Image must be 800px on the longest side
Image must have been taken during the August 2010 Portrait Palooza event
Please submit TWO images for judging (trying to upload any more will replace your previous image)
No limitations on artistic rendering
Images Must be submitted between 12:00am August 25th & 11:59pm August 27th.
Winner will be chosen by the RTP Marriott Staff
Winner will be announced at the September 2010 WPS meeting.

To submit your image, please click here.

Good luck and thanks again for coming out!

Wow!! This is a meeting you MUST attend. We are venturing out to a new location that is sure to inspire your creativity. More information below but I want to mention the prize… yes, there is a prize for the “winner”. The RTP Marriott has graciously donated a weekend stay at ANY MARRIOTT IN THE CONTINENTAL US for the photographer with the winning image. Please see below for details, registration and submission information.

We will also be featuring James Walters, of Walters & Walters Photography, will be speaking on Vendor relations.  We are very fortunate to have James speaking as he is one of the areas best at gaining and maintaining vendor relationships.

Details

Date: August 24th, 2010
Registration Time: 6:00pm
Shooting Time: 6:30pm SHARP!!
Where: Marriott RTP – From Raleigh, take 40 W and exit onto Miami blvd. Turn Right on Miami then the first right onto Guardian Drive. The Marriott is on the right. Please take these directions with you as the hotel is hidden from view on Miami blvd and you won’t see it.
What: Oh boy!!! The what.. It’s our first ever portrait palooza! Every year the WPS holds some type of shooting event and, this year, we’ve decided to change the format up a bit, throw in a few curve balls and up the prize!!
Details: Each person who signs up (up to 45) will get 10 minutes with a “bride” in an awesome hotel to shoot a “portrait”. Each bride will be in a full gown with hair & makeup fully done. You must provide your own equipment (or borrow someone’s). No equipment will be provided by the WPS for the shoot.

Rules:

- You must sign up prior to shooting to be eligible to enter this competition. The competition is limited to 45 shooters so once it’s full, that’s it. In the event we have extra spaces left, day of registration will be allowed.
- You must be a WPS member (Aspiring or pro)
- You will have 10 minutes from the time the bride leaves the central meeting location to when she returns to the room. So if you are shooting far away, please remember this will greatly cut into your shooting time.
- You must treat this like any other wedding day event, you cannot disturb hotel patrons or guests.
- Any furniture moved MUST be moved back.
- We are not allowed to massively re-arrange any area of the hotel.
- You can only use “public” areas of the hotel
- You cannot block public areas or access of the hotel
- Any pre-staging of equipment must be done only within the room we are in. No staging of any equipment in the public areas of the hotel will be allowed.
- No reserving of any area, space, background, shooting alley, furniture, etc will be allowed. It’s first come first serve.
- You must stay indoors
- Each photographer will be escorted by a proctor to insure they follow the timeline and rules
- You may only submit ONE image for the competition
- Your image MUST be taken during the WPS portrait palooza event on August 24th, 2010 from a registered photographer.
- Your image must be submitted no later then midnight on August 26th, 2010 (48 hours)
- The images will be judged and a single winner determined by the RTP Marriott sales & catering staff
- Any item that arises during the shoot not covered by the above rules will be decided on by the proctor at that time.
- By signing up for this contest you agree that you have read and agree to adhere to all rules. You agree to hold harmless the WPS, it’s members, staff and board for any damages caused by your direct or indirect actions. (This means that, in essence, it’s the same as any hotel you shoot in. Be safe, don’t do anything that would cause damage that you would pay for. An example of indirect actions is setting a flash on a ledge and another person knocking it off, breaking your flash and/or anything it hits).

Submission Guidelines:

- Must have been photographed by you.
- Image must have no identifying watermarks. Exif data is allowed, just nothing visible.
- 800px on the longest side
- Finished off for viewing on a calibrated LCD monitor
- sRGB color space
- Image submissions must be made no later then midnight on August 26th, 2010 (48 hours) here.

Register:

Please sign up on this post to register to photograph at this once a year event!

Food:

The hotel is hosting a buffet (payable to the hotel at the meeting) with the following food:

Garden Salad with dressings (on the side)

Sauteed vegetable medley

Grilled Chicken

Pasta Primavera

Warm Rolls & Butter

Tea and Water station

$15 inclusive per person

The WPS Board would like to thank everyone for their entries in the 2nd quarter WPS Image Competition. We had a ton of great work submitted (146 images) and it was very, very difficult for the judges to determine the winners.   All of the 1st place winners are below.and you can find the top 5 placements in each category and yearly standings in our forum here.

