Due to a change in this year’s judging procedure, I can share my Loan Collection images from the International Photographic Competition (IPC) put on by Professional Photographers of America (PPA). The PPA Loan Collection is judged after a picture has earned a Merit, which is defined as an above average image by an above average photographer. Loan Collection images are considered among the ‘Best of the Best.’
And here we go. I’ll comment under each image for what I was trying to accomplish.
“Going Up” – A study in perspective. Trying to make an everyday object into an art piece. I do this in practice for my commercial and architectural clients.
“Dance of the Snowy Egret” – This was me on vacation. I was studying this snowy egret tracking down its meals in the marsh. I noticed some patterns as I watched its behavior. This image began to form in my head. The Master Artist category is judged on the final output. Also, the difficulty and expertise in applying the techniques is a major part of whether an image is accepted.
“Shape Form Tone” – Made in Atlanta while I was a PPA headquarters for a meeting. We were on break, and I had brought a camera with me and saw this view out the window. Again, working on perfecting my craft by creating depth and dimension in my work.
“Iris” – This was a design I created for a silk scarf. (my clothing designs are available at SHOP VIDA) Depth and dimension are critical to adding life to a two-dimensional surface. Shadows are essential in making that happen.
There you have it. My photographic and design work in the 2016 PPA Loan Collection as judged by Professional Photographers of America.
Like many photographers around the country, I have been watching the judging of the International Photographic Competition hosted by the Professional Photographers of America (PPA).
‘Hiding’ – General Collection Artist Category – This image of model and mask, performer, and artist Pash Gabalvy of Sedona was an effort to create a painterly feel to this capture. May have processed this one a bit too dark.
I submitted eight images. Four in the Photographic Open and four in the Artist category. Of the eight images presented, Three images were not accepted. One was accepted into the General Collection earning a Merit. Four were deemed to be ‘best of the best’ and accepted into the prestigious Loan Collection.
I can share the ‘less successful’ images that Merited or were not accepted, but not the Loan Collection images as there will be additional judging of those images for the Grand Imaging Awards which will be announced at the Imaging USA convention in San Antonio, TX in January.
‘Eagle’ – Was not accepted. The Artist Category is judged based on the final image but also the difficulty and execution of the artwork itself. I will rework this image and try again.
Notice I did not say, ‘unsuccessful’ I said, ‘less than successful.’ We always want our images to score well, but I believe I learn just as much, if not more, from those that don’t. Why? I have been experimenting with lots of new capture techniques, new painting techniques in creating art from my images and different ways of processing photos. I get feedback on why the treatments and processing didn’t work, and I can grow my skills with that information.
‘Nightwatch’ – Another Artist submission that fell short in the judge’s opinions. This was challenged, so I received feedback on what the judges found lacking. “No specular highlights on the beak. Some leaves the were a distraction behind the owl’s head. Not enough shape and form on the owl’s body.” I agree with all contentions and will be reworking this image again.
‘Secret Canyon’ – Not accepted n the Photographic Open Category
I did not receive feedback on this image yet. My guess is that it might be a little too artistic for the subject. Many pictures of slot canyons have been entered over the years.
That’s my story so far. I’ll follow up with the Loan Collection images after the GIA’s have been selected.
Tuesday painterly Photo Art – Julianne Kost Part 2
Julianne keeps pushing in new directions. In
In Part One of Julianne in this blog, we spoke of her Adobe Photoshop Evangelism which is her primary job. No that’s not a religious designation. She travels around the country sharing new features of the Photoshop and Lightroom programs with photographers.
While on her travels she creates art that many of us would not think to do until we saw it. I hear the chorus of voices now. “I could have done that!!” But you didn’t. Julianne sat looking out from the window seat of jet planes traveling 30,000 plus feet in the air a got a vision of how to use that vantage point to create art and share with others how that art was created.
Window Seat
Kost travels about 250 days a year, and, for better or worse, she’s required to fly to get to almost all of the places she visits. As a result, Julianne spends lots of time on airplanes in those tiny, cramped seats with little to do but try to work or read.
Shooting photographs allows me to stay sane during those long flights, because what most people don’t know is that I have a bit of a handicap when it comes to flying; I am scared to death of it. I’ve always been afraid of flying, but during one particular 20-minute bout of turbulence in the middle of the Andes years ago, I found myself white-knuckled, fingers embedded in the hard plastic armrests. It was in that instant that the camera became a comforting buffer between the reality of that moment and my own thoughts.”
