My Clients Get Published!
I have been having so much fun developing my Storybook Portraits that I had not entered the Professional Photographers of Canada’s (PPOC) National Salon for a few years. Each year PPOC hosts its national photographic competition. Accredited photographers from across Canada are able to enter four images. Photographers who have earned their Master of Photographic Arts can also enter one image in the Master Category. Each image must be named and the name helps the judges to understand the vision of the photographer.
All images are anonymously judged by Master Photographers from across the country.
Images are scored on four areas:
- Vision
- Impact
- Composition
- Technical Merit
Typically about 50% of all images submitted are accepted into the Salon. The selected images are printed in the annual, hardcover, coffee table book.
This year I entered four images and a Master image. I was honoured with all of them being accepted and two being accepted with Merit. The first image was entered under Child Portrait and was titled Never Alone. This little one’s parents invested in the Baby’s First Year. The portrait here was taken during his stand-up session. Of course, he looks so small on the adult-sized chair, with lots of room around him and his teddy bear on his lap. Never Alone seemed to support the story of this portrait. I chose this portrait because I love the soft expression that is so innocent and endearing.
The second image was a group portrait titled "Uh Oh". These three young boys were having fun in The Ole Barnyard, one of our Storybook Portrait Sessions. The milk was added after the fact to provide more story to the image.
My third image was of a young lady photographed in The Winter Wonderland. She held herself with such elegance and her father loved the images we created! This particular image stole my heart and was painted to enhance the softness of the snowy set and the gentleness of the subject. Merit images are printed half-page in the Salon book.
My last image for the general entry was a boudoir session entitled "Stocking You". It is always an honour to be trusted with creating personal portraits. I love to hear my client's reactions when they first see their images. Often it is "Wow, Is that me?"
My last image was entered in the Master Category. I photographed my niece's wedding in Jamaica in early 2020. My sister had one request, a portrait of her with her four daughters. I had the girls hold hands and walk up and down the beach, backing up and shooting as they came towards me. I loved the expressions and interaction between everyone in this portrait. Of course, the background had people on beach chairs and shrubs and trees without leaves. Retouching cleaned up a lot but my vision was brought to life through painting. This image was accepted with MERIT and will be printed as a half-page in the Salon book.