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Virginia Top 10 Photographer

Sunday, November 29, 2020 | By: Joan H. Walker - The PAWtographers

Jacksonville, Florida Pet Photographer Wins Again

4th Year as Virginia TOP 10 Photographer

What's a Jacksonville, Florida pet photographer doing competing in a Virginia print competition?

Well...

I used to live in Norfolk, Virginia! I became a professional member of this organization in 2016 for the education, friendship and exceptionally tough print competition. I maintained my membership as I so valued this state organization. Now living in Florida, I am an "out-of-state" member and remain active by attending the annual convention and in this year of COVID19, lots of Zoom education! As an out-of-state member, I am not eligible for category awards (i.e., pet, illustrative, wildlife, etc.); however, I am eligible for the Out-of-State Member award and for the highly coveted, TOP 10 Photographer award.

What Doesn't Kill You, Makes You Stronger...

That expression certainly applies to print competition. I compete to make my imagery better and to take my photographic artistry and digital painting skills to increasingly higher levels. As a creative, my strive to always be better is for my clients -- I want to be able to create imagery that not only captures the heart and soul of pets, but also gives my clients a breathtaking piece of art that is treasured for a lifetime.

 The 2020 VPPA print competition was once again record-setting in entries, taking two and a half days to judge, and brought out the state's finest photographers' work, judged by a panel of five, international print competition approved jurors.

It was brutal. 

But educational, as always.

I am thrilled to share my images with you now -- and announce that for the fourth year in a row, my case (six highest scoring images), once again placed me as a TOP 10 PHOTOGRAPHER with VPPA.

THE TOP 10 PHOTOGRAPHER CASE

I thought I would begin with showing you the images that scored the highest for me in this year's competition -- and which placed me in the TOP 10 in 2020.

Fierce and Fabulous

1st Place / Out-of-State Member

TOP 10 Photographer Case

If you have been following my blog, you'll recognize this beautiful Doberman Pinscher, "Zena." The reason this image is popping up a lot--besides Zena just being beautiful--is that print competition begins with entering imagery at the state level, see if the jurors are impressed with the image (or not) and if they find any flaws in the capture or presentation of the imagery, the maker has an opportunity to make changes prior to entering it at the next level (Southeast Districts for me) and before whittling down the choices to a case of four images for International Print Competition.

Fierce and Fabulous was an image that was photographed for a client -- and I was so in love with the dog (a dangerous thing in print competition because then you have an emotional investment in the image and don't always "see" the image for its faults...) -- that this image was entered in every state I belong to (picking up little ways to improve it along the way) until it was entered (and merited) at the international level. (You can see the Silver Medal results from that print competition HERE.)

 Zena is an amazing dog and has more titles after her name than I really thought possible. She is also a registered therapy dog and before COVID19 hit us all, she was a regular visitor to local health facilities with her equally as amazing owner. 

Schohaus Winter Zenith v Azar CDX, BN, RM, SCA, SIN, SBN, RATN, CGCA, TKP

Beauty and the Bitch

TOP 10 Photographer Case

Merited Image / Out-of-State Member

This image is actually half an image: A husband-wife portrait with the two Vizslas seated in-between the couple. I chose to isolate the wife and her Vizsla, Suki, because I felt the posing, expression on the dog, and of course, the red hair and red dog combination all worked for me.

And, I knew she'd get a kick out of the title for the image, as did the jurors.

Mr. and Mrs.

TOP 10 Photographer Case

Merited Image / Out-of-State Member

This is a client image of -- IMHO -- the most adorable morkie and longhaired Dachshund I've ever met. The little morkie, Scupper, adores his "sister"-- "Sailor" and when the owners first brought the little rescued dachsie home, Scupper couldn't stop kissing her. 

For this image, I named them "Mr. and Mrs." because, well, they really do look like a couple, don't they?

Wise and Beautiful, I Am

TOP 10 Photographer Case

Merited Image / Out-of-State Member

One of my favorite ways to give back to my community is to professionally photograph dogs in need so that they are more widely "seen" by potential adopters and, hopefully, even the harder-to-place dogs find loving furever homes.

Just like this sweet girl.