Window Seat – The Art of Digital Photography & Creative Thinking
“I discovered that shooting pictures out of the plane window allowed me to view the scenery in a different context: not as the earth some 30,000 feet below, but as an immense, constantly scrolling image. As long as I could see the world as an image through an eyepiece rather than as a harsh, physical reality, the threat was less real. I became a spectator – an observer of the scene rather than part of it.”
Julianne Autographed my copy back in 2006 – The book is still valid today as a learning tool
Julianne referred me to the Adobe blog site for more information on her Passenger Seat project where she was interviewed by Lex van den Berghe who is a Principal Product Manager on the Digital Imaging team at Adobe.
This will get you started on Lex’s interview…
Tell us more about how you got started with the Passenger Seat series. Where did the inspiration come from?
Passenger Seat, the project, started as a purely personal one as I traveled through the northeastern United States to view the leaves in fall. We drove all day looking for iconic New England landscapes, and between the small towns, I started taking images out the window of the car. At the end of the day, the images that I had made “in between” were the images that resonated with me. I found myself capturing a distinct yet ephemeral moment that was not entirely apparent or observable when the image was made, yet these photographs conveyed the mood, colors, and transient notion of fall better than anything that I had mindfully composed.
Passenger Seat – Creating a Photographic Project from Conception through Execution in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom
With photography so often about the obsession of capturing perfect moments and frames in crystal clear focus, can you explain what it was like to create images that seemed to deliberately go against the grain of all technical and aesthetic conventions?
It was fun! I believe we need to constantly explore different techniques and subjects in order to stay healthy and not atrophy. This project helped me continue to look at things with a new perspective, photograph what I could not see, learn how to make technology work for me, and “let go” and lose myself in the process of making images.
Continue reading the rest of the Passenger Seat blog post here…
Kost Bio
Named one of Fast Company’s “100 Most Creative People in Business,” Julieanne Kost is a Principal Evangelist at Adobe Systems, responsible for fostering relationships with customers through meaningful and inspirational Photoshop and Lightroom instruction. As a highly sought-after speaker for the industry-standard Digital Imaging franchise, she devises and presents motivating and educational training sessions, sharing original techniques and tutorials worldwide — via live events, Adobe.com, her own website (jkost.com) and blog (blogs.adobe.com/jkost). She is also the author of “Passenger Seat—Creating a photographic project from conception through execution in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom” and “Window Seat — The Art of Digital Photography and Creative Thinking”, (I have an autographed copy: Ed) an accomplished photographer and fine artist, and creator and host of the popular Photoshop CC Essential Training, Adobe Camera Raw Essential Training, and the Art of Photoshop Compositing for Lynda.com.
Kost is well-known for her unique approach to instruction, infusing practical tips and tricks with an equal amount of humor and creativity that keeps audiences entertained and engaged. She often serves as a guest lecturer at distinguished photography workshops, industry events, and leading educational institutions around the world. She’s a contributing columnist and author for a variety of print and online publications and has created over 500 instructional videos as the host of Adobe’s “The Complete Picture” featuring Lightroom and Photoshop, serves as producer and instructor of the “Lightroom Getting Started” and “What’s New in Lightroom,” training courses, as well as the “Revitalize your Workflow with Lightroom” seminar on CreativeLive.
Kost has been recognized for her outstanding service and contributions to the professional photographic industry, winning the Gerhard Bakker Award from the Professional Photographers of America, the Honorary Educational Associate Award from the American Society of Photographers and was inducted into the Photoshop Hall of Fame by the National Association of Photoshop Professionals.
The combination of her passion for photography, mastery of digital imaging techniques and her degree in psychology, makes her photographic and fine artwork familiar, yet surreal with inventive and mysterious worlds where things are not quite as they seem. Her work has been exhibited numerous times and featured on Behance.net, PetaPixel.com, thisiscolossal.com, photographyserved.com, and Photoshop.com.
Kost holds an AA in Fine Art Photography and a BS in Psychology.
The Painter’s Keys. An excellent twice weekly newsletter was started by Canadian artist Robert Genn. Robert is no longer with us, but the bi-weekly letter and website were carried on by his daughter Sara who is a talented artist and writer in her own right.
