working pro 226
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Working ProThe
Issue 226 • October 2014
A P P A I S S U E
S P E C I A L R E P O R T
T H E C A N O N
PROUDLY SUPPORTING THE A IPP
TOGETHER WE CAN BE STRONGER
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Working ProThe
C o n t e n t s# 2 2 6 - O c t o b e r 2 0 1 4
4 Ross’s Ramblings - The President’s Message Our National President Ross Eason writes his news, views and plans for the future of the Institute.
8 Around The StatesWhat’s been happening in your neck of the woods? Our state councils keep us in touch with what matters around the country.
1 4 The Big One - James Simmons PPYThe 2014 Canon AIPP Australian Professional Photographer of the Year is James Simmons - and boy, was he happy!
1 6 Behind The Scenes At APPARunning the Canon APPAs is a huge job as Milton Gan’s photographs of APPA clearly show!
1 8 The Canon AIPP APPA Gala DinnerDavid Glazebrook provides us with a photo diary from Le Montage, Lily-field, where the 2014 AIPP dinner was held.
2 1 The APPA Category WinnersThe Category winners, finalists and highest scoring prints presented for your viewing pleasure! Did the judges get it right? Of course they did!
5 6 From 95 to 79Peter Eastway explains how to deal with score changes at APPA – why a win at state level might not translate to the nationals.
5 8 Canon APPA StatisticsThere were nearly 3000 entries this year at APPA, so how many were Sil-ver and Golds, and is this a reasonable outcome?
6 0 How Is The PPY Judged?To win a Silver or Gold Award requires a score, but to win a category or the PPY requires a review judging panel to give your work the nod.
6 2 APPA Category AdvocatesIf you have an interest in a particular genre of photography and you think it should be represented at APPA, here’s how to have your say.
6 4 Using A Single Overhead LightThe 2014 AIPP Australian Fashion Photographer of the Year Peter Coul-son explains one of his lighting techniques at the recent Nikon Event.
6 8 The Photo Watch DogWilliam Long’s advocacy for photography competitions has helped many of us win a fairer outcome - it’s a fascinating story.
7 2 Transporter SyncWith this little device, you can create your own personal cloud, for you and you clients.
The Working Pro is the official newsletter of The Australian Institute of Professional Photography (AIPP).
Editor Peter Eastway G.M Photog., Hon. FAIPP, Hon. FNZIPP, FAIPP
Disclaimer The information provided in The Working Pro and associat-
ed publications is made in good faith, but is general in nature. Neither
the editor, the publisher or the AIPP accept responsibility for or will be
under any liability for any recommendations, representations or infor-
mation provided herein. The Working Pro presents information, opin-
ions and suggestions for subscribers to evaluate in coming to their
own decisions in the light of their own individual circumstances. The
information should not be relied upon without readers first obtaining
independent advice from their own financial and legal advisers.
Unless otherwise noted, all articles are written by Peter Eastway.
Publication The newsletter is published 10 times a year – monthly
with November/ December and January/February being combined.
The Working Pro newsletter is published by Pt 78 Pty Ltd,
ABN 75 003 152 136, PO Box 351, Collaroy Beach, NSW 2097, Australia.
Phone: (02) 9971 6857; Fax (02) 9971 6641.
E-mail eastway@betterphotography.com
AIPP Membership Contacts
Suite G.02, 171 Union Road,
Surrey Hills, Victoria 3127
Phone: 03 9888 4111
E-mail: enquiries99@aipp.com.au
Cover
James Simons M.Photog.
2014 CANON AIPP AUSTrALIAN
PrOFESSIONAL PHOTOGrAPHEr OF THE yEAr
w w w . j a m e s s i m m o n s . c o m . a u
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ross’s ramblings ScreamsR o s s E a s o n M . P h o t o g . , H o n . L M , N a t i o n a l P r e s i d e n t
I love hearing our members scream…
We have this little annual event called the
“Canon Australian Institute of Professional
Photography Australian Professional
Photography Awards”, but for reasons that are
perhaps less obvious, let’s just call it APPA.
I won’t go into detail as it is covered later in
this Working Pro, but for me the one thing that
is absolutely electric when you attend APPA are
the screams of exhilaration when someone gets
an Award.
It’s a bit different for everyone, but seeing
someone get their first Silver is just as magical
as watching a Master of Photography get a Gold
with Distinction. And the tears that accompany
these outbursts of emotion are just as genuine
at both ends.
I’m not sure if those screams came across in
the live stream. I hope so. With a large viewing
audience and an intention to help those
members who can’t make it to the Awards in
person, live streaming is a great example of
how we are trying to reach out to all of our
members.
This year saw the final trial of our new
Awards judging system, custom designed and
built by the AIPP with the help of Josh Marshall,
one of the dedicated members who makes
up our Awards team. There are many people
to thank in that team and while I know they
don’t seek recognition, we sincerely thank all of
them for their dedication and time. There is a
huge army of volunteers who banded together
to make it possible, all so generous with their
time, talent and support. I think this typifies the
success of the AIPP and it demonstrated to me
that our community culture is alive and well.
All About The Money
We are a fortunate community of
photographers and like any community, we
have opportunities to reach out to help those
less fortunate. Many of our members do just
that with little recognition.
Well, we’re going to change that. We’ll soon
be announcing details of a new philanthropic
project aimed at two things:
• Finding and recognising our members who
are supporting their community;
• Establishing a fund to support students
who require financial assistance or offer
opportunities for studies not normally within
their reach.
This is an exciting evolution and will ensure
that we expand the wonderful sense of
community we already have. At times we can
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all get caught up with sales and profit figures,
and while there’s no problem with that because
we are in business after all, there can be greater
satisfaction gained from what we give than
what we receive.
I saw a perfect example at the APPA Awards
dinner when Gavin Blue was honoured for his
work with Heartfelt. During that presentation, a
video reflecting the work of Heartfelt brought
a tear to every woman and man present with
something I have not seen before, two standing
ovations for Gavin and richly deserved.
We all feel such a sense of achievement
when we are involved with helping others and
we need to make that part of our culture.
Get Out Your Shovel
Okay, let’s face it. The Kiwis are great at rugby
and they are also pretty good at working an
idea. Last year they launched an initiative to
photograph the remaining diggers of WW2 and
they have had a huge success with it.
We want to do the same, but it is a much
bigger task. We have more territory and higher
numbers, but we also have more members and
resources. Next month we will bring you details
of what we have in mind.
The NZIPP has had huge national media
exposure with their project and we are
confident we can achieve the same. This will be
a regional community service that can benefit
POST APPA INFORMATIONCanon AIPP/APPA Gala Dinner Photographs
Thanks to David Glazebrook and our good friends at Kayell/Elinchrom, we have some amazing
social photos from the Canon AIPP Awards dinner - check them out here:
http://www.aippappa.com/appa-2014-info/2014-gala-dinner-galleries/2014-appa-gala-dinner-01
All The Canon APPA Awards On Line
Don’t forget to check out all the Silver and Gold awards on the AIPP website
http://www.aippappa.com
Gold Celebration Hard Cover Book
All Accredited AIPP members who entered APPA will receive a hard copy ‘coffee-table’ style book
containing all the Gold Awards from APPA this year. Stay tuned for a delivery time.
