International Photographic Competition (IPC) starts on Sunday.
If you have an interest in photography and would like to see some incredible work this is the place for you. Starting Sunday September 12 at 9AM EST through Wednesday you’ll have the opportunity to see the scoring along with comments when the judges challenge the results.
The header image above was titled ‘Taking Flight’ and was awarded LOAN Collection status two years ago.
Professional Photographers of America (PPA)
IPC is presented by PPA. It’s the chance for makers to have their work reviewed by trained judges. The resulting scores are part of the PPA Master of Photography Degree system. The degrees are designed to recognize above average work by above average photographers. This is also part of the initial selection process for Team USA in the Photographic World Cup as images are selected from the Image Excellence Award winners for the International Competition.
‘Orange Outburst’ is a water droplet photo made it into the PPA LOAN Collection last year. The LOAN Collection name will be changed to Image Excellence Award this year.
PPA image makers work all year to prepare their work for this event.
You can watch
While the competition is geared toward professional photographers and PPA members you are welcome to pull up a chair and join in the learning. You can stream IPC live from Sept 12–15. Judging starts each day at 9am ET. if you are not a PPA member? Create a free account to watch live. http://stream.theipc.org
Getting ready to head to New Mexico next week for the Festival of the Cranes held in Socorro and Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Preserve. (11/20-11/23) As the cover artist my crane art image will grace the cover of the brochure. In addition, it will be available for sale on T-shirts and coffee mugs. Sales of those items help support the friends of the Bosque and support the festival.
I’ll be on site with wildlife and avian art for sale, including prints of the cover art.
Cover for the Festival of the Cranes
As always I’d be happy to chat with you about techniques, photography, and/or commissions. You can see more of my work by checking out my art site. coatesart.net
PPA – Photographic Craftsman & Certified Professional Photographer
The work in these Painterly Posts are usually a bit more on the obvious painting side using the digital tools we have. Today’s artist is one I’ve been following for a while and while it is not specifically a painting style the work in my opinion transcends photography into a realm of it’s own. I’ll leave you to decide… Let me know what you think of Kelly’s work.
“I think it is easier, assuming you commit and invest in yourself to do it,” stated Kelly. Today, you can take a pretty awesome shot and even do what used to be very intense post processing on a smart phone. Kids 10 years old are producing some pretty decent images and sharing them to the world in minutues. That’s something that could have taken hours or days just 20 years ago. The challenge to me is again, how do you produce “SALIENT” images that others are not able to do or cant do alone with a smart phone. I think it is easier to become one of the millions of professionals photographers out there… but harder to separate yourself and become more relevant. Thus, to produce work that is in demand and that people find of real value,” concluded Schneider.
“I am a natural teacher. I love getting in front of others and having a positive impact on their views or knowledge on something and even more so when their eyes open and start to learn a new skill. It is a passion. If you have heard of the Keirsey-Bates temperament test, I am an ENFJ and that puts me in the Teacher idealist. (ref. https://keirsey.com/temperament/idealist-teacher/) Basically, I truly enjoy watching clients smile and even tear up when they see their final images. I also get emotional when I see smiles on a student’s face when they become AWARE that they get it… they see it… and they can do it.”
Where do you see professional photography in 10 years?
“To be frank, I think the future has two fundamental paths… and I think both will be exists. Not so good path: Photographers who are not keeping up with technology and establishing a “constantly learning” modality in their work will become part of the vast ocean of others out there struggling to find themselves in a way that gets clients to find them… in that photographer’s “purgatory” where they are good, but not SALIENT or relative enough.”
Good path: Those who have persevered. Those willing to take the leap, to accept and embrace innovation, and not just thinking that because they WERE great, they will always be great. They will survive and continue to provide a service and product that there will always be clients willing to pay for. There are multiple integrated elements in becoming and staying a relevant “SALIENT” professional photographer. From your personality in dealing with and interacting with others, to your day to day running of your business. This includes your vision and standards you set and adhere to. Only one of them is in taking the image.”