This sweet, grizzled senior girl named, "Betty White," came into rescue (Misplaced Mutts -- an awesome group in Eastern North Carolina) after having led a pretty hard life. She was covered in bald patches (from a bad case of mange) and had a few other health issues that the good folks at rescue where treating.

When she struck this classic "Yoda" pose and expression, I knew I had to feature sweet Betty White in print competition.

(P.S. What you can't see is that her tail is wagging so hard it made her butt wiggle during her entire session.)

L'eglise Notre Dame

TOP 10 Photographer Case

Merited Image / Out-of-State Member

This beautiful cathedral was founded in the early 11th century and completed in 1314 in Vernon, France. (Those who are followers of art may recognize that this church is very close to Monet's gardens.) The church is considered to be one of France's most wonderful examples of Medieval architecture--three different Gothic styles (Early, Flamboyant and Perpendicular), as well as Romanesque. The organ dates back to the early 17th century. Some of the original stained glass windows were destroyed in World War II and now have abstract-style stained glass windows inserted. (These windows do not appear in the image I present here.)

As with any historical site, it can be tough to get the image the maker wants as there are multiple issues: two images are required (one for shadows and one for highlights -- specifically the stained glass windows), no tripods or monopods are allowed, and there are people, more people, and did I mention people

So, this image is a composite of two bracketed images that I took while handholding my camera from the back of the church -- just as one tour group left and another had entered right behind me.

L'Eglise St. Sauveur

TOP 10 Photographer Case

Merited Image / Out-of-State Member

This image is from  a recent trip to France (Pre-COVID19) and is a photograph of the interior of the L'Eglise St. Sauveur in Petit-Andely, (Normandy) France.

It was actually titled, "L'Eglise St. Sauveur," which broke two unofficial title rules

  • Don't give an image a title in a different language (The titles readers usually are not French-speaking and typically mangle a French title, jurors won't understand what the words mean and will focus on the title rather than the image)
  • Don't name an image after a person, place or thing (In general, the title should evoke the emotions and feelings the creator felt and intended his or her audience to experience, too)

Thankfully, the jurors overlooked the above and this was my second-highest scoring image for the print competition. 

And I took it to heart after a discussion with one of the jurors, to title my images to invoke a reaction from the judges -- help them experience the image as they see as I had felt it when I captured it.

 

I retitled the image for International Print Competition -- "Stained" -- for the stained glass windows, the water stain on the top of the dome and for the "stain" of the Holy Inquisition, which began in France in the 12th century. If you'd like to see how it did at IPC, click HERE.

 A Little History:
The construction of the church began in 1220 and was completed in the 15th century. In addition to notable statues from the 16th and 17th centuries, the church is home to the oldest, working pipe organ in France. The town of Petit-Andely is located on the Seine River and is also home to Chateau Gaillard, a quite (in)famous castle set high on the bluffs overlooking the river.

MERITED IMAGES

Additional Imagery...

Cookie Is My Name...

And Cookies Are My Game

Merited Image / Out-of-State Member

This little Havanese is my favorite studio stand-in for lighting. Her name is Carmen and she is definitely a "daddy's dog" but puts up with me in the studio.

I was preparing lighting for a crew of four dogs coming in and, well, this is the look she gives me when I asked for her to sit-stay.

I do love this little girl, which makes it more difficult as sometimes loving the subject makes it difficult to see flaws in the image.

However, I loved this image so much (check out how it did in PPNC's print competition HERE!), so I actually chose to digitally paint another image from this set as my entry into International Print Competition. (You can see the painted similar version HERE. I titled it, "Please?")

En Pointe

Merited Image / Out-of-State Member

This image is part of my #BlackDogsInTutus project, in which I photograph hard-to-place, adoptable black girl dogs in flouncy tutus and floral collars. If you'd like to read more about the project, please visit my page: #BlackDogsInTutus

This is Skylar from Misplaced Mutts and she has a very happy ending -- a wonderful, loving furever home!

The Pillow Exploded, I Swear!

Merited Image / Out-of-State Member

As with many of my print competition images, this image of an adorable German Shepherd dog puppy (who was in for his "Adopt Me" studio session to help him find a furever home) went through several title changes. (My final title ended up being, "Ruh Roh.")