Traditional APPA Book
And the traditional hard copy book containing all the Awards will be made available in coming
months as a print on demand option. Details will be provided when it’s ready!
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AIPP New Accredited MembersN e w A P P s f o r S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 4
Accredited
Professional
Photographers
WA
rachell Montgomery
TAS
Shannon Smith
NSW
Tim Bradshaw
Zahrina robertson
Dmitriy Komarov
Daniel Ferris
rose Punch
VIC
Simone Markham
Vikki Shayen Wong
Peter Gianfrancesco
Don Chu
QLD
Forough yavari
Laine Allen
renee Emily Towers
Victoria reid
Mel Spittall
Hayley Gough
Gabriel Veit
every member in every state and town. All
we need to do is engage in the ANZAC Spirit.
Do I need to explain the link to shovel and
diggers?
Raising The Bar On Entry
Becoming an AIPP Accredited Professional
Photographer should be something that
every professional aspires to. By default, when
we accredit someone, we essentially endorse
them to the consumer, so to ensure we
protect the value of our Accreditation process
and the reputation of the Institute, it is vital
that the accreditation entry process meets a
minimum standard.
With that vision in mind, we currently have
a working group reviewing the application
process for AIPP membership. When we have
the final model in place, we will bring it to the
membership for feedback, hopefully within
the next two months.
Putting The ‘M’ Back Into AGM
In late November we will be holding our
Annual General Meeting. While this is a
mandated formality for the approval of our
audited accounts, it is also an opportunity
for our members to meet with the Board.
This year, we would like to see a greater
involvement from our members and will be
aiming to create an interactive experience by
live streaming the AGM, including live Q&A
via text technologies. The anticipated date is
the 26 November and as soon as we have the
details, we will let our voting members know.
ross.eason@aipp.com.au
0412 108 362
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The 2014 Canon AIPP Emerging Photographer Of The Year Adam Williams
NSW
A R O U N D T H E S TAT E S
F O R M O R E U P C O M I N G E V E N T SClick Here
A P P A 2 014We were super excited that APPA returned to NSW for the first time since 2011 and we were proud to host what turned out to be an awesome and historic event including THAT perfect score of 100 by Kelly Gerdes and James Simmons becoming the first wedding photographer to win the overall PPY title!
Congratulations go to all our NSW members who won awards and honours, and to our amazing category winners:
Nadine Saacks - Album Of The YearMatthew Evringham - Advertising Photographer Of The YearAran Anderson - Commercial Photographer Of The YearAdam Williams - Emerging Photographer Of The Year
And thank you to everyone who helped to make APPA 2014 a huge success including, of course, the fantastic army of red shirts!
N S W E V E N T SOctober 23rd - Off The Grid - Parramatta - Our next invitation to down tools and catch up with fellow photographers sees the venue head west to Parramatta and the Bavarian Bier Cafe. Join us in this converted church for drinks and good times!
Coming UpThe NSW Council are hard at work creating a roadmap of events for the next year and beyond, addressing essential skills for professional photographers, inspiration, workshops and social gatherings. There is also a very special three day event in the works for early 2015! We can’t reveal too much at the moment but keep an eye on the state calendar and AIPP NSW on Facebook.
NSW Council - Milton Gan, Anni Payne, Karl Welsch, David Glazebrook, Charles Foulsham
A C U R AT I O N O F W I N N E R S F RO M A P PA 2 014Following on from APPA, our friends at Pixel Perfect are exhibiting the highest scoring images at their X88 Gallery. Images include the winning category portfolios as well as copies of the the gold and gold distinction winners.
The exhibition runs from 2nd to 16th October and is open from Wednesday to Friday each week from 11am-5pm. X88 Gallery is at 88 Abercrombie Street, Chippendale, NSW 2008.
S O U P K I T C H E N SAugust’s studio visit was hosted by none other than David and Clare Oliver who warmly invited us into their gorgeous studio and shared their passions for wedding and portrait photography and the power of the print. More recently, September’s Soup Kitchen was hosted by Damien and Nicole Ford from Evoke Photography who shared their inspiring story about growing a home-based wedding photography business into a successful studio with five staff.
© Matthew Evringham
©Clare & David Oliver
© Aran Anderson
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A R O U N D T H E S TAT E S
U P C O M I N G E V E N T S7 Oct - Monthly Breakfast at Alfonso's Cafe
8 Oct - New member and APPA Celebration evening
15 Oct - Ben Liew's debrief - Meet the Magnum
30 Nov - Xmas Picnic
B R E A K F A S T M E E T I N G SThe first Tuesday of every month is Breakfast Day at Alfonso’s Cafe. Our ever faithful AIPP community makes a great effort for the first Tuesday of each month to meet for a casual breakfast. This is a great time for a chat with the gang and for new and potential members to be completely scared away!! (Just kidding of course!!)
P O S T S A P P A P R I N T F E E D B A C K Following a very successful award season for South Australia, our council, together with the awards planning committee, hosted a print feedback evening to provide entrants with an opportunity to receive invaluable comments on how to potentially achieve higher scores for their work.
SA
F O R M O R E U P C O M I N G E V E N T SClick Here
F R O M T H E A I P P S A P R E S I D E N TAdelaide is in full swing after our SALA (South Australian Living Artists) Festival has finished and our Shimmer Photographic Bienalle opening. We have been graced with visits from Jeff Moorfoot from the Ballarat Bienalle and Jacqui Dean with her show Translucence.
Milton Wordley has lectured on his self published multi international award winning masterpiece “A year in the Life of Grange”. There are so many photographic exhibitions and events gracing the halls of South Australia that AIPP members are run off their feet either participating or visiting the shows!
Last month we ran a highly successful Ladies of Light Seminar featuring two of SA’s best photographers; Sam Oster spoke and demonstrated studio lighting and Simone Hanckel did the same for natural lighting.
The event sold out with two weeks to go, and we still had a waiting list. It looks as though we need to follow that one up!
Just prior to the Ladies of Light, we had a Business Facilitation workshop run by Duncan Redman. The workshop looked at potential changes needed to your business model to remain healthy and profitable. Those that attended, thought it was excellent information, and left energised.
Personally, as a participant in some of these peoples’ businesses, I met with two of those who attended and discussed solid changes they were making based on that workshop… what more could you ask for.
With popular monthly breakfasts, some exciting events behind us and a few in the wings, the 2014-15 year has truly taken off!
- Paul Atkins
SA Council
Paul Atkins, Peter Barnes, Louise Bagger, Ben Liew, Niki Charalambous
© Ben Liew, Ky Luu, David Sievers
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The 2014 Canon AIPP Highest Scoring Print Winner - Kelly Gerdes
TASMANIA
A R O U N D T H E S TAT E S
F O R M O R E U P C O M I N G E V E N T S
Click Here
O N T H E L O U N G EA big thanks goes to Peta Nikel who hosted our first ‘On The Lounge’ evening mid-year. A wonderful and intimate mini-workshop style event where Peta warmly invited members into her home based studio for an evening, providing an insight to her work and studio environment.
