by successfulbob | bird photography, fine art photography, flower photography, imaging competition, photography, photography competition, photography creativity
Professional Photographers of America
Southwest District – Artist Category
The other day I shared the Photographic Open results for the PPA Southwest District Photographic Competition. Today I share my results from the Artist Competition. All four images were judged to be of Merit category quality. They all scored in the low 80’s to earn a District Seal.. Because they did not score above an 85, they will not have a chance to be judged for the PPA Loan Collection. Very proud of these results. With all four being judged a Merit when they are entered into the International Photographic Competition (IPC) I will earn a Bronze medal in the August judging and receive it at the convention next year in Atlanta.
This image is titled Grand Opening. I’ve been experimenting with some new techniques with art brushes in some of my art.
The judging in the Artist Category is, of course, on the final image but also the transformation from the original to the final is examined for the amount of change and how well those changes to the image were accomplished. That is why there is a reference image. This allows the judges to see the starting point of the project.
Hummingbird Study is the transformation of a slightly underexposed image of the bird that was extracted from the scene and worked into an artistic background
A dragonfly pausing in the morning light becomes transformed with some Layers of texture and various color and lighting treatments.
This rose has moved from a photo to a classical feel of a painting. In all cases, there are many renditions of an image as it goes through the transformation process.
I participate to keep myself motivated to learn new techniques and ways of processing images so I can stretch my artistic goals. I am so very fortunate to be working in a medium that has the untold potential for transforming images. If I ever felt that I had mastered the medium entirely, it would be time to move on to the next adventure.
Still way too much to learn and share!
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | cityscape photography, landscape photography, panorama, photography, photography competition
Professional Photographers of America
Southwest District Competition – Photographic Open Results
Professional Photographers of America supports photographic education in many ways. One of those is through the Merit and Degree program. Two of the degrees are image based on that you need to earn thirteen Merits plus another twelve Merits for service or education in the industry.
On the way to International Photographic Competition (IPC) is a proving ground called the Districts. The country is divided into five different Districts of which I am a member of the Southwest District. They recently completed the judging, and I earned Merits for all eight of my entries. Additionally, I received an automatic Loan Collection image for scoring 95 or above. Another image will be judged for Loan when IPC commences August 5th through 8th at Gwinett Technical School just outside Atlanta in Georgia.
I’ll share my images here except for one that will be judged for Loan Collection as the judges are not to have access to any unjuged photos.
‘Days End’ – A spectacular sunset on the red rocks in Sedona viewed from Hwy 179.
A slightly different version of this image is available for sale through the Gallery of Modern Masters in the Hillside Shopping area. Day’s End will be automatically accepted into the PPA Loan Collection at the final judging in August because it scored above a 95.
A capture of my Muse Pash Galbavy who is an incredible artist who is in love with nature. She is a life model, mask maker, performance artist and so much more. Other images from this series with Pash are also available through Gallery of Modern Masters. This image earned a Merit score
While in Nashville at last year’s PPA convention I hoofed it out to the bridge to capture a night shot of the skyline along the river. This image also earned a Merit score.
This image will represent the Non-Event album which scored a 92. I can’t share the images from this until after judging for the Loan Collection in August. It scored second place in the category.
These are the Photographic Open Category images. In the next couple days, I’ll share my Artist entries with you.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | flower photography, inspiration, Lumix FZ2500, photography, photography creativity
Meet ‘Scoot’
and the visit to the Blooming Mesquite Tree
Here’s my new best friend ‘Scoot.’ Scoot makes it possible for me to move about as I work to rehab my Iliopsoas muscle. The scooter is there for a bit of support when the pain in my a** gets too intense. But mobility leads to some possibilities.
Meet ‘Scoot’ My new best friend for a while.
I broke out the Lumix FZ2500 because of its range and all in one 24-480mm f2.8-4.0 Leica DG Vario-Elmarit lens. This is the first time I’ll have a camera in my hands in over a week. Can you say withdrawal?? I had asked my wife Holly to bring a camera to the hospital to document some of the things going on around me. Too much pain, not enough sleep and worrying about the camera being in a hospital environment. My wife told me I was nuts to even think of doing that, once again proving that my wife is the smarter of the people in our marriage… and I was wrong again.
Onward to day’s walk to the end of the driveway. I made it under the mesquite tree and was pausing for a break. Lo and behold I was enjoying the soft fuzziness of the yellow blooms against the beautiful blue sky. Off the get the camera and an excuse for a bit more exercise.
Goal. The shade under the mesquite tree at the end of the driveway.
Once underneath the blooms, I started looking for some interesting compositions.
The sharp yet soft bloom of the mesquite against the Arizona blue sky.
A pollinator visits the yellow bloom
I guess I’ll have to be creative find images within this 100-foot circle until I can begin to range further.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | photography
Have I Got a Story for You
I made plans for getting solidly back on my blogging stories, ideas and creative photography ideas.
You’ve heard that expression about making plans and hearing God’s laughter? That’s what got in the way this time. It wasn’t for lack of performance in posting or finding material and ideas to share. It was a bit of a health hit.
Then I spent a week in hospital
I won’t get into too much detail about what has me knocked on my ass at the moment. It is an unusual thing. I had an abscess that went septic on my iliopsoas muscle. It’s one of those muscles that runs through your butt area.
Here is what Wikipedia shares about that muscle. “The iliacus originates in the iliac fossa of the pelvis. The psoas major unites with the iliacus at the level of the inguinal ligament and crosses the hip joint to insert on the lesser trochanter of the femur. The iliopsoas is classified as an “anterior hip muscle” or “inner hip muscle”.” This causes an amazing amount of pain. I am now on rehab road trying to get the pain out and mobility back in. This happening while I need to infuse liquid antibiotics via a pick line three times a day.
Enough about that.
This was a reminder to not take even the simplest things for granted. I had all sorts of plans and ideas and I guess the universe has asked me to slow it down a bit.
Message received!
I am working on some new blog posts as I also work on the recovery process. Just sent you guys a great deal on the purchase or upgrade of Skylum’s Aurora 2018 HDR software. (see details here only good through Sunday) Remember that using the code COATES will save you an additional ten bucks!
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | photography software
Aurora 2018 HDR Software Deal
I’ve found the Aurora HDR software to be the cleanest in creating images with a full range of tones and not having to fight the halos that often come with processing HDR files. Not a fan of the what used to be the ‘HDR Look’ but love having a full range of tones avaialble when the situation calls for it.
Skylum is having a sale on the software and upgades. The deal you see below can be sweetened by adding my code COATES for an additional ten bucks off.
Aurora 2018 HDR Deal
AURORA HDR 2018 72 HOUR FLASH SALE OFFER INFORMATION:
Aurora HDR 2018 + 10 sets of proffesional brackets for the lowest price ever!
Current users of Aurora HDR 2017 may upgrade for $39 ($29 with my coupon code);
New users can purchase Aurora HDR 2018 for $79 ($69 with my coupon code);
OFFER AVAILABILITY: Now through Sunday, May 20th.
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Aurora HDR 2018 – The most advanced photo editor for Mac & Windows.
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10 sets of proffesional brackets.
Don’t forget to use my coupon code of COATES to get the additional ten bucks off.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