Cake Cutting Category

Q2 2010 - 1st Place - Cake Cutting

1ST Place – Kristin Oguntoyinbo | KPO Photo

Judges Comments:

This is a fun photo of the bride about to feed the groom cake. I am sure that this moment happened quickly. Excellent shot and I think he wants some cake.

Really great and funny moment captured – nice job staying with the photo and grabbing a fleeting moment.

Artistic Category

Q2 2010 - 1st Place - Artistic Category

1ST Place  | Tim Sayer | Sayer Photography

Judges Comments

All I can say is wow. This image stood out of the crowd quickly for me and I wish I had this in my book. This image has everything starting with a great moment, wonderful warm yellow tones, framing the subject, great light, repetition and pattern…what more could you ask for?

Beautiful use of space and capturing a seemingly whimsical moment. The “cross” back up in the trees is an “oooooh” kind of recognition (intentional or otherwise). Nice and simple.

LOL (Humor)

Q2 2010 - 1st Place - LOL(Humor)

1ST Place | Hilary Mercer | Hilary Merer Photography

Judges Comments

The more I look at this, the more I laugh. She looks like a SNL character who was allowed to participate in the wedding. The ballerina jump is wonderful.

Great job of keeping your eye in the camera and capturing a truly hilarious moment.

I love the action captured in this shot

Photojournalism

Q2 2010 - 1st Place - Photojournalism

1ST Place | Patrick Eilers | Patrick Eilers Photography

Judges Comments

What a nice moment of grandpa helping wipe away the tears. You can see how close they are with one another in this photo. I really enjoy the photographers option to show this moment in B&W.

Stands out head and shoulders above the rest. A near perfect moment between generations.

Details

Q2 2010 - 1st Place - Details

1ST Place | Michelle Gunton | Michelle Gunton Photography

Judges Comments

Nice eyes on that shooter to see what’s right in front of him/her. The shadows aping the action is a nice twist on the toast cliche.

Repetition of the shadow and the detail of it is interesting to look at. Different pays off.

Love the color and lighting in this photo it really makes a statement!

At our May 2010 WPS meeting, you may remember alot of activity involving a video camera off in the corner.  It’s time to unveil that project and show you the awesomely hilarious video created by our own WPS member, Jason Arthurs.  I have watched this 20 times easily and each time I end up dying laughing!

A huge thanks to Jason for taking the time to do this!  If you want to know what the WPS is, this could be considered, I guess, a small introduction!

Meet the Wedding Photographic Society from Jason Arthurs on Vimeo.

Our latest meeting of the Wedding Photographic Society was a huge success with over 50 people in attendance including wedding photographers, wedding planners, DJ’s, & florists!  It was an amazing meeting as many businesses in the wedding industry came together for our 1st ever “panel” discussion. We all learned and discussed how we can help each other for weddings, promotions and personally. Everyone in attendance got to hear how weddings are viewed from each discipline and shared experiences with what photographers (as well as dj’s, florists, planners, etc) can do to help as well as what hinders other vendors. Certainly an eye opening experience on how we can not only better serve our clients, but other vendors in the wedding industry.

The WPS would like to thank our panel for taking the time out of their busy schedules to meet with us!  Our panel of speakers is below:

Joe Bunn DJ
Erin McLean Events
Premiere Catering
McSound Productions
English Garden Florist

The WPS would also like to thank The Mint restaurant for accommodating our group and providing great service, food and beverages for the meeting!

Honestly, your convention fee will pay for itself with all of the goodies we’ve received so far and we’re working hard to bring more sponsors on board.

So Join US! WPS Convention

We look forward to having you there!

Alien Skin Software

We’re expecting a large turnout. Catering by The Mint . . . .yummy!

Looking forward to seeing you there!

They’re a very familiar and helpful company amongst the photographic community and the WPS is proud to say that they’ve donated over $1500 in goodies for our attendees.

Yet another reason to attend our convention. Looking forward having you there!

Stacy
WPS Leader
Swank Photo Studio
www.SwankPhotoStudio.com

The beginning of a bunch of goodies for our convention attendees. Sign up now!!! www.thewps.com/convention

Keep checking back with us!
Stacy
Swank Photo Studio
www.SwankPhotoStudio.com
WPS Leader