U P C O M I N G E V E N T SA post APPA celebration is being planned for the end of October 2014. Plans are underway to develop an exhibition to showcase member’s awards entries. With an incorporation of an opening night this gathering will provide an opportunity for members to exhibit their award winning prints following success of both the state and national awards, along with providing another social gathering opportunity for all members.
A P P A 2 014Tasmania is glowing with pride following APPA 2014, the state was winner of the Presidents Cup as the highest average scoring state, Kelly Gerdes was awarded with the highest scoring print achieving a perfect 100, and Gold Awards went to Kelly Gerdes, Andrew McConachy and Conor Richardson, with Dan Cripps receiving 3 Gold Awards and again making it as a Portrait Category Finalist.
N E W C O U N C I LA new Tasmanian council came together mid-year, consisting of President Jon Jarvela, Vice-President Danielle Burrows, Kelly Gerdes, Steven Smith and Ricki Eaves.
C O F F E E C A T C H U P SIn an effort to promote regional contact with state members, in a cost effective manner, the development of ‘Coffee Catchups’ has been a new introduction which has proved positive and will be maintained. Informal meetings are held monthly at local cafes in Burnie / Devonport, Launceston and Hobart.Check the facebook page for dates and locations
©Andrew McConachy ©Conor Richardson
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A R O U N D T H E S TAT E S
B L A C K & W H I T E S H O O T T O P R I N TPresented by Ian van der Wolde
Our sellout seminar with Ian van der Wolde at the end of August went really well. Everyone said they were glad they came. We may have a similar seminar to this one in the future, so keep your eyes on the calendar if you are interested in attending.
VIC
F O R M O R E U P C O M I N G E V E N T SClick Here
APPA CELEBRAT ION COMMISERAT ION GATHER INGPlease join us in celebrating or commiserating our APPA results!
Come and see some of the gold award winning prints up close and personal. Talk to some of our APPA winners. Eat, drink, and be merry!
Date: Tuesday, 14th October
Venue: The Darkroom, 147 Station Street, Fairfield
Time: 7pm - 10pm
Cost: Students: $30 | Members: $40 | Non-Members: $80
Tickets available at www.appagathering.eventzilla.net
VIC Council Louise Francis, Joshua Holko, Shireen Hammond, Sarah Jackson, Tony Knight
©Highest Scoring APPA Print by a Victorian - Jose Aguiar
The 2014 Canon AIPP Science, Environment & Nature photographer of the year Joshua Holko
B R I N G I N G V I C T O R I A N A I P P M E M B E R S F A N T A S T I C E V E N T S A N D H A V I N G A G R E A T T I M E T O G E T H E R !
Ian van der Wolde instructing the attendess of his seminar in all things black & white.
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A R O U N D T H E S TAT E S
U P C O M I N G E V E N T SMid-October - Perth Photowalk
27th October - Private Tour of The Richard Avedon Exhibit
11th November - Breakfast meeting
26th-27th November - Marcus Bell workshops
3rd December - President’s Cocktail Party
WA
F O R M O R E U P C O M I N G E V E N T SClick Here
N E W S F R O M T H E T R E N C H E S - W AWhat a fantastic year we’ve had here in WA, culminating in our own James Simmons taking out the top honour at this year’s AIPP Australian Professional Photographer of the Year Awards! Riding on back-to-back PPY wins now (Tony Hewitt of course winning last year’s trophy), as well as Kirsten Graham winning the Creative Photographer of the Year category, the ND5 team (including WA boys Christian Fletcher, Michael Fletcher, and Tony Hewitt) winning Book of the Year, and Stef King, Brook Desmond, Steve Wise, Sheldon Pettit, and CIT Perth all coming in as finalists for various categories, we just couldn’t be prouder of our state’s talented members. And boy, the excitement and expectation for the coming year’s awards is already at a new high. With any luck well get the entire WA membership to Melbourne for APPA 2015!
We’re also pretty darn proud of the rest of the WA members who hit a milestone this year, including Gary Sarre (Master with Three Gold Bars), Tina Urie (Master with Two Gold Bars), Diane DeRay, Christian Fletcher, Vic Miller, James Simmons and John Woodhouse (Masters with One Gold Bar), Rebecca Johansson, Stef King, and Amber Simcoe (Masters), and Simone Addison, Adam Browne, Suz Crosbie, Brook Desmond, Peta Horsten, Natasja Kremers, Geoffrey Liau, Sheldon Pettit, Johannes Reinhart, Jason Soon, Michelle Thomas, Nilofar Walters, and Channon Williamson (Associates).
Aside from the lead-up to APPA, these last few months have seen the WA AIPP Community connect over breakfast meetings, print critiques, photo walks, and even a lunch 3 hours south of the city in Busselton. What’s most exciting is that many of these initiatives, although facilitated by the WA Council, are really being championed by the members themselves. Our Busselton meeting had many local photographers putting up their hands to create some amazing “down south” events. The Perth Photo Walks was started by James Simmons, with so much support from the likes of Steve Wise and Tim Pontin, Kirsty Aksentiew and Natasja Kremers, and many others. Breakfast meetings and print critiques rely on the wisdom
WA Council Nathan Maddigan, Kirsten Graham, Shaireen vantuil, Tim Pontin, Steve Wise
© James Simmons © Kirsten Graham
IMAGE ONE: WA State Council - (left to right) Steve Wise, Kirsten Graham, Rebecca Johansson, Tim Pontin, Nathan Maddigan, Shaireen VanTuil
IMAGE TWO: WA State Awards, May 2014
IMAGE THREE: Perth Photo Walks (Image by Natasja Kremers)
IMAGE FOUR: WA crew at APPA 2014
of our Master photographers, who so willingly give their time and wisdom to the events. And of course, our sponsors are supporting every facet of these events, giving their time, finances, venues, and expertise, and it’s very much appreciated.
As a council, we’re so proud to serve our members, and we’re so appreciative of the amount they give back to the WA community, and to the industry nation-wide. We’re pretty excited about the coming months, and look forward to connecting with even more of our members.
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The Big One - James Simmons!C a n o n A I P P A u s t r a l i a n P r o f e s s i o n a l P h o t o g ra p h e r o f t h e Ye a r
Congratulations to James Simmons, the
2014 Canon AIPP Australian Professional
Photographer of the year!
With 2789 entries across 15 categories, it is
a huge achievement for any photographer and
also the first wedding portfolio to win the big
one for as long as any of us can remember!
There have been many amazing wedding
portfolios over the years and some have come
incredibly close, but by the end of the judging
process, it’s another category that is in the
limelight.
This year it was once again a closely
contested debate, but after the final
deliberations concluded, it was James Simmons’
exciting black and white wedding photographs
that were awarded the PPy.
Sponsored by Canon, James takes away a
cheque for $10,000, but more importantly he
joins an honour roll of some of the country’s
leading professional photographers.
The APPAs were held at Luna Park in Sydney
in September, 2014, along with The Digital
Playground trade show and photography
seminars. There were four judging rooms
working for three consecutive days, followed
by the gala Canon AIPP Awards Dinner on the
Monday night.
The AIPP used a new judging system that
had been trialled in the states earlier in the year.
Using iPad minis to give their scores, the system
worked exceedingly well and live streaming
allowed photographers from around the
country to listen in and see how their entries
scored.
