More than 2,000 Outstanding Photos to Be Exhibited in Nashville Jan. 10-12

Professional Photographers of America (PPA) is inviting members of the public to come view 2,300 of the world’s best photographs in the International Print Exhibit that will be held in conjunction with Imaging USA Conference and Trade Show Jan. 10-12 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville, TN.

“The International Print Exhibit is perfect for the artistic at heart,” says Jim Dingwell, coordinator of PPA’s Exhibitions Committee. “For professional photographers, it’s one of the best places to get inspired to try a new pose or filter or be reminded of why they first loved the medium.”

The images that will be displayed come from around the world and are largely from PPA’s annual International Photographic Competition, including all of the images from the 2009 PPA Loan and General Collections. Loan Collection images will travel to different photographic conventions around the world, but the Gaylord Resort and Convention Center is the only place where all of the collections can be viewed in one place.

The International Print Exhibit at Imaging USA Jan 10-12 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville is free and open to the public. This photo is from a panoramic image by Donald A. Harvey

“For people in the Nashville area, this is not only a unique opportunity to see amazing art, but also to get a glimpse into our cultures and trends through the eyes of professional photographers, as well as an inside view into the elements that make these images the best in the world,” says Helen Yancy, chairperson of the PPA’s Photographic Exhibition Committee. “For all we know, the next Ansel Adams or Anne Geddes is represented here.”

The International Print Exhibit will be free and open the public in the Ryman Exhibit Hall B6, Level 0 of the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center.

LexJet congratulates all of our customers whose prints will be on display at this extraordinary exhibition!

We agree with the PPA that entering print competitions can be an excellent way for photographers of all levels to continue to improve their art.  Click here to read more about PPA’s International Print Competitions.

Imaging USA, which began in 1880 as the annual convention and trade show for PPA, is the longest running national photographic convention, expo, and exhibition in the US. Imaging USA is presented by an alliance of PPA, the Society of Sport and Event Photographers, Commercial Photographers International, the Stock Artists Alliance, and Evidence Photographers International Council (EPIC).

Hahnemuhle Announces World Tour for Their Anniversary Collection

The year 2009 marked the 425^th year of continuous operation for Hahnemuhle’s paper mill in Germany. The mill was established on Feb. 27, 1584 under the name of Relliehäusische Papiermühle and is located on a crystal-clear river in the town of Relliehausen near Dassel in Solling.

"Skypool" by Frank Meyl

To celebrate the 425^th anniversary, Hahnemuhle invited photographers from around the world to participate in a competition with the theme “For Originals.” Participants were encouraged to present their visions of people, objects, and environments from the most original perspective possible.

Nearly 1,800 photographers from more than 45 countries submitted more than 7,100 entries. In November, a panel of four judges evaluated the entries on concept, composition, and message and selected 41 images to become part of the Hahnemuhle Anniversary Collection.  

The collection includes the 12 images for which the photographers received cash awards. The cash prizes were given to three winners in three categories (People and Portrait; Landscape and Nature; and Architecture and Still Life) and three students.

In 2010, the Hahnemuhle Anniversay Collection will be exhibited in cities throughout the world. The first stop on the tour will be Sydney, Australia on Feb. 10. From there, the collection will be exhibited in Beijing, Berlin, London, Paris, Hong Kong, New York, and Istanbul.

The New York exhibition is scheduled for May 24-June 21. The award-winning images will also be displayed at the Photokina imaging exposition, Sept. 21-26 in Cologne, Germany. Additional cities for the tour will be announced on Hahnemuhle’s website.

"People 01" by Roberto Soares-Gomes

“There extraordinary images represent a full range of photographic subjects,” says Hahnemuhle’s Managing Director Jorg Adomat.  To ensure the best possible print presentation, Adomat said each winning photo will be output on the inkjet paper from Hahnemuhle’s Digital FineArt Collection that has the most suitable whiteness, structure, and other properties for that particular image. 

For complete information on the judging panel, winners, and tour dates, visit www.hahnemuhle.com and click on “Creative and Informative.”

For more information about Hahnemuhle Digital FineArt Collection, including Hahnemuhle’s new Baryta FB glossy fiber-based paper, visit LexJet’s website or call a LexJet account specialist at 800-453-9583.  If you’re brand-new to exhibition photo printing, we can answer whatever questions you may have about how to get the best results with your printer.

