Recently in Competitions Category

Sometimes things are just better in layers. You want layers of security for better protection, layers of clothing for more warmth and so on. And according to Allison and Jeff Rodgers of Allison Rodgers Photography, a photography business should also have layers beyond its photography, layers in design, marketing and service.

"People always ask us how we 'do it,'" recalls Allison. "What we say sounds so simple, and it is...if you do it. You have to give the client something to buy."

Giving the client something to buy is more than just producing an image. There are more layers to photography than that. In fact, helping other photographers see how better service and design can help bring better sales is one reason she and Jeff created the He Said/She Said promotional package for photographers that won them a 2009 AN-NE Marketing Award.

Click here to read the full article.  

"You can't win if you don't play." There are dozens of quotes and song lyrics that give that message. It's a message to move past any lingering fear, shyness or apathy, and try something new...like PPA's Summer Shootout, an all-new, all-online photo contest.

There are cash prizes in all four categories...but you have to enter to win. There are critiques available...but you have to enter to get them. And there's only one more month to enter! (Entry deadline is September 30th.)

Pushing yourself further in art and business is a personal challenge, and so are contests like the Summer Shootout. Will you push yourself to try something new? Will you push yourself to accept this challenge? Are you up to it?

Come on...show us what you got!

Do you date your customers? (Date, as in cultivating a relationship, I mean.) Farrah Braniff of Farrah Braniff Photographs in Houston, Texas, does. She knows the power of connecting and making a good impression, and she put that into her marketing, winning the 2009 AN-NE Marketing Award for Best Image Marketing and Best Website.

"As photographers, we are our brand," says Braniff. "Customers have to like and relate to you."

Braniff sees websites and blogs as her best chance to make a good first impression to her customers. "I want my website to be like a really good first date," she laughs.

Read more here.

Lowepro, the leading brand of protective gear for photography equipment and portable electronics, and Polar Bears International (PBI), a non-profit organization dedicated to the worldwide conservation of the polar bear, has launched a photo contest titled "My Favorite Things." The Grand Prize winner will receive a Frontiers North's Tundra Buggy® Adventure for two to observe polar bears in their natural habitat in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada in November of 2010.

Open to professional and amateur photographers, "My Favorite Things" has a twofold purpose: to draw attention to the wildlife and ecosystems threatened by climate change and to celebrate the planet's treasures through the medium of photography.

How hot are you?
Go up against the best photographers on the planet. Join in the fun rivalry with PPA's new online photo contest: the Summer Shootout--exclusively for PPA members. Submit your images from July 1st - September 30th, and you could win cash prizes! Get all the contest details (and enter) at www.PPA.com/shootout.

We'll be giving away thousands of dollars in cash prizes, and it is only $10 to enter your first image--and only $5 dollars for each additional image. As an added bonus, you can also request a critique of your image to see how it would stack up in PPA's International Photographic Competition.

Come on...show us what you got!

Adorama (www.adorama.com), one of America's premier photography and consumer electronics resellers, announces the winners of the first annual APPOS - iPhone App Awards for Photography. The annual APPOS Awards are designed to spotlight the rapid rise in popularity of the iPhone as a new platform for digital point-and-shoot photography and to recognize developers of outstanding photo Apps.

The top 10 winning Apps were selected from among the most frequently used Apps in more than 17,000 images submitted into Adorama's first annual iPhone Photography Contest. The winning Apps, available on the App Store at iTunes, are:

• Photoshop.com Mobile
• CameraBag
• Best Camera
• Photogene
• TiltShift Generator - Fake Miniature
• ShakeItPhoto
• Hipstamatic
• PhotoForge
• Lo-Mob
• Photo fx.

Each year, the International Photographic Competition accepts critique requests from entrants, which are fulfilled by the jurors during the competition. Many see the value in learning what the jurors see in their images, and this year we accepted 240+ critique orders!

Please note that these critiques will be ready in early-mid July, and you will receive an e-mail with information on how to view your critique (if you requested one) as soon as they are available.

 

Congratulations to all the recipients of the 2010 Photographer of the Year Awards! These individuals demonstrated excellence in their craft and earned tremendous achievements in PPA's 2010 International Photographic Competition. To earn this award, an individual must have all four images from their competition category "merit" in the competition. Special accolades go to the Diamond-level recipients, each of whom had all four of their images selected for the 2010 PPA Loan Collection.

Diamond Recipients

Photographers at the Diamond level had all four competition images accepted into the PPA Loan Collection.

Jon Allyn, M.Photog.MEI.Cr., CPP Milwaukee, WI
William Branson, M.Photog.Cr. Durham, NC
Kris Doman, CPP West Jordan, UT
Stephanie A Millner, Cr.Photog., CPP Toms River, NJ
Darrell A. Moll, M.Photog.Cr.,API, CPP Norwalk, OH
Robert O. Seat, M.Photog.Cr., CPP Batesville, AR
Michael E. Timmons, M.Photog.Cr. Vassar, MI

The International Photographic Competition judging ended last week (June 16th). Are you anxiously awaiting the results? Well, your wait is over. You can download the List of Accepted Prints here.

During a week where the halls of Gwinnett Technical College in Atlanta, Ga., would normally be quiet for the summer, a different kind of education is underway. Forty-nine PPA-Approved Affiliate Jurors are applying new technology to the long-standing processes in the annual International Photographic Competition judging for PPA merits and the coveted Showcase and Loan Collections.

Some 5,000 images are making their way through a rigorous selection process where trained jurors critique each individually, based on the 12 elements of a merit image. That said, this year's judging process is moving faster and more efficiently than ever, thanks to new, hand-held scoring pads based on Apple's iPod technology, which allow jurors to vote electronically and quickly tally decisions.