What do you enjoy most as a professional photographer?
“When I was 18 and serving in the US Navy, the process of Capturing Life’s Journey and sharing it with others…”
Born and raised in Coronado California he joined the US Navy in 1980 and served for 29 years. During his US Navy travels including 137 countries, he began “capturing” life around him. In 2010, Kelly began his pursuit of professional portraiture, growing and developing his skills in creating “salient” portraits focused on weddings portraiture and boudoir.
Over time, Schneider has become passionate about teaching others. He earned a Master’s degree in Human Systems Integration from the Navy Post Graduate School in Monterey California. He completed the Executive leadership course at both UC Berkeley and Duke University and is a MDPPA Board of Directors member for 2019.
Kelly and his wife Kalina (also a gifted photographer and active PPA member/Maryland PPA member) have been hosting workshops both in the US and in Europe. Kelly Schneider Fine Arts ksfinearts.com focuses on Boudoir and Fine Art portraiture and workshops.
Schneider is writing his first book “The Salient Portrait – the science behind it and how to achieve it” and it is a core element of all his workshops and training events. He earned the Best Portrait of the Year award in 2017 for MDPPA and Best Portrait Photographer for the State of Maryland for 2017 and 2018 and Wedding Photographer of the year for 2018 as well as earning two Fujifilm Masterpiece Awards in 2019.
Kelly is married Mrs. Kalina Schneider from Katowice Poland. Kalina and Kelly currently call Accokeek, MD home with their two kids – a beagle and a terrier!
Tuesday Painterly Art – Part Two
Michelle Parsley – M.Photog, M. Artist, Cr., CPP
I had the pleasure of taking a Michelle Parsley full day Pre-Con class at Imaging USA this year. I was extremely impressed with her attention to detail and classroom style. If you ever get the opportunity to learn from Michelle, I highly recommend it. BTW you can also work with Michelle online. Check out links to her education at the bottom ot the post.
Hear again from Michelle as she continues her talk about her work and producing images for PPA’s International Photographic Competition
“Another glimpse into my imagination would be “Get off my lawn!”. Who hasn’t thought of finding a Leprechaun? Just me?? Oh, ok… ;)
I absolutely love history. You can see the influence of times gone by in images like, “Secret Admirer”, “Patchwork”, “Waiting for Papa”, and “All in a Day’s Work”. These were some of my favorite images I’ve ever created — partly because of the historical context, but also because I built the “sets” in scale miniature and composited my subjects into the scenes. None of those rooms are more than 12 inches tall!
“Secret Admirer”
“Patchwork”
“Waiting for Papa”
“Source of Wisdom”
Easily one of the craziest things I have ever done for print competition was “The Source of Wisdom”. This print really has to be seen in person to appreciate it. I knew by adding 3D elements to the print, I was risking being disqualified — but it was something I just had to try. I have an absurd amount of time in both building the set (I made over 300 books the size of my thumbnail!!), compositing over 50 frames together, and then adding the miniature books to the face of the print to give the final piece a 3D feel. At one point I found myself VACUUMING the print to be 100% sure none of my elements would damage anyone else’s entry. Thankfully – the judging panel really understood the story and rewarded me with a loan. One word of caution — if you ever attempt a 3D print, ALL of the 3D elements must be below the face of the mat or you could potentially be DQ’d for damaging other entries. Proceed with caution!”
Michelle Parsley, M.Photog, M. Artist, Cr., CPP
Behind every artist there is a story and Michelle’s story began as a child when she would draw or paint with anything she could find (which got her in trouble on more than one occasion!). She has been creating hand drawn and hand
painted art for clients for nearly 20 years. Michelle is mostly self-taught in all the mediums she uses to express
her creativity. By combining her love of both digital and organic mediums, Michelle is uniquely equipped to both create and teach art. Michelle earned her Certified Professional Photographer (CPP) designation from Professional
Photographers of America (PPA) in 2009 which led her to enter her first International
Photographic Competition in 2010.