How Entering Print Competitions Enhances Your Photography

Portrait of Jeff Dachowski by Don Chick

Photographer Jeff Dachowski is a big believer in the benefits of entering print competitions—particularly those sponsored through PPA-affiliated organizations at the state, regional and international levels. And that’s not just because his album of winter scenics won an exceedingly rare perfect score of 100 at the 2009 print competition sponsored by the Professional Photographers Association of New England (PPANE).

He believes entering print competitions has significantly improved the quality of the portrait photography services he offers every day at the studio he runs with his photographer wife Carolle in Manchester, NH.

“Entering print competitions has pushed my client work into another realm,” says Dachowski, “I now look at details that I never would have seen if I hadn’t participated in print competitions.”

He says that clients typically don’t have the technical expertise to suggest ways he could create better portraits for them. But the photographers who judge PPA print competitions do. Well-trained judges help you grow by offering constructive advice regarding the technical merits of your photographs and fundamental principles of artistic composition that have endured for generations.

Entering print competitions can also be a confidence builder, Dachowski says, especially when peers validate work that is already popular with clients: “It’s nice to have a peer step up and say ‘This is a good piece of work. I would have liked to have made this myself’.”

Dachowski has attended more than 15 print competitions, both as an entrant and a judge. Serving as judge can be particularly inspiring, he says, because you get to see some awesome images. But being “inspired” doesn’t necessarily mean copying someone else’s style. When you critically evaluate enough good images, there’s a strong possibility that you’ll start to experiment with certain techniques you’ve seen in the best work of others.  

At the PPANE Conference, Dachowski received high scores for all four items he entered. In addition to receiving a 100 for his album of winter scenics, he received a score of 92 for an album of Maine scenics, an 84 for a wedding album, and a 92 for a color portrait of a client’s dog that he shot in his studio.

Because his dog portrait scored the highest of all the color portraits at this year’s PPANE Conference, Dachowski was named the winner of LexJet’s first Sunset Award. Along with a trophy, Dachowski received a gift certificate for $100 worth of LexJet Sunset inkjet media for professional photographic and fine-art printing. The trophy and gift certificate were presented at the PPANE awards banquet by LexJet Account Specialist Kelly Price.

Dachowski captured the winning portrait during a session that also involved shooting the three adult children of a long-time client. They had brought two dogs to session with them, because like many dog lovers, they regard their dogs as part of the family.

Shooting pet portraits isn’t difficult if you maintain good control and know how you want the final image to look, says Dachowski. Because he envisioned it as a profile from the start, he set up the lighting just as if he were shooting a profile of a child.

Jeff Dachowski first envisioned how he wanted the dog’s portrait to look, then set up the lighting to capture the details and amber tones of the fur. Essentially, he says it was like shooting a profile of a child: “I put the dog up on a Victorian settee, got his attention, and took the shot.” When he entered the image in the PPANE print competition, he gave it an appropriately descriptive title: “I Smell Bacon!” (Photo ©Jeff Dachowski, http://www.dachowskiphotography.com)

Dachowski sends his competition entries to White House Custom Color for output, but he does own a Epson Stylus Pro 7600 and has experimented with printing some of his work.

“We were so excited when got the LexJet award,” says Dachowski, because he and his wife had already thought about outputting some of the award-winning scenics on watercolor paper. They want to try selling matted art prints to people who visit the Dachowski Photography studios in Langer Place, a refurbished mill on the banks of the Merrimack River.

Needless to say, Dachowski is also thrilled at the score of 100 he received for his album of winter scenics. It’s a big honor, he says, because it means that all five members of the judging panel agreed that his work deserved the highest score possible. If just one of the judges had disagreed, he would have received a lower score.

But Dachowski believes you don’t have to win accolades from the judges to benefit from entering print competitions: “Everyone who enters wins, because the learning really comes from evaluating which images you should enter and preparing the files.” It helps you to think: What can I be doing better?

For more information about the award-winning work and beautiful studio of Jeff and Carolle Dachowski, visit their website: www.dachowskiphotography.com

For the latest news about PPA-sponsored print competitions, visit www.ppa.com/competitions

Note that LexJet is also a big believer in the value of print competitions. We have helped many professional photographers learn how to print their own award-winning competition prints. In fact, some of these photography pros now offer printmaking services to fellow photographers. Should you be interested in learning more about making your own competition prints, or finding an experienced photographer to make competition prints for you, contact a LexJet account specialist at 800-453-9538.

