. I dodged what I felt were important parts of the photo to increase local contrast to the faces and VIP’s reaching arm. I then burned (made darker) the corners of the photo to draw the eye towards the center. This photo reminds me of the importance weddings serve to bring family together to celebrate life.
For each wedding I book, I budget a small percentage towards entering images which I feel represent my favorite images. I will usually select one or two favorite images from a wedding per quarter to submit towards the dozen contest categories (ceremony, reception, engagement session, bride & groom, and fine art categories among my favorites).
Each year the competition is getting more competitive. So many great photographers work appear in contest results. Studying their work elevates and inspires me to create my best work, unique to my eye and creative spirit. Years ago, to view such stellar work, one must flip through the pages of a magazine or book annual. Now, we can view awarded work weeks after it has been created.
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