She has since earned the Master of Photography
and Master Artist degrees in 2014, diamond artist of the year in 2012, the
Imaging Excellence Award in 2015, Photographic Craftsman in 2017, Double diamond and the Imaging Excellence Bar in 2018.
When Michelle is not teaching, photographing, or painting, she enjoys a great cup of coffee, dark chocolate, and working on the family farm in rural Tennessee where she lives with her husband of over 25 years, their four children, four dogs, and an ever changing host of farm animals.
The class I took from Michelle – Photoshop Clone Painting
More Clone Painting Classes – All Clone Painting Classes
I mentioned networking in my last post as a reason for attending Professional Photographers of America’s Imaging USA. Let me add that it is a great time to recognize the achievements of your fellow photographers.
American Society of Photographers – Fellowship
One of these events is the American Society of Photographers Banquet. There is more networking, of course, but so much more. ASP has worked very hard over the past couple years to become more inclusive and make the awards banquet something to really look forward to. There were two new ASP Fellows Ella Carlson and Kristi Elias. While their images and papers have not been posted as yet on the ASP site you can get an idea by checking out other ASP Fellow papers (ASP Fellows)
Eligibility to apply for the ASP Fellowship requires that an individual hold at least one of the PPA Master degrees, be a current ASP member in good standing, AND have acquired 15 additional print merits AFTER receiving their degree during contiguous years of ASP membership.
The applicant must complete a minimum of three consecutive years membership in ASP prior to application. A thesis/personal paper of at least 2000 words providing insight into their photographic or artistic journey, influences, philosophies and passion that make them the photographer or artist they are today.
The applicant must also submit a portfolio of 25 exquisite images characteristic of his or her finest work that is a visual representation of their written paper.
Recipients of the Fellowship must maintain membership in ASP and PPA.
American Society of Photographers – Educational Associate
Steve Clark earned his Education Associate. (read Steve’s paper here) The ASP Educational Associate is conferred on those special individuals who actively participate and promote the ideals and philosophies of the organization beyond the initial recognition given with their acceptance into the Society. It is available to all active, life, honorary life and international members of the Society that hold a PPA Craftsman degree.
The ASP Educational Associate requires that an individual hold the PPA Photographic Craftsman degree, be a current ASP member in good standing, AND have acquired 30 additional speaking, teaching, or writing merits AFTER receiving their degree during contiguous years of ASP membership.
The applicant must write a paper of at least 4000 words of individual research and thought that demonstrates the applicant’s mastery of the field and supports a position for a new idea, development or trend. (read other ASP Associate papers here)
Hmmm. This post has gone on for a while guess I’ll be adding a part three to these Imaging USA posts.
First Friday in Sedona
Featured Artist at The Gallery of Modern Masters
I told you I had some news… And here it is.
I’ll be the featured artist at The Gallery of Modern Masters for the month of September. First Friday in Sedona will mark the opening of my new work being displayed. September 7th you are invited to join us for some wine and light hors’ dourves from 5 PM til 8 PM.
There will be new pieces on display for the first time. It turns out I must be in my ‘Gold Period’. Most of the new imagery features golden tones. Didn’t really think about it it just kind of turned out that way. Must be in honor of the fall season. I chat with Tom Taback of KAZM about my art and process for its creation. You can listen to the 20-minute KAZM Radio show Tech Talk from August 28th below.
Tech Talk on KAZM August 28, 2018
New work being prepped for Gallery of Modern Masters Show
Friday, September seventh 5 PM – 8 PM
Gallery of Modern Masters
671 State Route 179
(Hillside Sedona)
Sedona, Arizona 86336
928-282-3313 Toll-free 888-282-3313
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Lightning, waterdroplets, sound, time-lapse, HDR sequences, smiles and much more control for your camera!
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A High Speed Smart Camera Remote
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