Best Color Portrait in Print Competition Can Win Sunset Award

By Tom Gruss

LexJet will be presenting its first Sunset Award at the Professional Photographers Association of New England Convention Sept. 12-15 at The Radisson Hotel in Nashua, NH. The award will be given for the Best Color Portrait entered in PPANE’s Annual Print Competition. Deadline for entering the print competition is Sept. 8.

In addition to a Sunset Award trophy, the winner will receive a $100 gift certificate that can be used to purchase any of the exceptional photo papers, art papers, and canvases included in LexJet’s Sunset portfolio of inkjet materials for professional photographic printing and fine-art reproduction.

An additional $500 gift certificate will be presented if the winning photographer purchased materials from LexJet in 2009 or used LexJet Sunset media to print the award-winning image. The winner will be chosen by the print-competition judging panel.

To qualify, the entries must meet the submission requirements and deadlines established by the PPANE and score at least 80 out of a possible 100 points in the PPANE print competition.

LexJet is establishing the Sunset Award because so many photographers at all stages of their careers have told us how much they have benefitted from entering print competitions. Entering print competitions not only gives you a chance to earn recognition and publicity, but also forces you to think more critically and creatively as you shoot and edit images throughout the year. Having your work judged by experts can be a great way to learn how to improve your photography.

In an previous post on this blog, we published the 12 criteria judges use to evaluate print quality. That post includes a link to an article about the benefits of entering print competitions that photographers Tina and Michael Timmons wrote for Great Output magazine earlier this year.

Stop by Our Booth: If you plan to attend the PPANE show, stop by Booth 7 and see us!  Dustin Flowers will be happy to show you the full line of Sunset Photo and Art Papers and Canvases or demonstrate the Canon imagePROGRAF iPF5100 printer that we will have in the booth.

If you have any questions or suggestions regarding the Sunset Award, please give me a call at 800-453-9538. If I’m not around, any of the helpful account specialists in LexJet’s digital photography group would be happy to help you.

How Photography Careers Evolve: A Profile of Jim LaSala

By Kelly Price

HAPPY GO LUCKY: Jim LaSala created this award-winning, surrealistic photo composition from the two images below.

In a previous post on Studio LexJet, Dustin Flowers talked about how the career of fine-art photographer Theo Anderson has evolved.  To illustrate just how different each photographer’s career path and vision can be, let me tell you about Jim LaSala. He lives in New Jersey, but grew up in Brooklyn.

Jim LaSala didn’t become a professional photographer until he was 43. Before taking the plunge and turning pro, he had been active in his local camera club, taken computer courses at a community college, and joined Professional Photographers of America (PPA) at both the state and national levels.

He started out working for a wedding photographer and shooting some on-location portraits on the side. Now, he is channeling his talents in a more artistic direction—using Adobe Photoshop with the Vertus Fluid Mask plug-in to create unconventional photo compositions that will appeal to any photo buyer who likes stylized portraits and scenic imagery with a surrealistic twist.

Surrealistic art is fascinating to look at because it invites us to leave reason and logic behind and enter the realm of dreams, imagination, and madness.  Until Photoshop and other imaging software came along, surrealist photographers experimented with techniques such as double exposures, combination printing, montages, and solarization. These methods were often time-consuming, unpredictable and unrepeatable.

LaSala knows this because he dabbled with many of these photographic techniques himself, including painting with light. He would go into his studio with a 4 x 5 camera, close all the lights, and use a light machine to paint over his subjects while the camera’s shutter was kept open.  That process would take about an hour per image, and he says “You’d hope and pray it would turn out.” Sometimes, when the chromes would come back from the lab, he would shake his head and say, “Nah, that isn’t what I was looking for.”

So when LaSala first started using Photoshop (when it was version 3, not CS3), it was an eye-opening experience. He immediately recognized its creative possibilities and has since spent hours at the computer experimenting with it. He is awed by the creative tools included in each new version.

