The Professional Photographers of America - Northern Illinois has several print competitions each year. Prints are presented before a panel of judges and scored according to a list of twelve attributes which a quality photographic print should have: impact, creativity, style, composition, presentation, color, center of interest, lighting, subject, quality, technique, and statement.
After taking one of their formal group portraits, as a surprise I had everyone turn to face Grandma and say together "We love you, Grandma!". These are their expressions in the following moment of time, just as they finished. Priceless!
The kids' idea. Try it sometime, if you think this looks easy!
From our commercial photography, this is a close-up of a small piece of glass, magnified to fill a 16" by 20" print.
The image was recalled several times for rejudging, rising in score each time. The judges loved the fine-art aspect of this image, proposing that an entire room be repainted just for this print alone. Another judge pointed out that you could rotate it a different direction each day ( although we prefer this orientation ). Some thought it was computer generated, although it's an actual photo of an actual object.
The Award for Exceptional Quality is the highest possible category of award, and the President's Award is given to every image which meets the Merit category or higher. At the end of the print judging, this was one of the three highest scoring prints for the day, and the judges voted on those three for Best of Show. While we did not win that award, it sure was fun to see it in the running!
