2
Q2 WPS Contest Results 2012
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WPS Image Competition
06 June 2012
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WPS Photographic Contest
The results are in and another tough competition. Great images were in every category but the judges have narrowed it down to their top five in each category. Congrats to all the winners!
The photographer with the most points from the four quarterly contests will designate our Photographer of the Year. The winner will be presented the beautiful WPS glass trophy in front of members of NACE, ISES, TBA and WPS at the Holiday Party in December. Members of these organizations are well respected and influential in the wedding industry. Points standings from the Q1 & Q2 contests will be released next week.
A special thank you to all the judges who had the hard time naming the winners.
Scott Lewis
Stacy Borelli
Michelle Gunton
Once again congratulations to all our winners and enjoy the images!
PHOTOJOURNALISM
1st - David Parker | Tara Parker Photography
- OK, whenever a picture gives me immediate emotion, it's a winner in my book! This one made me laugh out loud. Hysterical moment and what a great capture and composition on the fly! Well done by the photographer!
- Too funny made me laugh out loud. Little girl is definetly not happy. Great moment!
- Peak action, funny, dramatic.
2nd - A.J. Dunlap | A.J. Dunlap Photography
- I love this pretty quiet moment of the bride on her wedding day. There's such a whimsy about it with the slight out focus aspect and I love that she appears to be floating on the stool.
- Love the softness and peacefulness of the image. Sweet moment.
- Sure, the wash of backlight and the dress in the window and her perfect posture on the chair feels a bit too perfect but it is real and there's a tender quality to the way this note is making her feel in the moment. Nicely handled technically.
3rd - Veronica Tomany Jones | Veronica Tomany Photography
- This image isn't perfect but for me it's the most honest, intimate and revealing image of the entire contest. It doesn't hit as hard as my 2nd place selection but it's a much much much harder image to see and make. This took patience and skill on the photographer's part. You saw the potential for a moment here and stuck with it and were skilled enough to not intrude on the couple's intimacy. You're working close physically and it takes skill to work this closely in this kind of more intimate situation without disturbing anything. You didn't just take the first moment that happened, you waited for the right moment. A moment of true intimacy where they're lost within each other.
4th - Joe Payne | Joe Payne Photography
- Tender and sweet moment. Very subtle, you have to be on your toes and ready for this one. Best toned image of the contest!
5th - Julia Wade | Julia Wade Photography
- Bride looks so happy, woman behind her is in awe, and then the guy is like yeah buddy, I also like the spotlight used to light instead of straight on flash.
ARTISTIC
1st - Joe Payne | Joe Payne Photography
- Nicely composed. It's success relies as much on nice post-production techniques as anything done in camera.
- Wall Art, nice processing
- For me an artistic image is one that is full of mood, composition, and well thought out and executed not only in camera, but also in post processing. There is a certain stillness and mood that is conveyed in this image without being cliche that I could see this image being an art piece that would be appealing to the masses.
2nd - Jim Colman | Jim Colman Photography
- I like the dreamy feel of this image
- Nice contrast pop of colors. Distortion is a problem though.
3rd - Cindy Brown | C Brown Photo
- Love the reflection, but honestly would have liked the bride cropped out.
- I hate disclosing the should've, could've, would've aspects, but this image would've taken it for me if not for the framing. I would love to have seen the shot be just about the reflective aspect of the car and not all of the information of the scene. It's a strong image and just needs a cropping to tell a cool artistic story!
4th - Austin Stinson | Blueberry Fusion
- The icy quality of the light is nice. The contrast of warm tones of the fur/skin/hair contrasts really nicely with the eye shadow and cool toned background.
5th - Kristopher Gerner | Photos by Kristopher
- Holy rain! And I love the adventurous spirit of both the bride & groom and the photographer for taking a chance on creating a nice momento of their very real and wet wedding day. The punch of color from the umbrella rounds out the capture.
FRAMING THE SUBJECT
1st - Anna Streufert | Anna Kirby Photography
- Golly! Tough category! This one made me say, OH WOW! It's compelling, contrasty, and deliberately centered which really only works out in my opinion if it's perfectly centered and objects are aligned. What a great way to frame the dress in a bedazzling way!
- Way to think out of the box when submitting to this category, this image I think works as a vertical image as well, so nicely done :-)
2nd - Kristopher Gerner | Photos by Kristopher
- There were several entries that played on this idea but this one was the most successful in organization as well as adding a bit of a spark. Sure, the couple is framed nicely in the parking lot stations but that's not where this image succeeds at it's best. The success of the framing here is the kick of her shoe. That tiny space where her foot is perfectly set against the dark asphalt makes this image. That's HUGE in separating this picture from the pack. Sure it's the luck of the draw of her wardrobe choice that day but the photographer took good advantage of what they were given to work with.