While the four judging rooms were well
attended, it was outside on the walls that
people mingled and interacted as the winning
prints were hung on the wall.
Thanks to Sue Lewis once again for
masterminding the APPA logistics and a big
thanks to Melinda Comerford and Mark Zed for
handling the judging side.
For more information and to see the other
award winners, visit the AIPP’s website: www.
aipp.com.au.
PHOTO: DAVID GLAZEBrOOK
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P H OTO G R A P H E R O F T H E Y E A R2014 C a n o n aIPP a u s t r a l I a n P r o f e s s I o n a l P h o t o g r a P h e r o f t h e Y e a r - W I n n e r
James Simmons M.Photog.s P o n s o r e d b Y C a n o n
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Behind The Scenes At APPAR u n n i n g t h e C a n o n A P P A s I s A H u g e J o b !
Over 100 volunteers are involved in running the Canon APPAs each year, plus our hard working
National Office. Here’s a glimpse of what you see and don’t see behind the scenes. Thanks to our roving
photographer, NSW President Milton Gan for the photos.
It’s not always the best angle for the audience, but the judges need to get up close and personal to give the entries the correct score. There can be a rush for the print when it first turns around!
What you don’t see when the judges stand up are the ‘red shirts’ behind the scenes, preparing the next print for viewing or writing the score on the print that has just been judged.
And once they’ve scored, often there’s a debate that follows: was the score correct?
Nuran Zorlu was one of the many panel chairs, supervising the judges and judging process.
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A lot of APPA helpers are return offenders! There’s something about working behind the scenes over the weekend that gets in your blood - or perhaps it’s just the partying afterwards!
APPA realises how much it costs to produce the prints for judging, so white gloves are worn by all print handlers. It’s not a bad thing for us to do when showing our clients their prints as well!
Judges have assessment sheets to help them give an appropriate score.
After judging, it’s a huge job to sort the prints and put them back in the correct print case.
We have a great computer system, but manual records are always kept as well, just in case!
Visitors love that the original prints are displayed outside the judging rooms for closer inspection.
Waiting patiently ‘behind the wall’ for the judges to finish their deliberations.
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The Canon AIPP APPA Gala DinnerP h o t o D i a r y F r o m L e M o n t a g e , L i l y f i e l d
Once again, Kim Harding and the National Office did the Institute proud, organising a spectacular
evening of dinner-suit and evening gown proportions. If you were there on the night, check out the
AIPP APPA website to see photos of you and your compatriots. Thanks to David Glazebrook for the pics.
There were over 400 guests at Le Montage in Lilyfield, situated on the inner harbour in Sydney.
Yervant was as smooth as ever, seen here with Mandarine Montgomery (left) and Julie Ewing.
Sue Lewis divulged the statistics for yet another successful APPA judging
David Glazebrook took all the photos, except this one with Nadine Saacks and Clare Oliver.
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This looks like a bunch of hard working, behind the scenes APPA workers, letting down their hair and kicking up their heels after a fun but arduous weekend.
Grand Master of Photography Tony Hewitt found it hard to hand over his PPY status (just kidding), but once again did a fantastic job as the Master of Ceremonies.
Melissa Anderson and Jacqui Dean looking re-splendent at the dinner.
It’s okay Michelle Tuddenham from Canon, we’re not even going to ask what you’re doing!
Board member Felicity Biasi introduces the APPA heirachy to the dinner guests.
Todd Hunter McGaw and Dan O’Day have some serious problems to work out.
We didn’t see much of Peter Myers on the night, but he was there, working hard!
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2 0 1 4C a n o n A I P PA u s t r a l i a n
P r o f e s s i o n a l P h o t o g r a p h y A w a r d s
C a t e g o r y W i n n e r s a n d
M a j o r P r i z e s
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W E D D I N G2014 aIPP a u s t r a l I a n W e d d I n g P h o t o g r a P h e r o f t h e Y e a r - W I n n e r
James Simmons M.Photog.s P o n s o r e d b Y g r a P h I s t u d I o & C o m P l e t e W e d d I n g
Canon AIPP Austra l ian Profess ional Photography Awards 2014
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fInalIst
ryan Schembri M.Photog.
hIghest sCorIng PrInt
James Simmons M.Photog.
fInalIst
Dan O’Day M.Photog.
Wedding
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P O R T R A I T2014 aIPP a u s t r a l I a n P o r t r a I t P h o t o g r a P h e r o f t h e Y e a r - W I n n e r
Peter rossi G.M. Photog.s P o n s o r e d b Y K aY e l l a u s t r a l I a
Canon AIPP Austra l ian Profess ional Photography Awards 2014
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fInalIst
Vicky Papas AAIPP
hIghest sCorIng PrInt
Adam Hourigan
fInalIst
Dan Cripps M.Photog.
Por t ra i t
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FA M I LY2014 aIPP a u s t r a l I a n f a m I lY P h o t o g r a P h e r o f t h e Y e a r - W I n n e r
Kelly Brown M.Photog.s P o n s o r e d b Y a t K I n s
Canon AIPP Austra l ian Profess ional Photography Awards 2014
27
fInalIst
Colleen Harris AAIPP
hIghest sCorIng PrInt
Colleen Harris AAIPP
fInalIst
Luisa Dunn AAIPP
Fami ly
28
B I R T H2014 aIPP a u s t r a l I a n b I r t h P h o t o g r a P h e r o f t h e Y e a r - W I n n e r
Victoria Berekmeri AAIPPs P o n s o r e d b Y P I x l e s
One of Victoria’s winning entries has not been published by request.
Canon AIPP Austra l ian Profess ional Photography Awards 2014
29
fInalIst
Selena rollason
hIghest sCorIng PrInt
Selena rollason
Bir th
One of Selena’s winning entries has not been published by request.
30
CO M M E R C I A L2014 aIPP a u s t r a l I a n C o m m e r C I a l P h o t o g r a P h e r o f t h e Y e a r - W I n n e r
Aran Anderson AAIPPs P o n s o r e d b Y PPIb P r o f e s s I o n a l P h o t o g r a P h e r ’ s I n s u r a n C e b r o K e r s
Canon AIPP Austra l ian Profess ional Photography Awards 2014
31
fInalIst
Kevin Chamberlain M.Photog.
hIghest sCorIng PrInt
Mark Duffus M.Photog.
fInalIst
William Long M.Photog. HLM
Commerc ia l
32
FA S H I O N2014 aIPP a u s t r a l I a n f a s h I o n P h o t o g r a P h e r o f t h e Y e a r - W I n n e r
Peter Coulson M.Photog.s P o n s o r e d b Y b o W e n s
Canon AIPP Austra l ian Profess ional Photography Awards 2014
33
fInalIst
George Favios
hIghest sCorIng PrInt
Peter Coulson M.Photog.
fInalIst
Stef King M.Photog.
