Bronze Medalist - International Photographic Competition

Every year, I participate in various photographic print competitions as part of my ongoing efforts to increase my knowledge base and better my work.  Participation has definitely moved me to a higher level of photography and editing skills, and I credit it with improving the work I put forward for clients.  In fact, I often compete with client images--with their approval, of course.

I thought I would share my images from this past September's International Photographic Competition (IPC) which is run by Professional Photographers of America, and share the process each one of these images goes through as part of my move toward submission.

What you need to know:

• a competition print can take anywhere from 8 - 30 hours of work (for me--I have friends who may put more hours into various images), depending on the subject and how much I might want to change the image after feedback and critiques are given
• once an idea is put into motion, it may take days or even weeks to photograph and assemble all the parts
• there were several venues within the Professional Photographers of America (PPA) framework where the print could be entered and feedback/critique could be received (the process is now changing as I write this, so I am unsure what my NEW steps will be in terms of competition images)
• the venues I used to receive image feedback were as follows: NPPPA (Northeastern Pennsylvania Professional Photographers Association), PPAofPA (the PA state affiliate for PPA), PPA District Competition- Northeast District (in that order)
• the image is finally submitted to the IPC where it will receive one of two grades--Merit or Non-Merit
• Merit images automatically move into the IPC's General Collection and are published and shown at the Annual Conferencing event in January, which will be in Nashville TN in 2023.

I submitted a Case (4 images) to the Photographic Open competition for review.  Over 5000 images were submitted this year.  All four images merited, hence the Bronze Medal distinction.

​Below you will find the four images.  I have put a small explanation under each one to give you an idea of the process.  But, I have only given you an example of actual image changes with the first image.

​You can click on each image to make it larger.

​A Mossy Perch

I photographed this Barred Owl at a nature preserve.  The birds are handled on a regular basis and perch nicely.  This owl chose a particularly great, mossy branch in the enclosure to sit on.  I photographed this image with a 105mm lens on a monopod, and a hand-held off camera flash, however, there was also ambient light coming in above the owl's head.  I replaced the background on the image and added some greenery that I had from another photo I took of trees while on a hike.  I also flipped and cropped the image for more impact.  

Note:  This image won the Joe Campanellie Award for Best Wildlife Image at the Professional Photographers Association of Pennsylvania's "Inspire" Competition.  At the time, it looked like the framed image below (2nd photo down).  I took the feedback received on this image at this competition and changed the image one more time before my next submission, to IPC.

The top photo is edited out of camera.  This image sat for a very long time unused before I decided to make it competition worthy.  You can see I have darkened the background to remove some of the specular highlights and brighter areas, which take away from the owl.  Note the difference between this final, framed image and the one above, which was the Merit at IPC.

​Just Call Me Cleopatra

This is Missy, sprawled out nicely in a studio portrait.  Missy belongs to a client, who came for both studio and outdoor images.  The photo was taken with a 70-200mm, f2.8 lens.  My studio settings are always f11, ISO 100, 1/125.  This was a two light set up (main and fill), with a back kicker light on the backdrop.  The backdrop is a painted muslin by Denny.

I did a very simple edit on this image using Topaz and PS Elements.

Naming an image is a key ingredient in the competition mix.  I wasn't sure the judges would get this one, but in all cases they did, and Missy does remind me of Cleopatra sprawled out on her barge on the Nile.

​Teacher's Pet

One of the things I like to try and do in competition, is use at least one photo that has very little done to it editing-wise.  This is my homage to that practice.

I am going to be honest and tell you, in all cases, I have been pleasantly surprised that this image made it through competition.  But as one of my critique-givers noted: "it's the ultimate well-lit studio portrait that sends a great message, has humor and good impact."

I used a themed backdrop, an antique wooden school desk, apple and some books.  I did PhotoShop in the "I heart Dogs" for effect.  This is my own dog, Talley, who is two and has become the ultimate model, as she knows sitting quietly in a studio set up will get her a jackpot treat.

​Balancing Act

I put the most hours into this particular image.  I am never very lucky to see or capture Eagles.  I just happened to have my camera in the car when I found this juvenile eating road kill on a back road last year.  When I parked my car, it became suspicious and flew off, but into a very dead tree that is one of my favorite dead trees in the area.  It was far enough out on the branch that I could get a clear shot against the sky, so I ran off about 20 shots.

There were two problems with this image.  My lens went up to 300mm only, and I think if I had had a 500mm lens, the resolution of this image would have been quite a bit better.  The angle I had to take the photo at, caused the background sky light to take over and the original image of the bird itself, was darkened.

This is an image that also sat for a long time before I pulled it out to think more about it.  With some painting classes under my belt, and some feather brushes, I set about to paint back in the detail and resolution to the feathers.  Since the sky was really BLAH that day, I took a primary color from the juvenile Eagle and painted the background.  I took away most of the tree except for the main branch, and even took away most of that, to make the bird look perched on the very edge of the branch.

In the end, this image not only merited, but received "Showcase" image status, which means it will be printed in a special book.  For a brief moment, one of the judges at IPC challenged it to receive Image Excellence status, and two judges voted for it, but three did not.  So it remained a Merit.  I am honored they even thought about it.  Hard work pays off.

What's Next

Competition at the IPC level has taken me a while to come around to.  This is my third year.  I am competing to mainly achieve my Master of Photography Degree through PPA.  I am two images away from receipt of that degree.

Last year I had three images Merit and two achieved Image Excellence status.  The year before I had two images Merit and one received Showcase status.  All of these things add up to a pointed system which leads to various degrees.

With the PPA system now changing, I may be able to receive that degree sooner than waiting a whole year to compete again, and that is a good thing.  It may even spur me on to work on a Master Artist degree.  We will see.

I hope you enjoyed reading about my journey into image competition.  As I noted, my client imagery has become all the better for it!

​Have a great weekend!