LaSala particularly likes using Photoshop with Vertus Fluid Mask, because Fluid Mask makes it so easy to precisely cut very detailed objects from one image so they can be inserted seamlessly into another. Some of LaSala’s photo compositions combine elements from three or more different photographs. 

Printing Provides Immediate Gratification: With the 24-in. wide Epson Stylus Pro 7800 inkjet printer that he bought from LexJet, LaSala can instantly see how his photo compositions will look. He prints his work through the ImagePrint RIP onto LexJet’s Sunset Photo eSatin paper, which he says provides “tremendous, accurate colors.” With the high-quality profiles provided with the ImagePrint RIP, he doesn’t have to fuss with all the intricacies of color management.  He says ImagePrint “has made printing a pleasure” and allow him to simply focus on being creative—whether he’s working in color or black and white.

Print Competitions: When you look at LaSala’s images, you’ll notice that there is something else going on besides masterful creative effects. That’s because LaSala learned the fundamentals of strong composition by having his work critiqued in print competitions.  Over the years, his prints have won far too many state and national awards to list here. Eight of his images are included in PPA’s prestigious Loan Collection.  

“Entering print competitions helped me tremendously,” says LaSala. “My understanding of color harmony, composition, and art came from getting involved with competitions.” Most of the elements he learned from PPA are applied to any type of photography he does.

He carries his camera everywhere, snapping shots of interesting-looking trees, flowers, skies, or objects that he then archives for future use.

In his photo compositions, LaSala combines different skies, backgrounds, and flowers with images of people he has photographed on the street. “I like to capture people just being themselves,” he says. “It tells more or a story.”

Back at the computer, he lets his imagination run free.  When he begins each composition, he usually has an idea in the back of his mind. But he can’t always predict what the finished image is going to look like.  To easily find the right images when he needs them, LaSala uses the powerful digital-asset-management capabilities of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.

LaSala won the award for the Best Electronic Image at the spring competition of the the Guild of Professional Photographers of the Delaware Valley for the image entitled Happy Go Lucky (shown above). LaSala used Vertus Fluid Mask Pro to cut out the image of the man so it could be blended with the carrousel scene that he had shot using the HDR (high-dynamic range) process. LaSala shot the carrousel with five different exposures, then used the Photomatix Pro plug-in to combine the five  images and achieve  high levels of detail from the brightest highlights to the deepest shadows.

LaSala shot the image of the man while attending the NJ PPA convention in Atlantic City: “I followed him for a few minutes until I captured this great expression that looked as if he didn’t have a care in the world.”  Back at the computer, LaSala looked for a combination of images that would make people wonder: “What’s the story?” He chose the carrousel image because it evokes the carnival-like atmosphere in Atlantic City, where many people experience mixed emotions.

LaSala admits that his more surrealistic pieces probably won’t appeal to everyone. He has shown his work at galleries in New Hope, PA and currently is preparing for a major art festival in Ft. Lauderdale this fall. Designers of print publications who seek extraordinary illustrations for their layouts may also be interested in LaSala’s work.

As he continues to research the best markets for his art, LaSala is getting more involved in associations and education. He enjoys teaching workshops on Vertus Fluid Mask and is seeking to becoming certified to judge national print competitions.

In his workshops, LaSala emphasizes some of the business benefits of knowing how to create photo compositions. For example, if a portrait he shoots on location doesn’t look as good as it might, he can easily change out the background. LaSala also teaches portrait photographers with limited studio space how to shoot their portraits against a flip-up white background and then use Fluid Mask with Photoshop to create whatever background they want. As LaSala puts it: “No studio. No backgrounds. No problem.”

“It’s just amazing what can be done on the computer.” says LaSala. “Anything is possible in the end results. You just have to let your mind run and have a good time.”

If you’d like to learn more about Vertus Fluid Mask, attend one of LaSala’s workshops or arrange for a private consultation.  The Fluid Mask software is available from LexJet.

If you have any questions about using the ImagePrint RIP to get perfect results on LexJet’s Sunset line of photo and art papers, you can call me or any one of the account specialists at LexJet at 888-873-7553.

Silent Memories: LaSala used 7 exposures at dusk and Photomatix software to create this somber HDR image of the Antietam National Battlefield in Sharpsburg, MD. To enhance the composition, he added the moon and bird images from his archives. The image is included in the Loan Collection of the Professional Photographers of America (PPA).