- Love all of the strong geometric lines in this image and the usage of them to frame the image. I would love to have seen more of the bottom parking spaces in the picture and less of the ceiling.
- Like the lines and the strong framing
3rd - Erin May | Erin May Photography
- It's literal, sure, but it works nicely. There's more than just a frame within a frame here, you get a little sense of personality. I like how the kids are engaging the photographer with a bit of attitude but the parents are watching the kids. But they're more than just watching, you can see the love and pride on their faces. That makes this picture, for me, more than just an exercise in composition but rather uses framing as a way to reinforce the overall story of the moment.
4th - Bridget McEnaney | Bridget McEnaney Photography
- Such a sweet, intimate moment with strong use of framing. Framing comes to not only shaping the composition in camera, but sometimes seeing something in the post-production too. I would've cropped in a bit to the top middle quadrant. Still a strong image as is. Carefully thought out.
5th - Kyle Dunlap | A.J. Dunlap Photography
- Nice framing with the pink trees
- Finding the small bit of space in amongst the purple leaves and placing the couple in the right place of the arc of the red railings was nicely done and shows thought.
MOTION
1st - Joe Payne | Joe Payne Photography
- For me, the nicely controlled frame provides a "still" platform to appreciate the motion. Here's it's really subtle but ultimately it's nice. I think the tones need some more blue to make it less muddy and allow the blur to pop a bit more.
- Awe the fluffing of the dress, liked the available light, and motion in the hand and dress
- Really loved this image. The soft movement of the bottom of the dress coupled with the moment made for a strong image. I was torn whether to place this one first. Lost me a little with the red tone of the image.
2nd - Kyle Dunlap | A.J. Dunlap Photography
- So FUN! And kids are always in motion anyway so I expected to find kids in this category. I love the layering of the ring bearer in the foreground which frames the motion of the flower girl and the petals thrown in the air. Nice rich BW!
- The innocence of a child playing at a wedding
3rd - Perry Adams | Perry Vaile Photography
- This picture captures a sense of motion unlike any other in the category. First of all, the frame is controlled quite nicely, the parallel lines of the scene lining up perfectly with the frame of the image make for a nice platform for the girl and her balloons. The success of this frame is due to the nice placement of the girl, the order of the balloons, they're almost all in their own space, not touching, and her foot just leaving the ground. The photographer has captured a scene of likely chaos and created an image of profound order and structure. The stillness makes this a scene I've come back to, playing out the imaginary sounds of the scene and the potential of someone coming around the corner after her
. This picture is all about implication and is about creating order out of chaos.
4th - Cindy Brown | C Brown Photo
- Love the bride is flying through the air
5th - Austin Stinson | Blueberry Fusion
- This is a quiet moment in a scene that was otherwise likely chaotic. It's one thing to freeze action but it's another thing else to have that frozen moment give a feeling of being within that swirl of motion.
BRIDAL PORTRAIT
1st - Austin Stinson | Blueberry Fusion
- Some risks paid off. The light quality of the tones matches the feel of the shallow foreground texture and her wistful pose. All the elements come together very nicely to establish a beautiful mood and feel.
- Excellent use of light and placing the bride in a dreamy state. Love the blur of the brush in the foreground coupled with the light and toning.
- I really like the use of shallow depth of field and layering in the foreground of this image. The additional post-processing adds a fun artistic element.
2nd - Melody Kristensen | Aria Images Photography
- Great use of available light. The portrait shows off the beauty of the dress. The photographer took the best spot of the location to make this wonderful image.
- Love the artistic aspect of this image, the toning, the composition, and the feeling it evokes. Hands down.....a winner!
3rd - Jim Colman | Jim Colman Photography
- Great use of available light and strobe.
- Photographer has a really great understanding of lighting and balancing flash and natural light. Nice environmental shot of the bride setting the stage of for her wedding. Fingers are a little distracting.
- Nice technical control but the bride's face merging with the buildings kills it for me.
4th - Caroline Zakrzewska | Caroline Z. Photography
- I like the effort to go a different direction than just soft and pretty. She pulls off the idea of a bride with some edge. The hard qualities of the setting are matched by the hard quality of artificial and natural light.
- Wow, love the drama of the image. This would have placed higher for me if the image was toned a little warmer with a softer light on the bride.