Fashion
34
A D V E R T I S I N G2014 aIPP a u s t r a l I a n a d v e r t I s I n g P h o t o g r a P h e r o f t h e Y e a r - W I n n e r
Matthew Everinghams P o n s o r e d b Y aIPP
Canon AIPP Austra l ian Profess ional Photography Awards 2014
35
hIghest sCorIng PrInt
Matthew Everingham
Adver t i s ing
36
D O C u M E N TA R Y2014 aIPP a u s t r a l I a n d o C u m e n ta r Y P h o t o g r a P h e r o f t h e Y e a r - W I n n e r
Anthony McKee AAIPPs P o n s o r e d b Y e l e v e n 40 g a l l e r Y
Canon AIPP Austra l ian Profess ional Photography Awards 2014
37
hIghest sCorIng PrInt
Anthony McKee AAIPP
fInalIst
Brook Desmond AAIPP
Documentar y
38
S C I E N C E , E N V I R O N M E N T & N AT u R E2014 aIPP a u s t r a l I a n s C I e n C e , e n v I r o n m e n t & n at u r e P h o t o g r a P h e r o f t h e Y e a r - W I n n e r
Joshua Holko M.Photog.s P o n s o r e d b Y aIPP
Canon AIPP Austra l ian Profess ional Photography Awards 2014
39
fInalIst
Darren Jew M.Photog.
hIghest sCorIng PrInt
Joshua Holko M.Photog.
fInalIst
Liz Harlin AAIPP
Science, Env i ronment & Nature
40
Canon AIPP Austra l ian Profess ional Photography Awards 2014
T R AV E L2014 aIPP a u s t r a l I a n t r av e l P h o t o g r a P h e r o f t h e Y e a r - W I n n e r
Nick rains M.Photog.s P o n s o r e d b Y l o W e P r o
41
fInalIst
Nadine Saacks AAIPP
hIghest sCorIng PrInt
Lib Ferreira
fInalIst
Steve Scalone
Travel
42
S P O R T2014 aIPP a u s t r a l I a n s P o r t P h o t o g r a P h e r o f t h e Y e a r - W I n n e r
Matt Palmer AAIPPs P o n s o r e d b Y d I g I d I r e C t
Canon AIPP Austra l ian Profess ional Photography Awards 2014
43
fInalIst
Cameron Spencer
hIghest sCorIng PrInt
Matt Palmer AAIPP
fInalIst
ryan Pierse
Spor t
44
I L Lu S T R AT I V E2014 aIPP a u s t r a l I a n I l l u s t r at I v e P h o t o g r a P h e r o f t h e Y e a r - W I n n e r
Keren Dobia M.Photog.s P o n s o r e d b Y IPs
Canon AIPP Austra l ian Profess ional Photography Awards 2014
45
fInalIst
Kelly Gerdes AAIPP
hIghest sCorIng PrInt
Kelly Gerdes AAIPP
fInalIst
Alison Lyons AAIPP
I l lust rat ive
46
L A N D S C A P E2014 aIPP a u s t r a l I a n l a n d s C a P e P h o t o g r a P h e r o f t h e Y e a r - W I n n e r
ricardo Da Cunhas P o n s o r e d b Y l&P d I g I ta l P h o t o g r a P h I C
Canon AIPP Austra l ian Profess ional Photography Awards 2014
47
fInalIst
Sheldon Pettit AAIPP
hIghest sCorIng PrInt
Adam Williams
fInalIst
Jackie ranken G.M.Photog.
Landscape
48
C R E AT I V E2014 aIPP a u s t r a l I a n C r e at I v e P h o t o g r a P h e r o f t h e Y e a r - W I n n e r
Kirsten Graham AAIPPs P o n s o r e d b Y e IZo
Canon AIPP Austra l ian Profess ional Photography Awards 2014
49
fInalIst
Ben Clark M.Photog.
fInalIst
Steve Wise M.Photog.
Creat ive
50
Canon AIPP Austra l ian Profess ional Photography Awards 2014
S T u D E N T2014 aIPP a u s t r a l I a n s t u d e n t P h o t o g r a P h e r o f t h e Y e a r - W I n n e r
Jacqui Hogans P o n s o r e d b Y K o d a K
51
fInalIst
Fiona Davidson
fInalIst
Angie Connell
Student
T E R T I A R Y I N S T I T u T I O N2014 aIPP a u s t r a l I a n t e r t I a r Y I n s t I t u t I o n o f t h e Y e a r - W I n n e r
Photography Studies College, Melbournes P o n s o r e d b Y K o d a K
r u n n e r -u P : C e n t r a l I n s t I t u t e t e C h n o lo g Y , P e r t h
52
Canon AIPP Austra l ian Profess ional Photography Awards 2014
E M E R G I N G 2014 aIPP a u s t r a l I a n e m e r g I n g P h o t o g r a P h e r o f t h e Y e a r - W I n n e r
Adam Williamss P o n s o r e d b Y aIPP
53
fInalIst
Debbie Fowler
fInalIst
Nicole Humphrey
Emerging
54
Canon AIPP Austra l ian Profess ional Photography Awards 2014
A L B u M 2014 aIPP a u s t r a l I a n a l b u m o f t h e Y e a r - W I n n e r
Nadine Saacks AAIPPs P o n s o r e d b Y a s u K a b o o K & W a C o m
r u n n e r s -u P : b r o o K d e s m o n d aaIPP; J e r r Y g h I o n I s m.P h o t o g .
P H OTO G R A P H Y B O O K 2014 aIPP a u s t r a l I a n P h o t o g r a P h Y b o o K o f t h e Y e a r - W I n n e r
Ninety Degrees Five (ND5)Peter eastWaY, ChrIstIan fletCher, mIChael fletCher, tonY heWItt, les WalKlIng
s P o n s o r e d b Y m o m e n t o
r u n n e r s -u P : e u g e n e t a n aaIPP; n a d I n e s a a C K s aaIPP
G R A N D M A S T E R AWA R D2014 h I g h e s t a g g r e g at e f o r a g r a n d m a s t e r o f P h o t o g r a P h Y - W I n n e r
Peter rossi G.M. Photog.s P o n s o r e d b Y aIPP
55
Canon AIPP Austra l ian Profess ional Photography Awards 2014
I N T E R N AT I O N A L 2014 aIPP I n t e r n at I o n a l P h o t o g r a P h e r o f t h e Y e a r - W I n n e r
Luke Edmonsons P o n s o r e d b Y f o t r e l
H I G H E S T S CO R I N G I M AG E 2014 h I g h e s t s C o r I n g I m a g e
Kelly Gerdess P o n s o r e d b Y I l f o r d
56
From 95 to 79H o w T o D e a l W i t h S c o r e C h a n g e s A t A P P A .
David Oliver beat me. It’s a hard fact to swallow,
but accept it I must. Each year, we enter our
four prints and the person with the lowest
aggregate score buys the other lunch.
Beaten by a Hunter Valley farmer... again!
There’s a lot of passion at APPA as we all bare
our souls, submitting four gold awards only to
have them returned in their neat, squat cases as
something a little less valuable.
However, what many people miss is that
the benefit has happened before you enter. It’s
the process that is so important to becoming a
better photographer, the fact you have thought
about your four strongest photographs, or at
least four photographs you feel strongly about.
To have judges score your work less than
perfect can be a problem, but not everyone
sees things this way. New entrants are usually
delighted to get a silver or even a score in the
high 70s as this is recognition that their work
has some merit. It’s professional standard and
this is incredibly important.