But more on sweet Stevie (the GSD puppy) and why I do what I do....
Stevie was seriously injured and suffered two broken legs.  He healed from his injuries but had a slightly different gait. It didn't slow him down nor did it slow down his natural affinity to love all things great and small -- other dogs, children -- you name it, he loved them.
 
The happy ending to his story is that he, too, found a furever home.
 

❤

Retirement Looks Good

Merited Image / Out-of-State Member

This sweet OTTB (off-the-track Thoroughbred) is "retired" from racing and has a new life as a loved and pampered horse.

This image was taken using a reflector with "Paddy" standing in the covered shade of a barn door.  Photographed at a small aperture to make the barn behind the horse go completely dark, this type of equine photography is often referred to as "black background equine portraits" or simply "black shots." (These type of shots are very popular in the equine community -- which, if you'd like me to photograph your horses, please be sure to contact the studio!)
EQUINE PORTRAITS - CONTACT US

This Is Not Goodbye

Merited Image / Out-of-State Member

Some sessions are much, much harder than others. 

This one I had a difficult time focusing because that's really hard to do when the tears are raining down.

Sweet Coco.

Our gift to our (then) 12-year old daughter. A Havanese who was supposed to live to be 15 or 17. Or live  forever.

A beloved family member who was in his "hooman" momma's wedding and nearly stole the show. The fluffy dog who was going to be best friends and grow old with his hoomans future little baby boy.

Except life has a way of breaking hearts when you least expect it. 

Suffering from an inoperable brain tumor, Coco was only 10 when he gained his angel wings. In those last cherished days, he was happiest hearing his "momma's" heartbeat. 

His momma didn't let him suffer and allowed him to pass without pain and in peace. (Thank you, Cooke Veterinary.)

 

 

 

For more information on End of Life Celebration/Rainbow Bridge Sessions, please see HERE or contact us HERE.

Wabbit Hunter

Merited Image / Out-of-State Member

So, this sweet boy was a little bit of challange to photograph in the studio.

He is terrified of flashing lights. 

Whether it's a thunderstorm, studio lights or even a flashlight -- he is terrified.

So, I did his session with constant light. #ProblemSolved

Widdle Wucy Wooo

Merited Image / Out-of-State Member

I love this dog and I love this image. Which is a problem, because you should never love the subject of the image in print competition because it is almost a sure thing that the image will score low and your heart will hurt for a while. (It's completely human to take rejection personally. It's a professional who takes crushing failure and grows from it.)

Fortunately, this image did well and my heart wasn't crushed for the day.

And even better, this is part of my #BlackDogsInTutus project (read about it HERE) and this sweet rescue has a wonderful furever home.

Flippin' Good Time

Merited Image / Out-of-State Member

This image was photographed from a rockin' and rollin' boat and if you've ever tried to capture marine life with a loooong lens, it takes a bit of balance, patience, timing and some strong arm muscles because you have to hold that camera and honkin' long lens by hand. Tripods and monopods don't work.

This is a male dolphin, showing off the girls, and he's a little pink (that is his true color) as it's mating season and well, he's, um, looking forward to the season, so to speak.

Tipped Takeoff

Merited Image / Out-of-State Member

These geese were photographed in southern Germany just as they were taking off.  Of all the frames, this is the only one in which they were in absolutely synchronized.

 

Rain, Tears, Respect...

American Cemetery, Omaha Beach

Merited Image / Out-of-State Member

This image is of veterans from all branches of services, performing a wreath-laying ceremony at the American Cemetery in Omaha Beach, Normandy, France.

As a veteran, I, too, could have participated in the ceremony but the ways of a Navy Public Affairs Officer are hard to pass for me. For me, I was most comfortable recording this event for the participants. If you look closely, you can see an eye of my husband, Randy, who served 28 years and retired as a Navy Captain.

It was cold.  It was raining. And there were many tears shed during this ceremony. 

I was honored to have captured this image.

And that's it for 2020 VPPA Print Competiton!

Can you believe I'm already working on my entries for 2021??? 

For more information, to schedule your pet for a portrait in 2021 or if you just want to chat "dog" or "horse", please contact me!

Or, click HERE.

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