5th - Rebecca Ferguson | Rebecca Ferguson Photography
- Although there's some technical shortcomings, the frame is very well controlled here. It has the feel of Whistler's Mother in it's stark, very parallel, almost Amish minimalism.
The photographer with the most points from the four quarterly contests will designate our Photographer of the Year. The winner will be presented the beautiful WPS glass trophy in front of members of NACE, ISES, TBA and WPS at the Holiday Party in December. Members of these organizations are well respected and influential in the wedding industry. Points standings from the Q1 & Q2 contests will be released next week.
A special thank you to all the judges who had the hard time naming the winners.
Scott Lewis
Stacy Borelli
Michelle Gunton
Once again congratulations to all our winners and enjoy the images!
PHOTOJOURNALISM
1st - David Parker | Tara Parker Photography
- OK, whenever a picture gives me immediate emotion, it's a winner in my book! This one made me laugh out loud. Hysterical moment and what a great capture and composition on the fly! Well done by the photographer!
- Too funny made me laugh out loud. Little girl is definetly not happy. Great moment!
- Peak action, funny, dramatic.
2nd - A.J. Dunlap | A.J. Dunlap Photography
- I love this pretty quiet moment of the bride on her wedding day. There's such a whimsy about it with the slight out focus aspect and I love that she appears to be floating on the stool.
- Love the softness and peacefulness of the image. Sweet moment.
- Sure, the wash of backlight and the dress in the window and her perfect posture on the chair feels a bit too perfect but it is real and there's a tender quality to the way this note is making her feel in the moment. Nicely handled technically.
3rd - Veronica Tomany Jones | Veronica Tomany Photography
- This image isn't perfect but for me it's the most honest, intimate and revealing image of the entire contest. It doesn't hit as hard as my 2nd place selection but it's a much much much harder image to see and make. This took patience and skill on the photographer's part. You saw the potential for a moment here and stuck with it and were skilled enough to not intrude on the couple's intimacy. You're working close physically and it takes skill to work this closely in this kind of more intimate situation without disturbing anything. You didn't just take the first moment that happened, you waited for the right moment. A moment of true intimacy where they're lost within each other.
4th - Joe Payne | Joe Payne Photography
- Tender and sweet moment. Very subtle, you have to be on your toes and ready for this one. Best toned image of the contest!
5th - Julia Wade | Julia Wade Photography
- Bride looks so happy, woman behind her is in awe, and then the guy is like yeah buddy, I also like the spotlight used to light instead of straight on flash.
ARTISTIC
1st - Joe Payne | Joe Payne Photography
- Nicely composed. It's success relies as much on nice post-production techniques as anything done in camera.
- Wall Art, nice processing
- For me an artistic image is one that is full of mood, composition, and well thought out and executed not only in camera, but also in post processing. There is a certain stillness and mood that is conveyed in this image without being cliche that I could see this image being an art piece that would be appealing to the masses.
2nd - Jim Colman | Jim Colman Photography
- I like the dreamy feel of this image
- Nice contrast pop of colors. Distortion is a problem though.
3rd - Cindy Brown | C Brown Photo
- Love the reflection, but honestly would have liked the bride cropped out.
- I hate disclosing the should've, could've, would've aspects, but this image would've taken it for me if not for the framing. I would love to have seen the shot be just about the reflective aspect of the car and not all of the information of the scene. It's a strong image and just needs a cropping to tell a cool artistic story!
4th - Austin Stinson | Blueberry Fusion
- The icy quality of the light is nice. The contrast of warm tones of the fur/skin/hair contrasts really nicely with the eye shadow and cool toned background.
5th - Kristopher Gerner | Photos by Kristopher
- Holy rain! And I love the adventurous spirit of both the bride & groom and the photographer for taking a chance on creating a nice momento of their very real and wet wedding day. The punch of color from the umbrella rounds out the capture.
FRAMING THE SUBJECT
1st - Anna Streufert | Anna Kirby Photography
- Golly! Tough category! This one made me say, OH WOW! It's compelling, contrasty, and deliberately centered which really only works out in my opinion if it's perfectly centered and objects are aligned. What a great way to frame the dress in a bedazzling way!
- Way to think out of the box when submitting to this category, this image I think works as a vertical image as well, so nicely done :-)
2nd - Kristopher Gerner | Photos by Kristopher
- There were several entries that played on this idea but this one was the most successful in organization as well as adding a bit of a spark. Sure, the couple is framed nicely in the parking lot stations but that's not where this image succeeds at it's best. The success of the framing here is the kick of her shoe. That tiny space where her foot is perfectly set against the dark asphalt makes this image. That's HUGE in separating this picture from the pack. Sure it's the luck of the draw of her wardrobe choice that day but the photographer took good advantage of what they were given to work with.