However, if you’ve won gold at the Epson
state photography awards, it can be confronting
to receive a bare silver or even a 79 at the
Canon national photography awards. How can
the scores be so different?
Interestingly, it’s not a new problem. It’s
happened to me many times. I have also had
prints score poorly at state awards and then
do very well at nationals, so the change can be
both ways.
Talking to Geoff Comfort from the ACT last
week, we speculated about why scores vary
so greatly. He suggested that as the overall
standard at the state awards isn’t as high as at
nationals, perhaps the judges slightly overreact
when they see a strong print, but when that
same strong print is up against so many other
strong prints at nationals, it doesn’t fare so well.
Of course, for all the prints that score
differently, there are many more that receive
very similar scores.
The APPA judging system has been around
for over three decades, surely someone could
have sorted this issue out by now? Well, it’s
not the system, it’s the judges. And no, this is
no criticism of the judges because all they are
asked to do is provide their opinion.
After doing well in the state awards, it’s
intensely disappointing to receive a lower score
at nationals, but you have to accept that this is
just another opinion. And when you deal with
opinions, you’re dealing with the vagaries of
human nature. The system we have is great, we
just need to keep it in perspective.
57A Silver Award for David Oliver in the Portrait category this year. It’s a photograph of his daughter Clare who earned her Master of Photography this year as well. I think Clare just cost me lunch! Read article for the reason!
58
Canon APPA StatisticsW h a t W a s E a r n t A n d W h a t S h o u l d Y o u A i m F o r ?
Where do you stand as a professional? Are you
as good as the competition, or do you need to
work a little harder? And how do you find out?
This is where the AIPP is in the box seat. It
is the only organisation in Australia offering a
judging system that has five expert professional
judges sitting on a panel. If they give you a
Silver award or higher, you should be tickled
pink!
As the AIPP expands the awards system into
a combination of online and live systems, we
are offered a number of opportunities to test
ourselves within the profession.
Fifty Fifty
When you look at the statistics for APPA this
year, over 45% of entries received a Silver Award
or higher. It seems pretty easy to get an award,
statistically. However, talk to anyone who enters
the AIPP awards systems regularly and you’ll
learn two things.
First, it is a very rare photographer who
consistently gets Silver and higher for every
entry. Even Grand Masters of Photography
come away with images that are below award
standard from time to time..
Second, each entrant has submitted his or
her very best four photographs taken over the
last year. remembering this is a competition for
professionals who spend a large part of their life
living and breathing photography, surely we’d
expect a competent professional to get four
Silver awards or higher?
The statistics don’t agree with this, but if we
were to drill down further, we’d find that out
of the 54.3% that don’t earn an award, most of
them are in the 70-79 range, indicating they
have reached a level of professional practice. I
don’t have the figures for this year, but I believe
less than 10% score under 70.
Scoring Range
So in reality, the scoring range starts at around
70 and goes up to 100. To start, it is good to
aim for the high 70s. A score of 78 or 79 is
considered a Half Award point and you can use
four Half points towards your Associateship.
If you earned only 70s this year, your aim
next year is to get at least one Silver. The
following year, two Silvers and the year after
that, go for broke and aim for four Silvers.
Of course, many photographers reach
four Silvers more quickly than this, but for the
majority, it’s a matter of persistence.
If it were easy to take award winning
photographs all the time, then the Grand
Masters would be scoring Golds every year.
But for most of us, that’s not happening!
59
2014 C A N O N Au S T R A L I A N P R O F E S S I O N A L P H OTO G R A P H Y AWA R D S
Categories No. of Entries
Advertising 27
Birth 40
Commercial 86
Documentary 103
Family
Pregnancy/Babies 178
Single 76
Groups 146
Fashion 18
Illustrative 427
Landscape 401
Portrait 461
Science, Environment & Nature 85
Sport 76
Travel 228
Wedding 411
Album Award
Wedding Single 5
Wedding Multi 4
Portrait 4
Event 2
Photographic Book Award 11
Total Entries 2789
Awards No. of Entries
Silver 907 32.50%
Silver Distinction 256 9.20%
Gold 90 3.20%
Gold Distinction 21 0.80%
Not awarded 1515 54.30%
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How Is The PPy Judged?I t T o o k S e v e r a l H o u r s T h i s Y e a r T o D e c i d e !
The process of judging the Canon AIPP
Australian Professional Photographer of the year
(PPy) award has evolved over many years, each
iteration addressing and refining the process so
we end up with a ‘fair’ result.
What Didn’t Work
Originally, the PPy was the photographer with
the highest aggregate. While the photographer
with the highest aggregate was very happy
with this result, sometimes there was criticism
that a particular category was judged more
leniently than another. For instance, people
would say it was easier to win awards in
weddings than in advertising, but the following
year it could be the reverse.
The point being made was that over the
course of three days, there could be variations
in the level of scoring, so to ensure these
variations weren’t affecting the final result,
a new system collected the best porfolios
together and judged them a second time.
Current System
To be in the running, you have to win one of the
categories (with the exception of the student,
book and album categories).
The judges are selected with a broad
cross section of interests and demographics.
Depending on the judges who are available,
the panel is drawn from different sexes, states
and disciplines so everyone is fairly represented.
The panel also includes past PPy and category
winners. It’s a distinguished panel.
The panel is convened at the end of APPA
and the portfolios displayed around the room.
Digital entries are displayed on Eizo monitors.
Before judging, a round table conference is
held where judges are invited to explain what
the PPy award means to them. With this insight,
the judges are invited to inspect the portfolios
and submit their vote.
Judges are asked not to assess the four
entries in each category as a portfolio, rather as
four individual entries.
There are 11 judges and if the result is 7 in
favour of one portfolio, that’s the winner.
If not, the portfolios that received no scores
are removed and the judges asked to score
their top three places. From here, the scores
are assessed to see if there is a clear winner.
Normally by this time there is.
This year, the process continued down to
three portfolios, then down to two portfolios.
The judges gave reasons for and against each
entry in further discussion, before casting their
final vote.
It only took a couple of hours...
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The 2014 Canon AIPP Australian Professional Photographer of the Year Judging Panel.(From centre left at the bottom) Kylie Lyons, Richard Bennett, Greg Hocking, Rick Slowgrove (Canon Observer), Chris Macleod (Canon Observer), Phil
Kuruvita, David Paterson (non-voting Chairman), David Oliver, Jeff Moorfoot, Tony Hewitt, Anni Payne, Hilary Wardhaugh, Melissa Anderson and Ian van der Wolde. In the red shirts on the right, Mark Zed and Katrina Fegurson from the APPA team look on.
62
Category Advocates For APPAH a v e Y o u r S a y I n H o w T h e A P P A C a t e g o r i e s W o r k
Do we have the right categories at APPA? Are
there some new categories we should be
introducing? Are some existing categories out
of date?
Become An Advocate
As this is your Institute, the AIPP would love
you to get involved and you can do this as a
Category Advocate.
Explained Peter Myers, “In simple terms,
category advocates are a group of members
who want to “own” a category to be used in the
AIPP Awards.
“If you believe the AIPP should have a
specific category in its awards to cater for a
specific genre or section of photography, you as
a member can propose this.
