I'm an Artistic Guild Weener too!!

Wow! I just found out that I won even more awards from the Artistic Guild of the Wedding Photojournalist Association!! This is a special arm of the WPJA which encourages photographers to go beyond the capture of an image and to take the extra step in the processing and enhancement of that image. You can only become a member by submitting images for contest and receiving awards, so it's a very special honor for me to have received four awards with one image receiving first place in its category, giving me an overall ranking of 3rd in the world. Wow.... is this real? *pinch*pinch* I'm still waiting for someone to tell me that I'm being punked! I just can't believe my name is up there among some of the photographers whose work I drool over on a daily basis... it seriously just blows me away. Without further blaffled blabbing, here are my winning images...

CATEGORY: ENGAGEMENT

Judge's Comments: Engagements are one of my favorite categories and this quarters entries didn't let me down! What a great idea to take a couple to a bowling alley. The retro look, and awesome processing made this image stand out. One hint, separation between the couple's faces (making their face shapes work for you instead of merging) may make this image even better. Congrats on the great location and stellar image.
*(btw.. I totally agree about getting a little separation between the faces in a silhouette)

CATEGORY: DETAILS

Judge's Comments: The heads in the water balance the feet really well. Couple the subject with the blueish toning & strong vignette and the image comes to life!

CATEGORY: CEREMONY

Judge's Comments: The moment before heading down the aisle is a private yet momentous one. Congrats to the photographer for keeping an eye on the bride while positioning themselves for the ceremony. In keeping with the quiet moment, the photographer de-saturated the scene so we find a hint of the bride's face in the upper right corner of the frame.

CATEGORY: ENGAGEMENT

Judge's Comments: The semi-circular motion blur coupled with some great color is completed with a kiss. Some minimal burning on the foreground arm would definitely improve the image.

Projects In Progress

Here are some of the projects I'm working on behind the scenes, which will eventually make it to my blog (of course, these are only the photographic projects... there are other projects which I have yet to reveal!)....

Karen & Tim's Wedding
Megan & Eric's Wedding
Dena & Jeff's Wedding
Maria & Chad's Wedding
Candice & Brian's Wedding
Jamie & Nathaniel's Engagement
Day in the Life of Reid
OSP Indy Workshop Video
Stampead Band Shoot
Fred & Beth Engagement
Erika's Maternity
Kate & Stephen's Wedding
DC Adventures

Some things may be blogged out of order due to the nature of what I can accomplish while other things are in progress. For example... it takes a few days to upload and archive an entire wedding to my off-site servers in California - which is still faster than sending it on DVD and waiting for it to be uploaded. So, while I can't upload another wedding during that time, I can work on other smaller projects and write blogs while the wedding is uploading. I'm also working on a new workflow, which will take advantage of new technologies and techniques that will help speed up the process from capture to delivery without sacrificing the quality that is so important to me.

And because I think blog posts are boring without a little eye candy, here's an interesting YouTube find created for the Gotan Project. I love that this video uses a lot of artistic compositional techniques- which we just don't get enough of these days with the mundane camera angles of television shows... but I guess that's what music videos and movies are for, right?

Wedding Inspiration

Run, don't walk, to Style Me Pretty for TONS of Wedding Style Ideas and Inspiration!!