Just last week we had the “Posh and Beck’s” of the Scottish Photographic industry (and I mean that in the nicest possible way) – Trevor and Faye Yerbury.  Trevor and Faye are a very charismatic couple and their work is simply stunning.  Being the fourth generation curators of the Yerbury Studios brand, both Trevor and Faye have a wealth of knowledge, history, hilarious anecdotes and of course simply awesome raw talent.  Do yourself a favour and go take a look at their work.

This week however, it was back to regular club business and our Annual Print Competition.  This is a very highly contested affair amongst our club members and whilst we have interim competitions during the year, everyone holds something special back for the annual competition.

I previously won this award a couple of years ago for one of my travel images (which also scooped a Gold award at the SWPP a few months back),  but I could only muster a “Commended” award last year, so I was determined to try and win the Annual Print trophy back.

Well, it was close, very close.  In fact the judge had me as the winner, but for just one very small detail. A label. Sometimes it is the smallest of things that can turn a good photograph into a great photograph and in my case I had overlooked a little bit of clothing which the judge (David Symonds, FRPS) quite rightly decreed as detracting from an “otherwise excellent portrait”.

So it was a Second Place award for me this year.  Ah well, maybe next year. 

All is not lost though as I did win the Tom Dickson Trophy for a digital image a few months earlier – the annual prize giving is next week at our AGM.  It’s a huge trophy, so I’ll need to invest in some Silver polish to keep it clean. (When my wife Morag reads this she’ll be rolling her eyes LOL).

Congratulations of course must go to fellow member, Bill McKenzie who’s glorious “Harbour Colour” image won first prize.

Anyone interested in joining the local club should put a diary entry in for the early September when we are due to kick off our season again after our “Summer” recess. We meet Wednesday evenings at 7:30pm – more details on the club website.

Here is the image the got me the Second Place – it’s one I took of Kathryn Miller for her modelling portfolio when we were out at our villa in Florida at the start of the year.  If you look at the bottom left hand corner of the image, you will notice the offending little white piece of label material.

Details, Details Details….

Not a wedding image this time – it was for a personal piece of work that had been entered into the January competition and was for an entry in their “Architecture – Interior” category.

The shot is of the Westfield Shopping Mall in Downtown San Francisco.   When I’m out with my camera I’m always looking for interesting patterns and shapes and when I entered this Mall and looked up I could see the possibilities for a good monochrome shot.  (Of course it also gave my wife Morag a great excuse to wander into the stores whilst I studied the building. In hindsight this was possibly quite an expensive print.)

Processing the photograph in Black and White as I have here, makes the patterns much more prevalent and almost abstract in nature.  Although it is a square image you’ll also note that the “eye” of the pattern has been composed to be off-centre, adding interest to the picture and creates a much more pleasing composition.

The SWPP monthly competition receives thousands of entries from around the World every month.  Gold Award winners are automatically put forward to the final judging for the Annual SWPP’s Photographer of the Year awards – this one will be put forward for the 2010 competition which will be judged in January of next year.

It is one of my personal favourites so it was nice to see it get a Gold award.

This week I was delighted and very honoured to win the club’s Annual Tom Dickson Trophy for another one of my wedding photography images.

This image is entitled “One Two Three Blow” and is from Dean and Nina’s recent wedding. This is their delighful and very photogenic wee boy Cameron, who was a great sport on the day.

For the photography enthusiasts this was taken on a Nikon D700 body with a Nikon 50mm f1.4 AF-S lens – 1/250s, f1.4, ISO 3200.

The SWPP (Society of Wedding and Portrait Professionals) runs a national competion each month over a range of different categories.  The Gold Award winning images will go forward to the SWPP’s Annual competition to be held at their Convention in London during January.

I was particularly delighted to note that one of the Gold’s was in the category for Wedding Photojournalism which is my chosen discipline of wedding photography.

According to the SWPP’s judging criteria, images awarded Gold are deemed to be “images of the highest standard”.  The images are also showcased in the Society’s monthly magazine, Professional Imagemaker.

The Wedding Photojournalism image was from Dean and Nina’s recent wedding and is entitled “Three Layers of Love”.

The other winning Gold image was for some personal work of mine and this was in the Travel Category.

Both images are particular favourites of mine so it was great to see that the judges agreed.

I also won a further two silver awards in the portrait categories and another silver for my landscape work.

So all in all a nice way to start the weekend!

I learned last week that I had been accepted as a member of the highly prestigious Wedding Photojournalist Association.

Membership is extremely tightly controlled and less than 5% of all applicants are actually accepted.

As you can imagine I am extremely honoured that the quality and style of my wedding photography has been recognised in this manner and I now join the elite group of only 6 Scottish Members who have been invited to join this internationally renowned organisation.

From the Wedding Photojournalist Association’s website:-

The Wedding Photojournalist Association (WPJA) is a professional organization composed of photojournalists and wedding photographers from around the world. What sets our members apart in the industry is their candid, documentary approach – a distinctly artistic vision toward wedding photography.

Leading the way in Wedding Photojournalism, WPJA represents the most discriminating talent around the world technically, creatively and visually. Qualified members hold industry-leading standards, skills and business integrity.

The WPJA puts the world’s best wedding photography at your fingertips. We offer a new perspective on wedding photography – quietly capturing the real moments as they happen for the bride and groom.

It is our goal to use photography to tell the story of your wedding day, not dictate it for you.