“But more than this… If you propose a new
category, you now have the opportunity to
become one of the Category Advocates and
help define the category parameters, the rules,
and the entry requirements. We will also ask
you to work with us to ensure suitably qualified
and appropriate judges are used to judge your
category.”
What Categories Do We Need?
If the purpose of the awards system is to enable
working photographers to enter images for
peer review, then it follows that we need to
have suitable entry categories to enable high
quality feedback.
How Do I Become An Advocate
Its simple, send an email to admin@aipp.com.
au and tell us which category from our existing
awards categories you want to become a
category advocate for.
In order to ensure that a category advocate
group (CAG) does not become purely the voice
and opinion of just one or two members, we
have set a minimum requirement that in order
to formulate a CAG we need a minimum of 5
members involved.
If you contact us, and we don’t yet have
5 members involved, we will add you to a
waiting list, and try to enlist your help to try
and publicise the tentative CAG and get more
members involved.
As soon as we reach the magical number
of 5 members we will formally implement the
CAG.
What’s Involved?
How do we communicate and interact with
each other in a Category Advocate group?
We use Basecamp for online
communication, collaboration and
communication. We expect that almost all the
business of a CAG will be conducted online
63
via BaseCamp. It’s a great, cost effective tool, if
used well, for managing projects via a disparate
group from all across the country.
When you join a CAG, you will be sent an
invitation to create a BaseCamp account (it’s
free) and join the project for the particular
category for which you are an advocate. Simple
instructions on how to use BaseCamp are
included.
How Are Changes Proposed?
As a group you have to agree on what you want
the changes to be. you need to explain why
these changes are being proposed and then
you need to propose how the changes will be
implemented and managed.
For instance, you need to explain how the
newly proposed rules and parameters will be
monitored and policed and how entries will be
validated against the new rules.
All of this should take the form of a
structured proposal that should be sent to the
AIPP awards team. The national Office team will
help you put together your proposal if you need
help.
Category Manager
David Paterson, probably the AIPP member with
the most experience and knowledge of our
awards process, is the Category Manager.
Once you have submitted a proposal to
David, he will liaise with you to help make
sure your proposal is workable, and whether
it can be implemented within the many other
constraints of our awards system.
When Can You Join?
If you want to have your say, now is the time.
We have nine CAGs working at present.
Some have room for more members, others are
full, but email the National Office and ask.
We need to have all categories and rules
agreed to early each calendar year so that they
can be implemented for the state awards in
each state. remember, our first state awards
usually take place in early March, which means
entrants need to know the categories and rules
by January each year.
This means if you want to make changes for
2015, your proposals need to be accepted and
agreed before Christmas 2014!
So, don’t delay… If you want to get involved
do it now!
CuRRENT CATEGORY ADVOCATE GROuPSCAGs for Existing Categories
Birth
Commercial
Family
Illustrative
Landscape
Portrait
Science, Environment and Nature
CAGs Proposing New Categories
Boudoir
New Born
64
Peter Coulson presenting at The Nikon AIPP Event on the Gold Coast, 2014. Photos by Bambi Wixon.
65
Using A Single Overhead LightP e t e r C o u l s o n a t t h e N i k o n E v e n t .
Professional photographers struggling to find
a niche in a crowded market place should look
at studio lighting. If you’re just using available
light, what’s the difference between you and a
client using their smartphone?
Okay, so we know we can handle available
light better, but why not give your clients
something completely different – and
something they can’t do themselves?
Studio Difference
Fashion photographers like Peter Coulson
are using studio flash to produce high end
photography and it’s something that all
professionals should understand and be able to
do.
Of course, there are many different ways
you can approach studio lighting and Peter
presented just one at the Nikon AIPP Event on
the Gold Coast earlier this year.
The premise for Peter’s demonstration was a
single light directly above the subject: a down
light. He explained that we’re taught not to use
light like this outside – overhead sunlight is the
bane of many photographers.
However, if you understand how the light
falls off towards the edge of the light pool, then
it can be used very creatively in the studio.
“I’m using this lighting pattern more and
more because it gives me the freedom to move
both the model and me into lots of different
positions. It’s especially useful when you’re
working in a studio with white walls and floors
as these provide fill light.”
The hotel room for the presentation wasn’t
ideal as it had dark carpets and distant walls.
Work In Monochrome
Peter used a large octabox softlight, but he
noted you can use different light shapers for
different effects.
He also commented that the best way to
work was shooting tethered and checking the
image and the histogram (exposure) on your
monitor.
Peter likes working in monochrome.
Even on location, he will set his camera onto
monochrome mode because he feels he can
see the dynamic range so much better (the raw
files are still capturing colour).
“As soon as you put colour into the
equation, it mixes you up. Clashing colours can
make it hard to make good decisions.”
Light Pool
Once he has established the correct exposure,
66
he begins working with the model and the
light. Peter explained that the light isn’t just
a beam down, but there is light pooling out
sideways as well. It is this part of the light – the
edge of the light – that Peter works with.
The model is positioned to the side of the
light pool so she is being illuminated mainly
by the far side of the softbox, producing a light
quality similar to that produced by a beauty
dish.
The further away from the light, the less
there are shadows under the eyes because
the angle of the light has flattened out. And
yes, there is also less light, but it is the quality
of the light that determines the result and the
exposure can always be adjusted accordingly.
Moving Around
Peter then demonstrated how the lighting
on the model changes as she moved around,
and also how it changes as he moved around.
The angle of the face to the light is incredibly
important and that’s another reason for working
tethered (or wirelessly) to a laptop so you can
see the results immediately.
“If the model moves into the light, the
shadows become harsher, but if she steps
backwards out of the light, the shadows soften
off.
“I like working this way because it can be
time consuming to set up your camera and
move the lights for each shot. This way I set up
the light once and move me and the model
relative to the light.”
Of course, Peter doesn’t only work with one
light. He may add in a beauty dish or a white
card underneath the chin, always trying to
achieve the best result in camera to limit the
amount of post-production required.
White Cards
“I generally don’t like using reflectors because
they are too strong. I prefer white cards which
I can slowly move in and out with much more
control.”
Explaining exactly how the light works is
beyond the scope of this article, but you can
see the result Peter achieved and the location
shots will give you an idea of the set-up.
The point to take away from Peter’s
presentation is that a single light can produce
remarkable results, and that studio lighting is
one way we can differentiate ourselves from
other photographers - and our clients.
In the accompanying photos shot by Bambi
Wixon during Peter’s presentation, you can
see the lighting setup he used and where the
model is standing relative to the light. Take an
hour out of your schedule and set up a light
with a boom arm and try it yourself. Look at
how the light falls on your model and how your
model’s positioning changes the effect.
The value of this exercise cannot be
understated.
67
68
Commercial photograph by William Long.William was a finalist in the Commercial category in the 2014 APPAs
69
The Photo Watch DogW i l l i a m L o n g ’ s A d v o c a c y O n B e h a l f O f T h e A I P P
William Long’s interest in competition rules
began in 1999 with the M.I.L.K. ‘Moments of
Intimacy, Laughter and Kinship’ competition. It
was a worldwide competition with some very
attractive prizes, but William says they simply
milked the industry.
