I’m happy to say I just picked up a few new photography awards at the NSW AIPP Professional Photography Awards.
I wasn’t able to attend the awards judging in person but they were streamed live over the internet. The added bonus of that situation was that my parents were able to see the judging process, experience how difficult winning these awards are and were standing at my shoulder when my images came up to be judged. And I have to add, watching your photography being critiqued remotely, is not any easier than having someone pick the yes out of it in person. I did however have the pleasure of yelling at the judges when I thought they were completely off the mark and didn’t ‘get’ my images.
I got a silver award for the following image. It was taken after a trip on my father-in-law’s yacht. I knew I wanted to to get this image even before I set sail. The weather was overcast with rain patches. The kind of weather most people would say is terrible for taking photos. Good thing then that I’m not most people.
Another silver award came via an image I had taken during a group photoshoot called Eucalypse. I came to the day not knowing what to expect or exactly what I was going to shoot. But when I saw the location and the models with the costumes they had I knew exactly what I wanted to produce. It was a photo envisaged as an homage to the alcoholic, suicidal Captain Willard in the movie Apocalypse Now.
The next image gained me a silver distinction. Ironically I took it in the midst of the judging of last year’s Australian Professional Photography Awards. I was inspired and skipped out on a presentation that just wasn’t doing it for me. I just went walking and took photos. The image shows a building competing with nature. It’s as if the built clean and crisp environment is winning and the ragged tree is in decline. Thankfully for me one judge understood my image. He was able to convince the other judges what the image was about and had them bump my photo from a silver to a silver distinction. It’s great when you get a judge in your corner.
Unfortunately the judges didn’t ‘get’ my other images scoring them in the ‘professional practice but not awards standard’ range of marks. A different panel of judges on a different day and I may have scored a few extra awards. Got good feedback on one of the images though and have already put that in place for the national awards later this year. Fingers firmly crossed for those awards.