Robert was not only a talented acrylic on canvas artist recognized throughout the world for his work depicting the west coast of Canada, but he was also a thinker on the process of creating art. That’s why I grabbed a quote from him for use this morning.
“It’s the child that makes the artist.” – Robert Genn
In my opinion, this quote is a very simple but important one. There is a tendency to loose our inner child as we grow up and into our careers. When we first try our hand at art as a child, we work with abandon and no thought of what is ‘right of wrong’ we just do. As we age, we begin to listen and be shaped by the outside world of parents and teachers and supposed friends who tell us what is wrong with our work. How we can’t make a living as artists. How we could do something better if we just did it the approved way.
To grow as artists, I suggest that we go back to that inner child now and then and just play with wild abandon. Try something new. Push boundaries. Don’t label something as good or bad but as a learning experience. I talk about this many times, but it’s a message that will help you forge new art in your life. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Don’t listen to people that tell your work is not up to par it doesn’t matter. Play. Play some more. Study new ideas and try to put them into practice.
From Sara Genn’s Latest Letter/Post – “Your Brain on Art’
Scientists ‘read dreams’ using brain scans. Rebecca Morelle, BBC science
Will this result in masterpieces immediately? Many times no. But often it can lead you down a new path to help you become a more creative individual. Picasso had a quote along similar lines, “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.” – Pablo Picasso
Don’t let the world take out your inner child.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
PS – You can click on either link in this post to check out and subscribe to the Painter’s Keys
“Bob, your images show your expertise and I absolutely agree with all you say. I will add one thought. The images you show in your article are for the Artist category. My thought is those entering for the first time might mostly be in the Photographic category. So maybe you can add some of your beginning ones that merited rather than your most recent advanced ones for perspective.
Some of my own frustration does lie in that critiques in the Photographic category often talk about changing backgrounds, etc. To me that should be in the Artistic competition since that is not “photographic”, but I understand there is not a way to monitor this, so anything goes in Photographic pretty much.
I think it is important to explain to entrants that even if your image scores a 74 let’s say, this is based on a professional standard and is “average among your peers” so it is not “average for anyone with a camera.” So there should not be fear to enter because you might not be good enough. My thought is this, if I thought I was not good enough, I certainly would want to know that and learn. I would not be charging clients money for my work if even I thought I was not good enough. On another note even a score below competition standard of 65 might be a sellable client image in some instances, it just misses too many marks of the 12 elements for merit.”
——————————
Joanne Fabian
Photographer/Owner
J Gray Fabian Photography
Souderton PA
Excellent thoughts from Joanne. I will pass on the idea about critiques and backgrounds to other PPA Jurors in the Photographic Open category. We are always trying to improve the experience of judging and providing feedback to members. (I am a PPA Approved Juror)
The images that I shared in the original post were ones that I had quick access to and wanted to illustrate the post. I took some time to dig back in through some older files for examples in the Photographic Open category that merited and some that made it to the Loan Collection and below a video of many of my entries over the years.
‘Randy’ – General Merit & Showcase Book 2006
‘Enduring Comfort’ – General Merit 2009
‘Variations on a Theme’ – Loan Collection 2006
‘135 Painted Cliffs’ – Loan Collection 2007
‘Tango Toes’ – General Merit 2007
I tend toward more of a commercial and fine art imagery in my business so these may be a little more ‘arty’ than other people’s entries. I’ll share a video showing most of my submissions from 2005 through 2015. Not all images made it to the merit category, but it will give you a good idea of my body of work over the years.
Bob Coates Photography IPC entries 2005-2015 (3:14)
Again I highly encourage everyone interested in improving their photography in an accelerated manner to participate in International Photographic Competition. Even if you did not enter this year spend some time streaming the IPC starting on Sunday, July 31 and continuing thru Wednesday, August 4th.
Questions, comments and other points of view always welcome.
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“Going Up” – A study in perspective. Trying to make an everyday object into an art piece. I do this in practice for my commercial and architectural clients.
“Shape Form Tone” – Made in Atlanta while I was a PPA headquarters for a meeting. We were on break, and I had brought a camera with me and saw this view out the window. Again, working on perfecting my craft by creating depth and dimension in my work.
“Iris” – This was a design I created for a silk scarf. (my clothing designs are available at SHOP VIDA) Depth and dimension are critical to adding life to a two-dimensional surface. Shadows are essential in making that happen.