Twelve Criteria Used to Judge Print Competitions

In the cover story of the Jan/Feb issue of Great Output, award-winning photographers Tina and Michael Timmons of The Portrait Gallery in Vassar, Mich. wrote about some of the benefits of entering print competitions. They point out that entering print competitions can truly be one of the best forms of photography education: “All phases of the process can change how you think about your work.”

 

The article, entitled Demystifying Print Competitions, can be downloaded here.

The Timmons also presented some practical advice for selecting which images to enter. There wasn’t room in the magazine to print the full sidebar describing some of the criteria used to judge prints, so we’re publishing the information here. 

 

Below are the 12 elements that the Photographic Exhibitions Committee (PEC) of the Professional Photographers of America (PPA) provides as guidelines to print-competition entrants. Based on fundamental precepts for judging a photograph or other piece of fine art, these guidelines are meant simply to give entrants a basic understanding of what constitutes a good image.  

1. Impact is the sense one gets upon viewing an image for the first time. Compelling images evoke laughter, sadness, anger, pride, wonder or another intense emotion. 
2. Creativity is the external expression of the imagination of the maker by using the medium to convey an idea, message or thought.
3. Style is defined in a number of ways. It might be defined by a specific genre or simply be recognizable as the characteristics of how a specific artist applies light to a subject.  It can impact an image in a positive manner when the subject matter and the style are appropriate for each other, or it can have a negative effect when they are at odds.
4. Composition is important to the design of an image, bringing all of the visual elements together in concert to express the purpose of the image. Proper composition holds the viewer in the image and prompts the viewer to look where the creator intends. Effective composition can be pleasing or disturbing, depending on the intent of the image maker.
5. Print Presentation affects an image by giving it a finished look. The mats and borders used should support and enhance the image, not distract from it.
6. Center of Interest is the point or points on the image where the imagemaker wants the viewer to stop as they view the image. There can be primary and secondary centers of interest. Occasionally there will be no specific center of interest and the entire scene collectively serves as the center of interest.
7. Lighting (the use and control of light) refers to how dimension, shape and roundness are defined in an image. Whether the light applied to an image is manmade or natural, proper use of lighting should enhance an image.
8. Subject Matter should always be appropriate to the story being told in an image.
9. Color Balance supplies harmony to an image.  An image in which the tones work together effectively supporting the image, can enhance its emotional appeal. Color balance is not always harmonious and can be used to evoke diverse feelings for effect.
10. Technical Excellence is the print quality of the image itself as it is presented for viewing. Sharpness, exposure, printing, mounting, and correct color all speak to the qualities of the physical print.
11. Technique is the approach used to create the image. Printing, lighting, posing, paper selection and other elements are part of the technique applied to an image.
12. Storytelling refers to the ability of the image to evoke imagination. One beautiful thing about art is that each viewer might collect his own message or read her own story in an image.

The deadline for entering PPA’s 2009 International Print Competition has already passed.  But if you familiarize yourself with the competition rules now as well as the criteria upon which prints are judged, you can start setting aside images now that you might want to consider entering in next year’s competition.

Choose the Right Inkjet Paper for Competition Prints

The Soloist by Jeff Bowman was honored as Best High School Senior Portrait in the VPPA Print Competition.

By Kelly Price

Entering prints in competitions sponsored by organizations such as the PPA and WPPI can be a great way to learn how to improve your photography and market your work. To ensure that your images will look their very best when viewed under competition lighting, it’s important to choose the right photo paper.

One person who has mastered the art of making competition prints is Jeff Bowman, CPP, Master Photographer of Commonwealth Photography in Chester, VA.  In an album on Commonwealth’s Facebook fan page, you can see some of the 27 blue-ribbon-winning prints that Jeff created for himself and five other photographers who entered the statewide competition of the Virginia Professional Photographers Association earlier this year.

Jeff took home the Grand Photographic Award for having the print case with the most credits earned in total this year. His prints won awards for Best High School Senior portrait, Best Group portrait, and Illustrative Court of Honor.  Bowman also produced six blue-ribbon-award-winning prints for Pete Wright, five blue ribbon-award-winning prints for James Cook, four for Julie Bowman, and one for Liliana Wright. Jessica Robertson was named Best Newcomer for having the highest-scoring print for a first-time entrant.