- Love all of the strong geometric lines in this image and the usage of them to frame the image. I would love to have seen more of the bottom parking spaces in the picture and less of the ceiling.
- Like the lines and the strong framing
3rd - Erin May | Erin May Photography
- It's literal, sure, but it works nicely. There's more than just a frame within a frame here, you get a little sense of personality. I like how the kids are engaging the photographer with a bit of attitude but the parents are watching the kids. But they're more than just watching, you can see the love and pride on their faces. That makes this picture, for me, more than just an exercise in composition but rather uses framing as a way to reinforce the overall story of the moment.
4th - Bridget McEnaney | Bridget McEnaney Photography
- Such a sweet, intimate moment with strong use of framing. Framing comes to not only shaping the composition in camera, but sometimes seeing something in the post-production too. I would've cropped in a bit to the top middle quadrant. Still a strong image as is. Carefully thought out.
5th - Kyle Dunlap | A.J. Dunlap Photography
- Nice framing with the pink trees
- Finding the small bit of space in amongst the purple leaves and placing the couple in the right place of the arc of the red railings was nicely done and shows thought.
MOTION
1st - Joe Payne | Joe Payne Photography
- For me, the nicely controlled frame provides a "still" platform to appreciate the motion. Here's it's really subtle but ultimately it's nice. I think the tones need some more blue to make it less muddy and allow the blur to pop a bit more.
- Awe the fluffing of the dress, liked the available light, and motion in the hand and dress
- Really loved this image. The soft movement of the bottom of the dress coupled with the moment made for a strong image. I was torn whether to place this one first. Lost me a little with the red tone of the image.
2nd - Kyle Dunlap | A.J. Dunlap Photography
- So FUN! And kids are always in motion anyway so I expected to find kids in this category. I love the layering of the ring bearer in the foreground which frames the motion of the flower girl and the petals thrown in the air. Nice rich BW!
- The innocence of a child playing at a wedding
3rd - Perry Adams | Perry Vaile Photography
- This picture captures a sense of motion unlike any other in the category. First of all, the frame is controlled quite nicely, the parallel lines of the scene lining up perfectly with the frame of the image make for a nice platform for the girl and her balloons. The success of this frame is due to the nice placement of the girl, the order of the balloons, they're almost all in their own space, not touching, and her foot just leaving the ground. The photographer has captured a scene of likely chaos and created an image of profound order and structure. The stillness makes this a scene I've come back to, playing out the imaginary sounds of the scene and the potential of someone coming around the corner after her
. This picture is all about implication and is about creating order out of chaos.4th - Cindy Brown | C Brown Photo
- Love the bride is flying through the air
5th - Austin Stinson | Blueberry Fusion
- This is a quiet moment in a scene that was otherwise likely chaotic. It's one thing to freeze action but it's another thing else to have that frozen moment give a feeling of being within that swirl of motion.
BRIDAL PORTRAIT
1st - Austin Stinson | Blueberry Fusion
- Some risks paid off. The light quality of the tones matches the feel of the shallow foreground texture and her wistful pose. All the elements come together very nicely to establish a beautiful mood and feel.
- Excellent use of light and placing the bride in a dreamy state. Love the blur of the brush in the foreground coupled with the light and toning.
- I really like the use of shallow depth of field and layering in the foreground of this image. The additional post-processing adds a fun artistic element.
2nd - Melody Kristensen | Aria Images Photography
- Great use of available light. The portrait shows off the beauty of the dress. The photographer took the best spot of the location to make this wonderful image.
- Love the artistic aspect of this image, the toning, the composition, and the feeling it evokes. Hands down.....a winner!
3rd - Jim Colman | Jim Colman Photography
- Great use of available light and strobe.
- Photographer has a really great understanding of lighting and balancing flash and natural light. Nice environmental shot of the bride setting the stage of for her wedding. Fingers are a little distracting.
- Nice technical control but the bride's face merging with the buildings kills it for me.
4th - Caroline Zakrzewska | Caroline Z. Photography
- I like the effort to go a different direction than just soft and pretty. She pulls off the idea of a bride with some edge. The hard qualities of the setting are matched by the hard quality of artificial and natural light.
- Wow, love the drama of the image. This would have placed higher for me if the image was toned a little warmer with a softer light on the bride.
5th - Rebecca Ferguson | Rebecca Ferguson Photography
- Although there's some technical shortcomings, the frame is very well controlled here. It has the feel of Whistler's Mother in it's stark, very parallel, almost Amish minimalism.