Losing Copyright
“you can still see images entered into that
competition being used today, even though the
competition organiser eventually went broke
and the photographs were sold to another
company.
“yes, there were some very good prizes, but
there were also a lot of photographs that won
nothing and were paid nothing, yet were used
for years afterwards generating income for the
organiser.
“I had entered the MILK competition myself
and it was only afterwards that I realised I had
given them the use of my image for nothing,
even though I wasn’t a winner. I discovered that
just by entering my image, it could be used
and sold to other people, and even though my
photo didn’t win, I couldn’t enter it anywhere
else.
I thought it was insane.
“With MILK, you gave the organisers your
copyright and I still come across competitions
today asking for copyright. Some organisers are
getting smart and stating that you get to keep
your copyright, but in the next paragraph you
find yourself giving them an unlimited licence
in perpetuity for both the organiser and anyone
else they sell the rights to. This is practically as
bad as taking your copyright.
“When organisers tell me this isn’t what
they intend to do, I ask what will happen if they
go broke? What will their company liquidator
do when he finds these photos and reads the
competition rules? It’s an asset he can sell.
“Owning copyright and understanding
your rights is just so important and this is why
I joined the AIPP. The situation wasn’t fair and I
simply have to stand up for the under dog!”
PhotoWatchDog
William is currently only on Facebook at https://
www.facebook.com/PhotoWatchDog, but his
dedicated website is close to completion –
www.photowatchdog.com.
“PhotoWatchDog’s purpose is to encourage
a fair, honest, and ethical approach to
photographic competitions. It nurtures good
competitions and highlights bad ones. I give
competition organisers and entrants the
knowledge of what is the right way to produce
a fair competition for the benefit of all.”
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Normally there are two areas that concern
William the most. One concerns the rights
the organiser has to use the photograph in
the future, the other concerns the liability
the photographer has no matter how the
photograph is used.
William spent six years lobbying the
Queensland Government who, he says,
definitely had a plan to gain free imagery by
running photo competitions. The Queensland
Government was also one of William’s key
clients, so to condemn the Government for the
way it ran photography competitions was not
necessarily in his best interests, but that didn’t
stop him!
“When talking to the Director General one
day about why his Government’s competitions
were so wrong, I put forward a hypothetical
situation. young Louise enters a photo of
her Uncle Joe walking down the beach with
her little sister into one of the Queensland
Government’s photo competitions. Under
the terms of the competition, the entrant is
responsible for obtaining all model releases and
is liable for all uses of the photograph.
unfair use
“The photograph doesn’t win a prize, but
under the same terms, the photograph can be
used by the Government department in any
manner. First it appears in a calendar, then it
goes to another department and it is used on
a brochure warning people about paedophilia.
I dare say Uncle Joe might be miffed to be
portrayed this way.
“To his credit, the Director General
arranged for me to talk to all the Government
departments using photography competitions
like this. I explained clearly that they were
getting images for advertising and marketing
for free, but they weren’t telling people what
they were doing - and how did they feel about
misleading the public like this?
“There was a moment of silence! Since then,
at least 20 different departments have stopped
running photography competitions this way - in
fact, many don’t run photography competitions
as all.”
William admits to having a ‘fairness
syndrome’ where he feels compelled to stand
up and shout about it. “But I do appreciate
it when I can change minds and I’ve been
successful now on many occasions.”
Social Media
“I’ve learnt that it’s best not to assume
the worst when dealing with companies
and organisations that have inappropriate
competition rules. Instead, I point out to them
the reasons their rules look bad and then ask
them if this was their intent? Invariably they
answer they didn’t intend it to look this way and
the conversation is opened for suggestions.”
As William explained, some competition
rules hold the entrant liable for any use of their
photograph, even if the competition organiser
71
gives it away! “Not only are you liable, your
children are liable as well - well, perhaps that’s
a bit of an exaggeration, but it amazes me how
absurd some rules are.
“Some organisers tell me that their
competition isn’t aimed at professionals, but
most of the complaints I see are from semi-
professionals and amateurs, and this is creating
far more adverse publicity in a much broader
context. In fact, exposure to negative social
media is a great leverage for having bad rules
changed.
“So while I’m direct, I take the approach that
the organiser doesn’t actually mean to enforce
their rules and many end up being incredibly
grateful when I point things out.”
William adds that he has no trouble if a
prize winner’s photos are used because the
photographer has received something in return,
but for non-prize winning entrants, then it
would be more reasonable for the organiser
to pay something for the use of a photograph
if it wasn’t being used in relation to the
competition.
you can keep up to date with William’s
advocacy work on his Facebook page at https://
www.facebook.com/PhotoWatchDog.
Commercial photograph by William Long.William was a finalist in the Commercial category in the 2014 APPAs
72
The Transporter Sync comes as above, so you need to add in a portable drive of your own.The bigger the drive, the more ‘cloud’ storage you have!
73
Transporter SyncY o u r O w n P e r s o n a l C l o u d s , F o r Y o u A n d C l i e n t s
Look out Dropbox! There’s no need for third-
party cloud storage when you have your own
Transporter Sync.
The Transporter Sync is a small device that
will sit on your desk (or anywhere you choose)
and, along with a hard drive you attach to it
(not supplied as part of the package), will act as
a storage device. So, the bigger the hard drive
you attach, the more storage you have.
After connecting your hard drive to the
Transporter Sync, connect the Transporter
Sync to your router or switch using a standard
Ethernet cable. The first time you turn the
power on, the system will format the hard drive
and prepare the Transporter Sync system, ready
for action.
Finally, you need to create a free Transporter
account, and from here you can ‘claim’ your
transporter (using the serial number and mac
address printed on the base of the transporter).
All this should take around 10 minutes.
So, now you have your own personal
cloud set up. All that’s left to do is download
the software for your PC, laptop, tablet or
smartphone and you’re ready for action.
Once you’re up and running, you’ll find
everything is well thought out. For instance,
the Transporter Library is a collection of folders
that are only stored on your Transporter(s)
drives. While the default Sync Folders are great
for active files that require frequent access, the
Transporter Library is best for collections of files
that are either less active or require more space
than available on your computer.
And while most cloud storage solutions
require you to move all your files to a specific
folder to sync across devices, this can be a real
hassle with applications that save files to default
locations. The Transporter Special Folder feature
allows you to sync files directly from popular
desktop, documents, movies, music, and picture
locations.
The Selective Sync feature gives you the
flexibility to select only the folders you want
to be synced to your computer. This feature
is especially handy for saving space on
computers with small hard drives and is ideal for
photographers with multiple computers.
If you’re currently uploading your photos to
share with your clients, you can upload them
directly to your Transporter Sync and give them
access, in much the same way you’d give them
access to Dropbox.
For more product information, please visit
www.kayellaustralia.com.au.
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“The secret to photographic technique is layers, and that’s whether you use Photoshop or Lightroom.”
How To Master Layers is series of video/article presentations by Peter Eastway.
To purchase and view on your computer, visit:
www.betterphotography.com
$6.49 each or $19.95 for all four titles
If you download the files from the website, they will not play properly on the iPad.
How To Master Photoshop Layers
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